Chapter Thirty: Sa Majesté

The frost of the wind was biting at Ciel's cheeks and nose, as Sebastian carried him through the country at superhuman speed. Ciel winced and nuzzled his head further against Sebastian's chest to shield his face. The demon pretended not to notice, although it wasn't hard considering his mind was otherwise occupied.

Sebastian had been caught off guard by his lord's last question, and answered before thinking about the consequences. Now he was kicking himself because there was no way Ciel would let it go just like that...

"Soooo… 'of course' you love me, Sebastian?" Ciel asked slyly, looking up at his butler.

And there it was.

"I must say, I was a bit surprised you were so willing to admit it in front of my parents."

"You were the one who brought it up," Sebastian grumbled.

"Well, you could've easily evaded the question."

Although Sebastian was smiling, his eye was twitching.

"It appears your mother was right, my lord. You've been eating far too many sweets lately, you're getting quite heavy. I can feel my grasp slipping…" Ciel's face turned red and he puffed out his cheeks.

"Liar! I've seen you level buildings without breaking a sweat! And I am not fat!"

"Heavy and fat are two very different things, my lord. You should have known that. Shame on your tutor."

"That's you, idiot."

"... Perhaps you are not keeping up with your studies as you should."

"Oh, now you're blaming me?"

"Actually, that was my intention from the beginning."

"Arsehole." Sebastian tsked.

"Well I must say your language is quite abhorrent these days. Perhaps you found another tutor while I wasn't looking, because I certainly never taught you such vulgar language."

"As if you're the picture of innocence," Ciel sniffed. Sebastian gave him his best innocent face.

"Whatever do you mean, my lord?"

"Can't you run any faster?" Sebastian gave him a flat look.

"It's broad daylight, I have to avoid having people notice us."

Ciel looked down. "We're bounding over treetops, Sebastian. You're carrying me bridal style." He glanced behind them. "And you're demoning a little."

"There's a limit to my abilities."

"Can I get that in writing?"

"What for?"

"Blackmail." Sebastian actually laughed at that.

"You think you can blackmail a demon? Well, you are daring I'll give you that."

"Considering I've kept you collared for over three years, I think that was well established a while ago."

"Oh, now I'm just a demon to you, am I?"

"It's okay, you can be a special demon." Sebastian gave his master a deadpan look.

"A special demon?" Sebastian repeated dryly.

"Are you saying you're not special?"

"Of course not. I'm exceptional."

"And modest too, I see."

"I am but a reflection of my lord and master, bocchan. That is the duty of a butler, no?" Ciel simply glared at him.

For all of their bantering, both the boy and demon knew that the impending confrontation would not be easy. They were also aware, Ciel especially, that the entire Phantomhive existence had been thrown into jeopardy and the family's future after this was grim at best.

How does one come to terms with the fact that they, who have been charged with eliminating the filth of the empire, have been aiding the worst criminal of them all?

Soon, they realized that Sebastian no longer needed the scent of the angel's blood to guide them. The golden angel atop its pedestal slowly approaching made their destination obvious.

Ciel's grip on Sebastian tightened. He had known this confrontation was inevitable from the moment they discovered Ash/Angela's true identity, but that didn't ease the pang of betrayal.

But Ciel steeled himself, for he was the Earl of Phantomhive. He did not place his faith in those that were not himself or his butler. He did not put so much stock in the Queen to mourn her loss. This was just another inconvenience to take care of.

As the silhouette of the royal residence loomed into sight, the speed of the demon slowed to a more controlled pace. Not one to miss a dramatic entrance, Sebastian burst through the glass windows of Buckingham Palace, his frame briefly backlit by the setting sun. Not at all distracted by the beauty of the cherished hall he was now standing in, his focus was solely on the pair at the other end of the room.

Sitting calmly in her throne was an ally turned enemy with that sorry excuse of an angel standing smugly at her side. Ciel narrowed his eyes as Sebastian's started burning scarlet.

"Hello, your Majesty," Ciel said coldly.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Back at the Phantomhive Manor, Vincent was assessing the structural damage to the greenhouse, and was quite surprised with the results.

"This is odd Rachel, there is quite a substantial amount of damage, but there seem to be a lot of extra reinforcements around the structure itself. It should not be hard to mend at all," Vincent exclaimed, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"That's strange, that's not common in most buildings is it?" Rachel frowned. Little did the elder Phantomhives know, the greenhouse along with the rest of the manor had been destroyed so many times by the lovely, clumsy servants, Sebastian had installed some… precautions for if- when the manor was destroyed again.

"It should be safe to leave until we can get help," Vincent observed, "Let's go back in the manor, darling." Rachel hesitated.

"They will be coming back soon, will they not?" Rachel asked.

"I'm sure they will. And then we will handle… everything else," Vincent replied. Rachel froze in her place.

"Oh my! We must check on the servants, we don't know where they are!" Rachel exclaimed, turning towards the manor, her husband trailing behind her.

Trying to keep their anxiety at bay, Rachel and Vincent hurried around the grounds, pausing as faint voices reached their ears.

They rounded the corner, following the voices, and blanched at the scene in front of them. Finny was holding up a very round mushroom in the air. It was perfectly smooth and straight, not a single blemish in sight.

"Finny, what are you doing?" Bardroy asked. "Give me back the mushroom, I need it for the master's supper."

"No!" Finny cried dramatically, clutching the fungus close to his heart. "I shall call him squishy, and he shall be mine. And he shall be my squishy!" the young gardener declared as he scuttled away from Bard and Mey-Rin. Rachel stared ahead blankly, and Vincent unsuccessfully tried to hide his laughter.

"I think you were worried for nothing dear," he said. Rachel shot him a glare rivaling her son's.

"Oh hush now!" Vincent broke out into laughter, some of the tension from the day bleeding out of him. Rachel cracked a small smile, glad her husband was able to let go of a bit of the stress.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Ciel Phantomhive," the queen said in her annoying melodic voice. She laughed sweetly. "My little guard dog, how you have disappointed me." She tsked condescendingly, furrowing her brows slightly. Yet the eery smile lingered on her face.

Ciel clenched his fists standing firmly in front of the queen. "I could say the same to you," he drawled. The queen's face lost any sign of pleasantry and she stood abruptly.

"Such insolence!" she hissed. "After all I've done for you, you dare address me so?"

"It appears you have quite a backwards sense of the situation at hand," Ciel spat. The demon accompanying the boy and the angel guarding the queen stood rigid behind their masters, waiting for the appropriate time to step in.

"Ah," the queen said. "But it is you who does not recognize the opportunity that we have been… blessed with," she stressed her words, gazing towards Ash with a deranged look, equivalent to love.

"To what?" Ciel said angrily, barely holding onto the last of his decorum. "Eliminate those you deem unworthy? What gives you the right to decide the scale at which ethics and morality are measured?" the tension in the room would have been palpable to even the dimmest of minds.

"As this country's monarch, it is my duty to ensure its future is bettered. This can only be accomplished by removing the imperfect in order to the breed the immaculate," she answered in a sing-song voice. "And of course," the queen gazed fondly at Ash once more before turning back to the earl. "I have the blessing of God."

Ciel's anger soared. "As the monarch of this country it is your responsibility to see that every individual under your rule is taken care of to the best of your abilities," he hissed. "I hardly think ensuring the death of the majority of the population is applicable," he finished taking a step forward.

"For this beloved country to be in its optimum existence, losses must be suffered," the queen said firmly. "But the end result will be…. seraphic."

"You mean after it is destroyed!" Ciel shouted.

"I mean after it is purified!" screeched the queen. A beat of silence rang through the hall. The queen sighed, forcing a serene smile back on her face. "Come now, Earl Phantomhive. Learn from the mistakes of your father. Serve your Queen properly and help us better this world."

Ciel scoffed, but before he could reply, Queen Victoria interrupted, "Or…" she snapped her fingers, "allow yourself to... forget."

The doors to the hall opened and Earl Grey came through, pushing a cart bearing glasses of a liquid substance. The putrid smell of herbs mingled with the air in the room. Sebastian, still in his defensive stance, whipped around towards the door, readying himself for attack.

The Earl Grey took a glass and held it out to Ciel.

"Drink this," the queen said. "Less it need to be administered forcefully, as it was to your father." Ciel eyed the glass before he glared once more at the queen.

"You insult me," he snarled. "My father was attacked because he saw sense where you did not, much as I do right now. I would never assist you in your fallacious endeavour to better something that is not broken."

At this, he harshly swatted the glass from the hands of Earl Grey, causing it to shatter on the porcelain ground below.

"Nor would I ever willingly forget, and allow you to carry out your intended actions." Ciel finished, Sebastian stepping closer to him. The queen was shaking with rage, Ash standingly threateningly beside her.

"You dare -"

"You must cease fooling yourself, your majesty," Ciel said. "Your actions, or that of those under your command, will do this country no favour. And as for your blessing from God…" here he laughed hollowly, looking at the ground. "It is nothing but the fabrication of a fallen angel, refusing his new existence in the underworld."

Ciel's eyes flashed to meet those of the furious Queen Victoria. Ash and Sebastian faced each other similarly, everyone still.

The tension in the room had reached its climax, teetering dangerously, before it came crashing down in a tumultuous impact.

SunBinamra's Chpt. Summary: In which Ciel teases Sebastian, Sebastian threatens to drop him, and Ashgela is just annoyed. Oh, and the Queen arrives.

Speaking of which, sorry sorry sorry for another late update, but finals are a bitch. Plus my college forces us to move out within 24 hours of our last exam, so I've been studying and packing for the past week. It's not fun.

PGB3: So, we're probably going to update more often during the breaks because we are in the same state and don't have quite as much school to complete, but during the school year the updates will be more sparse. Please forgive our wacky schedule of updates, but we are going to limit our excuses and apologies because you do not want hear them each chapter. So here is a perpetual SORRY. Just keep that in mind...

As a side note: I finally watched Kuroshitsuji Book of Circus! Mostly because I just found the dub version - yeah, yeah I know I'm lame, I like dub. But it's J. MICHAEL TATUM and BRINA PALENCIA. Just saying… 3 3 3