Scene 1: Opening Day

Ainsley paced the inside of her tent, hoping the packed dirt floor wasn't dirtying her new purple ballet slippers. Finally, everything was in place: the games were out, the animals were trained and ready, and every member of the circus was prepared and excited for the opening night.

Everyone, it seemed, except her.

Ainsley couldn't seem to calm her nerves. Even in her new purple outfit, a confection of sparkles and tulle, she didn't feel confident. She'd never led a ring before (was that even the appropriate verb? How could she be a ringleader if she didn't even know the appropriate verb that described her profession?) and she wasn't at all sure that she was ready. Would they listen to her? Would everything go well?

She was so distracted by her insecure thoughts that she barely noticed someone pulling back the tent flap and entering her domain...

Elias felt out of place, jostled by the hordes of people lined up to occupy themselves with the fixed sub-par games. Nobody would ever win, but they almost always continued to try, usually men, to win the big, abnormally fluffy, brown teddy bear for his female of choice. One man was mouthing off at one of the vendors:

"What the hell kind of a scam are you running here?" he said.

The vendor, bald and elderly -- though they usually hired fresh, eager faces from town to town -- steeled over, simply taking the abuse, and refusing to give the man his change back. The man was red and skinny, and his girlfriend -- she was his girlfriend -- pretended not to know him as he leaned over the stall counter, knocking over a basket of baseballs, and grasped at the vendor's red and yellow striped shirt. And all the while, somewhere else in the world, a cat died, and Elias was far more interested.

He made his way for the big top, that huge, huge tent in the center of the field in which the carnival was situated. It would later become the center of activity. Elias straightened his dark green blazer, the likes of which he had taken from the deepest depths of old Toby's closet, alongside the dark-brown cuorduroy pants. When he died, of course.

As he opened the curtains, he bristled. She was there. Purple sequins and all. Just standing there, looking worried. "Cat got your tongue?" He said. " Cause I think it died. You cant talk now." He didnt expect her to understand, but her expression would be amusing. Without a doubt.

Varekai strolled around the campus where the Big Top was situated. People—customers—flocked here and there. She couldn’t help but smile, grinning devilishly. It was an incredible feeling that she was a part of this grand scheme of things. Flicking her lighter on and off as she wandered around, studying their customers.

Then her stormy blue eyes locked on her target—a stuffy middle-aged man that was with his two children and his wife. It was always nice for parents to take their children to places especially the Big Top, however, this man gave the impression he would be having a more enjoyable time elsewhere. She wouldn’t be surprised if the man was having an affair since he was distanced a bit from his children and a women, Varekai suspected to be his wife and the mother of his children.

Smirking as an idea formed in her head, she sauntered over to the family. “Hallo everyone, having a good time?” She tried to be pleasant despite the man’s foul expression. Ignoring his gaze, she spoke to the children—they couldn’t be any other older than nine years of age. “I’m new here at the Big Top but I can tell ya you’ll have a grand time today. I’m Varekai, what are yours?”

“Matt,” murmured the brown-haired boy shyly while eating some cotton candy.

“I’m Kimberly,” declared the red-haired girl staring straight up at Varekai. Her wide brown eyes wandered up to Varekai’s green hair briefly then returned to Varekai’s face. “Hey If you work here, what do you do?”

“What do I do here?” Varekai smiled mischievously. She glanced at the man, who was now talking on his cell. “Well, I make things happen young Kimberly, Matt.”

She had the two children interested now. Their innocent eyes pleading to know what she could do. She smiled and drew up to her full height, which didn’t look much since she wasn’t that tall to begin with in the first place.

“I’ll need a volunteer to borrow an object,” she glanced over at their father, “and I think that man has something I can use.” She quickly snatched the cell phone out of his hands without moment’s notice. It took him a moment to realize his cell was gone and began to shout at her. “Don’t worry, you’ll be getting it back my good sir. I’m just going to show your children something...magical.”

He was red in the face with anger, which caused Varekai to lean forward and say, “Please, it won’t take a moment and you’ll have it in good time. But I cannot do it if you are scaring the children.” Seeing the scared faces of his children, he huffed and ushered her on with her performance. Nodding, she held up the cell phone and grinned.

........

Angry shouts followed her as she bolted through the bustling crowds. There was a huge grin on her face. It had gone all according to plan. The fire. Lighting his cell phone on fire. The look on his face. His children’s entranced expressions. Their mother’s surprise gasp. Of course, Varekai didn’t burn the infernal device, only gave the illusion of it. The reaction he gave when he lurched at her after snapping out of his shock was a sight to see. Especially when she bounded right over him and dropped the burning cell phone on his head. The panic on his face as his children laughed and his wife holding back a giggle. The mother knew in advance because Varekai had winked at her to reassure her.

Now Varekai darted for the tall huge towering tent known as the Big Top where her boss, Ainsley, would be. She burst in with flames still flickering from her hand and saw both Ainsley and Eilas in conversation. No doubt they would turn to see who had burst in on their conversation. She gave a weak chuckle at their expressions, whatever they may be.

Not to sound rude or anything, she said, “...so, what did I miss? I do hope I'm not late or anything.”

Lex cocked her head to the side, her movements especially sinuous. Anyone watching her would have recognized the primal sensuality of which she moved through space. Like those big cats.

She smirked slightly at the artless, amateurish display of pyrotechnics and narrowed her eyes in dislike as she watched the new girl dart quickly into the ringleader's tent. Doubtless, she was unaware of the commotion she had left in her wake.

Lex made her way towards the squabbling couple -- she could feel the waves of tension and the weight of his anger, even from several meters away. She padded quietly around them, remaining unnoticed until she purposefully broached the boundaries created by their dispute.

The mother, upon noticing, backed off a few steps and shielded her children's eyes from Lex's scandalous attire. Lex smiled mischievously. Mother's never reacted well to the leather and studs. Indecent exposure, they cried in protest. She ignored the three and fixed her dark gaze upon the man, who stared at her with a violent distrust.

"Another pyro?" he spat, as he noticed the fire whips belted at her hip and the four fire knives buckled firmly to her back. "I can sue you for that stunt you lot just pulled!"

She smiled amicably. Her eyes scanning over every detail. She guessed he was quite wealthy -- probably an executive, judging by the way he and his family dressed. Slick fabric in the flat colors of understate sophistication. His shoes looked like Armani. His watch, a quick glance affirmed her suspicions. Rolex. Go figure. And the cellphone -- she knew that particular make only came from one company, and they charged hundreds for monthly service...

Irritated by her general air of contentedness, he stepped forward menacingly, jabbing her once in the shoulder. "Back off now," he commanded fiercely, "Before I --"

"Before you what?" she laughed condescendingly, completely amused. Even if he had been observant, it would have been difficult to discern her intentions behind that mask. And she was a master of body language. Even the world's best psychologists have failed to find what made her tick.

Regaining his stride, he drew back his hand for another poke, "Freak -- just stay away from me and my family."

She caught his finger and stared coldly back at him. She moved closer to his oh-so-handsome but despicable face and slowly placed a palm over his heart. "What family?" she said in a hushed whisper, peering up at him. "...You left them a long time ago, didn't you?" she glanced sideways, and could see the suspicion begin to form in his wife's eyes.

"What -- what are you talking about?" he cried indignantly.

She bared her teeth in a feral grin and slowly slinked away into the shadows, where she made her way to the ringleader's tent.

How she hated people.

Upon approaching the tent, she simply walked through the curtains, neglecting to pull them back.

She found herself facing that silly amateur, and Elias and Ainsley standing quietly, clearly having been interrupted in conversation. With a self-deprecating smile, she gave Ainsley her customary two-fingered salute and moved to a big lounge chair in the corner. She sat down quickly and threw her feet up on an adjacent table and waited as things began to unfold.

Elias froze. Fire did that to him.

Both of the newcomers wreaked of it. One was short and exciteable - Varekai, her name was. Weird name, too. He decided to ignore her, as many of her features irked him - her coloured hair, for instance. Or maybe it was all of them. He turned his attention to the cat. If it walks like a cat, and looks kind of like a cat, it must be a cat. He would call her Cat.

"No, no, you haven't missed much," he said, if for no reason other than to quash the small one's interest. He didn't care so much about Cat. He chuckled. Cat was dead.

He resolved to continue, once more focusing on Ainsley and her outfit, which looked as if Barney the purple dinosaur had maybe ingested a little too much 'happy juice,' and regurgitated the contents of his lizard stomach upon an already rather unfortunate looking garment.

"It appears that you seem to have developed a small - I say small, but I mean big - case of stagefright. Or at least, one might think that by looking at the rut it seems you have worn in the floor."

Ainsley's back straightened, and she squinted her eyes in the direction of the monkey-man. Stage-fright? Preposterous.

"I have developed," she responded, her tone ice cold, "no such thing. I was unaware that there was anything about which I should be concerned. However, seeing as half of my performers are currently inside my tent - ever hear of a knock, by the way? - maybe I should be worried."

What a ridiculous suggestion. A portion of his blood probably got routed from his brain to his tail, Ainsley thought. Stage fright. Ridiculous.

Lex smirked at the wonderfully delicious tone of voice Ainsley employed to the monkey-man. She did not know Ainsley well -- none of them did, but from what she could see, she had inherited her father's commanding presence. Which was all the more impressive coming from a twenty six year old who possessed the wardrobe of a child. But she probably didn't know her father very much, if at all. As adept as Lex was at telling things, there were always certain aspects of a person that were unpredictable.

She noted the delivery fierce retort, and the quick change of the subject. And the silence which followed. She could tell from the overly guarded way her jaw was set, that Ainsley felt the monkey man's surprisingly astute observation hit a little closer to home than was comfortable.

She returned her gaze to the monkey man, who was fascinatingly ugly. Lex disliked hairy men. In fact, most men were quite repulsive, slaves to their base instincts. He seemed to be uncomfortable around her. Which was good. She didn't exactly want him to like her. At all.

She disliked his syntax for it did more than hint at a smug superiority. The way he carried himself was interesting. It suggested a form of entitlement, not the standard type. She pursed her lips imperceptibly -- he was a little harder to read than expected. And for some reason, she had a feeling she knew him from somewhere. Maybe from a past life.

Regardless. Her studious observation of him quickly grew to be quite tedious. And she turned her attention back to the much more attractive Ainsley. Lex always had a thing for redheads.

Not wanting to deal with Elias's attitude, Ainsley turned to Lex. She hadn't interacted much with the pyro, but she could tell that she was good at reading people. To be fair, Ainsley was fairly easy to read; but such a skill could turn out to be useful in the future. She shouldn't rub this one the wrong way.

Besides, Lex's outfit was definitely a head-turner - the scant amount of leather and studs, laced with knives and whips, was at the very least a fashion statement. She did appreciate a girl who looked like she didn't know the meaning of a boring wardrobe.

"I'll deal with you in a minute," she promised with a smile. Ainsley was known as much for her mood swings as her absurd clothing - she had gone from nervous to angry to playful in the span of five minutes. She might want to work on that.

"Varekai," she said, addressing the other pyro. (Note to self, she thought. Consider investing in fire-retardant tent spray.) "What are you doing here?" Thank God, at least she couldn't mess up by mispronouncing their varied names - her years as a gypsy had made her familiar with a multitude of languages and inflections.

Elias bristled. Inwardly, of course. There was no sense in overtly displaying discomfort. Not with present company, anyhow. Outward discomfort lead only to further discomfort and possible humiliation, he had learned.

She turned away from him. Her back, was to him. He shrugged uncomfortably and smirked. His gauze and tape tail bindings were riding up his back, now. He couldn't wait until showtime, when he would be able - allowed - to reveal his tail. In the hours leading up to showtime, when the crowd, small though they were, gathered about the tents to play games, drink watered-down beverages, and eat half-cooked food. It was a both a novelty and an acquired taste.

"How rude," he said, folding his arms in front of him in feigned disapproval. Truth was, he found it hard to care. No, he didn't wear shades and lay in his tent all day, wondering why the world was so cruel. He wasn't that kind of monkey man. No, he simply was not one for consequence. "I happen to take great offence to your... Rudeness." He stifled a chuckle.

"Ah, well I guess my welcome here is sufficiently worn-out." He said, not expecting an answer. "I'll just be leaving, then."

Elias turned on his heel and stalked out of the tent and back into the hustle and bustle of circus life. Nobody paid him much attention with his tail put away. He was just another circus-goer. To tell the truth, however, he harbored a certain hunger for the blank stares and gasps he received at showtime. It wouldn't have been much of an exaggeration to say that they fed him, either.

He was walking past a squabbling couple, the same two from earlier if he remembered correctly. The children looked terrified.

“What did she mean by that?!” said his wife, face beet red.

Elias continued to walk and did not catch the rest of the conversation. Clearly, she was not one to hide it when she wanted to cause a scene.

Ethan and Eileen were hunched outside the big top, snickering as they eavesdropped on Elias and Ainsley’s tense exchange. Naught but the thin, curtain layer of the tent separated them and the others, and they covered their mouths to keep from being heard.

“I have developed no such thing,” snapped a muffled Ainsley, which sent the two trouble makers into another fit of giggles- after all, there was nothing more entertaining than another’s discomfort.

“It seems our ring leader is a tad defensive,” whispered Ethan, but Eileen only shrugged him off.

“Who cares,” she said. “Ainsley is really nice.”

“Well, I didn’t say she wasn’t nice,” retorted Ethan.

“Now look who’s the defensive one!” Eileen giggled.

“Oh shut up, that’s just because you twisted my words.”

“Whatever,” but before Eileen could continue, she was distracted by the moving of the tent’s fabric, and Elias appeared at the entrance of the tent.

“Look, it’s the monkey man!” Eileen exclaimed, and she trotted over to him, Ethan on her tail.

“Elias, Elias!” Eileen tugged on the hem of his blazer, but he seemed distracted. Ethan nudged her and pointed at the object of Elias’ mild interest: A red-faced, bickering couple.

“They don’t look like they’re having a very good day,” said Ethan, that familiar, smug expression growing on his face- the one that told Eileen he had some delicious, evil plot brewing under his mop of thick brown hair.

“Yes,” Agreed Eileen, adopting the same mischievous smirk. “And look at their children. They seem terribly bored.”

The two of them began to saunter in the direction of the couple, their hands folded behind their backs in mock innocence.

“I don’t know about you,” said Ethan, “But I believe it is our civic duty to put a smile on their faces.”

“And a grimace on their parents'!” squeaked Eileen in anticipation. She pulled a paper boy hat- the exact same her brother was wearing- and fastened it on her head, tucking her shoulder length hair- the same colour and thickness of her brother’s- under it. The two of them now looked like a mirror image.
Ethan winked at her, and he faked tripping and falling on the ground, in plain sight of the bickering family. He let out deafening shriek of pain- probably one of the most believable Eileen had ever heard him do. The couple’s crimson heads turned in the direction of noise, and Eileen stole that opportunity to tap the little red haired girl on the shoulder. She and her older brother, just a year younger than Eileen, turned and stared at her with big eyes.

Eileen spoke like she was telling them a mysterious secret; “Watch this,” she said, and she darted off. Ethan let out another holler of pain.

“Don’t just stand there, Jim!” snapped the Mother. “Help the poor kid up!” The man grudgingly reached his hand out to Ethan, and just as he bent over, Eileen appeared behind him and reached into the man’s back pocket and pulled out a small leather change purse. The red haired girl and her older brother giggled as she scuttled away.

“Th-Thanks,” Ethan stuttered as the man pulled him up, accompanied by some sniffles that should have been worthy of an academy award. He darted off in the same direction as his sister before they could ask if he was alright.

Ethan entered the Big Top to find his sister jingling the change purse around at the others.

“I got us a nice tip, today!” she exclaimed, and threw her hat off in celebration.

“Well you wouldn’t have gotten it without me,” said Ethan.

“Well I’m the one who stole it.”

Ethan ignored her. “You see,” he went on, “I performed this neat trick I like to call ‘the guilt trip’ it’s got quite a punny name, you see-”

“That’s because I came up with it,” Eileen interrupted.

“No, I did!” whined Ethan.

“No, I did!”

“Nuh-uh!”

“Yuh-huh!”

But their bickering was interrupted.

Jocasta perched cheerily in her booth, watching her last client wander off to the games. He would lose, but of course he hadn't believed that. She saw one of the pyros set a man's cell phone on fire, and laughed. The man deserved it, for what he'd done. And, of course, for what he would eventually do.

Lost in her musings, Joca didn't see the girl in front of her until the wretch had stuck her nose right up to the crystal ball. Yelping, she grabbed the thing before it rolled off of her counter.

"When am I gonna get married? How much money will I make when I'm old, like you? And what's my grade?"

Joca blinked, momentarily thrown, and then settled the ball delicately back into its stand.
"Two dollars per question," She informed the girl, looking her over. Sixth grade, from the School uniform she was wearing. "That's six dollars total." She added kindly. The kid wasn't doing too well in school.

"I know how to add, lady." She whipped two dollars out of her jacket pocket. "The first one."

Joca cringed inwardly. This one was the most boring question ever. Everyone asked it.

"There's a deal today. You also get to know what you'll wear, half price." She held out her hand, waiting for the child to decide.

She beamed, showing pink braces. "Great!" The three coins dropped eagerly into Joca's outstretched hand.

"All right, then." Joca peered mystically into the crystal ball. She saw . . . pink braces. The kid was staring at the ball from the other side, open-mouthed.

"Hmm."

"Hmm? What's hmm mean?"

Great. Now the ball was fogged up. "You're . . . twenty-five, I think. "

"And what am I wearing? Tell me! Tell-me, tell-me, tell me!"

"Oh, it's beautiful. All lace and silk, and the train is to die for . . . does your grandmother own pearls?"

"Oh. My. Gosh. She does! How did you know that?"

"You'll wear them when you get married."

Sitting up, Joca made a shooing motion. "Okay, that's all you get for three bucks. Hope you enjoy the show."

As the girl wandered off, sufficiently convinced that this was the best carnival she'd ever been to, Joca closed up shop, tucking her ball and money away safely. She supposed it was time to chat with Ainsley, since everyone seemed to be going.

Poking her head into the tent, she saw the Twins. And they had something that didn't belong to them.

"What did his children think of your trick?" she asked, strolling in.

Elias laughed with what could only have been described as a step above abandon. He loved the twins' tomfoolery. They almost invariably brightened his day every with time he saw them. They were even better pickpockets than he used to be; maybe it was because there were two of them, but even so, they were extremely tactful in their execution.

"That was wonderful. I dont even think that old blowhard has even realized that his wallet's gone missing!" He laughed, ruffling the twins' hair, one with each hand. They were like him in so many ways. They performed acrobatics, they were pickpockets... What else? Oh yes, they were monkeys as well. Not literally, of course. But at heart, most definitely.

"And good day to you as well, Jocasta."

The twins were distracted from their argument as Jocasta entered the tent in a flourish of beads and coloured scarves. There was something about Jocasta's subtle way of drawing attention to herself that fascinated the twins. She was even more magical and spectacular than the gypsys they encountered prancing about Notre Dame. She looked as though she'd just walked out of a fairytale, and, consequently, she had a claming, almost solemn effect on the twins- something that occurred rarely. Every time she entered a room the twins regarded her with wide eyes and honest expressions, out of great respect and pure awe.

Elias' presence, however, counteracted this soothing effect, as the monkey man's equally surreal -although quite different- appearance only excited the children further. They beamed proudly as he ruffled their hair, though Eileen was quick to smooth her's down afterwards.

Eileen tossed Jocasta the change purse. "They LOVED it," she gushed. "They'll be begging to come back tommorow!"

"Unfortunatley, I don't think the parents will let them come," said Ethan remorsefully. "Adults like that never know how to have any fun."

"That's alright," sighed Eileen. "You can tell by their parents they're going to grow up to be knob heads anyway, regardless of how much they enjoyed our trick." The twins frowned at this thought. Eileen leaned her head against Elias' arm. Ethan pouted in the floor's direction.

Varekai felt her body twitch at the rude remark from Elias, aka the Monkey Man which everyone would say and tell her behind his back. Not that she liked being rude or calling people names, he kind of deserved it. Yet she originally thought he was a pretty interesting guy, too bad that was changing more and more whenever he spoke to her. It was often once and then she would vanish as if she wasn’t worth his time. She would get him for that because she already knew what set him off—fire.

“So much for being a gentleman,” she muttered to herself out loud crossly hoping he would catch it. He didn’t. She watched the rest of the scene quietly as she usually did. Cat-like features made Varekai imagine the other newcomer, who she heard was called Lex, as graceful and wily as a cat. It was pretty cool, especially what she wore all those knives. Varekai looked quickly down at her own outfit—it didn’t even come close to matching Lex’s outfit, much less she herself didn’t even deserve to be in the same room as her. Lex's Epicness overpowered her lameness, so it sort of balanced it out. She sighed quietly.

“It appears that you seem to have developed a small – I say small, but I mean big – case of stagefright. Or at least, one might think that by looking at the rut it seems you have worn in the floor.” Varekai heard the monkey dude say. She nearly said something to defend their boss, but Ainsley already beat her to it, already casting back his rude words in his face. Varekai couldn’t help but smile ruefully at the monkey dude.

She glanced upwards and thought she saw something, but it had vanished. She shook it off. Then she snapped to attention when Ainsley called upon her.

“Yes?” It took her a moment to respond after she blinked. “Oh, I was just seeing how everything was going...” She watched as the Monkey dude walk out before continuing. “...er, I wanted to thank-you again for allowing me to stay and giving me work, even though I don’t really have any work given to me at the moment—but that’s not the point!

“Is there anything you’d like me to do in preparation for today’s show or ANYTHING you want to have done? Otherwise, I’m just going around and making my own fun for the kids. And I haven’t yet met everybody here besides you, Monkey Dude, and Lex—I want to meet everyone else and see what this circus got to show for and more.

“But...” She was glancing around the tent looking distant from the others as if she was reminiscing about something dear to her. “ This place reminds me of the last circus I was a part of, you know I’m usually quite picky about where I work or stay so you’re very lucky I decided to...

“Why?

“I guess because this place has something magical about it.” She looked back at Ainsley with an expression full of enchanted wonder. “Especially you—you’ve inherited that magic. So don’t doubt or be so hard on yourself, you’ll be great. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t be here.”

She smiled warmly at the new ringmaster.

Joca tucked the purse into her pocket, glancing at Ainsley. "Not such a good day, for some." She would return it later of course, but with something added and something lost. She almost felt sorry for the girl, left to deal with Old Tobe's misfit family.

The family would return on the morrow, she decided. A bit of fun for them before their lives tumbled down around their ears. It would be good for them, she figured, and good for the circus cashbox too.

She winked conspiratorily at the twins. They meant well, she knew.

Varekai's machinations involving Elias and fire suddenly occurred to her. She couldn't have that, now. Joca peered thoughtfully at Kai, and shook her head. "I wouldn't, honey. We'd hate to have a family feud break out so soon."

Everyone but Kai stared at Joca as if she had abruptly announced that she would thenceforth be eating only carpets. Kai just looked vaguely surprised, and a little guilty. Or not. Guilt was a difficult expression to read, and Joca hadn't quite mastered it yet.

It was getting to be quite busy in Ainsley's tent. With all their performers strolling in and out. She could barely keep track of them all -- which wasn't to say she couldn't. She simply did not care. Of course... it'll be interesting to see how Ainsley planned on dealing with everyone. She should learn not to make promises she couldn't keep. Then again, Lex pursed her lips, it wasn't her fault -- at least not directly -- that everyone interrupted without a second thought. Lex frowned ever so slightly. No, that wasn't quite true. Ainsley could do something about that. Her father would've never tolerated such disobedience, and no one would've dared to enter his tent without a personal invitation.

She disliked the twins. And they did their utmost to avoid her, it seemed. Most kids normally did. Perhaps it was because of the fearsome and evil looks she tended to shoot at them... Hmm, pickpockets, she mused. Petty thieves. Not much talent there.

Most of them tended to avoid her. Not that she'd been here long enough to give them too much reason to. She hadn't even done anything yet. And she only joined because Ainsley asked ever so nicely. And Lex had been growing tired of her old life.

Lex couldn't help but roll her eyes at Varekai's cornball monologue.

She was oddly pleased by the strange Jocasta however. And her eyes. They were pretty. And those tattoos. Snazzy... How easy a read she was. Although to be honest, Lex would've guessed her to be at least twenty years older than her actual age. There was something about the way she carried herself, not to mention the frighteningly sweet terms of endearment she liked to impose on them.

Sighing with boredom, she pulled out her favourite knife from its sheath at her waist and began to toss it up in the air, counting the revolutions while glancing every once in a while at Ainsley.

People. So many people! Ainsley was not expecting this many people to be in her tent, ever. It was getting mildly absurd. The twins were prancing around with stolen loot - being fully encouraged, may she add, by Elias - Jocasta was clearly reading someone's mind (probably Varekai, Ainsley thought, considering the woman's uncomfortable expression), and now Lex had started to play with one of her knives. Lovely.

Deal with the twins first, she reasoned. They would probably cause the most chaos.

Crouching down to their level and grabbing their hands, Ainsley smiled conspiratorially at the two reckless pickpockets. Having lived in groups of families her entire life, she had become used to dealing with children - though, granted, Ethan and Eileen were not exactly typical kids.

"I have a job for both of you," Ainsley whispered. "It's really special, but I think I can trust you with it. I want you to go all around the fair, and see who's there - all the different families, everything about them, and see what kind of people we've got to deal with. You are the official spies of the team. Tell me if there's any funny business. And don't worry - you can steal as much as you want. Just don't let anyone catch you." She winked, squeezed their hands and strode across the room, something in the back of her mind telling her that shenanigans would be raised as a result of this little mission.

Next, Varekai, after whose wide-eyed spiel Ainsley had become slightly concerned that illicit intoxicants were being passed about the fair.

"I appreciate the sentiment, Varekai," Ainsley commented truthfully. "But to be honest, this really isn't the place for you to be right now. If you want to meet people, the grounds is the place to do it, not my tent. Go out and entertain, and I'll check up with you at the end of the day."

Not waiting for an answer, she then moved on to Jocasta. She dropped her voice and leaned into the fortune teller's ear. "Please make sure the twins don't get into too much trouble," she asked. "I want you to watch over them."

As she pulled away, Ainsley admired Jocasta's many scarves. They were beautiful. She would have to get one some day.

One, two, three, four, five, six! Lex caught it deftly by the handle, displeased by the low count. Tighter, faster spins... yes. More revolutions... there it goes, five, hmmm, Ainsley was pretty good. Diplomatic, soft-spoken but firm... six, seven, eight, her kind and tactful method was surprisingly effective... nine, ten! -- and miscalculating, she caught the knife before it fell and buried itself into her thigh, but missed the handle and caught the blade.

Grinning as she observed the shallow but long cut in her palm, she pulled out some cloth from her belt and cleaned the blade before wrapping it around her palm. She continued to toss the blade with growing impatience, so then she decided to pull out another blade.

She saw Ainsley glance longingly at Jocasta's scarves, and then she had an idea...

So many paths . . . Jocasta knew that this was an important moment for the ringmaster. The instant she decided on how to deal with the performers, their opinions of her might as well be carved in stone.

Or rather, Jocasta’s was. The others had to wait until Ainsley actually did something. All in all, it wasn’t a bad plan. Gently redirecting, rather than restricting, the crew’s destructive energies, she would show herself to be a true leader.

Ignoring Ainsley’s beginning with the twins, (She had already seen it) Joca turned her attention to Lex, who was about to slice her own hand open. Calculating...distant...and with a surprising superiority complex; Joca liked the girl. She would get along swimmingly with Mendel.

“Please make sure the twins don’t get into too much trouble,” Ainsley spoke quietly into her ear, too low for the Twins to catch. “I want you to watch over them.”

Joca grinned. She knew Ainsley was trying to put her skills to good use, rather than letting her intrude into people’s minds willy-nilly. Besides, Joca liked the Twins. Their stunts were highly unpredictable, even to her, and that combined with her own oddly powerful maternal instinct, made the prospect of looking out for them irresistible.

She’d really have to give Ainsley a gift to celebrate tonight’s successful show . . . . maybe a sequined scarf . . . .

Lost in her own thoughts, she neglected to watch the Fortunes as Lex’s future changed.

Varekai felt a pang of annoyance course though her.

How ludicrous of the fortune-teller to think she’d do something absurd. Start a family feud—like heck she would cause one of those herself! No, she usually let someone else do that and just go along for the ride. She eyed the fortune-teller carefully. Could she read minds? Possibly not completely, otherwise the fortune-teller would have known that she, Varekai, wouldn’t do it. The mere thought only amused her. And of course she wasn’t going to do it really, only if he pushed her over the edge, then quite possibly...

The twins, however, looked like an interesting pair—pickpockets. She always liked twins, so much fun to be around. Ahhh, she remembered doing pickpocketing when she travelled with a group of street kids for a while. It was quite fun. Running around, seeing how many pockets they could pick in a day. She would have to introduce herself later.

No, the real reason why Varekai stiffened with annoyance was the mere thought that Ainsley didn’t think much of her. She only wanted to know if there was anything to be prepared for the show if there was one, why she wouldn’t be surprised if the show wasn’t until tomorrow by the look of things. And she only wanted to drop in, say hullo, ask if there’s anything she should do before the show, then be on her merry way.

But now she was more worried that her apprehensive expression would show, however, her expression remained emotionless. The positive peppiness and cheerful optimism had been sucked and shut down by the dismissive words. In fact the ringmaster didn’t even think twice before moving on to the fortune-teller for Varekai’s answer. That only made her more aggravated. And if anyone knew her well, no one liked an irritated Varekai.

Then she spotted the admiring look that Ainsley gave to the fortune-teller’s bountiful scarves as well as Lex’s look in getting an idea. Whatever the idea was, it interested Varekai but she was still too irritated by the way things went. Without another thought, she stepped into the shadows and vanished from the tent. No one saw her or bothered noticing until it was too late.

She was gone.

Lex sensed Jocasta's curious gaze linger upon her for a moment before quickly returning her attentions to that irritating pair of children -- eleven, twelve, thirteen -- she wondered idly if Jocasta could read her as easily as she could read everyone else. Lex wasn't unduly bothered, Jocasta was an enigma, sure, but she telegraphed quite a few thoughts of her own -- if one was perceptive enough to pick up on them -- twenty, score!

Varekai looked completely deflated. Lex cocked her head amusedly as she could practically see the fiery embers of anger burning deep within the short pyro. Such was life, she thought, laughing inside as Varekai disappeared, and the tent flap slowly settled after the turbulence.

Lex twirled the other knife lazily in one hand as the other was poised to catch the spinning, airborne blade. As she watched the silver glint in the low light, Lex had to admit that she was slightly envious of Jocasta's ability, and decided that it would be fruitful to have an ally like Jocasta. With her mind set, she began to plot.

Lex sighed audibly. Thing's weren't exactly progressing well. Everyone slowly slinked away and back to their posts. Ainsley was strangely absent-minded for the moment. She slid her knives back into their sheathes and got up to leave as well.

She was tempted to let Ainsley know of her departure, but upon seeing her unresponsive face, she decided there wasn't any point, and left the tent.

She had plans to execute anyway.