“These performers must be popular,” Liliana murmured as she stood on her tiptoes, trying to see over the heads of the surrounding crowd. She could hear oohs and ahs from those ahead of them, but she could see nothing over the crowds.

“Stop straining yourself. It’s as if you forget you’re a noble,” Alistair chided her, and Liliana turned her head to look at her brother. He raised a hand and two of the guards with them stepped forward.

“Make way!” One guard shouted out.

The surrounding people complained until they saw the guards, and the three nobles following them. As a ripple passed through the crowd, it split, giving a clear path for them to move to the front. Liliana felt a little bad for forcing them to move in such a way, but she did very much want to see the performers.

With everything that had happened on this trip, she wanted a chance to feel like a normal girl for a day. To see something amazing, and beautiful and entertaining. As they got to the front of the crowd, Liliana saw there was a troupe of performers who had paused whatever act they had been doing before.

“What a wonderful day for the Silver Star Troupe! We have distinguished guests amongst our fans!” One man seemed to recover more quickly than the others.

Liliana took in the outfits of the troupe. They were very different from what she’d seen normally, downright scandalous by this world’s standards. The fabrics were of a lesser quality than her own, but they were dyed in vibrant colors that hid that fact well. The man who spoke up had a patchwork coat on, as if he’d taken a rainbow down from the sky and turned it into a coat. He wore a vivid red top hat that seemed almost too tall for him. That was not the most impressive part of him, however, nor was his considerable height and respectably sized midsection. It was the long dark purple trunk that formed from his face and the large ears that flapped next to his head, undeniable markers of a Beastman.

As Liliana’s eyes moved from him to the other performers, she saw a few others with markers of being Beastmen. From furred skin and animalistic ears to long tails. Not all of them were Beastmen, but it seemed as if half to troupe was. There was a good amount of women in the troupe, and their clothes were as vivid as the lead man’s, if a bit less riotous. Most of them had on singular colors. Tight vests with no sleeves, and loose pants with a chiffon like fabric fluttering around them like skirts. The other men wore similar outfits, though their vests were unbuttoned, and they did not have the chiffon skirts.

They must be terribly cold in those, Liliana thought, with a bit of a worry for the performers. They must be of high enough level to not worry about it, but before she could [Identify] any of them, the lead man drew her attention. He flipped through the air as gracefully as any acrobat and landed before her on bent knee. Liliana was as startled by the sudden approach as she was at the manner he arrived. She hadn’t thought a man of such large stature would be as nimble as one of his performers.

“My lady, my lords, may I present to you the dangerous yet beautiful stars of my troupe?” the man asked, looking up with a grin.

Liliana opened her mouth to respond when the lead man went up in a puff of red smoke. The smoke blew away quickly, but the lead man had disappeared; the troupe rearranged in the short time it had taken. Men were lined in the back, the women in the front. Somewhere to the side, men began beating drums to a tempo that seemed to signal the beginning of the act. In sync, the women produced odd fan like objects, swinging them over their heads in practiced motions.

“Oh!” Liliana breathed as the ends of the fans went up in flames. On cue, the men behind them let out great gouts of fire from their mouths.

“Is my lady a fan of the fire?” a voice asked beside her and Liliana jolted, seeing the lead man leaning against a staff as if he’d been there the entire time. He twirled a hand and from it flew a dove made of flames. Liliana’s eyes widened in delight. It may all be skills, but she so rarely saw skills and magic being used for anything other than fighting.

“Keep your eyes on Natalia my lady, I believe you may be wonder struck by her performance,” the lead man stage whispered, pointing out one female performer dressed in gold. He gave her a wink and vanished in a plume of flames.

Liliana turned her attention back to the performers, a grin on her face. One of her hands reached out without a thought to grab onto Alistair’s arm in her excitement.

“Alistair! Isn’t it amazing?” She asked, her eyes glued to the performers.

The men were boosting the women into the air and their fiery fans were held in such a way that as they ascended they looked like wings made of flames. Soon all the women were in the air, yet they did not fall, instead they continued their dance in the air, twisting and turning as if the air was solid ground. The tempo of the drums changed from something whimsical to something more akin to a battle song. Below them, the men sent up flames that took on forms. Great fiery dragons circled the women and were beaten back by their flaming fans. More and more monsters were sent up as the women danced a battle in the skies.

“It is nice,” Alastair responded, and Liliana tore her eyes away to give him a beaming grin before she looked back up at the dancers.

This is what I want to look like, Liliana thought. The way their every move was graceful, fluid, yet seemingly deadly to the faux monsters. It made her own fighting look like a child's clumsy blunders. Liliana let out a gasp of surprise when one woman was overtaken by a flaming bear like creature. She fell to the ground, her fans fluttering once more behind her like wings. She delicately landed and seemed to collapse elegantly in her ‘death’. Soon more and more of the dancers fell from the heavens like falling stars alighting onto the earth. Until only one remained, the performer Natalia.

The gold clad dancer was beset on all sides by monsters, the men under her not slowing their fiery creations despite the decrease in dancers. Liliana felt her heart beat quickly in fear for the woman, though she knew it was all an act. The tempo of the drums picked up and Natalia spun and whirled with increasing speed, but she could not take out all the monsters. As one, they pounced on her, hiding her form behind a wall of shifting flames. The drums reached a thundering crescendo, stopping.

“Oh, no!” Liliana called out, her hands to her mouth as she watched, eyes wide with worry. The crowd all seemed to be on the edge of anticipation too as they all waited.

One heartbeat. Two.

A drum pounded.

The fiery monsters exploded into sparks like a great firework. Flames scattered before the kneeling form of Natalia, her hands empty of her fans. Instead, Liliana saw with growing amazement that some of what she’d mistaken for flames were in fact golden blades that returned and whirled around Natalia.

The performer rose once more and the fiery monsters came at her again, more than before. The men under her seeming to push themselves to their limits to raise a veritable army of flame-clad creatures. Yet they couldn't touch Natalia as she shot her blades out. There were too many, moving too fast, for Liliana to count. They seemed as endless as the monsters. With graceful movements, Natalia sent the blades out and controlled their movements with the smallest twitches of her fingers and hands. Perfect, synchronised partners to her deadly dance in the heavens.

As she danced in the air, the monsters fell one after another, shredded to nothing by her golden blades. The sound of the drums sounded like a victory march as Natalia and her blades moved as one to the beat.

Finally, the last of the monsters fell, the men beneath her collapsing like the girls before, and only Natalia was left to sole survivor. Victorious above them all. The drums reached a crescendo as Natalia froze in a beautiful pose, her arms spread wide. Behind her like the feathers of wings were her blades, flexing back and forth as if they were truly wings connected to the performer. Liliana’s mouth was wide open, and she felt her eyes would pop out of her head.

Applause and cheers sounded from the surrounding crowd, and Liliana was broken out of her enchantment. Her hands clapped together so hard she felt pain, but she ignored it as her eyes stayed glued to Natalia as the performer slowly descended.

Her. I want to be like her. Liliana thought with fervent admiration. She’d thought she knew what it was to be a blade dancer, but now she saw she knew so little. She was nothing but a stumbling child in comparison to Natalia. Liliana finally thought to [Identify] the woman as the troupe took their bows. Coins showered the air as the audience cheered them on.

Natalia Wells

Age: 76

Level: 203

Rank: 4

Class: Dancing Blade Mistress

Such a high level! Liliana thought in shock. She’d have thought the woman an adventurer with a level like that. A quick check of the other performers showed that they ranged from Rank 6 to Rank 4, like Natalia. As the lead man appeared once more, Liliana leveled him with her [Identify] and could barely restrain a gasp.

Bertran Elephante

Age: 68

Level: 277

Rank: 3

Class: Marvelous Ringmaster

Bertran must have noticed her attention. He sent her a wink as his trunk removed his top hat, seeming to direct the motion at her specifically. Liliana flushed at having been caught so easily in her curiosity, and by someone of a level and Rank to be in the upper echelon of adventurers.

He has incredible control over his aura if I can’t feel it, Liliana thought. She could always feel her fathers, even when it was under control. But this man’s she could not. Had she not identified him, she wouldn’t have known he was a Rank 3.

Maybe it’s a deception skill like mine? Could it be his level and rank are different? Nobles are the only ones I’ve heard of flaunting their levels around. It is possible commoners don’t share such a sentiment, Liliana thought. It would be a good idea for performers to show whatever levels they thought would most impress their audience. Was that what was happening? Had Bertran changed his levels to appeal to nobles who valued levels and rank?

“If you enjoyed our show, please join the Silver Stars troupe outside the city walls at our circus! We will have many more delightful shows for you. Daring acts and wondrous sights that the mind can’t even imagine!” Bertran projected his voice well, carrying over the crowd. People began to murmur as some of the performers handed out flyers to the watchers.

“Alistair! We must hire them for your birthday!” Liliana turned to her stepbrother, her eyes determined.

She had to talk to Natalia, learn how she made those blades move around her so effortlessly. How she danced with such grace and power. If she could convince the woman to teach her how she’d done it, or to train her as a mentor, Liliana could become more powerful. Silas was an amazing teacher, but guards didn’t fight like she did and he could do little more than be a sparring partner who could point out her mistakes now. She needed someone who fought like she did to teach her how to improve herself. Someone like Natalia.

“Do I not get a choice in this? It is my birthday,” Alistair asked with a raised brow. Liliana bit her lip, looking down. He was right. It wasn’t her place to make such demands of her stepbrother.

“But, I did like the performance.” Alistair continued, and Liliana’s head shot up, looking at her brother with wide eyes.

“It would be quite a party if you had an act like that there. You’d be the talk of society for months,” Emyr said, though he sounded far less excited by that prospect that his words implied. Her brother, however, brightened immediately at the idea of the popularity he could gain.

“I’m sure everyone would try to emulate your party afterwards too!” Liliana jumped in, grabbing onto her brother’s weakness for enjoying the spotlight with both hands. Her brother took on a thoughtful look that slowly turned devious.

“Yes, I could set a trend among the nobles. It’ll be the talk of society for years if I do,” Alistair said, and Liliana beamed. She didn’t much care for noble society. For the way their words always had multiple hidden meanings, how they all seemed ready to stab each other in the back for the slightest bit of a rise in station. However, she could understand some of it, and setting a trend could raise someone in the eyes of other nobles. Doing it multiple times could raise you to the top of noble society, with others flocking to you to stay in style.

“Then let’s go!” Liliana said, grabbing her brother’s arm and dragging him towards the performers. Her brother might be looking for political power here, but she was looking for martial power. Power that couldn’t be robbed from her with a cruel rumor or passing noble fancies.

“Liliana!” Alistair dragged her to a stop, and Liliana almost tripped over her feet at the sudden resistance. She looked over at her brother, confused.

“This is not how we do things. I’ll send a guard to discuss the terms with the ringmaster. It’s not proper for me to do it in person,” Alistair told her sternly. Liliana wilted, frowning at her shoes. Why were there always so many stupid rules she had to follow? Why could she never do as she wanted?

“We should see the full circus before we leave, to be sure their act is acceptable,” Emyr spoke up as Alistair sighed. Liliana looked up, eyes hopeful. Emyr shot her a small smile and Liliana mirrored him.

“Fine, fine. We can see the circus before we leave. I’ll send a guard afterwards to discuss a contract for my birthday,” Alistair conceded, and Liliana beamed at both boys.

A flyer appeared in front of her face, as if it had materialized from thin air. Liliana grabbed it on instinct and looked around. Her eyes caught Bertran’s black ones. The man tipped his hat with his trunk once more before turning to his performers.

“They’re performing tomorrow night,” Emyr read off the flyer. Liliana jolted and looked back at the flyer and saw that Emyr was, in fact, correct. They were performing the next night. And every night this week.

“Did you just read that through the paper?” Liliana asked suspiciously. Emyr nodded.

“It was backwards!” She said as her brother herded her and Emyr back the way they’d come and she didn’t resist. Though she threw one last longing look over her shoulder at the performers.

“Don’t try to figure out how he does things. He’s a weird one,” Alistair sighed.

Emyr didn’t seem insulted by that, rather he seemed proud, his chest puffing out a bit and a smile on his face. Perhaps it was because of the affectionate way Alistair had said the words, less of an insult, more like it was an endearment.

Liliana clutched the flyer close to her chest, feeling excited and truly hopeful. The dour energy that had been hanging over all of them seemed to have lifted, and Liliana hoped that tomorrow night’s performance and deal would completely banish it for them.