The city buzzed. It was nearly curfew and people were eager to buy what they ought to before the curfew kicked in. Giselle strolled around the buzzing, stuffy area, squeezing between sweaty bodies and inhaling cheap perfumes. The cobblestones below them grumbled as the villagers floated around the area, buying and selling with eagerness, loud chatters piercing the air.
Giselle pressed past a few more bodies before she stopped before the stall she was set to buy from. The old woman's face lit up immediately she saw her.
"Oh, my beautiful angel is here." She cooned, pressing a fragile hand to Giselle's cheek. Giselle leaned into her touch and kissed her hand, her smile radiant.
"Do you still have it?"
"Yes, of course, mi lady. Absolutely." The woman bent over, rummaging through a box before she found that in which she searched for and straightened up, groaning already from the muscles stretch. She handed an item wrapped in a white small sack to Giselle.
Giselle accepted it, feeling the structure on her palm. She leaned in to the woman, whispering into her ear, "Are you sure this will do?"
"Certainly! It is the most demanded item in the north at the moment. Ask around, that little thing you hold cost a arm in the north." She whispered, ensuring the words were for Giselle's ears alone.
Giselle grinned and peeked at it through the sack.
The most beautiful hairpin she had ever set her gaze on. It had emerald stones and it was carved into a dancing princess. She quickly covered the sack when a trader sauntered past her.
Giselle reached out for her small purse and passed three coins of Drakas to her. The old woman accepted it with a delightful grin.
"Keep the change." Giselle said with the brightest grin and stalked away.
Nothing was more tortuous than standing before the door step of that horrific three storey building around LN 5 corner. They hovered over her, glaring down at her, set to give her the most horrific night ever.
She stared up at it and even without the building beginning it's torture already, warm liquid descended on her from the second floor.
It stank. Very badly. And only when she flipped open her wet lashes did she realize it was urine.
It trickled down her face and stained her lips, tasting of salt.
A blonde hair stuck out through the second floor window. Paula.
A wicked grin played on her lips as she looked down at Giselle.
"Why are you standing there, silly scramp? Get in, you have work to do!"
She barked and stuck her tongue out, sticking her head back in.
Giselle tightened her fist around the sack in which she retrieved from the market place.
Just as the curfew bell echoed through the city, she stepped in, slamming the door behind her.
Her eldest brother and her eldest sister sat at the breakfast room, spreading honey on bread and munching deliciously.
Her elder sister, shoulder-length honey brown hair is the first to notice her as she prepared to make it up the stairs.
She eyed her. "What the hell? Why do you look like that?" Willa asked.
Giselle let out an exhausted sigh. "Paula emptied the chamber on me."
Thomas, her eldest brother, engrossed in reading a newspaper looked up from the paper, "That is urine?"
He demanded.
"Ye-es, it is."
"Then, get those feet off the carpet and wash up!!"
Giselle flinched and jogged up the stairs, skipping through the hallway and making it into the washroom.
"Giselle, is that you?! Be fast with whatever you are busy with and come help me with my dress." Norma's voice echoed.
"Hey, little mice, come and dust my shoes for the debutant meeting tomorrow." That was her brother Warrick.
"Giselle!!! Are you deaf or did I not tell you to arrange my closet?!" That was from Bertha.
"Hey, Giselle? Do you mind laying my bed. I love the way you lay Paula's mattress." That was Carol with the tiny voice and dotted, red and round lips.
"Giselle, come do my nails!"
"Giselle, iron my clothes!"
"Giselle, feed those cats!"
"Giselle—!"
She slammed the door, shutting out Bertha's request.
She had always preferred when the curfew wasn't until midnight. She can walk in when more than half of her siblings were fast asleep. But the stupid demon roaming the town just had to ruin it all.
She slumped onto the carpet floor and laid down.
The bright moonlight slithered through the window sills of her bedroom. They appeared dazzling and they stared right back her.
Now that she had fulfilled all the house servants duty, she got on her feet and got dressed in her dancing attire.
The gorgeous moonlight brightening the room was the perfect time to perform.
She got into the slip dress with thin v-neck strap. The dress fitted perfectly, pressing gently into her curves.
She went over her table and grabbed the brush, brushing the silver strands to a neat style. She reached for the sack she had hid under her bed and grabbed the pin, admiring the dancing princess embedded on it before slipping it through her hair to pin it in place. Then, she reached for her drawer—the last one, opened it with the key and brought out the make up.
Make up wasn't always needed because there was no audience to witness her performance but she always felt she would be watched one day.
She always felt one day, when she wasn't aware, someone would be watching how she twisted around and danced enthusiastically.
So she applied the oil to glisten her silky face, she applied the gloss to make her lips more soft just the way Morcant always hated it or maybe he loved it…
She checked out herself in the mirror, affirmed that she appeared so graciously and stepped into the moonlight.
Then, she began dancing. To a nonexistent music but she still twisted and turned as though music was playing loud and into her ears.
Her hips swayed, her legs dipped, her body moved with addiction.
She had created few more steps at the workshop earlier that day and they were even better than she had imagined.
Her back is turned to the window when a male silhouette suddenly appeared. He moved slowly but gracefully, moving closer as if he was trying to get a better view of her. She danced regardless, gulping down as she continued twisting her hips to a non-existent beat. The silhouette paused, his hand moving slowly to remove his hat.
Then, to her horror, he suddenly dissolved. Like a smoke.
She froze. Her lips hung open in shock.