Consorting with the Enemy

Note to Rachel and Spiffy: I fiddled with this a little bit and added quite a chunk to the ending. Tell me if there's any changes you want made!

"We're going to a circus!" Marie began cheering nearly as soon as she'd finished her own act, and did not stop as the matinee performance of the Cirque du la Vapeur finished up. Somehow, the fact that she saw a circus every day, nearly without exception and the fact that this circus was their evil hated rivals, did nothing to dampen the excitement of a girl who rarely got to see shows she was not working. "I'm gonna go change into something pretty!" she announced as soon as the acrobats had finished putting all at ready for that evening's show, and dashed off to make herself pretty, just in case the very pretty acrobats spotted them in the audience.

As Marie rushed by Alexandra's cabin, the fortune teller called out to her young friend, "what are you in such a hurry to get to?"

Marie slid to a dramatic halt, having been in the middle of dashing to her cabin when Alexandra called her. "We're going to see the other circus!" she explained breathlessly. "They gave me a ticket last night." She shuffled a bit embarrassedly. "I thought I'd, y'know, dress up a bit. Since we don't go to shows often an' all."

Alexandra smiled at Marie, "It sounds like fun, but I hope you aren't going alone. If they recognize what circus you are from, they might not treat you well."

Colette approached. "I'm taking her, Alexandra. Against my better judgment."

At least this time there won't be any wine to throw," Marie said cheerfully, before fleeing into her little cabin to change out of her stage costume.

Colette dusted her palms off before pulling her white gloves snugly on under her red cuffs. "There's no way they could know we're with la Vapeur." She fidgeted a little nervously with a button.

After a series of impressive crashing sounds from inside the cabin, she skipped back out in a yellow walking skirt, tied at the waist with a brightly-colored sash no doubt lifted from a performer's costume, and a hand-me-down blouse trimmed in lace similarly lifted from old costumes. It was perhaps the only respectable outfit she owned, and she was quite proud of it. "Ready to go!" she announced, tying a bonnet over her hair, which was still a tangled, post-performance mess of braids. She'd even thought to take off her rosette - better safe than sorry.

"I wouldn't bet on it. We were wearing our rosettes and knowing Asmodeus he wasn't subtle in threatening the acrobat." Alexandra said quietly to Colette as Marie bounced out of the cabin.

Colette blinked. "He what?" She bit off that line of talk as Marie approached. "Alexandra, we'll... we'll talk about this. Tonight, after the show?" She wanted to stay and discuss this at length, but part of her was eager to leave this camp and attend the other circus. She looked dubiously down at her attire. "Perhaps I should leave this here." She stripped off the red coat and handed it to Alexandra. "If you would be so kind to reaffix the loose seams? I'll add payment to your share of the ticket sales tonight, of course."

"Of course. I'll make your favorite tea as well," Alexandra checked the watch around her neck, "but I must go, I need to start telling fortunes now that the show's over."

Colette bowed slightly. "Of course. Luck be with you." She turned to Marie. "Ready?"

Marie nodded cheerfully, though she cast a suspicious look at both Alexandra and Colette for whatever they'd stopped talking about when she'd arrived. "Bye Alexandra! See you tonight!" she said, and led the way out of the Cirque encampment.

"Bye! Have fun, Marie!" Alexandra said as she headed back toward the main tent.

Colette was a little less excited than the little acrobat, more driven by a desire to see what the Hirondelle was up to. They walked together, Marie darting ahead or chattering excitedly, and Colette a little more pensive.

Finally, as they approached the bright teal tent, Colette pulled Marie aside. "They may or may not recognize us, but even if they do, we've every right to be there. We're patrons today, that's all. Do you understand? Don't say anything about la Vapeur. Nothing. The man who runs this circus is... vindictive. And competitive. No need to incite trouble unduly."

Marie was a bit taken aback by the warning, but nodded all the same. "Is that what you and Alexandra were whispering about when I came out?" she asked, a bit more boldly than was perhaps advisable.

Colette frowned. "Not exactly." She knew it was hypocritical to tell Marie to play it safe when Colette fully intended to sneak around and do a little behind-the-scenes investigation, but Marie was a child. She needed to be protected. Colette didn't need protection--in fact, anyone who got in her way would be more in need of it.

"But you know him," Marie pressed. "The gentleman who runs this one. Did you go t'ringleader school together or somethin'?" She smiled a bit at the thought - for all she knew there really was such a thing as ringleader school, but she was already distracted from the idea as a swell of bright, odd music drifted from inside the tent.

"He has a reputation." Of course, that wasn't all she knew of him, but the swarm of ticket-holders was slowly moving towards the tent's entrance, and she nudged Marie forward. She handed a staff member money for her own entrance, and Marie's free pass. The garish writing gleamed in the semi-dark, and the names of the acrobats stood out against the paper. Showtime.

Marie would have prodded further, but her attention was now firmly elsewhere as she and Colette joined the crowd entering the tent. She squeezed her way through the crowd to get seats near the front, only thinking to look back for Colette after having stepped on three ladies dresses, knocked a gentleman's hat off, and claimed the prized front-and-center seats.

Colette sat next to her, a little apprehensive. Down here, they'd either be at the focus of the actors' attention, or ignored as the performers looked at the more centrally seated audience. No way of telling how it would go, but unless she were in the back, she wouldn't dare sneaking off to do a bit of spying. She'd have to wait until after the show, then. More's the pity.

Christophe, the animal tamer of Cirque de la Hirondelle, emerged from the dark animal housing tent and made his way into the main tent. He had been with the circus for over 15 years and had no worries about his performance. He scanned the people in the first few rows of the seats, wondering if there were any old friends who might be showing up. He notice one striking woman with a man's top hat sitting front center next to a brightly clad girl. "I wonder.... Could it really be?" he murmured to himself.

Colette shifted uncomfortably. This was a mistake. She wanted to snoop, not sit here and watch her former life parade in front of her like some kind of damn... circus. She almost laughed at the irony, but the chuckle died in her throat as performers began to enter the ring.

"Christophe," she mouthed, shocked, before reaching up and almost waving her fingers in greeting. She flinched away from the motion, adjusting her top hat instead and pulling it a little lower over her eyes.

Marie leaned forward, elbows propped on her knees, to watch the animal tamer begin his act. It was certainly unlike what she was used to seeing - she giggled out loud, trying to imagine Marguerite sticking her head into one of her lion's mouths as this performer did with his. "Perhaps we should get some big animals," she whispered to Colette, looking up, then frowning at the unhappy look on the ringmaster's face. "What's wrong?"

She looked away, noting the full seats. For their first performance, the place was packed. They were a long-established, successful circus, with a devoted following in nearly every town across Europe. Their name was known worldwide. "They're certainly popular," she whispered. "But our animals are more unique."

Building up la Vapeur from the dirt was more worthy anyways, she thought. The results were more satisfying, the travels more dangerous and the risks more rewarding. Anyone can be a cog in a machine already built. No creativity in that.

The old man squinted into the seats, trying to make out the features of the woman. He twisted his moustache thoughtfully, as the woman leaned into towards her friend, the new angle showing more of her face. "It is, it's Colette!" He almost shouted aloud in joy.

"I suppose. They can't eat anyone," Marie said thoughtfully, as if unsure whether this was a good thing or a bad thing. The threat of being eaten certainly seemed to make a more exciting show. She turned her attention back to it, and found the animal tamer looking directly at them. She started to wave, thinking it part of the act, then stopped. "He's staring at you," she pointed out in a whisper.

Colette almost rolled her eyes at his behaviour. "Focus on your act, Christophe, or you'll lose an arm," she wanted to tell him. He'd always been there to joke with, to share stories with, and to ask for advice. He was good-hearted, which in the Hirondelle, was a rare trait. "Perhaps," she told Marie. "But I doubt it. You're dressed far more colourfully."

Marie would have liked to respond with some clever retort - she was quite sure he was staring at Colette, not her - but before she could come up with one the lion roared and she nearly jumped out of her seat with surprise. It was never quite so loud when Marguerite's roared like that! Marie mentally noted a sudden, newfound appreciation for her circus's unnatural little beasts, for all she disliked them.

Christoph had always thought of her as a daughter, one he had never had. He understood that the tragedy was a more than understandable reason for her to leave, but he had wished she at least kept in touch. The roar of a lion dragged his attention back to his act. He needed to concentrate and Colette was always telling him that.

Colette felt a twinge of sadness. Christophe had always taken such pride in his little devils, as he called the cubs, and she didn't recognize a single animal out there in the ring with him. She'd missed so much... births, shows, stories, jokes. The kind of thing they used to exchange at late hours, celebrating their victories together... If anyone would be willing to speak with her about Jacque's--and the Hirondelle's--erratic behaviour of late, Christophe would be the one. They'd arrived at the Hirondelle within two years of each other, and had been close from then until the night she left without a word. She regretted not leaving him word, but... c'est la vie. Things happen.


The animal tamer's act was winding down; Marie joined the audience in applauding, but again caught sight of the unhappy look on Colette's face. "It'll be fine," she said, misreading the ringleader's expression. "Like you said, we're here as audience. We can't get in any trouble."

Colette nodded to Marie. "Of course. Of... I'll be right back." At Marie's bewildered face, Colette fished out a thin package of cigarettes. "Smoke." She backed out of the aisle, and darted out of the tent. Shoving the cigarettes back into her pocket, she raced around the outside of the tent, ducking into the shadows to avoid a few crew hauling a huge pallet of grain bags. She quickly found the performers' area behind the tent and waited in the dark for Christophe to come out. A few clowns wandered by, but they took no notice of her, intent on the upcoming act.

Christophe has seen her leaving her aisle and realized her intentions. He raced out of the tent once his animals were safely put away. In the shadows he saw a womans slight figure and knew it was Colette. The animal tamer opened his arms to her like he used to whenever he had been gone for a long trip finding new animals.
Colette nearly sobbed with relief as she threw herself into his embrace. So many years had passed, and it still felt the same. She grinned against his shoulder. "You look well. And still have all your fingers!"

“Of course I do, my dear. You know I'm always careful." He murmured to her as he stroked her hair. "And you look wonderful, you've grown up to become a beautiful woman."

Colette smiled. "You finally see me as more than a little girl, then?" She'd been twelve when Christophe came to the Hirondelle; she was a scared little thing, still unbalanced on the tightrope and terrified of tumbling... She’d travelled with him for almost a decade, firmly attaching herself under his wing. And now, six years had passed since her brother's "accident," since she's fled the circus that had first taught her to be bold. Since she'd seen her favourite lion-tamer.

Christophe held her away from his to better take a look at her, "And how have you been all these years?"

"Busy. I've been touring with another circus. Didn't expect to run into you all again--especially here."

"Yeah, this city holds a lot of memories, for all of us. What other circus are you running with? Any of the famous ones?" He winked at her.

Colette bit her lip. “You know la Vapeur?” His eyes widened in recognition, and she admitted—a little bashfully, which stunned her, as she hadn’t felt this way in years—“I started it.” She’d more than started a circus—she’d poured her heart and soul into dragging it into existence from the ground up, hiding from Jacque behind her brother’s given name, the one he’d shunned the day he left the Nagin household. “We’ve, ah, become quite successful. In our own fashion.” The circus was unique, even as circuses go. Shunning the big animal acts in favour of freaky science and eerily accurate fortunes told outside the rings. Spreading the attention around was drawing more and more attention, ironically enough, and the profits weren’t exactly pouring in, but they were more than enough to keep the group flying and fed. She sighed. Starting the circus had been the solution to a problem she’d never expected. If only she could go back. If only her brother hadn’t…

She stopped herself, allowing herself one final sentiment before consigning herself to digging information out of the friendly Christophe. “I didn’t want to go, Christophe. You know that. If it were up to me, I’d still be with the Hirondelle.”

“I know,” replied the animal tamer. “We miss you. Six years is a long time, but we haven’t forgotten you—Jacque certainly hasn’t, for all the wrong reasons.”

Colette bit her lip. Their fight had been catastrophic. And still, all these years later, she sometimes wondered if it all could have been avoided. Too late now, though. “What’s done is done. I’m more than willing to put it in the past, but Jacque is like a dog with a bone. I can’t believe he set down here—we’ve been established for two days now.”

“Colette, I don’t know what to tell you. We do what we’re told. You know how he is. He said to touch down, put up the big top, so we did. He wouldn’t have competed with just any circus. He knows the rules.”

Colette crossed her arms. “He couldn’t possibly know that I run la Vapeur. Nobody does.”

“Everybody does! La Vapeur is famous, Lettie. So are you.”

“No. Auréle is famous. Le Conquerant is famous. Not Colette. Not me.”

“You can't possibly be so naive. I don’t know that Jacque knew you were here already, or if it was an unhappy coincidence, but there’s no doubt. He knows you're here, and he’s out to ruin you, Colette. He hasn’t forgotten what you did.”

Colette nodded sharply. “Thank you, Christophe. I should return to the show. I’ve left one of my girls inside.”

Christophe reached out, took her elbow before she could turn away. “Lettie, we haven’t forgotten what you did either.” He repeated the opinion softly, and it had an entirely different meaning.

She bent her head, murmuring, “Thank you,” again before reaching forward and giving him a fast embrace. “Farewell.”

Behind her, there was a scurry of motion as Marie rose from where she was kneeling and flitted away, heart pounding and mind laden with questions and doubts.