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Noticing er shut and went to sort through a long rack of clothes, clearly the everyday stuff The colors ashed-out and simple, probably eneration of attire I longed to runcostulitter called to e to dress and wait for that breathless moment before the curtain rose

"Petticoats: black Skirt: dark blue Chemise: eh, used to be white" She shoved a stack of fabric into my arms and shooed me ahile she turned back to the rack I dutifully slipped on the che the frayed cord tightly The skirt had to go over my head to fall over theotten dressed in Sang, back when Mrs Cleavers had ruled the caravan’s costuon with an iron, pointy fist, I’don underwear, jeans, and a T-shirt I had long ago given up hope of ever ending up in a world where you could walk outside in only one layer of clothing or show sleek, tanned legs in shorts

At least I got to enjoy the sensation of life without the typical corset Most girls in e twelve and only took it off for half an hour at a ti By the tilass for space My life, although strange, was an i of which"Is there a shower?"

The costuet clean?"

"I told you: there’s rain" She wheezed herself into a coughing fit "But if you don’t like shaking your rump in the alleys, it’s ewer and cloth, sarimaced "What, you don’t have a ewer in your room?"

"No, ers And not just the ones that were born with ’em I’ll have that fixed"

That earned a genuine smile from me "Thank you"

She handed e in a drawer "Never been as fine a life as it looks like frola attics in winter, the bruises on your waist, the girls who’ll stab you in the back just to s your pain and fear Never think about how the brightest stars wink out the fastest All the oes down Back here, behind the curtain, the world stands still"

"Are you saying I should find other employment?"

She smirked "You’re a lifer, honey We can s to watch your back Wherever you came from, it’s a smaller, sweeter place than this Don’t let Mortmartre kill what’s best in you"

I was so intent on her words that I accidentallyhands away to fix it herself

"And watch out for Liirl’s as sour as they come Men like that, for some reason" She handed me a pair of worn linen slippers, which were a little loose without

"Stockings?"

She wagged her head "No point Not in here Not until show time No men and no customers allowed past the door until dusk, and then only in black tie and after paying Girls here have already seen everything you’ve got and then so in dirty leggings, I wished for the millionth ti I’d never appreciated drugstores until I woke up in a place where toiletries were sold by traveling tinkers or rimoire

When the old daimon handeda neat stack of pins on her table As I gently brushed the dried sweat out of my dark waves, she shoved me back and pressed my shoulders until I landed with a thump in her chair Soon the brush was in her claw, and she was ripping through my hair until it snapped with static Once it was all done, she began braiding it so tightly the corners ofit a French braid But here it was a Franchian braid, and if I remembered correctly from the papers, it had fallen out of favor with anyone of taste and class

I sighed, and she patted h, dear Impatience is a bitch of a mistress"

"I could perform now"

"Ah, but you won’t"

Her hand stayed on my shoulder as if she understood that my every instinct screamed for me to leap up and run away I wasn’t sure which bothered in my ascendency to stardom or that Cherie felt farther away than ever while I sat here, hopeless, doing nothing I looked up at the bare lightbulb shining directly onto the sewing machine and realized that I wanted--no, needed--to see the sky Criminy had always told an to understand what he s, predators who didn’t take well to obedience We belonged out in the wild, noour prey I’d felthere, still, tightly braided, and obedient

"Go on, then They’ll be expecting you backstage" I perked up, and she added, "To sweep up feathers, probably, or act as a pretty net for the high fliers Don’t get excited yet"

"At least e"

"That’s the spirit, kid"

I stood and stared at the open door It stared right back

"Thanks for your help and advice"

"They just call me Blue"