come one, come all, to the greatest show on earth:

There certainly were many, many pretty girls about. Everest’s wingman, his buddy Silber, had already absconded his duties by waltzing off with a very attractive brunette. That left Everest over by a barrel of mead, trying his luck with blonde with very long eyelashes.

“Imelda,” he repeated, rolling the name around his mouth, trying it out. “What a beautiful name.”

He leaned against the barrel, smiling disarmingly at her. She was smiling too; an uneven smile, quirked in one corner of the lips and glinting in one eye, like she knew exactly what his game was. She was really, very pretty: her golden hair curled over one shoulder, pinned in place by butterfly clips, and her blue eyes were the colour of a clear sky. As she leant forward, Everest could smell her lavender perfume. She looked like she was about to say something – that Everest was the handsomest man she’d ever seen, probably – when a wolf whistle pierced through the crowd. Everyone by the barrels turned in unison to stare at the offender, but only Everest met her grin for grin.

His blonde friend melted away into the crowd, but that was okay. Everest barely noticed. He raised his tankard at Bryar, as if in toast to her good taste, and took a swig. She was stood next to him by the time he lowered it.

“Later in the evening,” he confirmed, answering her question about the circus performance.

He neglected to mention that it wasn’t exactly a scheduled performance. Almost all of the circus were present, most of them to enjoy the party, but a few of them had agreed on an ‘impromptu’ show later on. They hadn’t been hired, but passing up the opportunity to advertise to the largest group of Shamanites they were ever going to see gathered in one place was just crazy. Everest himself was supposed to do a few stunts on horseback once the horses were brought round later in the evening.

His grin widened a touch when she asked about the pretty girls.

“And you just cost me one!” He gestured at the empty space where the blonde girl had stood and gave a sigh for effect. “So, you owe me. And I think,” he extended a hand, his mismatched eyes sparkling, “I shall cash in your debt in the form of a dance. May I?”

He closed his fingers over hers and stepped up closer to her, careful to keep his eyes on hers. It was really hard not to let them drift lower, since her boobs looked awesome in that dress.

“You clean up well, Bryar Rose,” he remarked, leading her towards the dancefloor. “Not secretly a princess, are you?”

dankeschön,

everest