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Chapter Two
Truth be told, I felt anxious because I had no clue what to expect.
The black and glittery gold stripes of the big top seemed otherworldly at first, so different from the traditional red-and-white striped circus tents I remembered from picture books. The eerie black and gold theme suggested the tent housed something almost macabre within. But as I entered, I wasn’t greeted by ghoulish clowns or sinister organ music, which I’m ashamed to admit I’d actually expected. Instead, I was surprised at how normal everything looked. A semi-circular amphitheater encircled the main ring, its mostly unoccupied seats waiting for the night crowd.
A group of men sat in the stands, tuning their instruments. Two ladies juggled knives, tossing them back and forth to one another. A man balanced on a unicycle, moving fearlessly across a thin wooden beam. As I stepped forward, I became acutely aware of a tightrope spanning overhead, made visible by an unseen source of light.
I slowly walked across the floor, careful not to stare at any of the performers, although they were a marvel to behold, milling about and rehearsing. A strange sense of familiarity and tranquility washed over me as I observed my surroundings. Even though the familiarity made no sense, since I’d never stepped foot inside this particular circus before, it set my mind at ease, even though I couldn’t explain why. It was like one of those magical moments of twilight, where the light is both faded and bright, poised on the cusp of transition from one juncture to the next.
If you blink, you might miss it.
Whipping around, I felt the distinct sensation of someone’s gaze settling on me from behind. Toward one of the side entrances stood the performers I’d seen before—three clowns, a fire-eater, and the reptilian woman with the green snake. Her gaze was fixed on me, her yellow eyes so similar to the snake’s—narrowed and calculating. They both stared at me unapologetically, as if they knew me. Of course, they didn’t, and so I had no idea why my arrival would capture their interest.
Interestingly, the hair on the back of my neck stood up, and I turned around, heart in my throat, as I suddenly found myself face to chest with a very well-dressed man. I immediately glanced up, an apology on my lips and found him beaming down at me.
“Hello,” he said as he extended his hand and I took his large one in mine automatically as I continued to stare up at him. It was almost as if I couldn’t break his gaze, it was just so intense.
“Um, hello,” I answered in a mouse voice.
I couldn’t explain it, but I was instantly mesmerized by his brilliant, gray eyes. Swallowing hard, my throat was suddenly dry and my heart was pounding in my chest, as if warning me a grizzly bear was charging me from behind.
And yet… yet, there was no grizzly bear.
There was only this man.
And he was quite debonair in his violet tailcoat. Its silver buttons reflected the low light of the tent’s interior and the black trim accented his broad shoulders. Beneath his top hat, wisps of sandy blond hair framed his handsome face. If I had to guess, I would have put him in his mid to late twenties.
“Bindi Bairam, I presume?” he asked as he brought my hand to his mouth and kissed the top of it ever so gently. As he pulled his hand away, I caught sight of a dark spot on the inside of his wrist, a dark inked tattoo of a design of some sort.
This must be Laurent.
Although Halfrieda had told me I was expected, I was still surprised to hear him call my by my name. I tried not to show that surprise, though. “Mr. El… Elilchelvan?” I labored to pronounce his surname.
He dipped his head low toward me in a small bow. “Please call me Laurent. Mr. Elilchelvan sounds so…” He stood up straight again, pulling his hand free of mine as a small bouquet of fiery-red and ebony-black flowers suddenly appeared in my palm. “Pompous, if you know what I mean?”
I gasped, clutching the fragrant spider lilies and roses as I inhaled their subtle scent, marveling at how he’d magically produced such a rare arrangement, seemingly out of nowhere. The blooms were flawless, as exquisite as the man who’d just thrust them into my hand. “How did you…?”
Laurent grinned from ear to ear, like a child given praise. “Do you like them? I’ve been working on the timing of that trick for days now.”
“Oh, I thought… you were the ringmaster.”
“Not only am I the circus ringmaster, but I’m also an illusionist. As they say, I’m a jack-of-all-trades, and master of none!” Laurent chuckled and placed a friendly hand on my shoulder, turning me away from the snake woman and her pet. They still stared at us with those eerie, golden eyes. I couldn’t help but swallow hard as I faced Laurent with a wilted smile.
“Who… who is that woman with the snake?” I asked.
“Oh, don’t mind her. That’s Valida.”
“She looks like she ate something sour,” I managed.
Laurent chuckled. “She’s just our snake charmer and she can be rather… dour.” He glanced down at me and gave me a little wink, as if this conversation were just between the two of us. I couldn’t help but smile back at him. “She keeps tabs on whatever’s happening around here. Sometimes, she can be a bit of a busybody.”
“Ah,” I answered and faced him as he stopped walking to face me and doing so, held my gaze. There was a flash of something in his eyes that almost spoke to a sense of reunion—as if we’d met before, but that was impossible, because I’d never seen him before.
“It is… so good to see you,” he whispered and there was something in his eyes that was warm, an emotion echoed in the smile that took over his lips. And yet… the intimacy of his expression and his words—the way he said them—as if he’d known me my entire life—was off-putting because it was so strange.
“Oh, it’s… well,” I struggled to find the right words. “Nice to see you too.”
He nodded and seemed to remember himself because he gave me a hurried, yet apologetic sort of gaze as he started walking again. “Anyway, I received your recent letter mentioning you and your friend were interested in auditioning for our circus, for the Cirque du Noir.”
