She’d seen a flier for it in the city on one of her extensive shopping trips and in preparation the day before, she’d searched and searched and searched until she found the right dress. The right accessories. The right jewellery. The right shoes. It didn’t have to be society’s version of perfect. It only needed to be Belidrae’s version. As she examined herself in the mirror, turning this way and that, she concluded that it was. Appropriate for the venue and a great way, she surmised, of making a striking first impression.

Belidrae had been good at that. Further more, she’d known she was good at that. She had been so aware of it, in fact, that there was no doubting she’d used it to her advantage with her clientele down south. Although she’d not entertained any such ideas upon her return to Quel’Thalas, it was a hard thing not to think about and not to consider when knowing what she was about to leave for and where she was going.

On her way out the door, Belidrae reached for a thin, sheer golden shawl and drew it around her shoulders. Valerron was definitely going to hate it, quite possibly most of all when Belidrae didn’t return until the wee hours of the morning. But life was for living and she’d spent over a year doing quite the opposite. She was going to make use of her ring, of her illusion, and see what the Red Moon had to offer.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

It was a beautiful location, both the general vicinity and the interior. It looked just like what she would have expected a place of that calibre to look in the harbour of their very fair city. Well, perhaps a more contemporary version of it, which was good. Needed, even. The sin’dorei—hell, all elves really—were sometimes too stuck on tradition and old ways. There were places for such things, certainly, but clinging onto the past really did more harm than good. If the rest of the world was changing, their people did, too. Otherwise, the world was simply going to move on without them. And the sin’dorei were much too proud to let that happen.

When she’d been let in, Belidrae had taken her time in appreciating the architecture. She made a mental note of various locations. It was immense, really. Incredibly impressive. Perhaps not something she might have anticipated when she was on the outside waiting patiently for entry. One of the first points of interest had been the bar, not far from the stage, and for some moments, she imagined what kinds of shows might have been performed on it. Burlesque, perhaps. Maybe more exotic pieces.

She didn’t linger overlong there, just enough to procure the first Total Eclipse, something she felt was important when taking in the scenery, and to give some polite exchanges with a dark-haired bartender, who she’d overheard the name of, but given the amount of business they were getting, didn’t seem particularly keen on taking too much of his time. She made a note to come back later and perhaps ask a few more questions about the work they did and his own experiences in his time there.

Was it a nice place to work? Looked like it could be. Probably afforded more protections than she’d ever had doing the work she had before her return. Of course, that was the trouble when one was working for themselves rather than a madame or something else of that nature. Belidrae didn’t consider herself to have a long list of impressive talents, but she had, at the very least, known she was good with people. That still hadn’t changed, even if she had a tendency to meddle and annoy others with the way she something prodded her cute little nose into a situation that otherwise didn’t involve her.

She wouldn’t be doing too much of that tonight. She was only here to scope, to survey, to investigate, to meet the people, and perhaps see if it was a place she might like to see more often. Or a place that she’d potentially fit into. And of course, to indulge in some drinks, plenty of which she suspected were going to be paid for with Valerron’s coinpurse.

The views were beautiful, being able to see far out across the water. Belidrae loved that especially, and she didn’t doubt that it was because she had always held some kind of appreciation for it. The sound, the scent, that little kiss of salt on the air and in her hair, making her seem more like a beached golden nymph rather than an elf. A book she’d read when she was quite young had said that those who longed for the sea harboured great turbulence within themselves. She hadn’t thought much of that at the time, but as she grew older, she felt like she resonated with it more.

Maybe more so because of the way that the Void still tore at her mind, even when she put on her best smile and her best act, trying not to seem like the liability that she very well could have been. Discipline, she’d reminded herself. In the Red Moon, there was enough noise to drown out all of those whispers that otherwise tried to tug at her. Between conversation and music, it was exactly what she needed to have some cohesive thought to herself. Say she did decide to work for such a place, or even anything like it. Valerron wouldn’t let her hear the end of it. She could keep it a secret for a time, but that wasn’t going to last forever. Not when she was living in his estate. Especially not if she had her name plastered on something he might see in public.

He could be swayed if he knew she was making her own coin, however, and not spending his. Maybe. Depending on what kind of work she did. She’d never told him about the clients she took on in the south, knowing very well that if she did, he might start to see it as some kind of failing on his part. After all, Belidrae hadn’t exactly done it because she enjoyed it. It had been purely a necessity. She happened to be good at it and she’d been capable of acquiring some fairly impressive coin. There was no reason not to be pragmatic about it. She didn’t hate it. She didn’t love it. It was a means to an end. But that could change, perhaps. Anything could, after all, and nothing ever really stayed the same, whether someone recognised change or not.

As the night drew on, more of her unspoken questions went answered. On the equally impressive showcase stage, it wound up housing beautiful people. Glamorous people. Made her almost think of a few of the higher society functions she’d attended before returning to Quel’Thalas, when she’d observed the fashion trends for her own studies and design projects. Back when she’d thought she might go that route. A shame she wasn’t still doing that in the present, though the only thing stopping her from picking up needle and thread was herself.

And memories. Memories always stopped her. Like she just wasn’t ready yet, and didn’t know if she ever would be again.

The musical pieces weren’t what she thought they would be, which pleasantly surprised her. Classy, elegant, sensual and alluring. She liked it a lot. There were some faces she recognised, having seen them at other galas, though no one she could say she was personally acquainted with. That was sometimes the problem with going to these kinds of things. Belidrae had gone to more and more alone, which meant hours of silence and just listening in on other conversations, occasional compliments on the wear others would have, and rarely any exchanges that lasted more than a few sentences back and forth.

This was definitely not the same thing as those stuffy soirees the Blood Knight Order had sometimes had where she drank and danced to excess, not at all afraid to charm her way into a conversation with one of her brothers’ comrades. Maybe it was just that Belidrae was out of practise when it came to things like that.

As she’d continued her perusal, she eventually found herself examining past crimson curtains that paved way to indulgent cushions and soft rugs. A place of reprieve, perhaps, away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the cabaret and bordello. She’d lost count of her drinks, though she suspected she was on her third, given that she’d already started forking over her brother’s money without much hesitance. When giving her feet a chance to rest and regain some endurance before she’d take to more exploration, she made the acquaintance of a strikingly handsome man with the kind of blonde hair she might have described as sandy or ashen. Impeccably dressed was the first observation she’d made of him. ’Xylaes’ he called himself, not terribly shy about talking her up. A very charismatic man who definitely seemed to know the ins and outs. Just speaking with him, Belidrae suspected he’d been with the Red Moon long enough to be comfortable.

She tried not to ask him anything too prying, sticking largely to questions regarding if he enjoyed what he did. What his favourite part was. Some of the stories of memorable experiences he had, if he was willing to part with them. Innocent little things like that. She told him what she had told so many others, things of little importance. That she dabbled in seamstressing, though some had given her the affectionate title of ‘lace mistress.’ That she had a few older brothers who served in the various affiliations that seemed to build their peoples’ foundation.

But as she listened and shared what she felt she could, she found herself spending a fair amount of time trying to make him laugh, thinking a stunning man like him could only be more so when he was doing that. Or smiling. Although considering his work, she suspected that he might have done plenty of that. In the end, he served as a very worthy distraction, and if she hadn’t been on her own personal mission, she easily could have wasted no shortage of hours with him.

A part of her thought he might have been able to do the same, but she knew that was the purpose of the role. Some people were paid to make other people believe whatever they wanted to believe. With that in her own background, she took most of it with a very pleasant grain of salt. When she reluctantly took to her feet once more and admitted she had more to look at, he presented her with a card. With it, a cheeky invitation that he liked companionship outside of his work as well.

Companionship. It’d made her laugh a little. It’d made her bare all of those teeth and flash him that coquettish curl of her mouth before she dipped her head to hide a part of her face beneath the waves of her hair.

He was cute. She’d have to give his offer some consideration, and she thought on it more as she eventually made her way back past the curtains, somehow managing to not lose her footing, though Belidrae had never exactly considered herself the most graceful woman. In fact, she might have been a woman who played at elegance and was really a little bit more clumsy than she would have liked to admit to. Eyeing his card a few moments more, she thought about the other information he’d given her. As she carefully slid it down the front of her dress for safe keeping, she thought of the beautiful woman she’d seen on stage offering introductions.

Arandori. She was the proprietor of this grand establishment, and splendid it was. Maybe she would need some extra hands. On a day where there wasn’t a large opening, on a day when it wasn’t filled to the brim with people, she’d have to reach out and see if perhaps they were in need of another pair of helping hands.

But until then, she could continue nosily prying her way into each and every little delightful morsel that the Red Moon had to offer. More coin to spend. More drinks to have. More late hours to spend until she’d undoubtedly make her way back home to an estate where a Farstrider would be most unimpressed with her conduct. And then she’d flash him the flutter of her dark eyelashes and surely he’d forget all about it. She’d always had him wrapped about her finger.

— @daily-writing-challenge