Ashley and I arrived at one of my favourite safe houses a little past noon. We had hours before the festival was to kick off, and we could get ready for a night on the town while we waited. I decided to take her to the best seamstress in the city to get fitted for festival clothes, and then stop at a small stand on the side of one of the crowded backstreets where we could get a small bite to eat. The seamstress was a long-time acquaintance, and the street vendor was a familiar face, so I knew Ashley would be safe for a little while more.

After Ashley picked out her clothing for the festival, a deep blue and gold cheongsam with a royal purple and silver jacket for when it got cold, she insisted I get something to wear that wasn’t my same old grey tee shirt and black pants. There was some back and forth between Ashley and my seamstress, and eventually I was pushed into a circle in the center of the room. Once in the circle, I was poked and prodded and eventually shoved unceremoniously into a deep purple shirt with three-quarter sleeves that opened like bells. Then my pants were gone. As soon as I recognized this fact, another set of pants was forced upon me. These were a darker shade of black, and the material was lighter than what I was accustomed too, but the fit was divine.

The two women took a moment to admire their handiwork before applying a few finishing touches. A set of copper-rimmed half-shades and a bangle made of brass were used to accentuate my new look. It was odd, especially for someone who preferred wearing muted colors and being relatively unnoticed, but Ashley seemed pleased with it. I paid a small fortune to the seamstress, asking if she could make some pants like my other set but with the fit of the dress pants she had put on me as a side project, and we hurried out of the shop with our new clothing in bags.

We reached the backstreet I was looking for, and in mere moments found my associate and sometimes info broker peddling his delicacies. He and I chatted for a bit as Ashley ate her fill of flatbread and shaved meats. Apparently there was some new singer in town for the festival, a little diva with a punky attitude. He slid me an envelope, smiling, with the words “a gift for a long time customer” hanging on his lips. I thanked him, paid for Ashley’s meal, bought a loaf of his regular bread, and we were off.

I didn’t open the envelope until we got back to my safe house and Ashley started changing into her outfit. Inside were two tickets, purchased in my name, to the event this evening. Most impressive about these tickets were that they were center-front of the auditorium and served to act as all access passes after the show. How did he know I was going to be in town? I wondered before placing the tickets in the pockets of my new pants.

It was about an hour later we left the house; taking to the main commerce district, we found ourselves gazing into bright lights and flashes of color that made my eyes wince a little. When they finally adjusted, I was looking at a throng of people in colourful clothing dancing and running about between storefronts, pop-up shops, cart-drawn merchants, and small stalls for games and entertainment. People from a decent distance away must have come to romp about, which was both good and bad. Sure, it’d be easy to get lost in a crowd… but it would also be easy to lose people in a crowd. Talk about your plusses and minuses.

I didn’t have much time to plan anything, as Ashley grabbed my arm and tore off into the crowd. Her energy, while infectious, was just as likely to get us killed as it was to get us where she wanted to go. Luckily, I had placed a rudimentary tracking device on her clothing, so getting separated was no big problem… but I still hoped it wouldn’t happen. I was in luck though, she never once let go of my arm during the two hours we cavorted about the district leading to the big show.

We found the amphitheatre alright, and even better, we found our seats with no trouble. In all, I’d have called the whole evening a success, but we were still only halfway done. Trouble strikes when you let your guard down, so I couldn’t relax just yet. In fact, I was on edge until the opening act finished their last set and the hype-girl came back on stage to rile up the crowd for the main attraction.

“Please welcome, all the way from the homeworld of punk rock, Trish Ragnus!” The woman eventually shouted into her mike and jumped off the stage. Then the lights went down, the audience roared, and the thrumming of an electric guitar squealed from somewhere on stage. Fog machines kicked on and colored lights began to illuminate the stage, and a small figure stepped from the back into the light.

I cocked my head to the side, a little surprised. It was the girl who had been in the limo earlier. I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised, what with only seeing one “fancy” vehicle enter the city, but I’d assumed they had hopped the first airship out of town. With the lights and noise all around, it was a spectacle to be sure, but I wasn’t ever a really big fan of noisy events, so I decided to meditate while I had a chance. It would give me time to plan Ashley’s departure and figure out my next move.

Or that was the plan, until right close to the end where the girl on stage caught sight of Ashley and I. A devious smile crossed her face, and I felt a chill down my spine, which was enough to break my meditation. Glancing over, I saw Ashley was having the time of her life and didn’t seem to be in any trouble at the moment.

“And now, ladies and pig-dogs, I’m going to need a member of the audience to step up on stage with me. Let’s see… who to pick?” The girl said into the microphone, barely breathing hard at all even with almost two hours of hard performing having gone by.

I blinked and looked back up on stage, which was a bad idea. Our eyes locked, and her devious grin grew wider. “How about the gent in purple? You’re right up here anyway, come on, let’s see you get up here and help me rock this next one.”

I looked around, trying to find a way out, eventually pointing at myself to confirm that I was her intended victim, and a simple nod threw the girls and guys around me into a frenzy. Ashley started shaking me and pushed me out of my chair. I stumbled a moment, caught myself, and decided it was time to show off a little. I closed my eyes for a moment, focused my will into a disk of wing beneath my feet, and slowly rose into the air. I then made smaller disks to step on, and descended to the stage as if I was walking on nothing.

“Well, if somebody isn’t a fan of theatrics. I guess I have to amp this up. Follow my lead and don’t stop till we’re done.” The girl said and started singing into the mic.

I faced the audience, keeping the little diva in my peripheral vision, and waited. As she was getting ready to start dancing, I noticed her muscles seemed to almost broadcast her intentions, and I thought about trying to keep in time with her instead by practicing reading her movements before they happened. And as it so happened, her first move confirmed that I could read her before she did anything.

I guess it’s cheating, reading someone’s moves before they can make them and mimicking the intention, but this crowd was in for a treat. With each kick, step, twirl, and slide, I was synced with her movements. We moved as one person, split between two forms, and the crowd ate it up. The girl’s eyes conveyed both a feeling of confusion, and then agitation, before finally settling on acceptance. I didn’t know why, but I wasn’t inclined to ask either, so I let it slide.

When the number was finally over, the girl and I took a united bow, and I walked off the stage in a similar fashion as to how I walked on. I was tired, sweaty, and was only so happy to sit down again. With Ashley enraptured in the final performance, I could relax just a little. The last performance was also a slow song, so I knew it would go on for a bit longer than the one I had just danced to. So I resumed my meditation until Ashley shook me back to awareness at the end of the show.

“Did you have fun?” I asked as we exited the auditorium.

She poked me in the ribs, “You looked like you did. You knew those dance moves better than the singer.”

I shook my head. Ashley looked confused.

“I’m sure it’ll all become clear when we sit down with her. We’ve got passes for a meet and greet with her, come on.” I took her gently by the arm and we ducked down a side passage.

We followed the signs until we reached a room with a single guard out front.

“Ah, Eddy-boy, chauffer and guard dog for the little punk princess I see.” I teased as I realized who it was.

“What do you want, creep? Get out of here.” He all but growled.

I pulled out our passes, “But these tell me I’m supposed to meet the artist. Go ahead, verify that with whoever you need to, we’ll be patient.”

Ashley shivered a little at the glare Ed turned on me, but he let us pass unmolested after confirming with the crew behind the door.

Ashley inhaled a gasp at the state of the dressing room, shocked by the sheer state of disarray. I grinned; this all but confirmed to me that the high and mighty were just as much slobs as the average Joe. We then turned our heads when we heard a crashing from our left. The girl from the stage, Trish Ragnus, was sprawled on the floor tangled in clothes that had been scattered about.

“Need some help there pipsqueak?” I called over, making sure to mention her short stature. On stage I had caught that she was no more than five-two.

She wrestled herself free and moved over to one of the chairs in the room, motioning for us to take a seat on the couch across from her. The whole time she had a towel covering her face and she was rubbing intensely.

“Please, sit. The opening act left a mess, I’m just a victim of their entitlement.” She said softly.

As Ashley sat down, she spoke. “You were really impressive on stage. I’ve never seen something so marvellous.”

Trish huffed, “Would have been more impressive had that one jerk not known the moves I had just made up this afternoon. I practiced for five hours, and he comes on stage and it all comes to him like he’d been watching my practices.”

“You might want to take the towel off your head for a second.” I said, leaning back a little and stretching out.

She threw the towel on the ground in frustration and finally looked at us for the first time.

I smiled and waved, “Bet you didn’t see that coming.”

“You son of a biznich. You better have a damn good explanation as to why you knew my dance moves. I spent all last night making those up for today’s performance.” Trish hissed.

I held up a finger to her. “Ashley, can you confirm to our lovely host that I was with you the last two days?”

Ashley nodded, a look of confusion crossed her face.

“And, at any point aside from helping her vehicle on the road, do you recall crossing paths with her?” I asked.

“She was in that fancy car? Are you serious?” Ashley exclaimed loudly in shock.

Trish was getting more and more irritated by the moment. “Then how did you know the moves?”

“I watched your body and copied what your muscles were preparing to do. Simple as that. I’m a trained hunter, that’s the kind of thing we learn to do when we fight monsters.” I said, smiling a little wider.

She nodded for a moment and then looked at me again. “You know, skills like that could make you a fortune in the bodyguard business. I’d be willing to pay handsomely for someone like you.”

“Uh-huh,” I said, “I’m right in the middle of a job, actually. It would be unprofessional of me to discuss taking another when I’m not done with this one.”

Trish passed me a slip of paper and smiled before turning to talk to Ashley. I looked down at the paper, it was a schedule for her tour season and contact information for each city. I didn’t want to be rude, so I slid it in my pocket and turned to watch as my charge spoke with a girl who likely never had it too hard in her life.

A single thought crossed my mind then; It’s the princess and the pauper.