“Okay, I’ve fixed it with security,” Daphne said, coming back and taking Doris’s elbow. “Keep the cloak on and come with me.”
“Security?” Doris asked.
“They don’t like people working for a large crowd,” Daphne said, leading her into the interior on the same level as the smoking plaza.
“Aren’t we supposed to go…?” Doris said, sticking a hand out to gesture up to the lobby. The lower level was already fairly crowded with costumers and picture-takers.
“No pictures up there and definitely no sticking in one place,” Daphne said, leading her to the back of the large room. At the back was a young man in Middle-Eastern, dress sitting on the floor surrounded by drums. Doris vaguely recognized him as one of the drummers from the previous night.
“You sure we’re not going to get in trouble?” the kid said.
“I told you, I know Mike,” Daphne said. “No more than thirty, forty-five minutes, and if it gets too crowded we’ll have to shut down.”
“What are we doing?” Doris asked.
“ You are dancing,” Daphne replied. “Wait until the drums start to take off your cloak. Right.” She cleared her throat and raised her voice. “Ladies and gentlemen, come one, come all to the most amazing demonstration of dance you have ever seen in your life! She will amaze and astound you with her virtuosity and beauty! Gold is preferable,” she added, sweeping off her hat and holding it out. “Silver is acceptable! Is that a copper piece I see there, young man! No copper for her! This is: the amazing Doris!”
The drums started up and Doris took a deep, cleansing breath, then swept off the cloak. For a moment she thought her ears were going to pop from the inhalations, then the flashes started going off. She ignored those, and the wolf whistles, and started dancing.
“I think there’s, like, fifty bucks in this hat,” Daphne said when security had broken up the crowd. It was a necessity, they were getting twenty deep.
“There was just something…right about getting paid to dance,” Doris said. “I never thought I’d say those words, though.”
“There’s even a gold coin,” Daphne said, pulling it out. The coin was so old and worn it was hard to tell what the original denomination was.
“Where’d that come from?” Doris asked.
“Death, I think,” Daphne said, gesturing at the hooded figure with the scythe who was being led away by security. “Probably got it off the eyes of a dead king. You can have it.”
“Heh.”
“Let’s divvy it up and then promenade,” Daphne said. “Sinbad, you good for a twenty?”
“Works,” the drummer said. “I can’t remember the last time I got paid. Oh, yeah. Mosul, 1648.”
“Funny,” Doris replied.
“Think you can walk around in that now?” Daphne asked.
“Yeah, I think I can.”
“You’re a brave, brave girl,” Daphne said, chuckling.
They headed upstairs, stopping every few feet for pictures, and finally reached the lobby. Despite the picture-taking ban, quite a few people were up there in costume simply to be admired.
“Whoa!” Doris said, stopping to look at one of the outfits. The woman was nearly as tall as she, with equally red hair, and wore a magnificent laser-cut leather bodice and bikini bottom that were formed like demon hands. The matching leather wings were, if anything, more amazing. The demon horns were quite unnecessary.
“That’s an amazing costume,” Doris said, smiling at her.
“Yes,” the woman replied. “And it doesn’t make me look like a slut.”
“Excuse me?” Doris said, stunned.
“Piss off, trash,” the woman said, ignoring her.
“That’s Garnet,” Daphne said, quietly, drawing Doris away. “I’d better warn you, that’s your main competition for Dawn this year. And that outfit is just what she’s wearing for her hall costume. I can’t imagine what her Dawn costume is going to look like.”
“Oh,” Doris said in a small voice.
“Don’t let her get to you, though,” Daphne said. “She knows you’re going to be in Dawn and she’s trying to get to you. She’s always like that.”
“Well, sometimes people can be sort of prickly on the outside…”
“Don’t think it,” Daphne said, shaking her head. “She’s a bitch all the way to the core.”
“Oh.”
“She’s going to do anything she can get away with to make sure she wins Dawn,” Daphne said. “If you let her get to you, she will. Don’t.”
“Okay,” Doris said, nodding. “I won’t. Screw her.”
“That’s the spirit.”
She changed in Duncan’s room again. The harem-girl costume fit comfortably in her backpack, but she fingered the material for a bit before stuffing it away. She had no clue the next time she’d get to wear it, but she was looking forward to it. Kelly had been right, she looked very hot in a harem-girl outfit. And not at all like a slut.
Looking hot, knowing she looked hot, had never been something she could even imagine. It felt good to be appreciated. It was amazing the changes that had been wrought on her in just a few days. The fact that she could take an insult like the one that Garnet woman had thrown at her and more or less ignore it, proved that.
But that brought up the question of Dawn. Kelly had said that it was getting to be more and more of a costume contest, and even with the money she had left from her find, there was no way she could create a really outstanding outfit by tomorrow. Which meant she needed an edge…
Hmmm…
She picked up the practice sword Edmund had given her and hefted it. Then she picked up her backpack and left the room.
There had to be somewhere in this gigantic hotel where she could be alone.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Hi, I’m Doris,” Doris said, sitting down. “What’s your name?”
“Hi, Doris, I’m Folsom,” Duncan said, laughing. “You’re looking chipper.”
“Nervous energy and caffeine,” Doris said.
“You haven’t been dancing all night again, have you?”
“Yes,” Doris said. “But this time I cheated. After I changed-thanks for letting me use your room again-I snuck into one of the meeting rooms that wasn’t being used and danced by myself. Well, sort of,” she added cryptically. “I was practicing for Dawn.”
“I thought you were just supposed to parade out there and show yourself off,” Duncan said, puzzled.
“You have up to one minute to do whatever you want,” Doris said. “And at the judges’ discretion, it can go longer. I read the rules carefully.”
“And you’re hoping for the judge’s discretion,” Duncan said. “That’s ballsy. Ovarian, in your case. What are you going to do?”
“It’s a secret,” Doris said. “But thank you for introducing me to Fig.”
“She’s a nice lady and Edmund likes pretty girls around,” Folsom said, shrugging. “I try to keep on their good side. You’re really not going to tell me.”
“Nope,” Doris said, thinking hard. “I need to go to the Dealers Room and the Exhibitors Hall and pick up some stuff. Then I need to find Fig and Bran, in that order. Then I’m going to be busy, busy, busy.”
