Balder led Calliope out of Trader's Market. It was surprising how easily he seemed to weave in and out of pedestrian traffic being the large man he was. The directions he took seemed to be so erratic that Calliope was starting to doubt that he knew where he was going--or for that matter--if there was any circus at all.

Finally Balder led her to a small apartment in Angler's Alley.

He turned to her obviously embarrassed, "I know this doesn't look exactly professional but this is where we're staying for now." he paused and lit up a bit, seeming suddenly happier, "But once we get the show up and running regularly, we'll have a HUGE place no matter where we go!"

Calli was a little disappointed but she was a working class girl and she figured tents were expensive. Calli patted Balder's arm.

"That's ok," She said smiling, "Can I meet everyone?"

Calli didn't mind being in crowds but she was a little nervous about meeting lots of new people at a time. Groups tended to look down on her and that her legs twitchy. If anyone was mean she'd just run out the window and hide on the roof.

Balder grinned and unlocked the door. When he pushed it open, there were three men lounging in the room. Two of them were playing some sort of dice game together and the other was reading off in one corner, glancing up at the other two every so often. Scattered around the apartment were suitcases, swords and garish particles of clothing. Balder clapped his hands as he walked in.

"Gentlemen! Please let me introduce the newest member of the team, Calliope Bard, acrobat extraordinaire!" He boomed, turning to bow with a slight flourish at the young girl. The two boys playing dice instantly turned, their faces alight with devilish grins.

"Come in, come in!Meet the family."

Calli blushed at the praise and the stares. She was used to being watched but not so used to scrutiny.

"Um... Hi." Calli said, nervously rubbing one foot against the other, hands behind her back, "I'm Calli."

Calli followed behind Balder, not too close but still very wary of the looks the boys were giving her. She'd seen eyes like those before and they always heralded pulled pigtails.

The two boys leapt to their feet, shouldering and elbowing each other to get to Calli first. It was Taegan that got there first. He grinned at her, and made a low bow, reaching out to take her hand and kiss it, his brown hair tied back into a low ponytail.

"Good evening Calli. Such a pretty addition to the family. Balder, where did you find such a lovely creature?" He smiled suavely. Dorian frowned at him, then grabbed Calli's other hand, running his free hand through his short straw colored hair, a golden earring flashing in his left ear.

"Isn't it obvious Taegan? She fell from Alioe's kingdom to dance amongst the mortals." He grinned at her. Balder looked at Winslow, who had lowered his paper to look at the exchange with a bemused expression. The ring leader rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Calli, this is Taegan the Animal Tamer. That is Dorian, resident pin cushion, I mean sword swallower. And that over there is Winslow, our funny man." The older man smiled cockily at the girl and went back to his reading.

Calli blushed scarlet. She'd never elicited this kind of response before.



"Um... Um... He found me at the markets, actually." Calli said, going even redder if that was at all possible, desperately wishing they would let her go before she had some kind of physical reaction or her head exploded, "W-what are your names?"



Calli smiled but it was a little strained.

"Lovely to meet you!" She said as brightly as she could manage. "Please let me go!"

Her voice went a little higher than she had intended.

Balders eyebrows shot up and the two boys released her hands. A moment's pause, then Taegan pushed Dorian.

"Look what you went and did you clocking kenser. Gone and scared her, why do you scare all the pretty ones?" Dorian shoved him back.

"Me?! Your the one who was all 'ooh pretty pretty!'" Taegan grabbed the other boy in a headlock and they began wrestling on the floor. Winslow put down his paper and chuckled, stepping over the boys. He bowed to Calli and winked.

"Never mind these two scalawags luv. They are like this all the time, you wait till you see Taegan stick his head in Clarabelle's mouth, the woman swoon at him." He looked at Balder.

"So, acrobat eh? Thats going to be good for attracting more than just desperate women." Balder grinned.

"Indeed Winslow. Indeed. Calli here will be the most beautiful thing traveling the city, and people will flock to see her stunts. She is really quite good. Quite good indeed."

Calli thought she was going to blush to death.

At heart though, she was a pragmatist.

"I can perform, sure but I'm not winning any beauty contests." Calli said pointing to herself, suddenly flooded with teenage body issues and the flicker of doubt she got from time to time.

Calli watched the boys roll around on the floor for two seconds.

"Gosh! Will you stop it!" She said, stamping one foot on the ground indignantly. "Look!"

Calli launched into a handstand.

"I can do this." She said.

Calli flipped upright, took a running start and executed a front tuck before she hit the wall.

"That..."

She spun into a cartwheel, doing as many turns as she could before she was back in front of Balder and Winslow.

"And stuff like that." She ended, not even out of breath. "Am I good enough?"

The boys had stopped wrestling, staring opened mouth from the floor still both in headlocks. Winslow was also slightly slack jawed. Balder was the first to regain his senses. He beamed and clapped his hands together fervently.

"Brilliant! Brilliant! What did I tell you boys? We got a winner with this one!" He chuckled and patted Calli on the shoulder.

"Tell you what sweetheart. We are going to be practicing on the 10th of Intas, on the beach here. Why don't you spend sometime working out what routine you'd like to do, then come meet us. What do you say? Morning time too. Well. Mid morning. Closer to noon. You know what? Make it lunchtime." He grinned at her.

Calli's face burned anew. They thought she was a freak...



Calli jolted.

"It was?" She said, starting to smile happily again.



"All right!" Calli said, nodding affirmatively. "Is there some grass for me to practice on near there?"

Calli jumped into the air a little, excitedly, she clapped her hands together a few times to emphasise her enthusiasm.

"I can't wait! I'll see you then!" She gushed, quickly shaking Balder and Winslow's hands. She looked at the boys for a moment before settling on waving at them from afar.

She knew about the birds and the bees. She'd just never had it related to her before.

"Um, bye guys!" She said, feeling a little hot again. Cute boys were scary. "If anyone needs to get a hold of me, I'm doing demonstrations in front of the blacksmith's this week!"