The Virgin Price

The Fortunata Court is a burst of activity today, and it's all for me. The pressure of today's events hangs over my head like a dark cloud, and I'm so nervous it makes me sweat. I have been seventeen for two days now, and today is the day I become an official consort of the court.

        Outside my chamber is a girl with dark hair and even darker eyes. She smiles when she sees me. "Are you ready, Raffaele?"

        I take a deep breath before admitting, "Not really, no." We walk down the long hallways of the court in silence. Well, she walks in silence. I can feel the energy of the others around me, the energy of the potential clients coming to see the court's newest offer. The pressure of it all threatens to overwhelm me. To distract myself, I observe my companion. Her name is Martinella, and she is five years older than I am. Although she wasn't the one to guide me while I was a consort-in-training, I went to her for a lot of advice about the life of a consort. You could almost say she is my confidante, but of course there are things I can never tell her.

        Like how I can feel her pulsating energy beside me.

        Finally, we reach the silk veil that will lead us to the main lounging chamber where my masquerade will be held. "Remember," she says, "this is your moment. Enjoy it."

        The chamber  is swarming with people—all of them here for me. As I walk in, I can sense people's gazes on me, watching me, observing me. It's as if everyone in Estenzia turned up to my debut as an official consort.

        "There you are!" The court's madam rushes up to me. "Come, come." Her hand seizes around mine and I am dragged up to the low, raised circular platform in the center of the chamber with thick scarlet cushions for guests to sit on. She faces the crowd and they fall silent. "Welcome to the Fortunata Court, my guests," she says, "and, to the debut masquerade of our newest official consort, Raffaele Laurent Bessette." The applause I am greeted with is almost deafening. The energy in the room surges; everyone is excited to meet me and is hopeful to win the bid for this night with me. I force the biggest smile I can manage. I'm thankful that no one in the room can sense my energy the way I can sense theirs. If they could, they'd know how much of a nervous wreck I am.

        The court's madam releases me to mingle with my potential clients as she begins to accept bids. As I wander amongst the crowd of clients and consorts, a curvy woman in a gold dress and mask to match grabs my hand and pulls me for a dance. "I'm bidding for you, Raffaele," she says in a whisper. I can see her blue eyes through the mask, and they sparkle with excitement. I smile politely at her, suppressing the urge to pull away.

        "I should make my bid," she says after a while, releasing me and sauntering over to the court's madam. I take a deep breath, grateful for the break. I don't know how much more of this I can take.

        Suddenly, I feel a surprisingly strong presence in the building. There’s someone here who has the same energy with me, someone with powers.

        Now on high alert, I scan the main lounging chamber, the masked figures swirling around me. Finally, I pinpoint the energy to be coming from a person in the farthest corner of the room. A manservant stands not too far away from a figure I cannot see, so I observe instead the threads of energy around the person like a halo, weaving together and apart. I never knew I could see that.

        The manservant leans closer to the halo of energy to listen to a whispered request from his master. He nods once and heads for the court's madam. The person is bidding for me.

        I am asked by several more people to dance, and they all smile while commenting on how beautiful I am. Their energy swirls around them, and now that I focus I can see threads of their energy. They are not as magnificent as that of the figure in the shadows, but I can see them calling to me nevertheless.