One Last Time: One More Time

The Burning

Elise (Year 846)

The crow was exasperated to see what new 'meat' they will eat.

Men hitting on wooden tables, whistling and yelling for the new saloon girls to come out.

It had been 6 months of intense preparation for Elise, a type of training she didn't expect. She didn't know what made her stay, maybe it was because she had nowhere else to go. Probably because there was no one waiting for her at all.

She didn't have permission to send letters nor contact anyone from the outside. Everyone had eyes on her, Mother, Sofia, the tavern dancers, and prostitutes of the establishment. No one dared to speak to her but Sofia; her teacher for everything related to becoming a tavern dancer.

It was her debut night and as exciting as that was, Elise wasn't too fond of the idea of shaking her ass for other men to watch. At least she was old enough to know what she was doing.

Elise took a quick look at the young girls next to her. Their faces painted and ridiculous short dresses that left almost nothing to the imagination. Long socks that reached their thighs, the lingerie. This would have been fine if they were adults, but the oldest one looked to be 15 or 16.

And even so, they didn't seem bothered. Nervous? Absolutely. But as she trained with them, that nervousness slowly began to disappear. What disgusted Elise was the thought of these men having lustful eyes towards the teenagers.

"Oh, why do you look so angry?"

Elise felt Sofia's arm lay on her shoulders, she hated the contact but she didn't bother to move her away either.

"What? Are you nervous?"

The blonde woman took a moment to look at the male infested audience, all of them overwhelmed by their lustful feelings.

She had to admit that she was out of her comfort zone, she hated how tight the corset was around her waist. The bandages on her feet were painfully tight as she could feel her blood circulation restricted. Her hair so overdone with hair decorations, her head felt heavy.

She took another look at the men who were begging for the dancers to come out already, she knew she couldn't do it.

She even felt ashamed to ever think that she could do it. It was humiliating, dehumanizing. Elise could care less if she gets another beating, she'd gotten used to them. There was no way she was going to get up on that stage and shake her ass for a man's pleasure.

If it wasn't him ... Then it wasn't worth it.

"Hey, get back into the line!"

"We're about to go out! They just started playing the music!"

"You're just gonna make us look bad!"

Elise passed by the other tavern dancers, ignoring the way their angry eyes pierced her from behind.

"You guys go! We'll join you in the second act!"

Sofia didn't hesitate to run after Elise. She had gone back to the changing room, knowing that even if she wanted to go outside, one of the guards was bound to follow her and at the moment she wanted to be alone.

Elise stood in front of her small beauty section. A single wooden chair was placed in front of a square table filled with makeup supplies and an oval shaped mirror resting in the middle. She stared at herself in the mirror and realized that she hated the person standing in front of her. Her blonde hair and blue eyes, pale skin complexion, her body that was appreciated by everyone.