The day had been agreeable so far; it had been quiet, she liked that. Quiet had its strengths and weaknesses; it usually meant the lecherous old men were in scarce supply, unfortunately so to was the gold. Nevertheless, slim earnings ignored, it had been pleasant. She hadn’t even had to perform yet, aside from some casual lullaby humming, mostly just conversation with the local regulars. Her duties included being a hostess from time to time, waitressing, being a professional conversationalist, singing and dancing, in which she had been schooled in since she was a little girl, and, on occasion being an escort, though her prices for that particular luxury where not for small time commoners.<br/><br/><em><strong> “Red Lotus”</strong></em>they called her. She could probably attribute her nickname to a number of reasons, most notably her trade mark crimson attire; her cold yet seductive attitude was probably another. She didn’t even use her real name in her line of work; Akasu was simply a stage name. She could count on two hands the number of people that knew her by her true name, Jayde, and even fewer would be able to recognise her once she took her garments and makeup off.<br/><br/>A message had come to her, delivered by a young boy. She had been summoned.<em><strong>“Ah, what a shame.”</strong></em>She thought to herself,<em><strong> “I hadn’t even gotten to bring the wine out.”</strong></em>Alas, such were the difficulties of living a double life. She gently rose from her seat, politely apologised for her sudden departure and began to make her way to the bathhouse. She would surely be noticed dressed the way she was, but form a woman in her line of work visiting this particular high class establishment would be seen as neither unusual nor uncommon.<br/><br/>After walking upstairs and using the secret entrance she could see she that the others where all present. Jayde might not have minded being the last to arrive, but she was still in character and Akasu couldn’t help but feel slightly embarrassed.<strong>“Please excuse me.”</strong>She exclaimed as she closed the door behind her. She moved to the side of the room and began to softly fan herself, partly to keep from sweating, partly to hide her expression. She listened, and waited for Daemus to speak.<br/>