The main room of Muse House was full of pale, living smoke that was born in the lungs of the House’s ladies and then poured past their wine-stained lips. The smoke bowed to the whims of their dancing tongues, shaping itself into ever-increasingly complex designs, before floating between the ladies, who lounged on ornate bronze couches and dripped with scant, silky dresses, fat jewels, and chains of gold. They had begun with simple rings of sweet riseberry smoke, but now a pale smoke cat slunk past Raquel’s lips to chase the butterfly Yasmine had breathed to life. When the cat pounced, both creatures burst into a cloud and dissipated.

“Bitch!” Yas laughed. She tried to snatch the pipe away from Exther to prepare her retaliation, but Exther ducked out of reach.

Even as Jac laughed along, she felt odd being back here. In a strange way, these stone walls were familiar and comforting. Jac may be mere Entertainment here, nothing but a doll to be played with, but she knew exactly what to expect within these walls. Mostly, a bunch of women getting stoned to forget, and, as the night went on, some nobles showing up looking to be entertained.

Exther took a big, long draw from the pipe as she leaned back on the red cushions of her couch. She held the smoke deep in her lungs and, a smirk on her tightly closed lips, gestured for the others to watch closely. She opened her mouth wide and slowly breathed out a large, long, very veiny, erect penis.

Jac said, “Lady Exther, you’ve truly mastered the art of blowing cock.”

Yas dissolved into giggles, and Exther, still mid-blow, began laughing, then coughing on what smoke was still in her throat, causing her smoke dick to dissipate.

“Ah, I must swallow my words,” Jac said. “A true master wouldn’t choke on a cock like that, smoke or otherwise.”

Still cough-laughing, Exther said, “Lady Jacqueline, if we speak of swallowing, then I must name Raquel the true Mas—”

They all fell silent the second Ana’s finger touched the first button on her eisica.

It was an instrument none of them had ever heard before Ana’s arrival at Muse House some months ago. Lushale’s entertainment usually revolved around movement. There was heavy focus on dancing, acrobatics, displays of physical strength and power, not so much on music, sound, and lyrics. Their instruments tended to be percussion, drums and the like. The eisica, however, despite this one’s size, could be delicate. Melancholy in its softness.

Ana wasn’t adjusting well to her life within the inner walls of Broken Earth, and it was obvious. When she played her eisica, pain hung off of every note. Even so, her music was beautiful, and all the more haunting as a result.

The other ladies stilled as the music drifted over them, through the smoke, settling into their very bones. Aching high notes coaxed out the emotions they had tried so hard to hide in riseberry haze while heavy low notes wrapped those emotions up with warm pressure. None of them said a word, or even so much as glanced at each other, but they all very suddenly felt deeply, profoundly connected to one another.

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As Ana began to sing, memories flashed between all four of them. Warm, yellow memories of being wrapped up in Yasmine’s mother’s arms. Fresh, blue memories of being tossed, laughing, into a sparkling lake by Raquel’s brother. [CW ***] Hot, white memories of panic, being held down by a faceless figure on a wooden floor. [End of CW***] Sick, orange memories of a house in flames and screaming children. And then memories of each of them, holding each other, laughing with each other, protecting each other.

In the entrance room, the front doors of Muse House opened, snapping all of them out of their memories. They glanced around, swiping tears away.

“Mother Light, Ana,” Raquel said, voice thick. “How many times must I request a warning before you do that?”

Hollow, Ana said, “Apologies.”

Next, the door to the main room opened, and in came Belle, smiling despite the necklace of black and blue bruises she hadn’t bothered trying to hide, and looking vaguely damp. Just like that, at the sight of those bruises, any comfort Jac had found within Muse House was gone, replaced instead with frustration. Belle’s smile slipped away as her eyes darted around the hazy room. One might guess she was examining the smoke designs, which had warped and twisted with Ana’s music, but Jac knew she was looking at their magics.

“Oh,” Belle said softly. “I missed another Ana performance?”

“Interrupted one, actually,” Raquel said. “I give you and the Light Mother thanks for doing so.”

“Oh no!” Belle pointed at Ana as she trotted toward the hall that led to their rooms. “Stay in that seat, Ana! I need fresh clothes, but then I’ll return with open ears. And,” Belle shot Raquel a look, “I’ll pay for your performance with words deserved of a true Musician. Unlike some.”

Raquel waved a hand sparkling with the jewelry her own patron had placed on her. “I pay Ana with words heavy with appreciation for her magic—when she warns me before assaulting my emotions.”

Grinning once again, Belle bounced down the hall, and Exther raised the pipe and said, “Return with open lungs, too!”

“Of course!” Belle called as she disappeared.

Exther’s pretty face wrinkled with concern. “Or perhaps her throat would name smoke Too Rough just now.”

Sick with powerlessness, Jac reached a hand toward Exther, who passed her the pipe.

While Jac drew in as much smoke as her lungs could hold, Yas sighed. “Back in his grasp only a few hours and already he’s marked her like that.”

“And her eyes,” Raquel added. “Bloodshot so bad? The Mothers must’ve counted out nine lives when they made Belle.”

In a whisper, Ana said, “I pray they didn’t curse me the same.”

For several moments, those words hung in the hazy air. Jac wasn’t sure if the way her head spun was from the riseberries, or the fact that she was still holding her breath. Finally, she let it out in a slow, formless stream. She wasn’t much in the mood for making smoke shapes.

Suddenly, Jac stood and shoved the pipe into Raquel’s hands before lifting Puissance onto her shoulder and striding toward the entrance hall.

“Name your destination!” Raquel shouted after her.

Through clenched teeth, Jac said, “Doll House.”