Foncé and Ishtar

The Circus

Once upon a time, in a kingdom called Franc, there was a girl named Foncé. Foncé was said to be one of the most beautiful girls in all of Franc, and she truly was. At only eight years she was an arresting-looking girl with silky black hair, snow-white skin, intelligent violet eyes, and a mature and sophisticated face with a blend of both Occidental and Oriental features. Indeed, many thought Foncé more closely resembled a miniature adult than a child, and the comparisons to an adult did not stop at her appearance. She was extremely intelligent for her age, smarter than many adults at the time (although this isn’t saying too much as there were many poor, ignorant people in Franc). She was the daughter of a powerful duke, and people throughout the land admired her. She grew up in luxury with caring parents, a loving older brother, and many servants to cater to her whims.

That was what most people knew about Foncé. What most people didn’t know was that behind the flawless face lurked something very dark and wicked. For as long as she could remember, Foncé felt as though she were really an adult trapped in a child’s body. In spite of her many privileges, she felt powerless and gazed upon the adults around her with envious eyes. She resented that she could perfectly understand the world of grown-ups but was totally unable to experience it for herself. Back then she agonized over why her mind was so advanced and why there weren’t any other children like her to talk to. She was also filled with great ambition and an alarming penchant for cruelty. Morality had little place in her worldview, and she would dream of when she would rule the entire world. Her desire for knowledge sometimes lead her to secretly dissect animals, but sometime she would do this simply because she enjoyed it.

If you are hoping that Foncé will reform and become a kind, caring person devoting her formidable intelligence to healing the world’s many ailments by the end of this story then you should go read something else. Foncé would go on to spend her entire life with more or less the same attitude. She does eventually come to understand why she feels more like an adult than a child, but that’s a different story for a different time. No; this is a story about an important event in Foncé’s life that would lead to many other important events. You may not love Foncé by the end, but you may begin to care about her, just a little bit.

Our story proper begins on a warm summer night. Foncé’s brother, Imité, had bought tickets to a famous traveling circus that had stopped close by to the château they lived in. Imité himself couldn’t go due to a scheduling conflict, so he gave the tickets to Foncé as a gift. With a servant to escort her in tow, Foncé went to the circus for a night of amusement.

Given a seat reserved for very special guests, Foncé watched the various circus acts. She secretly hoped that a fierce lion might maul someone, but no such thing happened. It was all mildly interesting to her, and then the ringmaster came out into the center.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” the portly ringmaster announced. “I am pleased to present to you one of our most prized performers, our very own princess of the circus! The one, the only, Ishtar!”

The crowd cheered as a pretty, bright-eyed girl with long blonde hair about fourteen-years-old leapt into view. She waved to the crowd, excited and happy.

“Ishtar will perform incredible death-defying feats high above us without the safety of a net!” the ringmaster continued. “Tonight you will witness the impossible!”

An acrobat? thought Foncé. This may be interesting. Perhaps she will miscalculate and fall to her death.

Ishtar climbed up to the top of the tent where she casually rode a unicycle across as tightrope while juggling eight golden spheres. The crowd cheered upon her completion of the act. Next she rode the unicycle back while doing a handstand on the seat. Half way across she wobbled perilously. The audience watched with baited breath. Just as it seemed Ishtar would pitch to one side she somehow righted herself and continued on her merry way.

Pity, Foncé thought.

A few more similar act later and Ishtar came back down, the audience cheering wildly for her. The circus girl smiled and waved to the people, slowly turning in a circle to make sure every side of the audience got to see her. Foncé applauded politely, as was expected of her. She was watching Ishtar when she noticed that the girl had stopped waving. Instead she was staring in Foncé’s direction. Foncé blinked and did a double take. Yes, Ishtar was looking directly at her. More than that, she was giving her what looked to Foncé like an intense, almost worshipful stare.

Why is she staring at me like that? Foncé shifted uncomfortably in her seat, unsure of how to act. She hoped no one else would notice the circus girl’s gaze. She was quite relived when Ishtar finally looked away.

With that, the ringmaster wished everyone a goodnight and stated that the circus would remain in town all week. All the performers came out one last time and the audience cheered and applauded.

Foncé turned to her servant and said, “Well, that was amusing enough. Let’s be off now.” They went back to their carriage and rode off back to the château. All the while Foncé couldn’t shake the sight of Ishtar staring at her with such awe and adoration. She was used to people admiring her beauty, but she couldn’t remember anyone looking at her like that before. She was surprised at how unnerved it made her feel. Oh well; it’s not as if I’ll be seeing her again.

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Ishtar sat in her changing room, absently brushing her long blonde hair. Who was that girl? I’ve never seen an aura like hers before—cold, black, and all devouring. I felt like I was going to be swallowed whole! It had been a frightening yet majestic—even beautiful, in a strange sort of way. Whoever that little girl was she was different from everyone else. Ishtar knew she had to meet the girl in person soon. She had the feeling that it was destiny.

To be continued...