"Thank you." She said softly a tinge of humor still in her tone as she turned to leave.
I asked her quickly before she went back into the chattering throng that I felt like a foreigner among, "What's your name?"
She half turned and looked back at me speculatively and then answered, "Krista Denas."
She walked away from me then. The exotic tattoo on the back of her left shoulder pulled my eyes up and away from the swaying of her hips, as she glided away from me. I went still inside at the sight of it.
My back suddenly itched all along the lengths of the burn marks there of my own brand of slavery. I knew what the exquisitely tattooed flower so artfully covered up. The symbol of our shared shame, as being viewed as less by others, lay beneath the artful application of ink.
Suddenly, as I watched her leave, I saw her whole back tense up into a tight knot of tension and she stopped abruptly. She was staring at the far end of the room as if the devil himself had just walked in. Following her gaze I saw that an aging portly man with silver tipped hair had entered the room with a much younger blond haired companion on his arm. He had the appearance of haughty influence about him and the dead eyes of a cold hearted back stabber.
Krista started walking again. She set her cup of punch down on a table and with a speed of hand I was impressed with, she slipped a table knife from off the table beside her, unnoticed by the table's occupants. She continued walking slowly and purposefully towards the man, with the knife's blade held up the back of her wrist out of view.
The huntress's approach hadn't gone unnoticed by everyone. My alarmed eyes met Sebastian's from across the room and we shared an unspoken communication. I quickly caught up with Krista. My left hand closed over her right hand forcefully immobilizing the knife it held in place.
She gave a surprised jump as my hand closed over hers and glanced quickly at me. She made as if to struggle, but Sebastian had arrived at her other side and she stopped the attempt to struggle completely. She didn't resist as we moved her off from the main room the ball was taking place towards the inner chambers of the mansion.
Sebastian opened a door and we all entered. This must be her room. It was tastefully decorated with bright silks and tapestries and feminine nicknacks. The wooden floors had colorful area rugs spread across them.