POV Eliza
“I’m Vigo. Welcome to my humble little kingdom.”
The man named Vigo can be described with a single word: pompous. He wears visibly expensive and ornate clothing. Black trousers and a vest with two rows of buttons. Above that is a colorful cape that blows in the wind behind him. Black hair which is held behind his head in a ponytail. Vigo himself was around 40 and had a thin mustache and a pointed goatee. After his theatrical bow, he points towards the circus with a twist of his body.
“And now to you, little elf. Let us take a closer look at you.”
I feel his gaze on me, as if he were scanning me. My skin tingles slightly and I get goosebumps. I want to turn around on the spot and run away.
“Yes, she is indeed very interesting. You didn't promise too much, I think we can make the deal."
Vigo reached with his left hand into a pocket in his vest and pulled out a small pouch. He then threw it to the other man, who deftly caught it. He immediately took a look and then nodded. I thought I saw a glint in his eyes that might have been greed. He then pulled a key out of his pocket and tossed it to Vigo.
“It was a pleasure doing business with you. I'll say goodbye then. Have a lot of fun together.”
After one last quick look at me, he turned around and walked back towards Lightburgh. I literally felt sold. I looked after him until I heard Vigo next to me.
“Well then, you are now my property and therefore part of the illustrious troupe of my circus. Come on, I'll introduce you to someone who will take care of you from now on."
With a wave of his hand he invited me to follow him. Since I still didn't know where I was or where else to go, I followed him. He walked towards one of the carriages, which turned out some sort of trailer. Light could be seen inside. The trailers all looked similar so far, made entirely of wood with windows and a small ladder on the side that led to a door. At the front you could see the structure for tying up horses or similar as draft animals. Vigo stood on the ladder and knocked on the door.
“Hey, Erma, show yourself. I will bring you new material.” (Vigo)
Grinding noises can be heard from inside, like a chair being moved on a wooden floor. Then the door opens and a middle-aged woman with ears like a cat can be seen. As far as you can see, her skin is completely covered in fur, which is brown in color. What do you call such creatures, beastmen? Beastkin? These terms immediately comes to mind.
“New material you say? Finally, we can use it. Show me here.”
The woman got a lantern from inside and came down the ladder with it. Her movements were fluid and elegant, like an acrobat or dancer. Then she shone a light in my direction and examined me, but this time I didn't feel the tingling sensation like I did with Vigo.
"An elf? And still so young. Hmm, yes, that's good. She should be very dexterous, just like Ilvana was."
She thought for a moment and then said firmly,
"I'll take her under my wing. She will make a good target and learn to balance on the horse. All right, Vigo, you can leave her to me. Just keep the key with you, then she won't run away. What’s your name, little one?”
I was shocked to realize that I didn't even know that.
'How do you find out something like that?'
“Her name is Eliza and she is 5.”
How did he know that? Did he guess that? But he said it without hesitation, so it must be true. For some reason unknown to me, the name also felt right, like it was really mine. It was a mystery to me and added to the ever-growing list of things I didn't understand. So my name was Eliza.
“Come in, Eliza, I’ll show you where you can sleep first. I’ll show you everything else tomorrow morning.”
So I followed the cat woman into the interior of the trailer, which would now be my new home. I'd only been in this world for three days and had never had longer to get used to anything. Hopefully I would be able to relax here.