Ring around the yew tree,
A pocket full of posies;
Tussy-mussy,
We all fall down!
―Nursery rhyme allegedly originating from the time of the Second Plague

Asteria

Ida Kraej was waiting for us in the hallway outside the Music Room. Plump and pale, she had the same hazel eyes as her son. She was dressed in an elegant green and white silk evening gown. Emeralds dripped from her neck and ears. The Lifer who had been in charge of preparing me was with her.

“Let me look at you.” She examined me closely from head to foot. “Ah, to be eighteen again!”

“Thank you, ma’am,” I said.

“How did you make her makeup look so fresh and dewy? Very well done,” said Ida Kraej to the Lifers. The ones who had prepped me beamed. “Are we ready?”

The Lifers around us nodded. They opened the door, and I entered with Magnus and his mother.

Inside the lavishly decorated room were the members of the Stovring Chamber Players. Laila and Ms. Lily embraced me. The rest shook my hand and congratulated me on my coming of age.

A priest in red robes was standing in the center of the room. At a signal from a Lifer, he cleared his throat loudly, and I went to stand in front of him. The priest anointed me with holy oil then blessed me in the name of the goddess Elyon, exhorting me to be prudent, just, patient, kind, and humble. A Lifer handed a pair of shoes to Madam Kraej who gave them to me and kissed my brow, bidding me to wear them to start my journey into great places.

“Thank you,” I said as I put them on. The platform shoes were made of leather and silk, with a buckle studded with diamonds, rubies, and sapphires. The most amazing thing about them, however, was that they were comfortable to wear despite the five-inch heels.

With that, the simple ceremony was over.

“And now for the gifts.” Madam Kraej was smiling. The Lifers opened the door, and a Lifer bearing two small boxes on a silver tray appeared. Madam Kraej opened a box and took out a long rope of golden pearls which she dropped over my head. She looped it once around my neck so that its lowest point hung to my waist.

“This is too generous, ma’am,” I said. “I couldn’t possibly accept.”

The technology to culture pearls was unknown in this world which meant this simple necklace was probably worth more than a luxury car.

Madam Kraej ignored my protests and opened the other, smaller box. Inside was a set of keys which she handed to me. “These are the keys to your new penthouse. Enjoy.”

“A penthouse? No, I couldn’t possibly accept,” I protested again. This was way too much. I looked at Magnus, silently asking for help.

Magnus chuckled. “Just accept it. I talked her out of gifting the entire building to you.”

“Uh, thanks, thank you, ma’am.” I stammered my thanks. This must be what Magnus had warned me about. It should be okay since Magnus promised he'd take care of it later.

“You’re welcome. I’m grateful to you.” Madam Kraej patted her son on the shoulder, indicating the service that I had done for her. “You deserve this, and if you’re ever in need of help, just ask me.”

That was a dismissal. We filed out of the music room back to the state drawing-room.

Ms. Lily and the other members of the Stovring were shocked to hear such a strong statement of support from the matriarch of the Kraej family.

“What did you do?” asked Laila.

“It’s a secret,” I said.

“It must have been something really amazing, but let’s not ask her about it anymore.” Ms. Lily pointedly looked around at all the Lifers in the room.

When we entered the room behind Madam Kraej and Magnus, the other guests gave us the once over. A sharp-eyed guest noticed the jeweled shoes that I was wearing and came over to congratulate me. This triggered a barrage of well-wishes from the room at large. I shook dozens of hands. I enjoyed the look of chagrin on Ella’s face when she took in my new pearl necklace and shoes.

Dinner in the state dining room passed in a haze of delicious smells and tastes. I was seated beside Magnus who was at his mother’s right side. On my other side was the president of the Mogens Foundation. On Madam Kraej’s other side was an elegantly dressed woman whom I recognized. She was Olivia Ramstedt, editor of the fashion magazine Wanted, and one of Madam Kraej’s childhood friends.

It wasn’t until the dessert course that Madam Kraej addressed me directly. “What’s this I hear of an underground party?”

“It’s just a small, private party I’m throwing to celebrate my coming of age,” I said. “Underground just means secret.”

“Small and secret? That’s not what I’ve been told,” she said.

“Well, I meant for it to be small and secret, but it’s snowballed,” I said.

One of my regrets, when I’d been dying in my original world, was not being able to attend a glow party. I was determined to have one here.

“I’ve heard about this, too,” said Ramstedt. “You’re having a fashion show. Why haven’t I received an invitation?”

“It’s not a real fashion show. It just happened,” I said.

Beside me, Magnus chuckled. “It just happened? I suppose you tripped and accidentally fell into the complete plans for a fashion show.”

“No, no. I was just planning a glow party. You know how certain chemicals glow under a black light? It’s very scientific. I got a factory to make a small batch of glow paint. My friend found a good venue for me, and I had some people install the black lights. That’s all I was going to do at first,” I said.

“Get to the part where there’s a fashion show,” said Ramstedt. She leaned forward with a gleam in her eye that spelled trouble for me.

“Well, my friends just couldn’t understand the glow theme. They’ve never heard of a party like that,” I said. “To show them what I wanted, I hired models from the Synergy agency and an artist to paint them.”

“To paint what?” asked Ramstedt.

“To paint the models. I mean, he applied the paint on their bodies. It’s a body art form.”

“And it glows,” said Madam Kraej.

“Yes, exactly. The artist I hired, Anton, made some really great designs, but he said the models didn’t have any clothing that would fit his concept.”

“Ah, I’m starting to see where this is going,” said Ramstedt.

“Having already done so much, I thought to myself ‘what’s a few clothes?’ and hired a small factory to make glow fabric.”

The people around me at the dining table laughed.

“Ah, what it is to be young!” said Ramstedt.

“Then, of course, I had to hire someone to design the clothes,” I said. I’d tried to design the clothes myself, but Sariel said I had no fashion sense.

“Of course,” said Madam Kraej.

“One of the models knew a designer who had recently graduated from the Kraej School of Fashion Design. She brought him in, and I asked him to create a few simple pieces. Just shorts, skirts, tops, that was it.”

“That’s when it became a fashion show?” asked Ramstedt.

“No, not yet. The designer the model recommended was Carl Stibolt.”

“The new hire at the House of Teilmann!” said Madam Kraej.

“Yes, he got hired by Teilmann a day after I hired him. Thank goodness he already signed a contract for my party.”

“How lucky. You got the hottest new designer for what must have been a cheap price,” said Madam Kraej.

“That was when someone - whose name I can’t say because it’s a secret - joined us and it suddenly became a lot more complicated. Not to mention expensive.”

“You can say 'Valdemar.' We already know it’s Valdemar from the House of Teilmann,” said Ramstedt.

“I can neither confirm nor deny that,” I said. “Anyway, this person, who shall remain nameless, offered to get some shoes and bags made to complete the glow outfits. I also decided to have some glow wigs made. It’s a whole thing now.”

“Oh, I’ve heard about that. So you’re behind Valdemar’s secret fashion show?” said someone at the table. The other guests started talking about the wild rumors they’d heard.

“It’s going to be the party of the year.”

“They say every S-class will be there.”

“I heard the models from Synergy are all trying to get hired for it. Luna and Karla got into a fight over which of them would open the show.”

“There’s going to be a massive orgy at a secret site after the show ends.”

“Like I said, it’s not a fashion show in the normal sense of the word,” I hastily put in before even crazier rumors started. “There won’t even be a catwalk. It’s more like a normal party.”

“Then why has Valdemar hired Alberte for a top-secret editorial fashion shoot?” asked Ramstedt.

I gave up. “Because it’s gonna be an avant-garde fashion event. But there’s no show, it’s a party.”

“Why isn’t Olivia invited?” asked Madam Kraej.

“I think it’s because the collective will be holding a real fashion show later. This is more of a party. They don’t want to invite fashion industry people until they have something more polished to show them.”

“The collective?” asked Madam Kraej.

“It’s a group called Anon, short for anonymous. They’re working on a line of clubwear right now.”

“I heard Valdemar is opening a new nightclub called Glow,” said a guest.

“But what about the party? Am I invited?” said Ramstedt.

“We’re not sending formal invites. It’s at a secret location that will be revealed on the day of the party. People will also need the password to enter.”

“Fascinating. You will call me with the information, right?” Ramstedt gave her business card to a Lifer who passed it to me.

“It hardly seems like your type of thing, Olivia. I have it on good authority that they’re holding it in a warehouse,” said Madam Kraej.

The other guests started whispering to each other, and some tried to pass their cards to me via the staff. The Lifers looked at Magnus for directions, but he shook his head slightly, and the Lifers refused to accept the cards.

“Now, now, everyone. Let’s leave Asteria alone. We can ask Valdemar for invites,” said Madam Kraej.

“Ms. Ramstedt, if you’re curious about it, I can ask the artist to hold a private show for you, instead,” I said.

“Call me Olivia,” she said.

They weren’t the first to ask me about it. Two days ago, the factory I’d hired to make the glow products had phoned to inform me that they’d received many requests for the glow products from models, artists, club owners, and party planners. I’d joined forces with the House of Teilmann to bring the glow products to market and Anonymous Pte Ltd was born. I was just a minority shareholder though. Valdemar and Carl were going to do the real work. I couldn’t spend too much time on that project since the hero was my priority.

I should have kept that in mind, but I made the mistake of not keeping my eyes on the prize.

I was taken completely by surprise when the hero started on his quest.