"I assume Yaru told you who I was," Keaton said when I arrived at his table, saving me the trouble of trying to open the conversation myself. For a bachelor so young, he appeared to have plenty of confidence. Before I left my table, I didn't take long to drink most of the drink, and now I could feel a warm fuzziness spreading through me. Perhaps relaxing a smidgen was exactly what I needed.

"He might have," I replied, stopping far enough away I could keep an eye on the other two women with him in my peripheral vision.

"Either he did or he didn't." His eyes flicked with fire.

I let a small smile flash across my face again, but didn't answer.

"Aren't you going to introduce yourself?"

I tilted my head to the side slightly, studying him as if I was considering his words and if I wanted to obey them.

"Auralia," I said, dragging the syllables out.

"Well, Auralia, you're bold."

"More... curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat."

"Haven't you heard? I'm a resurrected."

He let out a barking laugh, his eyes lighting up for the first time that evening.

I could feel the stares the other two courtesans gave me, their eyes no longer cast downward, but I kept my gaze on Keaton, Mr Loaded Emo.

"Why don't you let me buy you a drink?" Loaded Emo said a moment later. I lowered my eyes along with my chin for a fraction of a moment, giving my consent.

Barely looking, his hands tapped across the nearest table surface. The courtesan on the left's mouth dropped open, but she didn't speak.

"Leave us, Hannah, Erin."

Neither woman moved, now both their jaws hanging low.

"I won't ask again," he said, his voice dropping deeper. This time they got to their feet and hurried away. I tried to hide my surprise. His attention was now all mine. I hadn't expected it to be that easy.

He motioned towards the nearest chair, now vacated for my use. Still holding his gaze, I slid into the booth. For now I'd cooperate a little.

I imagined many women had tried to get his attention by either being perfectly submissive, or the complete opposite. The truly interesting path would be to find the sweet spot in the middle. To challenge him at times and submit at others.

As soon as I was sat, our drinks arrived. Two small glasses with three layers of different coloured liquids, the bottom a creamy looking white, the middle bright red and the top a bubbling green. He didn't drink his right away, and I was in no hurry either.

"I must confess, I was wondering if you were this Auralia people have been talking about. They're saying you must be something quite special."

"People like to talk," I replied, deflecting the attention away from myself. This seemed to throw him, and an awkward silence started to form.

"So, what's in this drink?" I said, picking it up and giving it a slight swirl. I'd expected the colours to begin mixing, the layers to blur slightly, but they remained separate, pure and pretty.

He smiled but didn't answer, merely picking his up and downing it. There was only one way I could keep this conversation going and keep him interested. Fixing my eyes on his again, I tilted my head back and tipped the drink in.

I coughed at the sting before the final layer soothed the ache and washed it all down, leaving behind a slightly sweet taste of honey and almonds. A warmth spread all the way down into the pit of my stomach as my eyes widened. A tingling sort of sensation followed the heat, sinking deeper. I squeezed my legs together, almost instantly aroused.

"Interesting drink," I said, not sure what had just happened. He let out a small chuckle.

"Only five hundred credits a shot."

My mouth fell open. It merited me another laugh.

"I told you I'd buy you a drink, didn't I?"

"Yes, but in the year I was frozen that meant a glass of wine or a beer or something."

"I think this is better," he replied, studying me.

"I can't disagree."

He gave me a nod, my words evidently pleasing him. But how much? It was too soon to tell.

"Keaton!" a familiar voice called. Internally, I groaned. Bernice. She would arrive now, when I'd just got off to a good start. He flicked his head in her direction, breaking the moment between us.

Bernice sauntered right up to our table, a bright, delighted look in her eyes. She wore body paint as well, although only a little on her arms and cheeks, her body still covered by more normal clothing.

I once again marvelled at how stunning she looked. It wasn't surprising she was Daniel's most valuable courtesan.

"I see you've met Auralia. Has she bewitched you yet? She has poor Daniel. He couldn't tell me why, but he thinks she's the most amazing resurrected he's ever sponsored."

"I had heard," Keaton replied, his voice colder than before. I put on my politest smile.

"I'm sure he had his reasons, even if none of us is sure of them," I replied.

"Perhaps." Bernice smiled, sickly sweetly. I sucked in my breath. Something more was coming, but what?

"I notice Keaton's bought you one of those drinks. Quite the after-effect, am I right? Bet it helps a new courtesan such as yourself enjoy this. Not everyone can genuinely find some of these men attractive."

I blinked, shocked by her insinuation. Come on, mind. Think. Reply in the right way.

In truth, I wanted to slap her, or tell her to take a long walk off a short cliff, but I kept both of those responses inside. I had to be the bigger woman.

"I'm pretty sure Keaton here already knows he doesn't need a drink like this to get what he wants, but I'm not going to say no to any method a man wants to use to make our encounters enjoyable." It was a lame reply. I knew it the minute it came out. Bernice's smirk said volumes after, but at least I'd not been catty.

"Excuse me, ladies, I think it's time I moved on." Keaton got up, his eyes flicking over Bernice before he walked away, not so much as a second glance my way.

Bernice only smiled all the more.

"Good luck earning your sponsor debt back," she almost whispered before walking off. I watched her sway her hips as she made a beeline for a man she obviously knew well.

I growled, unable to contain my frustration. She'd potentially cost me a fortune, and she'd done it entirely out of jealousy. Not sure quite what to do or where to go next, I looked for Yaru, but he was nowhere to be seen.

It was then I noticed I had the attention of one person still. The other resurrected in the room was looking my way. While I sat there, in a booth all by myself, he raised his glass. A few seconds later an identical drink was placed down in front of me. I lifted it and gave him a nod of gratitude. Seems not everyone was going to be put off by Bernice and her big mouth.

I took a sip, this time more wary, but it was scotch, no more, no less. It wasn't a drink I'd have chosen had I been back in my own time, surrounded by my own people, but it was a little bit of home nonetheless. It was exactly what I needed.

I didn't take long to drink most of the drink, feeling a warmth spread through me. Perhaps relaxing a smidgen would help.

Before I could decide where to go next, Yaru came back into view. I didn't know where he'd been, but he immediately joined me.

"Keaton appears to have left."

"Yes. Bernice scared him away. I think we had a good moment or two before she did, but..."

"Bernice has a habit of being less than helpful."

"Anything I can do about it?"

"Unless you have enough credits to hire a hitman..." Yaru's mouth twitched up briefly on one side, the only sign he might not be serious.

"If I had the credits for that, I wouldn't be a courtesan at all."

"There is that. But here we are, in the situation we're in. You'll have to charm someone despite her interference."

"My cue to get back out there?"

"Yes, my dear. Trust yourself."

I nodded, not sure I did, but grateful for Yaru's attempt to boost my confidence. I lifted the glass and drank the final mouthful while I scanned the room. Bernice had settled into a conversation with a wealthy-looking businessman and was focused on him. I deliberately picked someone on the other side, several men Yaru had pointed out sitting around a low table eating what looked like a type of crisp with various dips.

As I walked over there, I did my best to look graceful, smiling at anyone who caught my eye, but I still felt strange. How had I gone from lifeless on a bed to strolling through a room full of people, wearing almost nothing but a form of advanced body paint?

"Oh my, that's an interesting look. Perhaps we could find somewhere a little more secluded and I could get a closer look at your flowers," a man said, blindsiding me as he stepped out in front. My jaw dropped as he reached out a hand, ready to slip it around my waist. I couldn't check my momentum in time, getting far closer than I wanted before I could stop.

His fingers reached lower while my brain tried to catch up.

"I'm sorry," I said, sounding far smaller and more timid than I wanted. "I'm still veiled."

"Oh." It was as if I'd slapped him. He recoiled, withdrawing his arms and putting distance between us. "I thought you were fair game. I apologise."

"That's okay," I replied, feeling my cheeks flush. This seemed to relax him so I acted a little shy, glancing at his feet and looking through my eyelashes. "I... Maybe we could talk, or something... Your eyes..."

He let out a delighted-sounding chuckle, leaning in a bit closer again, rescuing me from my acted nervousness.

"You're sweet, but I'm afraid I'm looking for a bit more of an immediate relief today." He pulled something from his pocket. It looked to be a deep black crystal slice, as thin as business cards used to be. A moment later he held it out to me. "Here's my card to scan. Perhaps you and I could have a chat another day."

It took me a few seconds to understand what he meant, before I remembered the little device Yaru had given me. I took it out of the small purse I had and scanned his card. Right away, his name came up.

"Carl," I said. "It was a pleasure meeting you."

He chuckled, taking my hand and raising it to his mouth to kiss.

"Trust me, it will be even more pleasurable when I can bend you over a table and bury Captain deep inside you."

I blinked, fighting the urge to laugh or run away at his name for his cock. Thankfully my cheeks seemed to understand I was meant to look like I wanted exactly that and the redness deepened.

"Hopefully it won't be too long until you do," I managed to say, doing my best to sound as sexy as I could while I walked away.

Fighting back a shudder of disgust, I continued walking towards my initial destination.

"Hello, boys," Bernice's voice said from just behind me. I tried not to swear or show my frustration, stopping only two feet away from the men I'd been about to talk to.

They all looked our way, a couple of them noticing me, but most looking at the most annoying person I'd probably ever met. She didn't even look at me or acknowledge I existed as she slid into the only spare seat with them.

I changed direction, doing my best to make it look like I'd been heading somewhere else. A man sat alone at the end of the bar, absorbed in a similar device to the crystal tablet Yaru had used the previous day. He was the only other wealthy person Yaru had mentioned this end of the room.

"Hi," I said, slipping into the seat beside him.

"Auralia, right?" he said, barely even glancing up at me.

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"Had a meeting with Kioshi an hour ago. He mentioned your paintwork. Said you paid his culture a great compliment and that it was nice to see." Mr Engrossed still didn't look up, allowing me to recover from my shock. Kioshi had seemed to be disgusted with everything about me.

"I just wanted to be respectful," I said, mentally berating myself for sounding lame, but Mr Engrossed finally looked up. He studied me while I sat there, his head tilted to one side. A moment later his crystal beeped, stealing his attention from me again.

"Hmmm," he said a moment later, "that doesn't look right."

I leant closer, realising he had several mathematical equations on his screen.

"I thought the answer would be bigger than that."

"It should be." I pointed to an X that had been missed as the equation was rearranged. "They forgot to square this."

"Right." He tapped away, fixing the mistake I'd pointed out, the answer at the bottom changing before my eyes. It was impressive tech.

"Perfect," he said a moment later, tucking the crystal away and looking at me. "You know, most courtesans just want to make us randy, fleece us for cash and move on to the next guy."

"I'm still veiled," I replied. "No screwing or fleecing going on here today."

He laughed.

"So, smart, respectful, artistic and you have a sense of humour. So far so good, Auralia, but sadly I have to leave." He got up, but he held out his card as he did.

"I've got to get an express shuttle to Mars on business. But I'll be back in four days. Promise me you'll come have a chat then. I'd like to get to know you better."

"Gladly," I replied, getting to my feet as soon as I'd scanned his card. "Have a safe trip."

I watched as yet another man walked away from me, but this time I felt satisfied. I'd made a good impression finally.

It gave me the boost I needed to continue on, talking to several more men, but either they wanted someone to screw then and there, or Bernice and her sharp tongue managed to end each conversation somehow.

Hour by hour the room grew less busy, men disappearing off with courtesans, most not to return, while my options grew less and less favourable.

Exhausted, with Yaru once more seemingly missing, I found myself standing alone, unable to quite bring myself to try and talk to the remaining few men I could see. None of them were men Yaru had pre-approved or spoke of as having enough wealth.

"Come on, Resurrected," a very British-sounding voice said from behind my right shoulder. "Come sit here and rest a moment, before you wear those bloody feet out."

I turned to see the resurrected actor I'd asked Yaru about earlier. An almost empty scotch sat on the table in front of him.

I only hesitated for a fraction of a second before I complied. Yaru had cautioned me against being seen with another resurrected, but there were precious few people left to notice.

"I'm Auralia," I said as I sat. "And thanks for the drink earlier."

"Don't mention it. You looked like you needed it. And I can respect a woman who doesn't let the shitty attitude of others get to her."

"You mean Bernice?"

He nodded and tapped on the table. I raised my eyebrows, wondering what he'd just ordered.

"Thank you," I said when two more drinks were delivered to us. He tipped his head, lifted the glass and made to toast, but downed it before he'd said anything. I grabbed mine and repeated the gesture. It was almost the end of the night and the earlier buzz had long worn off. I had no problem trying to get it back.

"It sucks, doesn't it?"

"Being a resurrected?"

"No, well, some of it, yes. Being healed sure feels good. At first. But then there's the debt."

"That part was definitely a shock."

"How much are you saddled with?" he asked.

"Over two million credits, apparently. Plus everything I'm spending before my unveiling."

He let out a low whistle.

"This paint seems to cost an arm and a leg."

"It's pretty sweet, though." He looked me over for the first time, visibly. "Your idea or the eunuch's?"

"Mine. Well, sort of. Apparently I need a talent."

"Like a girl in beauty pageant."

"I'm pretty sure beauty pageant girls don't have to whore themselves out to pay for it all." I didn't keep the bitterness from my voice, relieved to be talking to someone who understood.

"You don't seem to be having much luck in that regard."

"Which brings us back to Bernice again."

"Ahh, she's just acting on her instincts. You're a threat. Keep yourself above her level. Men get tired of that sort of thing if there's too much of it. Most of them just want to fuck and drink."

I laughed at his description, both relieved and amused. By the time I stopped he was studying me, leaning back in his chair, almost slouching. He somehow managed to make looking untidy and awkward look cool, all at the same time.

"I'm not sure I buy you being a virgin, I must admit. You're a bit too comfortable with your tits on display."

I felt my eyes go wide. Blunt son of a bitch. But it was also refreshing.

"My sponsor greased a few palms in that regard too," I replied, deciding to be honest. Yaru had said this guy wasn't going to be able to afford me anyway.

"I doubt that would be the first time." Again he paused, his eyes watching me, taking everything in for a moment. It was the first time such a stare hadn't made me feel uncomfortable.

I liked this guy, more than liked this guy. He was straight with his words and confident. Maybe a little cocky even. But there was a kindness underneath it all. I felt the first stirrings of heat inside me and involuntarily squeezed my thighs a little tighter together.

"So, do you have a favourite courtesan at the moment?" I asked, making my voice sound as sweet as possible. I batted my eyelashes at him a few times as well. He chuckled.

"As a matter of fact, I don't. You could say I'm in the market."

"Wow, such a funny thing." I tried to make the sarcasm in my voice obvious, over-emphasising everything. "I was just thinking how amazing it would be if you wanted to screw me and pay me for it too."

"Well, when you put it like that... Where's my coat? We're leaving." He mockingly made to grab a jacket that wasn't there, his already on his shoulders, before half standing to sink back down again, once more serious.

"You have your unveiling ceremony first, right?" he asked, suddenly serious.

I nodded. A moment later he sat forward, pulling a black, crystal card out and holding it between both thumbs and forefingers.

"You know. I've never been to an unveiling..."

"Me neither," I quipped before I realised he was actually serious this time. He wanted to come, even knowing it would partially be a sham.

Without saying another word I pulled my scanner from my little purse and scanned his business card.

"Well, James," I said as I read his name off the screen. "Consider yourself invited to your first."

With that he rose to his feet, tucking the card away again with a flick of his wrist.

Leaning forward, he whispered in my ear, "Stay cool."

I watched him leave, not sure I wanted him to, but equally not sure I could get to my feet and follow. I was hot, far hotter than I'd have liked to admit.

"You seem to have an interesting disregard for what's normal," Yaru said from somewhere behind me, making me jump.

"Very few others wanted to talk to me after Bernice showed up," I replied, my eyes still lingering in the direction he'd left.

"There will be plenty more nights. You only need five or six to truly be interested."

"One less now. James wants to come to my unveiling," I replied as I stood.

"Oh, James does, does he? I hope you remembered what I said about other resurrected. I can't let you invite him, you know."

"You said I needed six, right?"

"Yes. It's the maximum any courtesan has ever invited and successfully pleased without causing more damage to herself than was worth the earnings." Yaru motioned for me to lead the way out of the building.

"Well, I'm just going to have to find some way to handle seven."

"Auralia, I can't let you—"

"It's too late," I said, walking faster than him. "I already invited him."

"As you wish, my dear. But you're explaining this one to Daniel."

I grinned as I carried on. Finally, I'd got my way in something.