The magic circle

“A circle of friends, people who are not just my favourites, but people who know me and who I have known from long ago: those who, like me, are self-sufficient, connaisseurs of the best things in life.” He reflects, after his special day, he loves it to have them around, a kind of modern days court, he smiles, when the smell of the rose garden drifts through the open door, and the ladies shiver a little. 

They all dress up for these occasions, knowing how fussy he is with appearances. They are anxious to wear their finest, and also the most seductive, as they don’t know for sure what to expect of his special soirées, whatever happens, wherever takes his fancy, whatever his fantasy. He thinks about what to do next with his circle of favourites, what to subject them to, for fun, for his pleasure, and theirs.

He is considering who to keep in and who to kick out. For example…

“It was five in the morning and Carla still hadn’t received the phone call from…”

And she won’t, as she disgraced herself last time, getting drunk and silly. He gives much importance to good behaviour, style, good taste.

In the circle

They are favourites. A circle of special people, the aristocracy of good taste. He has to expect high standards, with the ladies as well as the men. One has to think this is not easy given who they are. Some them alive and well, present, wanting to be there, competing against each other. The others: ghosts from his past, some very distinguished, some out of obscurity but nonetheless dear to him, ancestors, allies, old mistresses who appear for him  as fresh as new, once famous people who have disappeared from view, but not for him: he has a selection of thinkers, philosophers, novelists, musicians, he likes to summon to his parties. 

So he thinks very hard each time as to who to invite. Not everyone is suitable, dependent on what the theme is. Themes may be historical events, or objects of art, or human situations he wants enact. He distributes the roles, he’s director and script writer, unless he delegates to one of them some of the responsibility: a great favour. Some are out for good, like that Carla who made a show of herself. The court expects him to be rigorous in maintaining the reputation of the circle. After all it transcends time and space. Although they have not seen any alien yet. But who knows?

The inner circle

Within the circle some people are very special. Obviously she, the current favourite, is. She helps him to decide who is in, and who’s out, he refers to her good taste, she decides about the ladies, about what they should wear, how much freedom is given, what is taboo for the evening, what punishments to inflict, who will be excluded next time. The men have given her the sobriquet of la Pompadour for a reason.

Then there is the Count, who reigns on the Castle. The Count is very helpful regarding entertainment, games for the men, traps for the ladies, and for gastronomy. The Count is ancient, although his good looks would contradict this, and is reputed to be the only real vampire at the court, although muted. How they met is a mystery, perhaps in some old stories, somewhere.

The last character we ought to mention is the joker, who’s present at all the parties. He’s the one to watch, for his tricks are convoluted and may lead the uninitiated to some serious embarrassment. The four of them, with la Pompadour, the Count and the boss, are the soul of the circle and for its members its most lethal danger. But no-one would miss the fun…

Inspired also by Fandango’s Story Starter #137

Picture: Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour