Act I

Aelin winced each time the mallet hit the wood, driving the "FOR SALE" sign further into the lawn. She hardly heard anything the estate agent said, and just smiled vaguely when he bid them goodbye and drove off down the road.

Lysandra let out a deep breath from where she stood next to Aelin. "It actually feels real now."

"We actually did it," Aelin said, her voice sounding as numb as she felt. "We actually sold our house in favour of buying a goddamn theatre."

"Hush," Lysandra scolded with a poorly concealed grin, covering Evangeline's ears. "No swearing when children are around." Evangeline just giggled, pushing her sister's hands away from her.

"Evangeline had better get used to it, or she's in for a bad shock on our opening night."

Lysandra hummed in response, rolling her eyes. "If your language the week before finals was anything to go by, I'm going to need to buy her a pair of ear plugs."

Aelin let out a snort of laughter. "Get a pair for Nehemia too while you're at it. I think she was about to pass out in shock." With a sudden thought she glanced down at her phone, noting the recent text from Nehemia herself. "We'd better get over to the theatre, Nehemia's just leaving home. We've got to meet our sponsor."

"This is the part I've been dreading," Lysandra muttered as they started off down the road.

Nehemia was waiting for them outside the Stage Door, and Aelin presumed their sponsor had already arrived when she saw the black limo parked outside. "You know, I'm now quite glad we didn't bring the car," Lysandra remarked once Nehemia was within earshot. They shared a battered old ford between them, since they'd pooled all their finances upon leaving the orphanage to pay for both the car and the mortgage on the house. Although Lysandra's modelling job and Aelin's theatre apprenticeship both payed reasonably well, money was always something they had to be careful with despite the small support payment they got from the orphanage for having Evangeline.

Nehemia giggled lightly. "I didn't see them arrive," she said, motioning to the limo. "They must be having a look around inside, the door's already unlocked."

"I'm already disliking them less and less." Lysandra groaned, and Aelin was inclined to agree with her.

"Just remember it might not be for long," Nehemia pointed out, "if we have a good first play, we might be able to afford to go it alone. And my parents keep saying they're more than happy to help us out."

Shaking her head, Aelin pushed open the Stage Door. "Your parents have already helped us more than we can ever repay. I feel guilty asking for more."

"I've known the pair of you for not much short of a decade, and they think of you as their daughters," Nehemia said, a touch of exasperation in her gentle voice. "I think if weren't for the paperwork and hassle then they'd probably have offered to adopt you all. They'd always help you financially if you so much as asked."

"Aelin's too stubborn for that." Evangeline piped up, and Aelin actually groaned out loud. The little redhead was becoming so much like her sister it was scary.

"They've already helped us with the theatre; they payed the deposit on the house, and all the house money went into the theatre." Lysandra said, and Aelin nodded.

Nehemia exhaled deeply, seeming to recognise when she was beaten. "Well the offer will always stand."

They had reached the door that lead to the side stage area. Aelin could just about make out two voices from behind the door, and cast a nervous glance back at Nehemia and Lysandra before pushing her way in. The voices stopped as soon as the door opened, and the two men they belonged to turned to look in Aelin's direction.

The similarities between them were undeniable- the pale skin, black hair and bright blue eyes- but what separated them was how they stood. The older one was looking at Aelin and her companions as if they were intruding in his territory, but the younger man who was obviously his son had an expression of mild embarrassment. Aelin recognised him instantly, and she knew from the shifting of Lysandra and Nehemia behind her that they did to.

"Miss Aelin Galathynius, I presume?" The older man said, looking directly at Aelin. It took a great deal of self control for Aelin not to shudder as she shook hands with the Mayor of Rifthold. She could still remember seeing his face in the newspapers following her parents' murders, since her father had also been running for the mayor title. There had been a great deal of rumour and suspicion about whether Mr Havilliard had orchestrated the murder of Mr and Mrs Galathynius, and although he had been declared innocent by court, Aelin had never forgiven him in her heart.

Mayor Havilliard peered at the document in his other hand, which Aelin presumed was the paper that Aelin, Lysandra and Nehemia had signed when they had paid the deposit on the theatre and had it's ownership transferred into their joint names. "You must be Lysandra DuVency," he glanced at Lysandra, before turning to Nehemia. His lip curled slightly as he said "Nehemia Ytger?"

"Yes," Nehemia nodded, looking Mayor Havilliard undauntedly in the eye. The rivalry between the Havilliards and the Ytgers was long standing, as the two families had been business rivals for decades.

The Mayor held her gaze for a long moment, then jerked his head at his son. "My eldest son, Dorian," he said as Dorian approached, giving Aelin a small smile. "I expect you remember him from your school days?"

"We do," Aelin said, giving Dorian a nod. He had been in the same class as Aelin, Lysandra and Nehemia since they started secondary school, though there had been few words spoken between them.

Silence stretched for a few seconds, before the Mayor cleared his throat noisily. "Well, lets make this as brief as possible. I'm sure you've read the terms of my sponsorship; I will pay your monthly mortgage, and you have to fund everything else you need for your productions."

"And in return," Aelin interrupted, "your business will be advertised on all posters and programmes, you and your family will have one of the boxes free of charge at every performance, and there will be a newspaper article announcing your sponsorship." She had read the terms several times over and thought the last one slightly bizarre, but it made sense now she knew who was sponsoring them.

"That is correct," the Mayor nodded, looking between Aelin, Lysandra and Nehemia as if he was sizing them up in turn. "But that is not all."

Aelin's heart skipped a beat, but in truth she had been expecting a move like that. "But Mr Mayor," she said slowly, her tone as sharp as she dared, "the terms on both sides were all agreed by the solicitor. Any additional favours on our behalf will be breaching the ag-"

The Mayor held up a hand, and Aelin fell silent. "I think you will find," he said, voice smooth, "that this will turn out to be a favour to you more than to me. Finding performers willing to accept salaries as small as you can afford will not be easy. So to help you out, Dorian will be performing in your first play."

Words failed Aelin, and she turned her gaze towards Dorian. He was wearing an apologetic smile which made it clear that the last place in Adarlan he wanted to be at that precise moment was there.

"Thank you for your offer, but we've already finalised a group of performers who are willing to work for us." Nehemia spoke up, bringing Aelin out of her shocked silence. "We were planning on having our first performance as a ballet recital, since Madame Florine's ballet academy expressed an interest in having their annual show here."

To her dismay, the Mayor shook his head. "No no, I insist," he said with particular emphasis, looking hard at Nehemia with poorly concealed distaste. "Dorian will be a part of your first performance, then it will be your decision whether he continues with you or not. What better way of showing the support of my family and I?"

Recovering enough to speak, Aelin smiled sweetly and said "Of course, we'll look forward to working with him."

The Major's eyebrows pinched slightly in the hint of a frown, but it was gone within seconds. "We must return to the Council Chambers now since I have a meeting to attend, but Dorian will be here tomorrow morning to begin your rehersals. Please contact me periodically about your progress. Come now, Dorian."

Without so much as a goodbye, the Mayor was storming through the room. Dorian glanced towards Aelin, opened his mouth as if to say something, then went running after his father. Aelin stared after them, flinching slightly at the sound of the Stage Door banging shut on their way out.

As soon as they were alone, Lysandra let out a ragged breath and Aelin groaned aloud. Evangeline gently touched her elbow, a small smile on her face, and Aelin ruffled her hair in gratitude.

Only Nehemia looked reasonably composed, but then again she nearly always did. "Well, that could have gone better," she sighed.

"No kidding," Lysandra huffed.

"But it's just the first play, isn't it?" said Evangeline, the eternal optimist. "And if you can make enough money then you won't need a sponsorship anymore."

Aelin didn't respond. Suddenly the dream of directing a theatre production seemed about a thousand miles away.

Author's Note

And this is what I've been working on besides AYT this summer! So excited to finally share it, I love this AU and hope everyone else loves it too. This was written as part of the ToG Mini-Bang, organised through Tumblr, where artists and authors were paired up to create a fic with a piece of artwork attatched. The thumb image is what my amazing artist companion painted for this pic, a scene that takes place in the final Act.

The story is complete, and will be posted gradually over the next four days. So if you like what you've read there's plenty to look forward to!