The horse. The horse was the first and only warning.

Diedra paused, the music had stopped; someone was out there, and she felt the blast of fear from one of her horses. "Panic!" it said to her, and Diedra quickly kicked the belly-dancing dress to the side, still topless as Tanner seemed to melt through the curtains, not bothering to give note of his entrance. Diedra glanced over her shoulder at the man, seeing the cold mask and the dark coat, instantly recognising him.

The panic that her horses felt at Tanner's touch hung around her form like a stink, but her true emotions were seen sharply and clearly by Tanner. At the core of it, is that uncomfortable, agitated feeling of fear around Tanner, pulsating with Diedra's fast-beating heart. But (and this was especially notable when Tanner started complimenting on her appearance) this core-feeling of fear was washed over with waves and waves of anger, hatred and disgust.

Diedra was a curious person. When something made her scared, she got angry and annoyed at the source for doing so. But when it comes to Tanner and Madame Sombre, it's always the same reaction. She resented them both with such a fiery passion that, sooner or later during the conversation, Diedra's fear will ebb away, crushed by her own fury. Even now, her violet eyes narrowed and her lips pursed as she quickly gathered her dress over her breasts, arching her back and becoming stiff and tense.

[b]"My eyes are up here, Tanner."[/b] gently reminded Diedra, her voice dripping with malice. This was strange, even for Diedra; by now, she would have been flinging insults and shouts at the man, but she was holding back. Tanner did not know Diedra's thoughts on the missing stagehands, but the fear took on a new shape; wariness. She was consciously holding back, for some reason or another.

She hasn't been wary around Madame Sombre or Tanner for centuries.

Outside, her horses stamped their feet, snorting loudly. They, too, were engulfed in Diedra's anger, and Diedra herself let loose a derisive scoff at Tanner's eye-colour change; such parlour tricks weren't going to scare her like they used to anymore. As well as the anecdotes; Diedra saw through them, starting to pick out the truth. She recoiled at the insults, and her mouth opened for a retort, but she stopped. She stopped again - this was very certainly not like Diedra at all.

It was when Tanner was leaving, that Diedra couldn't help herself anymore, and called out at his back [b]"Wait!"[/b] desperately. Praying that he was just beyond the curtains, Diedra's voice hissed with disgust. [b]"If the enchantments around here are breaking, and don't say they are not. We know of the stagehands."[/b] started Diedra, making sure she had his attention. A rat like him would love to scurry off to Madame Sombre and repeat it.

[b]"This has never happened before. So give Monochrome a [i]warning[/i], from her most-loved performer. I want to speak to her, in private."[/b]

The fact alone that Diedra is applying rational thought instead of throwing insults is a plain hint that Diedra is concerned - either for her own safety, or for the well-being of the other performers. [b]"If she is, as she likes to put it, 'too busy', then I'll only continue to stir things up until she [i]has[/i] to speak to me. I want to speak to her at dawn this evening. That should give her plenty of time to...prepare. You can come back to me with her answer any time between then."[/b] ordered Diedra, turning around with her chin held high as she fixed on the headpiece of her costume. She left Tanner to stand there, half-expecting the man to come in and punish her for having the gall to order him around like that.

It didn't matter, to Diedra; she had to, even though she hated to, speak to Madame Sombre and find the root of the issue before anyone else goes missing, or gets killed. [i]After all, the two of us have the same goal...keep the performers alive,[/i] reflected Diedra. She felt the bile rise in her throat as she compared herself to that witch of a woman.