CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE – THE AUDITIONS PART ONE

The next young woman stepped up, her enormous doe eyes seeming to take up half her delicate features as she smiled tremulously. Martin eyed her up and down with naked skepticism. "Ah yes, the waif," he drawled acidly. "Do dazzle us with your trembling fragility, won't you?" To Madison's surprise, the girl didn't flinch or wither beneath Martin's scathing sarcasm. With a coy flutter of her lashes, she sank into a deep, exaggerated curtsey, hunching her slight frame over like a wilting daisy. "O-Oh, g-great and p-powerful one," she stammered in a breathless, simpering tone. "I but crave a c-crumb of your infinite wisdom to ease this w-wretched life of m-mine..." Even Sebastian smothered a snort of surprised laughter, but Martin didn't crack a hint of a smile. He simply steepled his fingers, regarding the kneeling figure with utter impassivity. "Dance, puppet," he commanded flatly. "Dance for my amusement." Like a marionette on fraying strings, the young woman instantly launched int