Aurora kissed her mother’s cheek, then made her way downstairs to speak to Zephyr before the tavern opened. She found the owner by the waterfall, the room already lit in the mystic blue light. She cleared her throat, and Zephyr turned, eyeing her carefully, evaluating her appearance from head to toe.

“Not bad,” she pronounced. “I would still keep talking to a minimum, in case someone recognizes your voice. Float the room, clear empty glasses, bring new drinks when asked. Do not push for conversations. Let them happen around you. Best to be invisible.”

“What do I do if an important conversation is happening? Is there any kind of signal?”

Zephyr frowned. “Most of my girls do not know enough to know what is important. They listen for names, dates, locations. Frivolous details to them, but it helps us concentrate some of our other efforts. They write down whatever they hear, whether they think it is important or not, file reports at the end of the night, and are paid handsomely for it. If you notice something of importance, do your best to stay nearby. If that is not possible, then you come to me at the bar, and I will organize a rotation to keep things subtle.”

“And if something goes wrong?” Aurora asked.

Zephyr’s eyes hardened. “Nothing can go wrong. If you are concerned about that, I suggest you take yourself back upstairs to your mother.”

Aurora shook her head. “You are right. Nothing goes wrong.”

Everything was going wrong.

Aurora was trying to be invisible, but in truth, she was the exact opposite. She had started the evening by dropping a nearly full tray of glass mugs, making a shattering introduction to the occupants of The Mermaid Tavern. That had earned her a glare and a disappointed frown from Zephyr at the bar, and a raucous round of applause and laughter from the young soldiers on the first floor.

From then on, several in the group seemed to keep tabs on her, teasing as she passed, gallantly parting the crowd as she walked, even after she switched from the tray to carrying single drinks in each hand. Others jeered and lunged as she walked by, as though trying to startle her into another accident. Their treatment began drawing so much attention that Zephyr pulled her off the floor and into the back room.

“Let’s try this again another night,” she said, before the door had even swung all the way closed.

“No, please. Send me to the private area upstairs. It is quieter up there. And it is where I am likely to be of more use anyway.”

“It is also where you are more likely to be recognized, and you have not shown me much evidence so far that you are good at blending in.”

“Let me try. Please. If the slightest thing goes wrong, I will take myself upstairs without a word. I promise.”