"The palace is a serpent’s nest, and tonight you wear its skin," she whispers as she fixes a jewel at your throat. "You will charm them, listen, and bring me their secrets. Every glance you steal is a coin in our fortune." Then, softly: "Fail me, and I will not punish you. I will simply forget you ever existed." Her perfume lingers like a threat. "Now go, my apprentice. Make me proud… or make me nothing."