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Shan Lötvall was a harbinger of secrets and whispers and being the owner of the bar at the Crow Club, it only made sense.
She prided herself in her ability to eavesdrop over nonchalant conversations where arrogant and naive men spilled their secrets after one too many drinks, just as easily as they spilled their money at the cards tables and their opinions to women who faked interest just to get a meal.
She served the customers and supervised the bar, becoming a force of nature hard to miss among the dim lighting of the gambling parlour. A strike of lightning through a black sky.
The girl was exceptionally young for the owner of anything, much less a bar inside such a notorious Club inside the Barrel.
Her white hair was soft as her skin, always with a delicate look about her as she waltzed through the tables with a tray of drinks in hand. Despite her appearance and tendancy to daydream, she held a dear place in the heart of their side of the Barrel.
She watched over her establishment with eagle sharp eyes, swift to kick out cheaters and rowdy men before fights could break out and scare away potential customers or make bad for the business. She never dropped a tray, never made a bad drink, and never let anyone get away with something twice.
The custom was simple - if you wanted drinks and service, you'd have to play by the rules.
Shan was a properly dressed lady for such a business. She favoured deep rouges and dark shades of satin, bodice and skirts lined with intricate golden lace. Her icy hair was always done nicely and whether up or down, you could be certain that she'd have at least one braid running through it and she always had rings on her fingers.
She twisted them obsessively when her mind whisked her away from the present.
Her jewellery consisted mostly of gold and glinting rubies, a bold enough choice to keep visible as she walked through the streets of Ketterdam, but she did so knowing that no one in their right mind would attempt to nick them. And if they did, they'd soon recognise the crow tattoo on her wrist and their dire mistakes of trying it.
Shan walked poised with a straight back, always watchful of her surroundings. Eyes the same black of a frozen over lake. Sharp tongue hiding behind a soft smile. She spoke clearly, everything always thoughtful and proper; some wondered if she moved over from the university district or a home of high education, but no one could be sure.
But in the instances where something unexplainable inside her head tapped into her conscience her speech became distant along with her eyes. Quiet, whimsical, nearly a hum. As though she were reciting poetry written out in front of her eyes that did saw too much and nothing all at once.
The Crows knew that Shan was a bit of a dreamer. Sometimes everything was fine. Other times Inej had to follow her, knowing that the girl might come to her senses not knowing where she was or how she got there.
The first time it happened she called Inej an angelic protector. A guardian bird who watched out for others as she flew over rooftops.
Despite these episodes of lack of lucidity, Shan could usually hold her own.
She had sharp eyes, attentative ears, and knew how to find information without even really needing to search. It was as though people forgot she was there, dropping gossip into her lap as she milled around in the background through the regular bustle, delivering drinks to tables and flashing charming smiles.
It made her a perfect addition to their little band of theives and criminals.
And soon enough, after a year of keeping cheaters to the streets, fights to a minimum and bad business out of those doors - she came to be the one in charge of the bar - deeds in her name. The men before had been lazy and unenthusiastic, lacking conviction, allowing discrepancies to slip through the cracks of the Slat: but Shan Lötvall would not allow it, and Kaz Brekker saw it in the way she looked after the bar.
Always spotless, always tidy, and the money coming in and out always matched up with the paperwork, so Kaz trusted her in a business respect.
He trusted her in other aspects, too, but was too stubborn of a man to verbally admit it.
(Shan knew, of course. She knew a lot of things she wasn't supposed to.)
That was probably another reason why Kaz kept her around.
Whether he believed in her prophetic ramblings or her claims to insight or not, he could not deny that her knowledge over seemingly impossible scenarios was useful.
While some believed her ability and others called her a mad-woman, Kaz Brekker had never directly stated he didn't believe what she was or what she could do.
He had once told her to "consider him a sceptic."
She had only laughed.
"I'll make a believer out of you yet, Kaz Brekker."
With a million kruge job, a sun summoner and a trip through the Fold on the Crow's horizons, perhaps she could finally be able to convince him.
