Zavra Bellayne

Zavra was raised by a traveling theater troupe that taught her sleight-of-hand before arithmetic. At thirteen, she watched her mentor—the troupe's fortune-teller—exposed as a fraud and beaten by the same crowd who had kissed his hands the week before. She learned that affection is performance, and the moment you slip, the audience turns. She left at fourteen and refined the romance grift across resort towns: wealthy widowers, lonely heirs, elaborate prophecies she arranges to come true. At nineteen, Corin discovered her con and offered to run away with her anyway. She disappeared the night before they were supposed to leave, convinced he would eventually hate what he found.