Castle Serenno
House Serenno had not come out of the conflicts of the past century with their reputation intact, a lot of shame had been brought to the house by the involvement of one of their own in the machinations of Palpatine, and the house had been working ever since to try and improve their image, taking steps to slowly but steadily recover. One of the rulers had come up with the concept of the Beggar's Feast, and though many in the upper echelons of Serenno's society abhorred the concept, it was such a public relations success that it had prevailed to this day.
The concept was a simple one, and Zarine couldn't help but admit the genius behind it. Every time the castle hosted a gathering of sufficient importance, they also hosted a feast for the homeless and beggars of the city, serving them the same food and drinks that was being served to the other guests. Of course the two parties were segregated, and no noble was forced to mingle with the beggars if they did not wish to, the Count who had started the tradition had been smart enough to realize forcing his nobles to sit at the table with beggars might be expecting a little too much of them. The tradition had caught on, and now many nobles held such feasts across the planet.
Today though was special, it was the annual freedom say celebration, and the gathering at Castle Serenno was of particular splendor, with a beggar's feast to match. This one she could not send one of her little birds to. No, this one she had to attend on her own. Dressed in her patched and worn out clothes, covered by the dirty cloak that had been her loyal companion for years, Zarine walked through the beggar's feast, keeping an eye at the adjacent room where the main ball was taking place. Every now and then a few nobles would wander into this side of the ball, some out of curiosity, eager to learn about the homeless of their world, others out of genuine compassion, and some out of contempt.
She kept an eye out for one and all, her ears open, picking up every scarp of information that she could.
"Sing for me," she whispered under her breath with a smile on her face as she walked away from a young noble couple, having taken a mental note of some usefull bits of information, "sing for me my little birds."