The second time Reverie used her power on someone, she was twelve. After a few more days of recovering from exhaustion, Ilysia had explained much to her. She'd told her about Thiera, her mother, and the Di'Cairn of the Eawood. Her mother had been the daughter of the High Priestess of the Di'Cairn temple, a place deep in the Eawood that humans were rarely able to go. She explained that Reverie's mother was, like all Di'Cairn, one of the Whispered Folk, which in turn mean that Reverie was as well. She told Reverie that Whispered magic is different from human magic, that it works by affecting the flow of magic and the places where different energies intersect. Human magic works by bringing energies into places they weren't before, like summoning or using the elements. Ilysia explained to her that though a human can use Whispered magic, and vice versus, people are strongest in the magic they are born with. She also taught Reverie that very few Whispered Folk were left in the human world, as most of them had entered a long sleep after the Whispered Queen and King, Au'hrelia and Fel'ah'mon, had created a wall between the daemon and mortal realms. Because of this, she explained, it was very important that Reverie never let anyone realize her power, or learn of her heritage. She didn't, or maybe couldn't, tell her the details of why this was so important, but Reverie took her word. For the next seven years she learned the skills of a courtesan, while cultivating her new abilities. She learned to entertain and appease clients with the other apprentices, and worked at her magic on her own. With time she learned she could gauge other people's feelings, simply by allowing her magic to expand with her breathing. She could feel the lives around her, and could even tell whether or not someone had a talent for magic. She was cautious in her explorations, afraid to do anything that might draw attention, but she made progress this way. 

When she turned twelve, her cycle came. It was a quiet event, she woke to find blood on her sheets and knew from the other apprentices what it meant. She told Ilysia, and then went about cleaning herself up. She was fortunate, some of the other girls told her, that she wasn't having cramps. As was the usual, once her cycle ended, she was given a new role. In the evenings she could be selected to entertain large parties, or clients who preferred music, poetry, or a drink, before they went upstairs with the courtesan they chose. This could be done by the women themselves, of course, but it was a good opportunity, the dowager had decided, to let the customers preview the girls who would soon be old enough to work. There were two groups of thought among the apprentices regarding this, there were those who were excited to begin practicing their seduction skills, and those who were afraid. Reverie found herself hovering just outside of these groups. She wasn't excited to be around the clients, after all any one of them could turn out like the man who'd attacked Ilysia. However, she also wasn't particularly afraid of them either. Maybe it was naivety, but Reverie thought most of the clients wouldn’t pay much attention to a plain girl like her anyways. After all, she didn't have the flaming red, brilliant blond, or mysterious black hair that was popular among the other girls. Her hair was long, wavy, and chestnut brown. Her eyes too, rather than sparkling like gems, were a practical shade of brown. Her features were neither delicate nor strong. Reverie was, by no means, a beauty as far as she could tell. It seemed odd to her that the dowager allowed her to stay at all, though Ilysia had hinted that her mother's relationship to the dowager had something to do with it. Still, work was work and Reverie intended to do well. She didn't need to be a temptress, so long as she was useful.

Her first group of clients were the sons of some up and coming merchants. They were rowdier than the various nobles who had come in, but their status was elite enough to grant them entry. They were in good spirits, and wanted to drink and listen to music while they waited and enjoyed themselves. Reverie, who'd tied her hair up in a braided bun and was wearing a pretty but simple white and green dress, busied herself with preparing drink. Annette, an older girl who Ilysia had also taken under her wing, began playing an unobtrusive song on the lute. Annette was a stunning girl, with feathery blond hair and big gentle green eyes. Everything about her was gentle and welcoming, really. She was one of the girls who was afraid of the clients, though with Ilysia's teaching she managed to hide it well. Reverie served the four young men quietly, while they talked and laughed amongst themselves. Before too long though, their eyes turned towards Anette. 

"You're a beauty, did you know that?" One of the men called to her. She smiled prettily, and blushed the way Ilysia taught her to, but didn't say anything. She would start working soon, but for now she still wasn't allowed to take customers. Reflexively Reverie had let her magic roam with her breath. She guided it closer to the man trying to charm Anette, secretly worried he would try to cross a line. To her surprise, however, she found that he seemed incredibly uncomfortable. She couldn't understand why, but he felt like a skittish foal, looking for a chance to bolt. Wondering if the others were perhaps trying to get him to do something nefarious, Reverie turned her attention to the other young men as well. But they, too, felt uncomfortable. She wasn't sure if a person could feel when her magic touched them, but she took a bold chance, and probed a little further. 

"Ah, Geoff, you don't have to sweet talk them!" One of the young men joked, and the others joined in laughing at their friend. The young man, Geoff, turned red to his ears but Reverie could tell that, despite their attitudes, none of them were actually confident that it was true. Slowly, as she listened to them talk and paid attention to their emotional states, she began to have a clearer picture of what was going on. 

"Antoine, you should be taking lessons though shouldn't you? Your father has been looking for a wife for you, I heard." The conversation seemed to hover just shy of acknowledging that they were in a brothel, in fact none of them had made an attempt to call for a woman. Reverie thought, perhaps, none of them had been here before. Moreover, none of them seemed comfortable with the idea of being here at all, whenever the conversation came too close to the topic of picking a prostitute, they all seemed to feel a sense of burden and anxiety. She wondered why any of them were even here, since clearly they didn't want to be. But then she realized, it wasn't obvious at all. Without her magic, she wouldn't have been able to see any of these doubts and discomforts on their faces. They, she realized, each thought they were the only ones who didn't like being here. It wasn't her job, though, to turn away customers simply because she could sense their moral dilemmas. She wondered what to do with this information. Tentatively, she sent her magic back to Geoff, who seemed to be the most suggestable. She plucked, very gently, at his sense of bravery.

"As I think about it, it's rather late isn't it?" He asked, much to Reverie's surprise. 

"So?" One of his companions asked.

"Well, I just thought I might leave now." He explained, and Reverie flinched. She wondered what would happen if she used her magic on his feelings, but panicked when she realized she emboldened him to leave. If they all left, she and Anette would be accused of serving them poorly! The others seemed eager to latch on to their friend's unusual boldness, and Anette looked at her in concern. Reverie chewed her lip, it would be against the rules to talk too much to them, but perhaps just a little. 

"Dear guests, forgive me, I've never poured drinks before. Have I done something to make you wish to leave?" Reverie asked. Anette looked even more worried, at seeing this breach of the rules, but kept quiet and continued playing. Reverie took a deep breath, and coaxed their collective sense of confidence. Finally, Geoff, who'd already brought up the desire to leave, answered her.

"Oh, no. Please don't misunderstand. It's only that, ah how do I put this?" He scratched at his chin in thought and frowned as Reverie looked innocently at him. He didn't want to upset her, she could tell. She decided to use that, and did her best to look a little teary.

"You need not spare me, dear guest. I would rather know what I've done wrong." She insisted, and one of the other young men jumped in.

"Gods around Geoff you dolt, you're going to make her cry! No, little flower, it's really not you! Not at all, we're just a bunch of cowards you see." Antoine tried to reassure her. The sudden honesty seemed to break a dam for the rest of them as well.

"That's right! We've never been to a place like this before, honestly my mother would be so disappointed in me!" Geoff admitted. The others grew quiet and nodded. Anette looked stunned, and her fingers skipped a note, nobody else seemed to notice. The atmosphere had grown heavy, and Reverie frantically tried to think of a remedy. She hadn't meant to make them sad either!

"Why?" She finally asked, when her young mind could think of nothing else to say. Geoff looked sheepishly at her.

"Ah well, she says it's immoral, you know. To come to places like this, and l-lay with women you aren't married to. I don't know, it does seem… odd, I suppose. I've a sister your age, I'd not want her pouring drinks for men in a place like this." He explained, and the others nodded as well.

"Right, and it's strange isn't it? I mean, if I walked up to a pretty girl on the street, that I'd never seen before, and offered her money for it, wouldn't she slap me, or call the guard?" Asked one of the others, whose name Reverie didn't know. Suddenly, the four of them had begun a conversation about morality, and the ethics of visiting a brothel. Reverie felt like her stomach was going to crawl out of her mouth. She'd really made a mistake. If they left, talking about their mother's and little sisters, the dowager would turn her out, she was certain of it. She wracked her mind, desperate for a solution as Ilysia's mantra of usefulness rang in her ears. How could she be useful to these young men? Should she be? If she were useful to them, she would be useless to the dowager. The dowager held her livelihood, ultimately, not this group. She glanced at Anette, and had an idea. Just like the apprentices, there were different sentiments among the working women as well. Some truly hated this life, others simply tolerated it, like Ilysia, for lack of other options. There were others though, she remembered, who took a bitter pride in it. They held no love for the work, or the customers, but they placed great weight on the value a client's attention could give them. Reverie could think of a few women who could deal with these four. She hummed thoughtfully and tried speaking her mind.

"If it pleases you, dear guests, I think there are some ladies here who you could speak to honestly about this." She offered. They looked uncertain about the idea, and Reverie made one more attempt on their emotions. She tried to coax them into relaxation, tried to make them more open to her idea. All at once, maybe her own desperation made her too heavy handed, they smiled to each other and shrugged.

"Yeah, all right. Maybe there's no harm in that."

"There is still a fee to call them here, dear guests, but if you only choose to talk then that's all you'll pay. There's no need to force yourselves." She continued, though this wasn't necessarily true, when they consented, Reverie ran off to call for the women she had in mind. Ilysia would not humor them, and there were many who wouldn't be able to stomach the act, but there were still others who would have no trouble at all in this situation.  She could explain the details to them, and hope they would go along. First she called for Celeste, a woman Ilysia's age, with soft red curls and crystal blue eyes. Unlike Ilysia and Anette, who each had a very strong appeal to particular tastes, Celeste often wore a mask to suit the customer. Celeste appeared, looking around lazily when she saw that Reverie had come for her alone.

"What is it, girl?" She asked, wary of Ilysia's underling. Reverie fidgeted and then began to explain.

"The men I was serving, they…they are uncomfortable being here. I'm not sure why they came at all, but they are talking about their mothers and their sisters. I told them they could call on a woman and just talk with her, for a fee. They agreed." Reverie said, and squeezed her fingers as she looked up at Celeste. The older woman looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Hm. Did you tell them how much the fee is?" She asked, a wicked gleam appearing in her eyes.

"Ah, no…" Reverie hesitated, and Celeste's smile broadened. 

"Wonderful, come with me. If the young things decide to stay, you'll go to the dowager and tell her about this, understand me?" Celeste asked, as they walked down the stairs back to one of the entertaining rooms. Reverie nodded, and watched in amazement as Celeste's calculating expression, turned into one of shy eagerness. Reverie stayed back a few feet and watched as Celeste began talking to them. After a few moments, the young men seemed visibly relieved and were nodding along with what Celeste was saying. She waved Anette away, who came straight to Reverie.

"Reverie! I don't know what just happened, but thank the Gods for Celeste! I've got to go get a few of the girls Celeste called for, but she told me to tell you they have each agreed to pay half the rate per girl to sit and talk an hour." Anette looked awestruck, and Reverie too was flustered at that amount. The Garden was not like other brothels, customers did not come and pay for a single service. They paid for a full night, and it was expensive. To charge half that, for only an hour, Celeste and the others would make more than usual tonight to be sure. Reverie turned to run towards the dowager's office, but hesitated. She couldn't place the reason why, but her feet carried her to Ilysia's area instead. Ilysia was in her working room, preparing for one of her regulars, when Reverie knocked.

"What is it?" Ilysia asked curtly, she was always short tempered when she worked. Her clients seemed to like that about her, given that Ilysia was the top courtesan in the Garden. 

"Something has happened." Reverie said, and launched into an explanation of the events that had unfolded thus far. Including her misstep of influencing their emotional states. Ilysia, to her surprise, didn't seem upset at all. .