Finding herself pregnant with her employer's eldest son's bastard, quite against her will, Mia had sought employment elsewhere as a cook. Her master had felt it improper that any gravid female be working in his household; the fact that his son had caused the condition despite strenuous objections from her had made no difference. Few establishments were wiling to take in "unrespectable" women, and her options seemed bleak.
Celeste and Estelle were a pair of Vodacce's rising Madams, their House of the Twin Stars rapidly becoming renowned for its fine wines, elegant Ladies, and darker pleasures best unnamed. Once Mia's plight was brought to the attention of their head cook, a position was found for her in the kitchen. The irony of the situation was not lost on anyone, but the Madams felt strongly that the sorts of pleasures which led to Mia's condition really ought to have been paid for, and contracted in advance, to boot.
Thus, Amber was raised in one of Vodacce's finer Houses, owned and managed by the twin Madams. They were a striking pair, being identically blessed with fine, pale skin and ice-blond hair. Their less obvious assets of equally striking intelligence, keen wits, and an ability to navigate the tangled webs of Vodacce culture and politics, had them rivaling the well established Houses in a mere decade and a half.
Mia had been without employment for several months before finding a position at the Twin Stars, which meant she had been without adequate food or shelter during a critical time of Amber's development, and she was born prematurely. Though Amber eventually grew up to be a healthy and lively [panache & wits 3] young woman, her stature remained slight [small].
During her growing up years, Amber had ample opportunity to observe the arts of interacting smoothly with the noble clientele the Twin Stars attracted [courtesan, courtier] from around Theah [linguist, montaigne, castillan]. The rules and intricacies of flattery and polite speech, the latest styles of the ton, and the grace of the dance floor were easily picked up by a young woman of wit [dancing, etiquette, fashion]. No few of the House's patrons also enjoyed the occasional game of chance, and she found herself unexpectedly good with cards [gambling].
Though Amber considered herself at home among the Ladies, she never fancied herself as joining their ranks. Her inclinations lay elsewhere, and so, eventually, proved her talent. At the impressionable age of nine, she first heard of the courtesan Ambrogia, who was then gradually gaining fame as a swordswoman. She promptly presented herself to her mother, armed only with a vegetable knife, and declared she wanted to be "just like her." Her hero-worship grew with her, and the vegetable knife came to be replaced with a dagger, then a short-sword, then, on her fifteenth birthday, a real dueler's blade.
Some of the patrons found her to be simply an amusing child, putting on airs, but the Madams found it useful to have someone armed amongst the occasionally brash young noblemen. No one would take her too seriously, they expected, as her stature belied her age and abilities. One night, a particularly high ranking youth had imbibed more than he could handle, and his companions could not prevent him from taking excesses amongst the women present. Amber intervened, and there was an unfortunate accident. The nobleman dodged the flat of her blade, tripped over a chair, and cracked his head. The amount of alcohol and other drugs in his system prevented him from regaining consciousness, and he died of relatively minor injuries.
His family was grieved at his demise, though not as grieved as they might have been, for his younger brother had now inherited the family name, and he possessed a great deal of the common sense the elder brother had lacked. There was a meeting between the family and the Madams, and it was agreed to send Amber away for a time, while the scandal blew over. Celeste, Estelle, Mia and the rest of House gathered to see her off, and she departed with many good wishes, a heavy purse, and a pair of twin mother-of-pearl inlaid pistols, "to remind her of Home."