Since there's enough daylight left, Zul decides to take the scenic route down to the tavern where Aldrand and Rataxe's people were having their meeting down by the docks. She works hard to avoid her usual streets, and keeps an eye out for tails.
Nobody seems to be tailing her.
The Docker's Armpit is not one of the cities quietest taverns. The sign on the door of the crumbling building reads "Drunk for a sixteenth, dead drunk for an eighth, straw to lie on free", which gives a good impression of what sort of establishment it is. It's not called "The Knifing a Night" for nothing.
Two figures stand outside the door, presumably bouncers. One is a big man, armed with a menacing-looking club. The other is shorter, with cropped dark hair and a prominent scar on his forehead. The bigger guy gives Zul a lecherous look as she approaches. Neither makes any move to prevent her going inside.
Zul winks and smiles at the leering bouncer on the way in.
"How much", he asks, "Or are you just a tease?".
"You be sweet," she purrs to the bouncer as she passes close to him, "and I just might be yours for free."
Even though it's early, the bar is at least three quarters full. The patrons are overwhelmingly male, entirely human, and by the looks of them are mostly dock labourers and mercenaries. She even notices one or two wear swords at their belts.
She locates Aldrand pretty quickly, in a group with three or four others, none of whom she recognises
After ordering a beer, she takes a seat at a table near Aldrand's -- close enough to hear, but not in a sneaky way. Hard for a woman to be unobtrusive in this place, anyway. She's not the only woman here, she spots a couple of the working girls, Yula, who usually works the docks, and Zaskavine, who Zul had always understood hung out in the taverns of the upper end of town. There are also one or two companions or associates of mercenaries, who looks as vicious as the men. Zul gets some looks, from the women as well as the men.
The beer is sour and watery.
It's not long before she catches Aldrand's eye. She raises her glass and grins, but Aldrand doesn't seem particularly pleased to see her. Eventually he whispers a word in the ear of one of his companions, and makes his way over to her table.
"So, like a bad coin, you're back", he says.