Lady Saruchka, known as Sara to her friends. A traveling minstrel from the House of Issola who plays social music.
She is a talented musician who plays the reed-pipe, and the kordu. She also sings and tells stories. Sara is a member of the Minstrel's Guild. Her devotion to social, rather than compositional, music, puts her at odds with her House, who feel such activity below them.
Sara aided Vlad when he visited Smallcliff by providing him with information, and later by covering for him after the death of Loraan so that he could leave town safely with Savn.
When Vlad finally managed to find a healer for Savn, and he decided to return him to his parents, he mentioned an Issola minstrel that he wouldn't mind seeing again. Presumably, this was Sara.
Sara did eventually meet up with Vlad again years later. Vlad himself professed an interest in a romantic relationship with her, to which she was apparently not entirely opposed.
In Tiassa: After hanging out with Sara for some time in distant towns, Vlad finds himself confronted by nine members of her immediate family, who believe him to be an unsuitable lover for Sara. (He isn't one, yet.) After he's left for dead and barely recovered, Sara finds and returns Lady Teldra to him, making possible his escape.
By the end of this episode, Sara seems inclined to give Vlad a try, if only to indicate her annoyance with her family's interference.
Later, Sara aids Vlad in his plan to get the Jhereg Organization off his back by loaning him an ensorcelled euphonium.
She then aids Vlad in finding a place to hide from the Left Hand of the Jhereg by setting him up in The Crying Clown while they are putting on a production of the musical The Song of the Presses.