“I play the flute, the penny whistle, and the pipes,” Lee replied, and blushed. “I know, very country. But I am from sheep country. Maybe that’s why I haven’t been asked, everything I know is unsophisticated and old-fashioned.”

“Well, when the Fair is over find someone who plays the hand drum who isn’t already in a group, and try the taverns around the cattle market. That’s exactly what the patrons of the inns there like. But for the Fair, find a good spot with a lot of room around it, start with the pipes and play dance tunes. The pipes will always get attention, and you’ll want room in case people decide to start dancing.”

“You’re a Blue, not in Bardic, how do you know all these things?” Lee exclaimed.

Abi smiled. “You don’t know; I’ve lived here all my life. Literally here. My mother and father are both Heralds.”

Of course all my training in observation hasn’t hurt either.

A little more conversation with Lee drew out the fact that her family were in hire to a small farmer, that she’d been self-taught on the penny whistle and shepherd’s pipes and played in the local “tavern,” which was really just the yard and main room of the house of the local brewer, and that was where an actual Bard heard her and her compositions and arranged for her to come to Bardic Collegium. Her family had not one copper to spare, and in fact, she’d gotten here by the arduous process of catching rides on farm carts from one village to the next—and walking when there were no rides to be had.

“I’d play in taverns every night for the night’s meal, a place on the hearth to sleep, and food to get me to my next village,” Lee continued. “My sponsor told me it didn’t matter when I got here, as long as I made it in one piece.”

It sounded cruel and callous, but Abi knew that the journey itself had been a test for the girl. If the roads hadn’t been safe for a girl alone, the Bard would have escorted her himself, or found a safer way for her to get here—but since they were, finding her own way here was test of how badly she wanted the life of a Bard. It was a test she had obviously passed.

One by one the girls at their table excused themselves and went off to studies or a little leisure before bedtime, and Kat and Abi made their way back up to the Palace.

“You seemed deep in conversation,” Kat said. “What was so interesting?”

“That Bardic Trainee. I was just giving her some advice so she can make some pocket money; her people don’t have any to spare.” Abi considered Lee a bit more. “She’s smart and tough. All she needed was some information.”