I just stood there stunned, unable to think of whatever response the Ravieri seemed to be waiting for as those silver eyes of hers watched me intently. “M-m-master?” I finally managed to stammer, “I am not sure of what you speak.”

For a moment, I thought that this might be some aspect of Fae culture that I was unfamiliar with, but Sharai had not offered up any suggestions. In fact, she seemed as confused as I was on the subject. Finally, the Ravieri gave me a strange look and said, “Yer Master, lass. Ya may be a wee bit rusty, but toward the end ya were gettin’ used t’ playin’ an unfamiliar instrument. Ya checked the tunin’ an’ did proper fingerin’ an’ bow exercises before startin’ t’ play too. Ya got talent an’ some proper trainin’, guild trainin’ if my ears don’t deceive me.”

-Perhaps she is speaking of the Bardic Guild?- Sharai wondered pensively.

“The Bardic Guild?” I asked uncertainly. I recalled my mother once telling me of such a guild for musicians when I was young. She had not mentioned it since that time though and the one time that I had brought it up when I was a little older, she had told me not to speak of such things in public where those with the Church of One might hear. It was less than a season later that she and my father were murdered.

“Aye, lass,” the cerulean-skinned woman replied with a nod of her head that caused her white braids to bob and sway. I blushed as I realized that I had responded to Sharai aloud and that the Ravieri woman seemed to think that I was speaking to her and was responding in kind. “Not that I’ve seen ‘ide nor ‘air of another Bard since enterin’ Evalis a fortnight ago, not ‘til I saw ya lustin’ over yon instruments. The Guild Hall ‘ere has been closed down an’ not a harp t’ be seen, so I figure that yer all hidin’. Worry not, lass, ya can trust me. Nirlyn Snowmane, Master Bard, at yer service.”

As she said the last, the woman winked and shifted the cloak she wore to reveal a gold brooch in the shape of a harp that was worn over her heart. In the body of the harp were three tiny gemstones; an emerald, a sapphire, and an amethyst. A sharp gasp slipped unbidden from between my lips. It was not because I recognized the name, or even knew much about the Bardic Guild, but because I recognized the brooch. My mother used to have one that was very similar but silver instead of gold and without any of the gemstones.

“What…” I began in a gasp before trailing off as confusion about the striking similarity of the brooch to my mother’s took my voice.

Nirlyn, seemingly believing that the aborted question was in regards to her introduction, shrugged but her grin did not lessen any. “Don’t worry, lass I don’t expect ya t’ recognize the name. I only recently passed the master’s exams. That’s actually why I’m in Evalis, I’m headin’ t’ a town called Greendell t’ look fer my sister an’ hopefully catch up an’ share the good news wit’ her.”

I was so disarmed by the Ravieri woman’s casual air and confused by the brooch that for a moment I could not speak. When I did finally find my tongue, I was so stupefied by the thought of a Ravieri, or any non-human, in Greendell that I sputtered, “Your sister?”

“Not my real sister, o’ course,” Nirlyn quickly corrected. “Her name is Kalara Sparrowsong, and we had the same Master in the guild and trained together. We became journeymen together too but then she got married an’ decided t’ stop travellin’ t’ go an’ raise a family with ‘er man.”

She knew my mother? And my mother was a Bard too? There was certainly no other Kalara Sparrowsong in Greendell. Kalara was not a common name in Evalis, and having a second name was even less common for women here. My mother was not originally from Evalis though.

In the years before her death, my mother spoke little of her life before coming to Evalis, perhaps because she feared how the church might react with their views on musicians. All that I really knew about her past was that her people were travelers, she had earned her name through her people’s traditions and refused to give it up, and she and my father had met back when he was working as a guard for a traveling merchant caravan. When they had gotten married, they had come to Greendell to take over my grandparents’ farm.

I was so shocked by her casual mention of my mother’s name that my suddenly numb fingers nearly dropped the fiddle. Shock and confusion must have been written all over my face because Nirlyn smiled widely, displaying her sharp canines as she asked, “Ya do know ‘er then, lass? I thought that ya might. That was one o’ her songs ya were singin’ an’ playin’ after all.”

“I… she…” I started and aborted my reply before shaking my head.

-Kaelyn? Are you alright, child?- Sharai asked in apparent concern over my currently racing heart and mind.

“That was my mother’s name,” I managed to think at my spirit guide as I tried to get a handle on my wayward tongue so that the Bard in front of me would not think me some sort of simpleton. It was as my eyes nervously darted around that I noticed that we were gathering a crowd. To be accurate the crowd was probably Nirlyn’s doing since people were staring and while I was wearing a glamour, the Ravieri was very obviously not human. Finally, I managed to stammer, “It is… complicated. This… may not be the best place for this conversation though.”

“No, maybe not,” Nirlyn agreed, though she made no move to lead us away from the gathering crowd. Instead, she took her time taking the fiddle back and placing it in its case as she spoke cheerfully, loud enough for the crowd to clearly hear her, “Ya’ll need to get used to gatherin’ crowds with a voice like that, lass. Like honey, it is, sweetest I’ve heard in all my years o’ journeyin’. Yer a bit rough ‘round the edges, but I’m sure that we can work on that, aye?”

She was really laying it on thick. Moreover, why did she keep stealing glances at the people who were stopped in the street staring at her, and by extension, me? That was when I noticed the children in colorful clothing slipping in and out of the growing crowd. There were a half dozen of them, four girls and two boys and their colorful clothing was a stark contrast to their dusky skin and dark hair. In appearance, they reminded me of myself before I was changed, right down to the slightly pointed ears, and I could sense a faint feeling of magic on each of them.

Only once the last of them had slipped out of the crowd and around a corner, did Nirlyn sigh and say, “Yer right, lass, we should be off somewhere a might more private fer our talk.” Then she took my hand in hers and half dragged me around the same corner that I had seen those children go around. She did not stop leading until we were in a tight little alley between two large buildings that seemed to serve as both homes and businesses, set on the edge of the marketplace.

The six children were all there waiting, pulling pilfered purses from their voluminous and colorful skirts or, in the case of the boys, from inside their vests. Whoever they were, they had gotten a good haul. Each of the boys had two coin purses that had been hidden in their vests, while the eldest-looking of the girls had managed to snatch five of them. They each handed their haul over to the Ravieri Bard who placed their ill-gotten gains in an empty lute case, though I guess it was a loot case in this instance.

I had overheard people complaining about ‘Gypsies’ once when I was a child. They had described people who looked much like my mother and me, and said that they were thieves, beggars, and always up to no good. Many of those complaints had come from a young man in the red robes of a neophyte priest of the church who was complaining about how they were sneaking into the city somehow, so I had largely ignored them. He had said they were like the Touched, more demon than human, and could not be trusted though. That part had stuck with me, as had that word.

My mother had frowned at that term when I had repeated it later and told me to never use it again, that it was a slur created by humans who did not understand them and they preferred to be called Voyagers. “Are these Voyagers?” I wondered to myself as I watched Nirlyn smile and congratulate them all on a job well done.

-Yes, I have met their kind before in my travels, though I do not know much about them. They are a secretive people,- Sharai offered.

That was when the Bard closed up the lute case and returned it to its previous place, slung over her shoulder. “Alright, off ya go, back t’ camp with ya. I’ll meet ya’ll back there in a wee bit, an’ I’ll bring sweets.” Then she pulled a feather from her pack and held it out to the children who were grinning at the promise of sweets as they reached out to touch the feather.

As soon as they had touched it, the features of the children began to change and shift. They shrank in size, sprouted feathers, and their lower faces elongated into beaks. The process took only seconds and a moment later six young hawks took to the air from piles of fallen clothing where before there had been human children. My shock was mirrored by Sharai’s as she exclaimed, -By the Goddess, they’re Changelings!-

“Changelings?” I wondered, this time managing to remember to think it rather than speaking aloud.

-They are one of the types of Fae,- the Faerie spirit explained. -Nobody has heard from them since the fall of the Ancient Ones, and many of us believe that they were wiped out in the war with the Demons. Our entire people nearly met the same fate before we purged the world of all traces of Demons and their foul God. The stories say that they could be taken for humans at first glance and that their species' ability was to be able to change their shape to match animals or other species by merely touching them.-

I was just thinking that the rumors of their death had been exaggerated and considering what that meant for me when those thoughts were pushed aside by Nirlyn speaking to me as she picked up the children’s discarded clothing and stuffed it in her largely empty pack. “So, it seems that Tanna was right after all, no’ that ‘er gift has been wrong yet when it gives ‘er a peek.” At my look of confusion, she smiled and clarified. “Tanna’s gift is precognition. Sometimes she’ll get a sense o’ what the future will bring, an’ she said that if I came into this city today an’ looked for a music shop near the marketplace I’d meet someone who could answer our questions ‘bout Kalara. She said that I could lead ya t’ what yer lookin fer too.”

She was not the only one with questions to be answered; I had a lot of my own now. I did not want to be discussing anything that either of us might want to talk about in this city though, especially with all of the attention that a Ravieri would bring to us. “I will answer any questions you have about my mother after we are somewhere safe and more private than this dingy alley,” I offered, wincing as I realized that I had said more than I wanted to.

Nirlyn’s look of sudden look interest told me that she had caught my slip-up, but she did not press the issue. She seemed mildly surprised by it, but she did not seem to disbelieve it. Instead, she nodded her agreement and offered, “I can take ya t’ our camp once we find whatever it is yer lookin fer, lass. It’ll be plenty safe there, an’ the troupe may ‘ave questions fer ya as well. So, what brings ya to Majair, lass?”

“We… I mean… I need to find out if the Church of One has gotten a foothold in the capital. Have you seen anyone in black and red robes or anyone who stinks of dark magic?”

The Bard looked thoughtful for a moment before sighing and nodding. “My kind can’t sense magic like ya Fae can, but I’ve got good ears an’ I’ve seen plenty of those black an’ red robes since we got ‘ere a week ago. They’ve got a grand cathedral in the nobles district an’ it’s said that the King ‘imself attends the midnight service on Sundays. We avoid that area when the others sneak into the city, they say that the feel o’ the dark magic is suffocatin’. Those robed ones watch the Guild Hall like hawks though an’ there’s nobody out buskin’, ‘cause the robes watch that too if they hear ‘bout it. An’ no one will spare a copper while they’re lookin’ on.”

I nearly fell to the flagstones as all the strength left my legs. So, they had spread to the capital after all, and it seemed as if they had the King’s ear too. I wondered if all the musicians had left the capital for greener pastures or if they had been hauled off to the church dungeons with their earnings taken by the church. It was likely a mix of both.

“I guess that confirms it then,” I said with a defeated sigh. “That is most certainly them. To be honest, I am surprised that you and your camp have not been dragged off to the church dungeons yet if you have been here a week. They hate the Fae and the Touched and hunt us like animals. Non-humans have been unwelcome in Greendell for as long as I can remember and, from what I have seen there, the church will try to stamp out anything that might take people’s attention away from working and paying tithes.”

“Aye, tithes. From the grumblin’ I’ve been hearin’, the folks ‘ereabout aren’t happy ‘bout that. Seems the King recently proclaimed that all citizens will ‘ave t’ pay tithes fer the church as well as their usual taxes,” Nirlyn replied in a near-whisper that I doubted anyone but a Fae would have heard.

-Of course,- Sharai commented bitterly in my head. -Demons will always try to make humans feel powerless and overwhelmed. That makes them easier to tempt and corrupt into desiring, and then accepting, the power that they offer.-

“As fer people tryin’ t’ find the camp, they ‘ave been, but we move the camp daily an’ cover our tracks. That an’ a wee bit o’ magic t’ keep folks lookin’ away keeps them off our trail. An’ when the others enter an’ leave the city, they don’t go by the gates.” the Ravieri continued quietly, unaware of my brief distraction.

“And what about you?” I asked quietly as we made our way toward the tents of the main market square. “You stand out.”

“Oh, aye, an’ that makes me a fine distraction when the troupe wants t’ gather some coin,” she agreed cheerfully before adding, “they only take from those that can afford it though or those who deserve it. Coin means a lot in cities like this. After dark falls, the gate guards are very happy t’ take a bit o’ coin that they don’t ‘ave t’ report fer taxin’ an’ tithin’. They can feed their families, an’ I can come an’ go as I need to. I usually don’t even need to enspell them.”

“Why walk so openly in a city hostile to non-humans though? Is that not reckless?” I asked.

“No’ when I went straight t’ the King an’ told ‘im I was investigatin’ the disappearances o’ several Bards in Evalis an’ why we’ve no’ heard from the Guild Hall ‘ere in over a year. No’ even a king will interfere with the investigation o’ one o’ the major guilds, even if that robed fellow who was sittin’ in on the meetin’ didn’t like it. If one guild cuts ties with Evalis, we can convince the others to as well, an’ then they’ll lose access to the best craftsmen on the continent, An’ if I disappear it’ll only make the guild more suspicious,” the Ravieri told me seriously.

“Was what you said about knowing my mo… Kalara even true? Or just part of your investigation,” I asked suspiciously, almost slipping up again.

“It’s true, Kaelyn. I count yer mother as my sister an’ friend,” she insisted, stopping to place a hand gently on my shoulder. She had used my name and suddenly my chest was full of butterflies since I had not introduced myself. “She used t’ send letters to us through other Bards passin’ through, but those were infrequent an’ the last was a little over five years ago. It was why I volunteered fer this. The troupe I’m travellin’ with, they’re family to ‘er, an’ a fair number o’ us are Bards too. We have more reason than most fer findin’ out what’s goin’ on ‘ere. In the letters, she mentioned you an’ told us about the Church o’ One.”

She paused and let out a deep sigh before quietly continuing. “Kalara thought that they were goin’ to be a problem an’ was sendin’ us what information she could on ‘em. I’m sure that the King at least suspects sumthin’ an’ is lookin’ the other way, but I’m even more certain that those priests ‘ave sumthin’ to do with yer mother’s disappearance, an’ the others. The Guild Hall is bare as a newborn’s ass, so no clues there. I guess that they’re hopin’ I won’t find anythin’ incriminatin’ and will ‘ave to give up. They’re right though, I’ve no’ found anythin’ to take to the guild yet, or ‘ave I?” As she finished speaking, her eyes settled intently on me.

I looked away, not certain if I could trust this woman, even if she truly did know my mother. She was far too accepting of the idea that I was my mother’s daughter when I was not even the same species anymore. Her attempts to be friendly and make me think that I had family out there were only making me more suspicious, and angry. “If you cared about my mother, then why did it take you five years to come to look for her!” I snapped, barely keeping my voice down to a heated whisper.

The Bard looked as if I had slapped her and a pained look settled over her features as she told me gently, “We’ve been lookin’, lass. ‘Bout six months after ‘er last letter was dated, a mutual friend passed through Greendell with a letter fer ‘er an’ couldn’t find a trace o’ either o’ ya, so we got worried. We’ve ‘ad other Bards goin’ there and lookin’ fer signs regularly since then. The troupe took a travel route that would take them there, an’ anywhere that Kalara or ya could ‘ave went, as regularly as possible to search fer any new signs an’ talk t’ folk, but nobody was talkin’ an’ we ‘ad nothin’ else t’ go on until Tanna’s recent prediction. The Masters o’ the guild didn’t even think we ‘ad enough grounds fer an investigation, aside from the disappearances themselves, an’ they wanted a Master to ‘andle the investigation. I ‘ad to take the tests just so I could be the one to come ‘ere in time to be ‘ere on this day. Wasn’t expectin’ ya t' be a Faerie though.”

“I… as I said, it is complicated,” I managed to tell her as I tried to regain my composure. I still did not know whether I should trust her, and certainly not whether I could tell her the whole story.

“Aye, lass, I’m sure ya ‘ave quite the tale t’ tell, though I wonder what could be so complicated that ya would drink Faerie blood of all things.” I was about to protest when I remembered one of the ingredients in that foul substance that Sharai had had me make and swallow. The look on my face seemed to confirm her guess though. “That’s no normal shift yer doin’, lass, yer usin’ a glamour. Voyagers can’t use glamours, an’ tryin’ t’ use magical abilities of a species they’ve copied through touch doesn’t work, it disrupts the shift. Drinkin’ blood though, that makes fer a permanent shift an’ grants you the species’ abilities too. Do ya know nothin’ o’ yer heritage?”

I tried to ignore the feeling of intense guilt I felt from Sharai as her presence in my mind faded enough that I could barely feel her there. I would have to talk to her about it later. As for the Bard’s question, I shook my head. “No, I do not. I thought that I was just Touched until I changed into this. I think that my mother was limiting what she said so I would not accidentally let something slip in public. She mentioned some things when I was small, but then told me to be quiet about them when I was older.”

“Perhaps she was waitin’ t’ see if ya started showin’ signs of a gift first,” she suggested. “Yer only half Voyager, she probably wasn’t even sure that ya were goin’ to show any abilities. A personal gift is usually the first sign in mixed breeds since it can be used accidentally. Even then, it could just be because yer Touched, unless ya ‘ave magic sense too. I’m told that shiftin’ requires both trainin’ an’ intent t’ change while touchin’ some part of the creature though. Ya probably would ‘ave never known ya could do it unless ya were taught.”

“I came into my gift a year after Mama and Papa were… after I lost them,” I admitted, tears starting to flow as thought again about that day. We reached a tent where they sold sweets and Nirlyn stopped to buy a small sack for the Voyager children as promised. Then we stopped at a booth selling ale in wooden mugs. She bought two and handed one to me as she whispered, “Take a quick look over my shoulder, lass, but don’t be obvious. We’re bein’ followed, I’ve been smellin’ them fer a while now. Perhaps that church fellow thinks I’m takin’ too much o’ an interest in ya, an’ he’s worried that yer no’ runnin’ off. Can ya use those wings o’ yers yet?”

My heart did a flip when I did as she asked and saw a man in a black and red robe trying to look like he was browsing a tent’s wares while his eyes were on us. I did not sense any dark magic, so our pursuer likely was not possessed by a Demon. He was far too interested in us though and so were the two guards with him. “I see them,” I whispered back behind my mug before taking a long pull of the warm ale and nodding in response to her question.

“Good, ‘and me yer cloak and pack an’ be ready to follow me when my ride gets ‘ere,” Nirlyn replied, having already downed the entire contents of her mug. “She could take a few minutes though, so we may need a wee distraction if he decides t’ come… Torr’s ‘airy balls!” she hissed as the priest and the guards gave up on guile and started walking right toward us. Then she let out the most ear-piercing whistle that I had ever heard in a series of quick notes.

I winced at the sound and then sighed, shrugged off my cloak and pack, and took one last pull from my mug for courage before drawing Neva’kul with my free hand and handing the mug back to the Bard. “Hold my ale.”