Idril sipped her tea and considered where to begin her story. She shook her head, "As I said before, my parents were royalty. I could have anything that I wanted.. and for a while that was great! I could have any delicacy and treat as a child.

"But soon, when I was about fifteen I desired more than things. I wanted people to admire me not just because I was the queen's daughter but for something I had done myself. Around the same time I became interested in songs, stories and dancing. I would ask the court musicians to come play a song for me and I would dance to my hearts content. 

"One of the minstrels I took a liking too, a kind elf called Duncan. I asked him when I was seventeen to teach me how to play the guitar. On my birthday, I woke up to a plainly wrapped package on my bed. When I opened it my guitar lay in a box, smooth and perfect. That afternoon he came up to my chambers and started teaching me how to play. 

"This went on for a month, and I was fast improving. Already he had taught me of the Tales of Elinea the Flower Queen, how to sing it and play it together, how to change the melodies to match those of the guitar and how to make the story my own. 

"I practiced in my chambers by myself, every opportunity I got. My love for music was growing every single day. My mother and father wondered why I wasn't being as proper as usual. One day, the suck by my room and heard me singing of the Flower Queen. Needless to say they did not approve."

Idril took in the shock on Mayabell's face when these words had been spoken. 

"Yes," Idril continued, "my parents did not believe that music was for royals. Of course to enjoy, to have in the background at parties and for balls, but not for a princess to practice. They told me they would take my guitar and lock it away if I did not stop playing. They said my longing for stories and songs could be perfectly filled by simply listening. 

"The argument turned sour. We started to yell, and they said that I had until sunset the next day to give them my guitar or else they would take it by force. I lay on my bed sobbing for a while. Then I formed an insane idea. Perhaps I could run away, become a traveling musician, make a fortune and return to my family to prove my dream was worth anything. 

"That night I sneaked down the halls to Duncan's chamber. I gently shook him and when he awoke I told him my tale. He shook his head, but saw I could not be stopped. He told me to go to my room and pack my clothes and few things and that he'd be up to see me in five minutes. I quickly shoved some robes and such into a pack and a sack of coins. He came up in a few minutes with a sack full of bread, cheese, dried meat and a few apples. I smiled my goodbye and climbed out into the tree next to my window. I stole my favorite horse from the stables and galloped quietly as I could away from the castle. 

"That's it. The rest is just me, learning from other kind bards and such, collecting the music and the magic. Well, enough of me. I heard a bit of your story when we fought those men. What-" 

Suddenly, the bartender came rushing over. "I couldn't help but overhear that you're a bard. You two might need to meet someone. He could have a job for you."

The two looked at each other. "Actually, three. I know someone else," said Mayabelle. The two future quest-bound people looked at each other, grinning excitedly.