48

"No, no, my ship arrived just months ago." If the question surprises them, they don't show it. "Three years ago, I was taking my final examinations for my superlative honors at the Bardic College in Chenshou. They frown on being in Ithos during your examinations." They lean in closer, as though imparting a great secret. "It makes it difficult to sing loud enough for the examiners to hear."

Min's expression turns more contemplative. They lift their face to the sky, their complexion a warm golden brown in the morning sunlight. Turning your own eyes upward, you can't help but imagine the sky as it was last night, with the full, blood-red moon.

"I suspect I'll have yet another new song to write about you before long," they say. They lower their gaze and shake their head, as if clearing it. "But then I've spent so long going over the same material. Archa might have tired of me before too long, if you'd not found a new calling."

You'd thought they might appreciate the compliment, but they just look thoughtful.

"The fact is, Jun," Min says, tapping a finger on their chin, "I wonder if you will."

There's an odd weight to the remark, but almost immediately, Min is speaking again in the lighter tone from before. "I'm sure you've many things to attend to, and I spent most of last night lying awake contemplating the prophecy's return myself, so I won't keep you, but I did have one question. There's a point about your journey that I'd like to clarify. I strive for authenticity in my presentations of you, you know."

That's an alarming prospect. Still, they must be talking about smaller details. If someone was going around Archa suggesting that your journey could have all been a lie, you'd have heard of them before now.

Next

"There's an aspect that I can't find a consensus on, in the stories I've heard of you," Min says. "It's to do with Verity Fairgrieve. The most common tale is that you saw her for the first time when she called the demon forth from the portal outside Pasema. But I've heard some people say otherwise: that as you'd lived in many places before you met your companions, you might have encountered her before. Is that true? You have to admit it's more dramatic, if you recognized the demon-lord you saw in Pasema."

Min plucks absently at their instrument as they speak. It's pear-shaped and four-stringed, almost but not quite resembling a lute. "I apologize if it's a painful question," they add. "But I'd like to be certain my presentation strikes the proper emotional chord."

Of course you'd met Verity before Pasema—at the crossroads outside Elith that Min referenced before. That's hardly the only place you could have met her, though. You'd traveled before, and so had she. You could give an innocuous truth away, if you're so inclined, although Min already knows more than they should.