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[ Byerly. ]
Don't I?
[ All innocence. And all reflex. He regrets it as soon as he's said it, because it's Laura, who is in some ways still making sense of the world and doesn't need him making it any harder to figure people out. He relents immediately. ]
I mean, never is a strong word. And you don't talk about yourself very much either, in my experience, unless I ask you.
Don't I?
[ All innocence. And all reflex. He regrets it as soon as he's said it, because it's Laura, who is in some ways still making sense of the world and doesn't need him making it any harder to figure people out. He relents immediately. ]
I mean, never is a strong word. And you don't talk about yourself very much either, in my experience, unless I ask you.
Everyone already knows about me.
[ Except that's not quite the truth anymore; Riftwatch has had enough people come and go that murderer doesn't cling to her shadow quite so strongly as it did two years ago. ]
Do you think people will find you uninteresting?
[ Except that's not quite the truth anymore; Riftwatch has had enough people come and go that murderer doesn't cling to her shadow quite so strongly as it did two years ago. ]
Do you think people will find you uninteresting?
I think it is one reason.
And I think you are trying to distract me.
And I think you are trying to distract me.
You already know about me.
[ But it doesn't sound particularly stubborn. ]
Who were you before Riftwatch?
[ But it doesn't sound particularly stubborn. ]
Who were you before Riftwatch?
I was Édouard Almary, a printer who came to Val Royeaux from the Deauvin Flats.
[ Monsieur Almary had a whole story. An imaginary family. Toward the end of Bastien's six-year stint with that false identity, there were days it even felt real. But it's hardly relevant now. ]
Only for a few years, though. Before that I was a bard.
[ Monsieur Almary had a whole story. An imaginary family. Toward the end of Bastien's six-year stint with that false identity, there were days it even felt real. But it's hardly relevant now. ]
Only for a few years, though. Before that I was a bard.
You changed your name.
[ Of course he did. A bard, or a former bard, might change their name over and over. But Bastien has always seemed so steadfastly one thing that it still feels surprising to know. ]
Did you like being a bard?
[ Of course he did. A bard, or a former bard, might change their name over and over. But Bastien has always seemed so steadfastly one thing that it still feels surprising to know. ]
Did you like being a bard?
Sometimes. Often, in the beginning, and less often at the end. After I quit I missed the—the work, I suppose. The excitement. It's good to be doing some of it again now, for a better reason.
Now you have to tell me...
[ A moment to think. She's right; he does know about her past. Not all of the details, of course, but enough to know it's full of trip wires. ]
Something you want to do after the war.
Now you have to tell me...
[ A moment to think. She's right; he does know about her past. Not all of the details, of course, but enough to know it's full of trip wires. ]
Something you want to do after the war.
[ This, she has to think about, too. Bastien has told her things she didn't already know; she doesn't want to respond with something he could easily guess. ]
I want to go back to Nevarra. I want to find the place where I lived and make sure no one can ever make someone like me again.
[ Possibly sooner than after the war - during a war is when someone would want to. ]
And I want to visit someone at their home.
I want to go back to Nevarra. I want to find the place where I lived and make sure no one can ever make someone like me again.
[ Possibly sooner than after the war - during a war is when someone would want to. ]
And I want to visit someone at their home.
Someone.
[ Helpful, Laura. But if she'd meant a specific person, she'd say the name instead. ]
If the war ends, people will leave. I want to visit them where they want to live, not where they have to.
[ Helpful, Laura. But if she'd meant a specific person, she'd say the name instead. ]
If the war ends, people will leave. I want to visit them where they want to live, not where they have to.
No. But I read Brother Genitivi's thoughts on it.
If I can, I will.
And I will bring Matthias. He would like soup inside bread.
And I will bring Matthias. He would like soup inside bread.
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