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.