The bed was harder than it looked, whoever made it having been frugal to the point of miserly with the amount of padding that separated the ungiving wooden frame from Shay's bottom.<br/><br/>"Well, not to sound boastful or anything, but I am a very good musician, both by my own reckoning and my audience's response," Yewbough began, pulling up a chair. "But I'm not so proud as to claim to be the best in the world or even the kingdom. So I was surprised when one of the Duke's messengers found me traveling through some backwards village in the middle of nowhere to give me the invitation. I guess part of the reason I'm here is to try and find out why I'm invited in the first place."