It had been almost a week since I met Tsuim Nhomango, a Mithra who carried a 
magical mirror and insisted that our meeting had been somehow destined.  Sure, 
we'd gone through a couple of adventures together, but I wasn't ready to believe 
that we were going to be lifelong companions.  Although it does seem that 
everyone who ever helps me out on things, or who I help, ends up becoming a 
friend and frequently a linkshell-mate.  Something about this meeting had made 
me feel uneasy, though.

After Tsuim had given me her signal pearl, we'd chatted for a bit, long enough 
for me to find out that she lived with her mother here in Jeuno and that she'd 
been adventuring for a bit less than a year, not all that much less than I had.  
Nothing suspicious there, really, but I wasn't in the habit of being suspicious 
of people who'd helped me out.  Rather naive, but so far it hadn't backfired on 
me.  However, now I was reluctant to get in contact with her again.

Hearing about what had happened to Beanie didn't make me feel any better, 
either, although at least Tsuim wasn't dogging my steps every time I went into 
Jeuno.  We'd passed each other a couple of times, exchanging pleasant smiles and 
waves, which wasn't at all different than what I'd do with any of my friends.

Still, I figured I should maybe get to know her better and find out exactly what 
she wanted from me.  So I picked up the pearl and asked her if she wanted to 
meet in one of the Lower Jeuno taverns for a bit.  She agreed, and I headed off 
to wait for her there.

Since she was in town already, it didn't take her long to arrive.  I asked what 
she wanted to drink, then walked over to the bar and ordered a glass of cider 
for her and an apple juice for me.  The barkeep raised an eyebrow at my choice, 
but I casually leaned one gauntleted hand on the bar.  He handed it over with no 
further comments.

I walked back to our table and placed Tsuim's drink in front of her before 
sitting back down.  Taking a sip of my juice, I leaned back in my chair and 
fixed her with a steady gaze.  "So, why do you want to join me in my adventures, 
anyway?  Did someone tell you to?"

Not at all subtle, I know, but when your natural inclination in battle is to 
insult a monster repeatedly until it gets really mad at you, then whack it to 
death with a greataxe, you don't *do* subtle.

Tsuim looked slightly offended.  "No, I had never met you before Luto Mewrilah 
told you to look for me."  She had a point; the most suspicious person involved 
in the whole affair had been the Mithran treasure-hunter who'd been keeping a 
list of certain people and hiring adventurers to find them.

Fairly undaunted, I continued my questioning.  "Well, did we meet one night when 
I was drunk in a pub or something?"  Not that I'd gotten drunk recently, either.  
In fact, the only time I'd gone seriously drinking in my whole adventuring 
career was when I was celebrating my newly-gained status as a Cerfified 
Adventurer.  That evening was rather a blur, and Jios still refuses to tell me 
exactly what I was up to.  The fact that she still smirks uncontrollably 
whenever I try to bring it up is less than comforting, hence why I've refused to 
touch anything stronger than apple juice since then.

She laughed.  "This is the first time I've ever gone to a pub with you, and you 
really don't seem like the drinking type."

I blushed slightly.  "Looks can be deceiving.  So, why?  I'm really curious.  
I've met almost all my friends in similar situations, but most of them didn't 
immediately promise to be a nigh-constant companion the way you did."

Tsuim pulled something out of her bag and held it out to me.  Her Mirror of All-
Sight or whatever it was called reflected my own face back at me.

I shook my head.  "I don't believe in destiny, or predestination, or anything 
like that.  I believe that my life is *mine*, and I can choose whatever path I 
want."

My mind drifted back to another conversation I'd had a few months ago...

***

"But San D'Oria, Auri?  Why?"

She smiled at me, the smile of someone who's just made a very hard decision but 
knows that it's the right one.  "It's part of my duty as a Dragoon.  You'll 
understand someday, Cyd."

***

I still didn't understand, and deep down I was afraid I never would.  A small 
part of me resented the fact that she'd gone, even if very little had actually 
changed.  Whatever force - or destiny - had driven her to change allegience was 
something that I was determined to disregard, at least for now.

Tsuim gave me a patient look, as if she was used to explaining this to people.  
"The Glass of All-Seeing has never led me wrong.  Nor has it misled my mother, 
or my mother's mother, or countless generations of the Nhomango clan.  We met 
for some reason."

I shrugged.  "Well, we saved a girl and killed a dragon.  Isn't that enough?"

With a shake of her head, Tsuim got up from the table and started walking.  I 
had to hurry to keep up with her.

"I'm going to take you to meet my mother," she said once we got outside.

"Oh, yeah, you told me she lives here in Jeuno, didn't you?"

"Yes.  She will be able to explain things more easily than I.  She grew up in 
Windurst and studied a bit of magic."

Shrugging, I gave up and followed her.  At the very least, I'd hopefully get to 
find out something more about her and her family.

*****

The Nhomango residence was a modest dwelling in Lower Jeuno.  Two large pots 
filled with colorful flowers sat outside the door, one on each side of the 
entryway.  Tsuim walked right up and opened the door, motioning for me to step 
inside.

I walked into the living room, where an older Mithra with silver hair was 
sitting in a comfortable-looking chair, reading.  A pitcher of water and several 
glasses sat on a small table next to her chair.  The Mithra looked up with a 
curious expression as I entered.

Tsuim shut the door behind her, then came over and stood next to me.  "Cydori, 
this is my mother, Amri Nhomango.  Mother, this is Cydori, the one I was telling 
you about."

Amri rose from her chair to greet me with a triumphant smile.  "I knew it!  You 
are Eleni Silvertide's daughterrr!"

"What?!" I cried.

I shot a look over at Tsuim.  To her credit, she wasn't gloating or giving me an 
"I-told-you-so" grin.  In fact, she looked just as shocked and surprised as I 
must have.  "Mother didn't say anything about this to me, I swear!" she said.

"Yes," Amri continued, apparently not acknowledging our reactions, "I met your 
mother in the days afterrr the war.  In fact, I found herrr in the fields just 
outside of town, sick and badly wounded.  She had trrraveled all the way from 
Bastok to Jeuno by herself!  No carrravan, no companions, just her own strength 
and will.  I brrrought her in and took her to the infirmary upstairs.  It was 
verrry close.  She almost didn't make it... but she recoverrred in time.  I 
visited her, for I was worrried about the one I'd found.  When she was well 
enough to leave the doctorrr, I told her she could stay with me for a while.  
She was reluctant to do so, for she was looking for herrr husband, who had 
disappearrred in the war."  She paused and took a sip of water from a glass 
sitting on the table.

Well, okay.  So far, the stories matched.  "But why do you think *I'm* her 
daughter?"  I said.

"She told me yourrr name!" Amri said, beaming.

I frowned.  "I don't think I'm the only 'Cydori' in the entire world."

"But you arrre from Bastok, are you not?  Tsuim told me you werrre."

"Yeah, but... okay.  Everything you've said so far has fit, but I'm still not 
convinced."

"Tsuim, dearrr, lend me the Glass of All-Seeing."

Tsuim took the mirror out of her pack, then handed it to her mother.  Amri gazed 
into it for a few moments, then said, "Show me Eleni Silvertide as she was when 
I met herrr many years ago."  She looked up at me and held out the mirror.  "You 
will find it difficult to ignorrre the resemblance."

I barely refrained from rolling my eyes in frustration.  "Well, sure, if you're 
going to hold it up to me, then of course it'll show my face!"  But my curiosity 
got the better of me and I looked at what I thought should be my reflection.

The face in the mirror wasn't quite mine.  The eyes were wider and less slanted, 
the cheeks smoother, with less pronounced cheekbones.  The mirror-woman's hair 
was longer, pulled back in a braid that fell over her left shoulder.  However, 
there was a definite resemblance, and I was almost amused that I seemed to have 
picked up certain tendancies in hairstyling from her, if she really was my 
mother.

I turned away from it.  "Okay, so she looks like me.  And she's from Bastok, and 
she was searching for her husband lost in the war, and she has a daughter who's 
about my age and has my name."  It was getting harder and harder to deny that, 
yes, this was probably my mother.  "So what happened to her after she came to 
stay with you?"

"She rrremained here with me for a bit to recover her strength.  Then she headed 
off to find someone who could prrrovide her with passage to Tavnazia.  She 
intended to pay for it by selling herrr husband's sword."

"Wait, wouldn't my- her husband have taken his sword with him in the war?"

"This sworrrd was of Eastern make.  Very rarrre.  I assume that he took 
anotherrr one with him when he went off to fight.  It was worrrth quite a sum, I 
am sure."

The Tenshodo, I thought.  Or their predecessors, if they weren't around back 
then.  They dealt in Eastern weaponry and other goods, and being pirates and 
smugglers meant they were pretty darned good navigators.

"And then?" I asked.

"And then she thanked me for taking carrre of her all those months and headed 
off.  I never saw herrr again."

Tsuim finally spoke up.  "Mother, why had you never told me this story?"

Amri smiled sadly.  "It happened beforrre you were born, my dear.  It's a sad 
tale, and to be honest I neverrr expected to find Eleni's daughter.  But then 
you returned and told me of the adventurerrr you had met, and I knew she was the 
one.  Excuse me forrr a moment."  She stood up and headed for one of the other 
rooms.

Tsuim gave me a shy smile.  "I really didn't know.  But aren't you glad you came 
with me today?"

Still rather stunned, I managed to nod at her before Amri came back into the 
room, carrying a wooden case.  She set it down on the table and looked up at me.  
"Open it."

I carefully undid the clasps.  Inside was a fiddle and bow.  The wood had been 
polished until it shone, even after what must have been years of disuse.  Inside 
a pocket in the lid were several sheets of music.

"She was a Bard?" I asked.

Amri shook her head.  "No, I do not believe she had any forrrmal training.  But 
she did love music, that I can tell."

"And she gave this to you?"

"She left it herrre with me for safekeeping.  She prrromised to return for it 
someday."

"But she never did."

"No."

*****

I sighed.  I finally might have found out information about my mother, but I 
didn't quite want to believe it.

"One more thing, then.  What was her husband's name?" I asked.

Amri looked sad.  "She said that revealing it could be dangerrrous.  And no, I 
don't underrrstand why."

All I could do was nod and try to let everything sink in.  But it was far too 
much to take in at once, and after a few moments the only thing I felt was the 
overwhelming need to get out for a bit.

"I need to go think about this for a while," I said, heading for the door.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Tsuim asked.

I shook my head.  "No, I really need to be alone.  But I'll be getting in 
contact with you soon, I promise.  In the meantime, do you mind holding on to 
the fiddle?"

"Not at all," she said.

I turned back to Amri.  "I, uh... thanks.  I never actually expected to find 
anything out, and I'm sorry if I'm being rude, but it's really overwhelming.  
But thank you.  Honestly."

Amri smiled warmly at me.  "I underrrstand.  It is a great amount to deal with 
all at once.  But you arrre always welcome in our home, and I would like to help 
you in any way that I can."

I gave her what was hopefully a polite smile, then headed out.  I wasn't really 
paying attention to where I was going; I had just enough presence of mind to 
avoid running into people, but that was it.  When I stopped, it took me a few 
moments to realize that I'd ended up in Ru'Lude Gardens on the balcony looking 
across at the Grand Duke's Palace.

Apparently this was my "sorting difficult things out" spot, as I'd come here 
once before to think about something confusing and rather painful.  I'd really 
rather not go into details about what it was, though.

I leaned against the railing and stared off into space.  Eleni Silvertide.  So 
she had a name, and that meant I had another name now, too.  Except that I'm so 
used to being just Cydori that "Cydori Silvertide" seemed to be an entirely 
different person, and it's a pain to go and get one's name changed on the 
paperwork that I likely wouldn't bother if it actually did turn out to be true, 
and I was rambling and needed to stop and concentrate.

The story matched.  The story matched perfectly.  The likelihood of there being 
two people in the exact same situation at the same time was almost nil.  But I 
didn't want to admit that it was true, because then I'd be admitting that 
sometimes there *was* such a thing as destiny, and that I wasn't in as much 
control of my life as I thought I was.

My eyes focused on the Palace briefly.  To be completely honest, I wasn't.  I 
was on a mission - several, actually - from the Duchy, though I could easily 
argue that taking the time to properly hone my fighting skills and investigate 
things was very important.  As long as I intended to get things done (and I 
*did*), then I at least had the freedom to work towards those ends in my own 
way.  But I did have responsibilities that needed to be fulfilled, and some of 
them were ones I hadn't voluntarily undertaken.

I tapped my right index finger on the marble.  I was avoiding the subject.  
Eleni Silvertide had arrived in Jeuno, exhausted and wounded.  Amri Nhomango 
took her in and helped her recover, then Eleni went off to find a way to 
Tavnazia and Amri never heard from her again.  Eleni carried two treasures with 
her: her husband's sword, which was of Eastern origin, and her own fiddle.  She 
planned to use the sword as payment for the passage to Tavnazia, but left the 
fiddle with Amri, saying that she'd come back for it someday.

Just like me.

It was probably a safe assumption that she never made it, or that she got there 
and then was lost on the return trip, though I thought the former was far more 
likely.  I'd explored the Safehold fairly thoroughly in my travels and I'd never 
met anyone named Eleni or anyone who looked even remotely like me.  And if she'd 
somehow made it there and back, then she would have returned for me and the 
fiddle.  I think.  I hope.

But I had a name to go on now, and as soon as I could get back home, maybe I 
could go to the Metalworks and look at the records and see if I could find out 
anything more about her.  In particular, I wanted to see if there was anything 
about the man she married, the Eastern warrior who would have been my father if 
this story were true.  Maybe I'd pay another visit to Amri Nhomango, too.  At 
the very least, there was probably nothing wrong about spending a bit more time 
with Tsuim.  She'd been very patient thoughout this entire thing, and she really 
had been nothing but helpful since I'd met her.

I closed my eyes, letting the cool breeze blow across my face.  I'd probably 
want to look in the Neptune's Spire and maybe Norg, too, just to see if there 
was any record of Eleni Silvertide's travels, or any clues to the sword.  It 
could be a very long search, and there was no guarantee that I'd find any more 
answers.

For now, though, I'd continue my travels and my training.