Vellia couldn't help but grin at the song that the bard was playing. It was a rather comical and upbeat ballad about a maiden and a bear, every line rhyming with the others with the sound of "air" at the end. Then, during one of the short instrumental interludes between verses, she found the bard sitting next to her. Though Vellia smiled, she did not look at the man. She wouldn't know what to do. And what if she smiled directly at him? That would likely give him the wrong impression, so she continued sharpening her axe, though a little slower and less focused on the task so she wouldn't appear as if she were trying to block him out.

Vellia found herself laughing for a moment with him as the song came to an end. She had caught herself, in the middle of his singing, humming quietly along, though probably out of tune, with the now concluded ballad. [b]"Tell me, woman, don’t you like to sing?"[/b] the bard asked, strumming, but not singing now.

She glanced for a moment upward, taking the risk at meeting him with a smile and setting her whetstone and axe beside her. [b]"Um . . . I could, but it probably wouldn't . . . um . . . sound very good. I usually just listen. And you can. . . . um . . . Just call me Vellia."[/b] [i]I certainly hope he doesn't ask me to sing with him. I'd end up embarrassing myself.[/i] Vellia thought she felt her face growing warm. She wasn't used to much conversation, especially with men.