Tara opened her mouth, perfectly prepared to tell him one of her tall tales about how exactly she had become a bard- then she hesitated.
The man had been nothing but kind to her, and he seemed genuinely interested. Maybe she should give him a real answer.
"I've been sort of a roamer all my life," she answered after a moment. "A group of people- I guess you'd call 'em gypsies- found me when I was a sprout. We did all sorts of stuff for coin, mostly performing." She blushed a bit, then admitted, "Some of it...wasn't strictly legal, but it was mostly performing. I don't even remember when they decided I'd work best as a musician, but eventually they started teaching me to play and sing."
She shrugged and glanced away. "Now that I'm on my own, well...it's really all I know. Old habits, I guess."