Ari laughed and shook her head. "Oh, hardly!" she exclaimed. "My mother has conniptions over my poor life choices at least once per month. She intended for me to be a merchant, or, failing that, a mage. Or someone's wife." She made a face. "None of those avenues appealed to me. I wasn't cut out for piracy, sadly, which was what I really wanted to pursue when I was a child. My music tutor was the only one who didn't bore me silly, so I decided to apply myself. Fortunately," she fluttered her lashes, "I have no shame and I like being admired, which is really half the battle. And you?" She had met a number of mages over the last years which had caused her to relax her opinion of their incredible dullness somewhat. They all had their reasons, and the reasons varied as much as the mages themselves.