Even Farek’s departure from Ith was delayed. It seemed the world was conspiring to beleaguer the already fatigued group. This time, that conspiracy came in the form of a murder investigation. Someone had been killed in the alley next to Ralin’s Stay, early in the new moon. For three days, the guards of the City Watch held Ayvim and Sheem—two of Farek’s guards—on suspicion of involvement with the act. After all, they had been awake and in the common room at the hour of the crime.
Once they had been cleared, based on witness accounts, Farek had been issued a request to remain within the city until the matter was resolved. Forced to comply with his new allies, Farek agreed with Ambassador Tolia and they waited another week.
“How do you think the war is going?” Enora Roek asked him one day as they sat around the common room of Ralin’s. Matek was sitting with them, as well as Lord Sha.
Matek peered into his cup with his one good eye. “The alliance with Saanazar has already put together a fleet, I imagine. There was talk of a pre-emptive attack before we left, right?”
“It’s true,” Farek said with a nod. “We’ll have missed that. For better or for worse.”
“Do you wish you were there?” Lord Sha asked, curious.
Farek shrugged. Part of him thought of acting heroically for the sake of Enora. Instead, he was frank. “I wish I was doing more, but I’m not a soldier.”
“I wish I was there,” Matek countered. He was a soldier.
Farek nodded and patted his friend on the shoulder. “Instead, we await the constabulary…”
At last, mid-month, Farek and his party were given permission to depart from Ith. The killer had not been caught, but a suspect was at large. It was little more than a personal grudge, according to the investigators. Of course, Farek was certain that—in a city this size—many murders went unsolved and even uninvestigated. In Tempera or Pranan’s Hill, the City Watch was quick to act.
They set out by rowboat back to the Sea’s Sword, which was now anchored a ways downriver. The captain—who had rotated shifts of the crew into the city for weeks of shore leave—welcomed them back aboard and proceeded to make preparations for their departure.
Farek took one last look at Ith as they set sail around the river’s bend. The monstrous stone walls seemed to house an entire nation, complete with its own ways of life. It was hard to imagine Tarro here, sacking the city with his bandits…but that was what Farek feared. He turned to face the rainforest—and the future.