Only Bellasa still stood. Somehow it had endured the bandits’ wrath for more than a year—but now it stood alone.
It was a chilling thought. Like a proper mercenary, Talina took a slug of her beer—to drown the feelings, as the others had. Here, in a noisy common room in Saanazar, the war felt a thousand miles away. The stories they now heard brought it closer with each word.
Tali had been hearing tales of the war for months now—since well before the escort mission to High Raena had begun. By now, she had put together the significance of their mission: with Starath and Bellasa besieged, the prospect of the war coming to the mainland had grown and now the cities were beginning to strike up alliances. Councillor Cassiya had, in all likelihood, gone to High Raena to seek an alliance of some form with the Joyous King.
Though the sailors that gossiped with the crew of the Boundless inflated their news to mythic proportions, the bones were still visible. Starath had fallen in the most grisly of fashions—its citizens feasting upon one another as madness had claimed them. That terrified Tali. To the sailors, though, this was old news—and that made Tali excited. Soon the East Storm would get contracts to participate in the war, to help free those lands horribly claimed by bandit lawlessness.
The Saanazar tavern where Tali drank was not far from the waterfront. During their lengthy layover in the holy city, this was a place that Tali found herself frequenting whenever she tried to spend time with her comrades-in-arms. Nearly all of her remaining time was spent helping Valim or Aylod with the repairs. Their weeks on the swampy shore of Tieko’s Deep had only patched the damage done to their vessel in the storm—in Saanazar they were getting proper replacements.
Many of the mercenaries aboard the Boundless Star spent a few days taking in the sights. Saanazar was apparently full of them: the Grey Temple was seat of the Atmos Septi religion; the Burned Keep showed signs from the Orrish’s violent impact 1481 years ago; and the sprawling Academy of Ular Graan was one of the world’s preeminent schools. Tali had heard of these places many times while growing up in the island village of Warim, only a few weeks’ voyage away, but she had little interest in seeing the sights. She wanted Captain Guthon to come to think of her as irreplaceable. While the others spent their rest and respite as tourists, Tali had been working with blood, sweat, and tears to get the Boundless ready to sail once more.
These evenings in the common room of the Snare and Sail in the Komen Commons slum—these evenings were Tali’s one opportunity to relax with the crew. She sat between the ship’s carpenter and surgeon, Farren, and her mercenary friend, Rel. When a cheers was called, she lifted her drinking horn to slosh beer onto the tabletop amid the clattering cups—but mostly, she listened to the grim stories of the war and wondered what was to come.