Devender Akursh made for excellent conversation on the road. They chatted about topics from the weather in Bellasa to the miasma that had driven mad the Baron’s army on the Great Isle—which Farek had asked Devender to investigate. Devender had learned of several magicians who could cause a similar effect—such as paranoid delusions—in individual subjects, but he was still amazed at the story Farek had told. Farek, on the other hand, had hardly considered magic as the cause of what seemed a major chemical cloud.
Their escort of thirty guards led them back to Soros without incident. They arrived close to the end of the month, delivering their captured and their wounded to the estate on Coin Hill before dispersing into the city for some rest and rehabilitation.
Farek could scarcely believe his eyes when he was welcomed to the Great Hall by a Gallendris guard and an Imperial one. The latter representative of the Two Matriarchs wore a sigil of crossed spears between a sun and moon. He saluted as Farek entered.
The Great Hall was the same as it had been when Farek had left. Guards, servants, and workmen sat in throngs around the room; some ate small meals while others discussed their business. The blackened walls of the kitchen had not been fully repaired yet, but Farek glimpsed signs of renovation within it.
Jannia encountered Farek before he could go farther. She wrapped her arms around him and then pushed him back to smile at him. “You need to clean up,” she said, with a wink.
“I caught him,” Farek said, and bobbed his head behind him. The guards held a gagged and bound Lannon, and rested their hands on their swords with pride.
Jannia gave them a rewarding nod. “Good work indeed. Take him to the cell.”
A man entered the room from the same staircase—which led up to their quarters—amidst an escort of sun-and-moon soldiers. He was familiar to Farek, but Farek couldn’t place a name to his features. The dignitary, who was clearly from Noress-That-Was, wore his beard with a gold bead and had rubbed his forehead and cheeks with a pale moisturizing paste. He wore a wooden circlet on his balding head and cleared his throat as he approached.
“Farek,” Jannia said. “Meet Lord Sha, Master of Insight.”
“Lord Gallendris,” the spy master intoned. They bowed to each other, but Farek waited for more words to be spoken.
“Lord Sha has come to oversee the investigation,” Jannia said. “An attack on the Bank—”
“—Is an attack on the Matriarchs and all Var Nordos,” finished Sha. “We will get to the bottom of this.” He turned to observe Lannon’s exit down the opposing staircase, into the basement of the mansion.
For a master of information, Sha had been somewhat slow to react. Farek found himself considering the timeline. With a three-day delay between news and reaction, it could certainly have taken Sha enough time to arrive in Soros to miss Farek’s weeks’ past departure. Something felt off about it.
“Thank you for your work, Lord Farek,” Sha intoned. “Now, I will oversee proper security for this ruffian.” He bowed and excused himself.
Farek regarded Jannia with a raised eyebrow. He waited until Sha was out of sight before he said, “Something doesn’t smell right, and I don’t think it was Sha’s skin treatment.”
“I know, brother,” Jannia replied. “He’s been following me like a lost puppy since he got here.”
“Did he ask about the Lo Mallago marriage?” Farek asked. “I haven’t forgotten it.”
Jannia rolled her eyes. “He asked. Not a forceful reminder, just a cordial hint at it. I told him we had discussed it, but nothing was set in stone.”
Farek nodded. “I will be handling that responsibility, I’m certain,” he said.
“Thank the gods you didn’t die in Lannon’s trap.”
For a moment, the Gallendris rulers fell silent. Then Farek noticed the Gallendris guards exiting the cellar. He turned to Jannia and asked, “Tell me, has Sha completely taken over?”
“He was clear and unwavering on his authority over the investigation,” Jannia explained. “His guards will handle Lannon’s security and his staff the interrogation.”
“I brought him in,” Farek snapped.
Jannia nodded. “But Sha has different priorities than vengeance. He needs to ascertain if other targets exist, in addition to learning the source of the threat. I considered putting my foot down—we control nearly half of the Matriarch’s finances, after all—but those are risky measures indeed. If you can believe it, Simi is glad Sha will be handling the questioning. She has lost her faith in our staff.”
“But I don’t trust Sha anymore than the servants. Not with this,” Farek said, lowering his voice. “Perhaps he will let one of us attend the questioning?”
“I can ask. It is better than nothing, so I will ask.” Jannia patted Farek on the arm, as though to remind him he was welcomed back, and then she marched toward the basement door.
Farek went upstairs to unlace his heavy hiking boots and try to relax. With Lannon in their house again, he doubted any true rest would come. Farek remembered a previous version of himself, ignorantly blissful, and realized he would never be that man again. Had it changed when he started tracing money trails of corrupt Soros Houses? Or had it been before that—had it been Gravagan’s visit and the foreshadowing of Farek’s future? Farek restlessly tried to pinpoint the moment he had become this exhausted and serious person, until sleep at last ambushed him.