Captain Mond was willing to permit Ardlac to leave the Gryphon to settle his father's affairs in Nairiume, and he wrote a letter allowing Li to accompany him, in the event anyone questioned his presence nowhere near the ship he had been assigned to serve his sentence on. They all doubted anyone would even think he was a convicted criminal escaped from his service, but Mond always followed the law regardless.

It took several days to arrange transportation for them to return to Nairiume. The Gryphon was not expected in that region for at least another month, and Captain Mond did not want to risk the wrath of his superiors by arriving too soon in the area when only one member of the crew truly required it. At last, as they were visiting a port in Algoma, they encountered a small trading vessel that was bound next for Solaris, the capital of Nairiume. Ardlac was able to arrange passage for himself and Li, and they bid farewell to their friends on the Gryphon for the time being.

"It seems strange to leave it," Li commented as they sailed away the next morning, watching from the deck as the port and the Gryphon grew more distant.

"It does," Ardlac agreed. "I have lived on that ship for five years."

Li wasn't certain about openly touching him on a ship full of strangers, but he moved so they were standing closer, almost touching. "Are you concerned about returning to Nairiume?"

"I'm still not certain how I feel," Ardlac replied with a sigh. "There is much pain that comes to mind when I think of returning home, but much of that pain is connected to my father, and he is no longer there. I won't be seeing him. I doubt he will ever visit me now that he has died. I am too much a failure to him. I doubt he would wish me to be settling his affairs for him, either, but he never established any other to do it. I assume his death was sudden, or he would not have risked me meddling in his life otherwise."

"How long until we arrive?"

"Five days, assuming we have fine weather. I had the money to pay the passenger rate the captain was asking, so we don't need to work with the crew to pay our way. He even gave us the small guest cabin he keeps."

"Trade captains must find it profitable to transport guests on occasion," Li observed.

Ardlac nodded. "Most do. I believe Captain Mond would do it, also, but Mahlon does not allow the fleet to engage in such profit-seeking activities."

The crew was kind to them, mostly. Li and Ardlac remained in their cabin much of the time, but when they occasionally walked the deck they were usually kindly greeted or ignored completely. Li couldn't complain. The ability to rest when he wished to was something he dearly appreciated, and spending too much time socializing would not have been as restful to him.

The closer they drew to the shores of Nairiume, the more restless Ardlac became. Li comforted him to the best of his ability, and even Seith visited him, but still Ardlac looked almost ill by the time they arrived at the port of Solaris.

It was a busy port, full of ships of all sizes. From the sea, Li could see the city sprawling out away from the docks, much like any other city he had visited since becoming a member of the Gryphon's crew. In the distance, deep in the city, a great building with five gold-roofed towers rose above every other building.

"That's the palace where the queen and her family live," Ardlac explained. "That will need to be one of the first places I visit, after a visit to the house. My father worked directly with the court and they will need to speak with me. First, I need to make myself presentable to the court, of course."

The ship they were on, called the Onyx, was small enough to be permitted access to one of the docks, though it took some time to navigate the harbor's traffic. Once they arrived, they thanked the captain and went on their way, each with a single bag of necessities from the Gryphon.

The docks were not so different from other cities, filled with activity and the smell of fish. As they left the docks, Li began to notice the differences between Nairiume and other places he had been. The language was different, though he heard a mix of the common Trade language in market areas. Very few men had beards, something that was strange to him when he was so used to bearded men on the Gryphon, as shaving was difficult on a moving ship. Most of the crew simply kept short beards. Even Ardlac, who admitted to hating having facial hair, still had a short one himself.

The clothing was also quite different from anything he had commonly seen, though he'd occasionally seen Nairs elsewhere. To see so many in their usual clothing was strange to him. The men wore breeches, sometimes quite tight ones, with ankle-high boots of varying styles. For shirts they wore garments of a light, flowing fabric, and some wore long, apparently lightweight coats over them, never fully buttoned. These outfits seemed to come in all manner of colors, and all were embroidered with designs that varied from simple to complex, some of geometric shapes and others of landscapes or flowers. Many of the women wore the same style of clothing, while others wore flowing dresses or skirts in place of the breeches.

Everyone he saw had tattoos on their visible skin, also varying in style and location. But what surprised him the most was that everyone seemed to wear their hair long and in braids, adorned with ribbons and charms, some more elaborate and intricate than others. Children dressed and wore their hair as the adults did, but they did not seem to have any tattoos. In seemed only adults were able to have them applied, though Li noticed a few possible teenagers with one or two visible.

Ardlac led him through the streets, past markets and shops and into a series of streets lined with grand houses and flowering trees. He stopped at a house built of gleaming stone, two stories tall and with great, painted glass windows.

"This is your father's house?" Li asked gently.

Ardlac nodded. "It is," he said, his voice tight.

In their walk through the city Li had seen men being quite close to each other, so he did not hesitate to touch Ardlac's hand. Ardlac gave him a grateful look, then took a deep breath and walked up the two stone steps to the heavy wooden door, Li behind him, and used the round metal ring to knock.