They had no reason to stay in Relan; there weren’t any leads and Iztris didn’t want to keep them there without any clear reason. Iztris waited until they got back to Cheryn before he disappeared, coming back the next day while Alyson and Jacob were eating breakfast.

“The gods are just as clueless as we are,” Iztris said dully.

“It took you a day and a half to figure that out?” Jacob asked curiously. He didn’t seem to be saying it out of rudeness; just genuine curiosity mixed in with some confusion.

“Suffice to say, they forgot I was there,” Iztris replied in the same tone as earlier. “Regardless, none are omniscient or even clairvoyant; they only see something if they happen to be there or if a servant lets them see.”

“It’s a bit odd to hear that the gods aren’t always watching,” Alyson admitted.

“The highest god is the only one with any kind of great power or presence,” Iztris explained. “The rest all came from mortals—they still retain mortality’s flaws. Without physically being there or having Elsyn and I act as a pair of eyes, they know nothing for certain; and even then, Elsyn and I have the ability to prevent them from seeing.”

“Convenient when you decide you want to kill all of humanity,” Jacob noted.

“The gods likely wouldn’t pay attention even if they could,” Iztris admitted. “Since the gods could not offer any assistance, we can return to Cheryn’s capital until we hear of anything else that can help.”

Alyson, finished with her meal, stood up. “I’ll get someone to tell our parents; they’d be glad to hear that we’ll be coming home.”

“I don’t mind, as long as it’s someone you actually know,” Iztris said. “I would rather be cautious than careless at this point.”

Alyson nodded, and Jacob finished eating and walked with her. Just like when they were asking after the ships, Iztris stayed a little ways away to monitor their progress. Alyson found someone who was willing to go to the castle ahead of them, and they stayed an extra day there before they left. It took another few weeks to get back to the capital, considering poor weather on the way back—it was nice for the plants and crops, but not so much the people who had to travel through it.

The morning they went into the capital, Iztris wore the same servant attire he had earlier as opposed to old Letrelan hunting gear; Alyson and Jacob led the way. A few friends greeted them in the way in, as well as the guards and servants that happened to be in the city. When they actually came into the palace, it was no surprise that Miles greeted them.

“You’re back!” He said happily, coming up to them. “Do you have stories? You said you’d have stories!”

“We can tell stories during dinner,” Alyson replied kindly.

Miles nodded and ran inside the palace so he could tell their parents. When Alyson, Jacob, and Iztris entered the palace, the queen was the next to greet them.

“Your father’s working,” the queen explained to Alyson and Jacob. “It’s good to see you home. Is everything well?”

“We handled a problem addressed in one of Father’s reports,” Alyson said. “We didn’t run into much trouble, but we didn’t have any other leads to go off of; we’ll be home until something else comes up.”

“Excellent,” the queen replied, smiling. She looked at Iztris. “Would you like to actually stay at the palace this time?”

“I would rather not,” Iztris said. “Unless the king would let me look over documents and reports without him being there, I have no reason to stay.”

Although the queen frowned, she didn’t argue. She looked back at her children to say, “You two can go ahead and rest; you can continue your normal schedules tomorrow or the day after.”

Jacob sighed. “That means school, doesn’t it?”

Their mother chuckled. “Miles can survive it, and Alyson has survived it—you’ll be fine. Who knows, your teachers might decide to cram all the information they can into you while you’re here so you don’t have to do it later.”

“That’s still not exactly preferable,” Jacob pointed out.

“It’s better than going to school for an extra year,” the queen replied with a bit of humor. “Just because you’re trying to stop all of us from dying doesn’t mean you’re exempt from schoolwork.”

Jacob gave a feigned sigh this time, although he was smiling. It was about three months since they were last home—it was definitely nice to be here, at least. The queen let them do whatever they wanted for the time being, and the group separated ways until dinner.

The meal was about the same as earlier; their father was glad to see them, and Miles insisted on hearing any and all exciting things that may have happened. Jacob took the job of phrasing the traveling—a majority of their trip away—in a way that would catch the boy’s attention, and Alyson was left to clarify and explain if the dramatization was hard for the king and queen to follow.

A part of her wanted to find some kind of lead so they could carry on; the other part of her wanted to stay home. It was nice here, after all—although she knew that was selfish.