Rings sat alone at the edge of the fountain, staring dejectedly at the rippling water. Sharessa imagined that he saw Brindra's face in his own reflection. She moved over to sit next to the dwarf.
'We haven't had time to say goodbye,' she said. 'Not to Brindra or Kurthe, or even to Blackfingers.'
Rings nodded. If his earrings jingled, the trickling water of the fountain obscured the sound.
'Maybe that's good,' said Sharessa. Rings looked up at her, puzzled.
'Maybe it's better that we don't say goodbye. Remember when you and Brindra came back to Kissing Shark after drinking with those savages all day in Tharkar? What was that stuff called?'
'Koumiss,' said Rings. He looked back into the water, the shadow of a smile dying on his lips. 'Terrible stuff. Blackfingers was ready to have us both keelhauled just to get the smell off the ship.'
'But then Brindra said, 'If you dip him into the ocean, you'll kill all the fish for a mile, and then what'll we have for supper?''
Rings snorted, but his smile became more fond than sad. 'Then she shoved me over the side, saying, 'Ah, I'm tired of fish, anyway''
They both laughed a little, and the smiles lingered with their sadness.
Sharessa stood. 'You know what Brindra would do now, if she were here?'
Rings looked up at her. 'What?'
'This!' Sharessa pushed him hard, and Rings plunged into the water. He came up sputtering and furious. But when his eyes met Sharessa's, he burst into laughter. She offered him a hand to help him back out, ready to let him pull her in for revenge, but then Belmer stepped close.
'Stop that. We're drawing attention.'
Sharessa pulled Rings out of the water and turned around. She followed Belmer's gaze to a group of armed men who had also been drinking from the fountain. They didn't look like residents of Doegan. Their clothes were of a different fashion, and their faces were foreign. They wore heavy armor and carried hammers and swords. Sharessa noticed that the cowardly Captain Turbalt stood among them, glancing at the Sharkers as he spoke to the tallest of the outlanders, a warrior clad in silver armor. When he saw Belmer staring back at him, he moved behind the armored men.
'Let's go,' said Belmer. No sooner did the Sharkers comply than the foreigners stepped forward.
'Hold there,' said the silver one. 'We would speak with you.'
'Perhaps later,' said Belmer, smiling falsely. 'We have pressing business in another part of the city.' To the Sharkers, he said quietly, 'Keep moving.'
The outlanders hefted their weapons and spread out to intercept the Sharkers. Sharessa saw that several of them wore the symbol of a hammer as their badge. Were they foreign soldiers? Knights of an order? Adherents of the Fallen Temple?
'I said hold,' commanded the tall knight again. 'What are you doing in Doegan.'
'That is no concern of yours,' replied Belmer.
'I beg to differ,' said the knight. 'It can be no coincidence that upon my first visit to the Utter East I find the Sword Coast's most notorious assassin.'
Surprise passed over Belmer's face like the shadow of a swift bird. In its wake was left a steely gaze aimed directly at Turbalt. The fat ship captain swallowed hard, then edged behind the knight, who spoke again.
'Tell us why you have come here, Artemis En-treri.'
