Celosia stifled a groan. This was exactly the reason why she had wanted to leave as soon as possible. Not only did every wasted second make the trail colder, but interference from the guards also slowed her down, and even potentially made her a suspect.

The guards didn't know Dhoulen the way Celosia did--not that Celosia knew him that well, but she most certainly knew more than the others--and she knew that every second spent loitering around Farecia, they drifted further and further from the truth.

So now, Celosia was faced with a conundrum. Should she stay and obey, or should she leave? She did have a handy little Etra to allow her to escape a bit more easily than others, but she also knew that there was a fairly large chance that she would be caught.

Ugh. Why. Why, oh why did she stay to engage in friendly chatter.