To be honest, even if Garithos had said nothing, Rowan would have left Southshore Harbor that weekend.
Although the Zandalari Empire's fleet had never directly engaged Rowan's Iron Battleships, Talanji, a central figure in the Zanchul Council, had crossed swords with him several times during the Iron Tide Naval Battle. The young princess had suffered considerable blows to both body and spirit. She was bound to resent him deeply.
Even without their fleets meeting, the Zandalari Trolls knew more than a little about Rowan. Since the King's Fleet knew his warships were stationed in Southshore Harbor, they would surely avoid it and find somewhere else to pick up the orcs coming from the north. There was no need to attack those few iron clunkers. They were ridiculously tough and damned fast.
For Rowan, the enemy was hidden while his forces were out in the open. That clearly put him at a strategic disadvantage.
Rowan certainly would not make that mistake, so taking his warships out of the harbor ahead of time was only a matter of time.
If I don't know where your Zandalari fleet is, then the King's Fleet won't get to know where my Iron Battleships are going either.
But Rowan was not a forgiving man. Garithos ordering Mayor Maleb to forcibly expel his fleet had annoyed him-no! It had seriously pissed him off.
That son of a bitch Garithos. Was he brain-damaged or just an outright idiot? Despite having no conflicting interests or even a personal grudge, the man had deliberately picked a fight with Rowan.
Aside from Rowan being a member of the Kul Tiras Family Council, his fleet was now officially part of the Second Fleet, making it an Alliance fleet as well. Even the peace agreement signed by the Alliance nations alone allowed warships