Chris found Daniel at one of the tables outside staring into space, the little book left forgotten in his hand.

Chris shivered when a gust of wind cut through the air.

“Pretty chilly, isn’t it?”

Daniel was snapped out of his thoughts and turned his attention to his friend.

“It’s Northland, of course it’s chilly. We’re lucky we have a few layers of clothing on, plus some of them being Summer Witch production. Man, you’re bad at starting serious conversations, you know that?”

“Yeah, well…” Chris laughed.

Daniel’s lips stretched to a weary smile. “So what’s up, Chris?”

“You know how I told you I’m going to fight for the Crown eventually?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Turns out that ‘eventually’ is now. I mean, that’s where we’re off to now.”

“I figured.”

“Thing is… well, remember that yesterday morning we set out to, eh, a trip to the South Continent?”

“Vividly.”

“I think I don’t have to tell you that’s out the window… since you were all set for a nice vacation in a warm, welcoming country and now because of me you’re stuck here…” Chris paused for a second. “Daniel, you can go home is what I mean. I won’t be angry; actually, I’ll be relieved. I don’t want you to get mixed up in this because of me.”

“I said we needed a change of scenery, didn’t I? This might not be the perfect option, but do you think I care about where we are? And,” his eyes lit up with an accompanying grin, “d’you think I’m going to miss seeing you fight for the throne of Northland?”

With exaggerated indignation, Chris said, “So you’re staying because you want to see me make a fool of myself?”

“Why else?” After a short laugh, Daniel said, “Seriously though, I just want to support you morally in all of your crazy endeavors.”

“Deep,” replied Chris, smiling back. “But I thought… considering the Julia thing…”

“Exactly. What am I going to do back home one week if Julia’s there?” Daniel sounded bitter. “I don’t really want to see her for a while. And I’m not too keen on going on our scheduled vacation by myself.”

“Are you sure about this? I can’t promise we won’t run into trouble And your parents...”

“They'll be fine. Are you sure?”

Chris turned his eyes to the same direction as Daniel. There were motionless ships and docks as far as the eye could see.

“What do you mean?”

“It doesn’t seem too easy to you?”

The answer surprised him; frankly, he’d expected something else. But this was probably better than the other thing Daniel might be worried over.

Chris thought about it. He remembered Boreas, and passing out for no reason, the Hunters, the run through the airport and what was coming next…

“I wouldn’t say it’s easy, Daniel.”

“If you say so.” Daniel rested his back against the ship’s wooden hull. “I’ve already thought about it, and I’m coming. What are friends for?”

Chris nodded. He hadn’t expected a different end to this conversation, of course, but he felt better having heard Daniel’s answer directly from him.