They spent the rest of the day at the inn, Daniel reading either outside or at the bar, while Winter and Ian were moving about, discussing something or other in Aurorian. From the words Chris could catch, they were exchanging local news from their respective homes.

He found them in the early evening sitting in an ice shack down below the docks. It was a small construction made of three wooden walls and a low ceiling, with a thick carpet instead of a floor. Winter was leaning back, head turned towards Ian, who was sitting in an unusually relaxed posture - shoulders hunched over and his legs outstretched.

After a moment of pondering, Chris inhaled and walked towards them. The ice wasn’t as slippery as he had pictured it would be, and it didn’t him take too long to reach the fish house.

“Can I join?” he asked, hoping his smile looked cheery enough.

Ian stopped talking and looked up at him, then turned his eyes towards the other Witch.

Winter said, “If you’d like.”

Ian let out a sharp breath of air, pulled his feet up and straightened his back, moving over to make space.

Chris sat carefully and mumbled, “Thanks.”

He bent forward a little so he could still see Winter.

She was looking down at the ice. The Northern Lights were reflecting upon it, causing it to shine in blue, green and gold, which reflected back on her face. Maybe it was Chris's imagination, but it seemed like Winter’s eyes were shining, too... Chris knew that Whitelake was the least stable region when it came to Ice Magic, due to its closeness to the energy emitted from the Lights. A Witch getting affected didn’t seem like that big of a stretch.

“I wanted to tell you that Daniel’s coming along too.”

Ian sneered, “Oh, good.” Then his tone changed as he said, “The bigger evil was that Summer Witch… I’m glad she isn’t here any longer.”

Chris rolled up his eyes. “Ian, Julia wasn't going to bring us any bad luck!”

Ian's tone was almost a whine: “Yes she would.”

Chris clicked his tongue and decided to just ignore him. “So Winter, I keep wondering, why were those Hunters after you yesterday?”

Winter paused for a moment before she dodged with, “When I was in the Unfrozen, I was trying to keep away from places where Hunters might find me, but it seems going out in the open was a mistake.” After a pause, she added, “Nephrite, it seems, is not too happy with us.”

“So she definitely knows?”

“Yes, without a doubt.”

Ian said, “It seems there were Hunters who saw us back then.”

Chris’s gut dropped and he tried his best not to let his shame show.

“Um... I mean, you probably are, but, is there a chance you're not as angry with me about that as before?”

After a short silence, Winter answered, “There would be no use in that. Anyway, by now she’s probably found out that we’re here, and if we’re not careful, we could get arrested and brought to the Frozen Flowers. She would want me out of the way, at least.”

“Uh, but, she can’t possibly… have found out… your plan, right? I mean, the original one.”

“It couldn’t have been difficult to guess, considering we were in possession of the Jakkovost.”