“Winter, d’you mind if I ask something?”

“Go ahead.”

Chris stammered, “W-well, why now?”

“Why now what?”

“Well, I know we’re here because of the… because of my obligations to fight and all, but why now?”

“It was a time good for Ian.”

“Miss Winter,” Ian added, “asked of me to escort her through the Gates, but saying she did not want to inconvenience me, she told me to pick her up when my vacation has started.”

“Wait, why did it have to be Ian?” Chris cut him off. “Why couldn’t you have asked me to escort you?”

Winter looked at him as if he’d gone mad.

“Because,” she said impatiently, “his connections and allowance would have helped us get through the Gates.”

Ian said suddenly, “And to answer your previous question-”

“Ian, don't-”

“I cannot allow him to keep thinking you were to blame!” Ian's face was red. “The Hunters were after me.”

Chris’s mouth gaped open.

“What? How come?”

Winter answered, “Because in order to come and get me, Ian ditched,” (the word was accented upon) “his school a week too early.”

“I didn’t think anyone would care much for the week before vacation, even Father.” Ian sounded unusually apologetic. “I didn’t even think he’d find out! Fitzwilliam must have ratted me out to Osburt, and--”

Chris mumbled, “Fitzwilliam--?”

Ignoring him, Ian went on, “--The Hunters listen to Father, since he used to be a general. He probably heard about it early on, if they managed to catch up...” he paused and looked at Winter, who mumbled “to”, and Ian continued, “to us at the airport.”

“So, wait, are you saying that the whole fiasco at the airport was your fault?” Chris asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ian inhaled sharply and said, “If you want to see it that way, then yes.”

He stood up and walked out of the ice shack with, Chris only now noticed, his fists clenched and shaking.

Chris bit his lip. Had he taken it too far?

Winter tucked her hair behind her ear and sighed.

“Try to understand him, Christopher. Ian did not think that if he got half the army on our backs it would render useless the reason I had asked him to be my escort to begin with.”

“You’re sure it was all for him, though?”

She gave him a quizzical look

“Well, would he really have half an army on his tail just for missing school? Is his dad really that bad?”

“Steven Belwhite is a strict man regarding his sons,” Winter replied.

“That strict?”

“You are right to think that; it is uncanny, but we have no time to dwell on things as of now. Christopher, there was one more reason aside from trying to catch Ian’s vacation.”

“Yeah?”

“Lednite’s presence… is becoming stronger by the day, and it’s worrying me. I wanted to get you to the Frozen Flowers as soon as I possibly could.”

“You never told me before, who are they? What are the… Ledni?”

Winter rubbed at her temples. “In English they’re called Ice Carved.”

“Oh! Ah, okay then. But… they’re extinct.”

“No, they are not.”

“But--”

“I am not in the mood to discuss them openly right now, Christopher.”

Chris nodded clumsily. “Uh, then I have another question here…”

She sighed. “What?”

“Do I have to fight? I mean, like, before it mattered ‘cos the Jakkovost responded to me, but now it’s… you know… broken, so…”

“Christopher, why did you not ask any of this before?”

“Well, like, I had the Jakkovost before so it made sense, but…”

“Just do as I ask. That was our agreement, was it not?”

“No, yeah, I’m all for, but, uh… does it matter if it’s me or not? Don’t you prefer to fight?”

“I would greatly prefer it, but there is an order of things here. Traditionally. And I have prepared a plan that works for you, not myself. I am not rethinking everything again. Just… do as I ask.”

“Okay.” After a brief pause, Chris said, “I just wished I had more time to, er, prepare.”

“Getting this over with quicker is better.” After a pause, she asked, “The Stone… is always on you, isn’t it?”

Chris grinned and pulled at the leather chain around his neck. “Yeah!”

It had been lucky that he’d been wearing it at the airport to begin with, but he decided not to tell her that.

“Good. Keep it covered.”

“Keep it secret, keep it safe,” Chris echoed.

For a moment, he thought his vision blackened from panic and embarrassment.

Instead, she cracked a smile that looked almost devious, and said “Even safer than that.”

There was a momentary silence, during which Chris was desperately trying to think of a witty answer. At last, he said, “I’ve always wondered…”

“Hm?”

With renewed confidence, Chris continued, “Don’t the Lights keep people up all night?”

Winter looked back up at him so suddenly that he forgot to breathe. Her eyes were shining in a painful blue and she had an expression of total bewilderment, an emotion he’d seldom seen on her before.

“That’s…” she paused to think, “…a good question…” a sound that could have only been laughter followed and she added, “everyone’s all used to it here, I suppose.”

“Ah, m-makes sense…!”

Chris couldn’t help but grin back at her, feeling his cheeks heat up. And now he had to say something to make her laugh again, even for a brief while.

Then a thought crossed his mind.

It wasn’t funny (at least he hoped she wouldn’t laugh), but he could hardly find a more perfect setting for it. He might not even get the chance later on.

“Winter, um, listen...”

When she looked at him again Chris’s mind shut down and his mouth acted out, “I'm glad I'm here again. I, uh, like Northland.”

Instead of an answer she gave him another little smile and made his heart jump to his throat.

“Ah, and Christopher…”

“Hm?”

“Don’t hold Ian’s behavior against him. As a favor to me.” She raised herself from the carpet before he had a chance to answer. “If that is all, I'm going back up.”

“W...wait. I'll walk with you.”

And then the air exploded.