The next morning Katherine and I cruise to the beach-side docks and board a commercial fishing vessel called “The Pearl Maid” just before the captain sets out to sea. To persuade him to a take a long southern detour to Ouroboros, I offer him 30,000 âmes and he obliges me. Thus, we set off on the second leg of our journey. When Âme Kingdom’s army comes, they’ll be riding on large warships powered by steam engines. I’ve never seen one in action, so I don’t know how fast they can go, but I do know that we should arrive by the morning of the next day. Hopefully that’s good enough.

To kill time Katherine and I sit together on a port side bench and stare at the ocean. The bench is merely a concrete slab with no divisors. I take advantage of the fact and scoot shoulder to shoulder with her. We stare straight ahead at the beauty of the ocean, which is nice and all, but compared to Katherine it’s about as appealing as yellow snow.

Katherine senses that my eyes have strayed from the sea to her. She shifts her head slightly so that we stare at each other in 45 degree angles rather than directly face to face. Even still, I can see the white of her smile glowing radiant like the sun. Clearly if there were ever going to be a moment of opportunity to have a serious talk with Katherine, then it’s now while we’re stuck on a boat with only each other to talk to for a full 24 hours.

Taking a deep breath for courage, I reach into the pocket of my trousers and withdraw a small sheet of parchment with a love poem written on it. Tragically, before I can unfold it, the page catches the wind and sails out of my hand. I go running after it while it swerves around on the deck as if it were a living creature trying to avoid me. With a goofy dive, I finally manage to land on top of it and recover the poem. Unfortunately, this triggers a nearby group of sailors to laugh at my performance. Embarrassed, my cheeks burn red as I trudge back to the bench with Katherine and plop down on it disheartened. Any shred of confidence that I might have had disappeared the instant that I made myself look like a fool. Katherine probably thinks I’m a loser.

I stare straight ahead at the ocean, my neck paralyzed in place. I’m far too ashamed to check Katherine’s reaction. Even worse, I’m too embarrassed to speak. Katherine and I sit shoulder to shoulder in awkward silence staring at the sea. However, watching the waves of the ocean go by again and again and again is a monotonous experience. It can only hold one’s attention for so long. That’s especially true of someone like Katherine.

“Master, I like living in Winterspring,” she says to break the silence.

“That’s good,” I answer.

No Souladonis that’s not good. That’s Katherine trying to start a conversation. At this point, I’m able to recognize the hidden meaning behind her words, but I’m too baffled to think of a suitable conversation topic or even a reasonable lead in. I feel like she’s rolling her eyes at me, disappointed by my lack of social tact. I’ve got to think of something meaningful to say and fast.

“Soooo Katherine,ˮ I begin, “I see that you’re wearing green today.”

“Yes,” she answers, not bothering to look down at her own shirt.

I twiddle my fingers. Okay, so, obvious statement of the year. I’m really hanging myself here. “Eh, heh, heh,” I chuckle to fill space. This is killing me. I slide a finger into the collar of my shirt and pull it away from my neck to get some air. It feels awfully warm all of a sudden.

Katherine spurts, “Master, do you ever think–?”

Oh gosh! Now she’s asking me if I even think.

“No, nevermind,” she concludes, turning her face to the right. I take a quick peek over and see the back of her head. I allow myself to gaze freely at her brown hair until she faces forward again. Responding, I shoot up straight and pretend as if I hadn’t been staring at her.

I swallow a deep breath. My heart skips every other beat. This sucks. I have no problem talking to Katherine about ordinary things, but the moment that I want to say something emotional, I completely crash. I’ve got to break this pattern.

Determined, I twist my upper body towards her even though I know she can see me through her peripheral vision. With great boldness, I allow myself to look over her comely body. I see her perfect brown hair, her bright eyes, and the beautiful and desirable creamy caramel skin she has by way of being multiracial.

“Katherine!” I declare with conviction. “I love caramel!”

“Huh?” she asks, confused.

Oh no. That’s not what I meant. Crap. I’m screwing up. Oh my gosh. What do I do? I don’t know. I don’t know! I’ve got to bail!

I quickly ditch the bench and rush straight ahead to the ship’s railing. I lean over it feeling nauseous enough to vomit, yet not from sea sickness. That’s not my issue.

Before long, Katherine comes and places a sympathetic hand on my back. “Master are you feeling okay?”

In a low voice I tell her, “I’m fine Katherine. I was just feeling a little sick to the stomach. I’ll be alright.”

“Okay,” she says, removing her hand. “I’m going to go down below the deck for a while to check things out there.”

Still facing towards the ocean, I nod silently to show that I heard her. She turns from me and walks away.

“Oh, and Master,” she says, pausing briefly, “I love vanilla.”

At once, I whip around to look at her, but she walks away without a further word. I’m left to contemplate what she meant for the rest of the day.