- Callum's Point of View -

"Man, it is REALLY cold here!" I said, my teeth chattering.

We had sailed to Tarabinthia using a foreign ship. If they saw one of our ships coming into harbor they'd likely sink it. And by 'we' I mean Joe, Sam, and myself. Baron Hood and Rowan would've come but they had fiefs to take care of. Not to mention, Robin would probably be recognized.

"Ya think?" Joe remarked sarcastically.

None of us were in very high spirits. The only thing that I could think of was 'Oh please nothing happen to Em', or 'I'M FREEZING!'.

"Sir, would you like me to take your horses?" A stable boy asked me as we rode towards the local Inn.

"Yes, thank you," I answered, trying to keep my accent from seeming too foreign.

We all handed our horses over and walked into the Inn, the heat enveloping us in a wonderful cloak of warmth.

"This...Is amazing," Sam said, closing her eyes and breathing in deeply.

The air smelled of melting snow and coffee, with a side of salted pork. Probably one of the best things in life at the moment. We all headed toward a table in the corner without even consulting each other and sat down as a waitress took our orders. She looked pretty much like all the other people on the island. Dark hair, olive skin, and dark eyes. They were also pretty short, for most cultures, but where everyone is short, no one is short. She seemed to find our foreign accents intriguing and asked where we were from.

"Um, uh...W-we're from D-Darickson," I stuttered.

When she gave me a confused look I explained a bit more.

"It's a small fishing town on the Northern ocean."

And, of course, I had completely made up the whole thing. There was no such place as Darickson and it certainly wasn't on the Northern ocean, but I wasn't going to choose the South or the East...None of us looked like we were from any of those places.

"Interesting," she smiled charmingly, walking back to the kitchen to get our orders.

I let out a heavy breath and Joe and Sam chuckled a little.

"Darickson? Seriously? You couldn't come up with a better name?" Joe asked.

I rolled my eyes and cast a glance around the packed room. There were lots of men in heavy fur coats, which is of course the logical thing to do in cold weather, and they all looked like trapping men. I knew perfectly well that Tarabinthia was the biggest trapping country in the whole world, so it made sense.

It didn't take long for the waitress to bring our food and when she did none of us hesitated to dig in, not bothering with manners. We were half starved from the trip and a nice juicy steak was almost too inviting.

"Mmmmmmmmmmmm," Sam said contentedly, chewing slowly on her mutton.

I smiled and began to cut my steak and, of course, my thoughts immediately drifted to Em. She loved steak. She always ordered the same thing every time we went out to eat.

"Callum, you're not even touching your food," Sam prompted me.

I realized that I had just been staring at it for several minutes now.

"Oh! Sorry, I was just thinking about...Stuff."

Of course, neither Joe nor Sam thought of 'stuff' as 'not important stuff'. They knew exactly what I was thinking about and honestly, they were probably thinking of the same thing.

"Don't worry," Sam told me, placing her hand on mine.

"We'll find her."

For some reason those three words completely lifted my mood and I felt that she was telling me the truth, even though the odds were very much against us.

I quietly ate the rest of my food and then we all enjoyed a nice cup of coffee. I know, it's going to sound strange, but I couldn't enjoy a single bit of food without thinking of Em. First it was the steak and I remembered how much she loved it. And now it was the coffee and I remembered how much she hated it. I remembered her funny expression every time I myself a cup.

"What's so funny?" Joe asked when I laughed silently to myself.

"Hmm...? Oh! Nothing. I was just thinking again."

"Yeesh," Sam sighed.

"You'd better stop doing that or you might hurt yourself."

We all laughed at that. The good meal and hot coffee were obviously setting our spirits high. But then everything went downhill from there.

A local musician with a guitar walked into the Inn and stopped at the fire place, opening his guitar case and starting to tune it. I was expecting a beautiful bit of music that would make my day even brighter...But then he started playing 'The Breeze of Morning'.

Suddenly everything turned dark and the smile faded from my face. I felt a knot forming in my stomach and my throat was getting all choked up.

This was Em's favorite song.

After the first verse I couldn't handle it anymore and I abruptly stood up, running out the back door of the Inn into the cold. The snow was falling lightly on the ground and it looked very picturesque...Except for the fact that I was in too bad of a mood to appreciate it.

Tears kept threatening to break through, but I forced them back. Oh no you don't, I thought. If you start crying now then we'll never find Em. We have to keep a stiff upper lip!   

Casting a quick glance and the back rode I saw something shining in the snow. It twinkled like a diamond and I slowly walked toward it, bending down and catching my breath.

The silver shone so bright and beautiful, the medallion on it holding so much meaning. It had seen so much, yet still managed to shine and glow with joy. The expert craftsmanship was unmistakable, and it gave Callum the hope he had needed so much. It told him that not everything was lost.

It was Em's necklace.

- Hey peeps! How ya doin? I have now got a bit more organized schedule and I will be updating 'Allegiance' on Mondays, 'Shores of Tarabinthia' on Wednesdays, and 'Fare Thee Well Miss Alice' on Fridays. Sorry this chapter wasn't very interesting, but I had to kind of give you a bit of an update on what was going on in everyone else's life's. Hope you liked it and if you did, votes and comments do not go unnoticed! Thanks :D - Anna