Thinking back on it now, the night she read about the *Alkana Star* in the tavern and the morning she waved goodbye to the *Night Castle* at the port of Haidu were both as clear as yesterday.
Milady remembered feeling dazed for a long while after she first stepped off the ship.
After a year away, Haidu was now so bustling and prosperous that it felt foreign to Milady. Even when walking on the street, she felt the ground rolling and pitching beneath her feet, as if she were still on the deck of the ship. Once her legs grew accustomed to solid ground, she would find herself glancing at her watch, afraid of missing the time to re-board—only after raising her wrist would she remember that the voyage was over. She had left the *Night Castle*.
