[He shakes his head a little at the look of sympathy. It's all right. They seem committed, and he'll happily support them however he can -- just as long as he doesn't get dragged into the middle of one of their meetings.]

[Asbel knows it...won't be easy. He has his own duties to work around, even more with the ceremony on the horizon, but. He wants to give Richard this chance. To see what else Ephinea has to offer them without a war or a coupe or some other trouble at their backs.]

Come on, Richard. You're starting to make it sound like this was my idea. If you want to go, then we'll find a way for it to happen. Besides, even the king needs a vacation every once in awhile, right?

[This time he's pretty sure Richard's trying to reach his hand, and he'll shift his weight awkwardly so he can turn his palm to make that possible, an amused grin tugging at his mouth.]

I'll show you some of the places we visited before. And we can find new ones to explore, too. Wherever the wind leads us, I guess.

And then we'll figure out ways to make Windor, Ephinea, and Fodra even better than they are now, bit by bit.

[See? He remembers everything you said, Richard. He wouldn't forget that.]