Things That Are Confusing Me

In the fifth book of the series Ranger's Apprentice Sorcerer of the North by John Flanagan I am pretty confused as to how it starts. It starts with, "In the north, he knew, the early winter gales, driving the rain before them, would send the crashing against the shore, causing white clouds of spray to burst high into the air." I have to say it starts off pleasantly, but one question, why is he in the north, you can't just change what the storyline is, this is a horrible attempt at showing us how his life is in the future. 'Cause in Battle for Skandia he is heading south, and where is Halt, or Evanlyn? Later it says, "Again, that was his training: to see without being seen; to notice without being noticed." "That was his training"? I thought he chose to be with Halt to train more. In the last book it showed Will saying, "'You do me great honor, your majesty. But my wish is to continue my training as an apprentice." What is Flanagan getting at, did he just not remind us that it's the possible future? I hate the fact that he couldn't explain that this is later in his life! Unexceptionable!