Page 2 of The Freedom You Seek

I laughed, knowing that if I ever stopped with this small ritual, my friend would grow anxious and ask herself if something was wrong with me.

I’d known Rewani, or Rewi as I called her, for most of my life, and we’d been best friends from day one. People were always fascinated by how different our appearancewas, as if looks determined the depth of a friendship. Everyone always compared us and said we were like night and day. My hair was light blonde and tumbled in loose waves over my shoulders, almost down to my hips. Since I wasn’t particularly talented at styling my curls, I wore them open most of the time. I had blue eyes, which slightly changed their shade when I was agitated, and a fair complexion I inherited from my mother. She also contributed to my small build and well-proportioned figure. Rewi, on the other hand, was tall, dark, and lean. She was so incredibly beautiful, and the only reason I wasn’t jealous was because we were friends.

“I’m sorry I’m late!”

“You’ll be forgiven if you tell me why.”

“I forgot the time at the Stag’s Antler last night, and today I’ve overslept.”

“You’ve been at the Antler in the middle of the week? How did your father allow that?”

“Who says he did?”

“If Maros wasn’t so into you, you’d be in so much trouble. Say, have you finally given in to his advances?”

“Ugh. I’d never. He’s twice my age, and owning a tavern isn’t a redeeming enough quality.”

We walked while we gossiped, and I enjoyed the last warm rays of summer sunshine on my skin. Soon, fall would take over, and although I hated the heat, nothing was wrong with moderate warmth.

“Seems like the heatwave is finally over.”

“Fortunately, yes. It was unbearable this season. Everyone agreed it was the hottest summer they’d ever experienced.”

“I liked it. Better than cold winters.”

I playfully rolled my eyes at her. There were only a few things we disagreed on, and the perfect weather was one of them. In the end, it was stupid, and we both knew it.

Rewi gazed at me sideways, and I sent her a questioning look. “What now?”

“Nothing. I must say, I was surprised to get your message yesterday. Why did your mother send you to the market today instead of going by herself?”

“Honestly? I have no idea,” I said. “Oh, but guess what? She warned me again about wasting money just as I was leaving the house.”

“You’re not serious. It’s been three months since you bought that piece of candy.”

“Yes, and she won’t allow me to forget.”

“It’s not like your family can’t afford it.”

“Well, no. My mother is scared that I’ll gain too much weight and ruin my prospects, as she puts it.”

“Your parents are so weird.”

She had no idea how correct she was. To say both my mother and father were obsessed with the fear I wouldn’t be able to marry advantageously was an understatement, and I did my best to avoid the topic altogether. Rewi must have noticed how my mood darkened because she grabbed my arm and discreetly pointed at some of the people we passed. “Look, they’ve started building booths for the festival.”

We’d just reached the edge of the town center, and I diverted my gaze over to where Rewi had pointed at. A few days from now, our sleepy town would sink into a week-long celebration with merchants and performers from all over Iolesia. Credenta never missed an opportunity to celebrate, and so we were known as the town with the highest number of celebrations per winter in the entire country.

I once heard that in days gone by, this upcoming end-of-summer festival had been dedicated to some now-forgotten minor godling responsible for the turning of the seasons. And yet, as much as I’d dug into the books to find out more, I wasn’t able to find any further information. Sadly, this wasn’t unusual at all. I’d always found it fascinating how there were no written recordings from two hundred winters ago and older and how people didn’t know much about the past. It was as if Ivreia had no older history, and I couldn’t understand why.

“Ouch.” I suddenly winced as Rewi’s elbow connected with my ribs.

“Nayana, are you with me? I’m talking to you.” My best friend flashed a smile, fully aware of my occasional tendency to zone out.

“Sorry. It’s so weird no one knows anything about this festival’s origins, which got me thinking about the history that’s missing.”

“My theory is that someone destroyed all the old things to hide something significant.”

I rolled my eyes at Rewi and scoffed. While I was drawn to finding out hard facts, she often lost herself in conspiracytheories about mystical worlds, faraway supremacists, and magical beings.