Dearest Sara

Chapter 1

 Spring

  The market was bustling, on Seventhday it often felt like swimming upstream, trying to move through all of the chattering people. Around one of her arms, Sara carried a basket of fruit and vegetables. Around the other, her lover's arm was hooked. That year had not been a hot spring, yet Janner's nose and cheeks were pink from sun, so Sara had taken care to place a sun hat upon his head before they left home.

 All around them were stalls and people selling wares and crafts. A necklace, silverware, a heaping a pile of cabbages. The air smelled of flowers, and wood smoke, and the sea, for you were never too far from water in Anniera.

 "A new ship came into the harbor today," Janner muttered, after a good moment of silence, and Sara looked up at him.

 "An outsider ship?" 

 "Certainly not Annieran."

 Sara hummed in response, and dragged Janner to another stall, one of colorful, gauzy scarves. She picked up a scarf that was the exact color of a poppy and stared at it, feeling it between her fingers. She slipped a coin from her purse and handed it to the stall's owner with a "thank you".

  "Torboran?" Sara questioned, as they progressed through the market, her new scarf draped over her shoulders.

 Janner shrugged, "The ship? Your guess is better than mine, honestly. I didn't see it very well, but it was very detailed in its carvings."

 She let out a dismal sigh, and Janner glanced at her knowingly. "Have faith, love, if they're alive, they'll find you," He said, and then kissed the top of her head. "It could very well be a trade ship."

 Sara nodded and said nothing, and yet again she returned to her silent game of pretend. Pretend your parents never existed, pretend you've always been Annieran, and more than anything pretend that you've never been in a coffin and you won't be until the day you die. Janner played a similar game. The only carriages they knew were pale, and the forks they ate off of were not made by suffering children. Still, Sara's parents were inevitable. Their faces chased her when she saw a new ship in the harbor, and stung when she saw forget-me-nots blooming in the ground, because those were the flowers her mother adored. 

 When she thought of them, she felt cold. She chalked this up to the breeze, and the fact that her dress was sleeveless.

 Sara distracted herself by dipping her head and staring at the embroidery on Janner's shirt. The swirling flowers, rabbits, pears, berries, and songbirds. It did not seem right to make oneself miserable so early in the morning. She loved Janner's shirt, but perhaps she was biased, she had embroidered it herself. Nia taught her years ago, and this shirt was her grandest creation yet.

  An even better distraction than the one Sara had made for herself arose, however, because Janner seemed to spot a familiar face as they passed the bakery. 

 "Sara, darling, would you mind walking a little bit faster?" Janner crooned and pulled Sara along more quickly.

 Sara eyed Janner suspiciously. "Were your siblings in the bakery, Janner?" She said, and Janner barked out a laugh.

 "I don't run for many other reasons, you know." He said.

 "Janner!" Janner cringed as he heard his name from not far behind, "Why did you leave us, Janner!"

 "I don't know you!" Janner cried over his shoulder, and attempted to walk faster. Sara grabbed his hand though, and pulled lightly to stop him.

 She smiled, "Hello Leeli, hello Kal!"

Janner groaned as the pair bounded up to them, both were holding boxes of pastries. "Hallo!" Leeli said. She was a beautiful girl, now turning thirteen. Her pale pink dress, embroidered with roses (done by Nia), paired with her short, bouncy curls  made her look so much like a princess from one of her fathers stories.