At the sight of one child rubbing mud all over his arms, Aaden’s eyes went wide. “Can’t you use makeup to disguise yourself?”
Talise ripped one last strip of fabric from the sheet before she stood and looked him in the eye. “This is the Storm. They don’t have makeup here or any of the elaborate costumes they have in the Crown. They have to use things they don’t need anymore.”
“Right.” Pink colored Aaden’s cheeks as he gave a short nod. He turned away. When he spoke again, his voice came out stilted. “Of course I knew that.”
Soon, Willow declared her disguise perfect. Many of the other children said the same. Once all the children were ready, they formed a line outside on the street. Talise and her friends joined Rio and Fyra who stood near the town well with the other adults. Every adult who had a child stood at attention, peering toward the street with intensity.
A few moments later, the promenade began.
The children stomped down the street in their homemade costumes. They walked with strange motions and let out growls and moans to obscure their voices. The promenade game was simple enough to understand.
The adults had to identify their own children in disguise as quickly as they could. The child who was last to be identified won the game.
Children always loved dressing up and trying to trick their parents, but the message behind the promenade went deeper.
No matter how a person looked, family was always family.
Despite the careful disguises, it didn’t take long for the adults to find their children. Willow’s father pointed at her from all the way across a crowd. He barreled through the other adults just to wrap his arms around her and hug her tight.
The promenade usually took longer in the Crown. There, the children had access to finer costumes and ones that could more completely obscure faces and bodies. But even in the Crown, a parent never had too much trouble identifying his or her own children.
Aaden nudged Talise with his shoulder as he tipped his head toward the last child who hadn’t been identified yet. The boy had wrapped sheets over each of his limbs. Sticks sat under the sheets, which made the boy’s limbs look much thicker than they were in real life.
Once the boy’s mother finally found him, she chuckled at the sight.
The corner of Aaden’s mouth turned up in a grin. “I did that for a Water Festival when I was young, although I used pillows instead of sticks.” He let out the softest laugh. “It took my father and mother forever to find me amongst the children.”
“Did you win?” Something almost like a flip stretched through Talise’s stomach. Why did it seem so strange, and yet, delightful to hear about Aaden’s childhood? Maybe because the time he spoke of was clearly before his father gave secrets to Kessoku that led to the deaths of nearly all her family members.
It was before either of their lives had been ruined.
“No,” Aaden replied, but his eyes stayed bright.
Costumes were shed around the town well as parents used the sheets to wipe the mud and dirt off their children’s skin.
Watching the festivities brought a strange sorrow through Talise. As much as she had always loved Water Festival, a part of her hated it too.
Since family was everything in Kamdaria, it made sense that one of the holidays focused completely on children. Technically, children were supposed to make all the plans for Water Festival. Adults did help, but they also allowed their children the freedom to do things the way they wanted.
As such, the holiday turned out a little different every year. And it was always different depending on where in Kamdaria the festivities took place. But a few things remained constant in every part of the empire.
First, there was always a promenade. At the elite academy, children didn’t always have family members to pick them out of a crowd, so the teachers would step in and do it instead.
Second, Water Festival always had games that required running. And the adults had to participate even if they didn’t want to.
Third, it had way too many treats. Unlike the other holidays, no special desserts went specifically with Water Festival. Usually, the children just requested every single treat they could possibly think of. Since children were in charge of the planning, the adults had to allow the entire list of treats. Even in the Storm where treats were so rare, the adults always managed to find at least one dessert for everyone to enjoy.
After the costumes had been abandoned, children began directing everyone in the start of their games.
Willow raced up to Talise’s side and waved her arms around in circles. “It’s time, Princess Talise. You have to make the water tunnel like we practiced. Everyone who can jump through it without getting wet will get one point!”
Though thirteen years old, the girl still maintained the eagerness of even younger children. She raced back to her father. Her arms waved about once again as she explained the rules to everyone in the city. Soon, the adults begrudgingly walked over to Talise’s water tunnel. They all hid their tiredness under thin veils of excitement.
But the children didn’t care. They had enough delight for the games to make up for all the adults combined.
Talise pulled water from the air and spun it into a tunnel in front of herself. Soon, children and adults alike jumped through the swirling water. Even without cooling the water, the chill in the air still froze bits of the tunnel.
That made the running games a little easier to endure. At least the swift movements kept everyone warm in the dead of winter. As people jumped through the icy tunnel, Talise called out when someone made it through without getting a drop of water on them.
All around, other children began directing Talise’s friends in new games. Aaden had to create tiny fireballs on the ground that people were supposed to smother with clods of dirt.
Wendy and Cyrus shaped thick walls of wind. Anyone who could run through the wall of wind in fewer than five seconds got a point.
Tempest dropped heavy rain down in one spot. People would use cups to gather the rain and then pour it into large bowls. If they filled their bowls in a certain time limit, they would earn another point.
Even Rio and Fyra had games they were in charge of, but they stood too far from Talise for her to see.
Soon, the thinly veiled excitement on the adults’ faces turned to actual excitement. They giggled and shouted with as much playfulness as their children.
Water Festival had a way of reminding people what really mattered most. Family.
Talise swallowed over a lump as she spun her tunnel of water even faster. Willow’s father grinned as he hopped through the spinning water. He glanced back to see Willow skip through the tunnel with a wide smile.
Despite their desperate circumstances, every adult managed to have fun with the children. They set aside the anger and fear that went along with living in the Storm and just enjoyed their families.
Cold tingles went through Talise at the thought. She remembered celebrating Water Festival way back when she lived at the palace as a child. Back then, even her own father set aside the seriousness of being the emperor. His face always turned red during the running games. Even with six other children, Talise had always been able to make him laugh the hardest.
Her stomach sank, but she tried to hide it behind a tight smile. If she were home now, would he be able to laugh at all?
He wouldn’t. She knew he wouldn’t, and it hurt almost as much as it had to lose all of her other family members.