Katelyn Costello - The Frituals

Katelyn Costello

The Frituals

First published by Katelyn Costello 2018

Copyright 2018 by Katelyn Costello

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

First edition

Cover art by Jane Farrell
Proofreading by Melanie Kirk

This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy
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For Grandma Costello, who taught me home was where you could get lost in many, many stacks of books.

To Ethan, for love, support and tough love talks.

To Babe Squad for being my cheerleaders from afar.

To my betas: Ethan, Chris, Alissa, Susanne, Lauren, and Alexis for helping the story become what it had the potential to be.

A special thanks to Mrs. Vogler for coming in at the end to make sure all was spic and span

To Melanie for making sure every word was just so.

Jane, thank you for all your help making this book look gorgeous, and spread its love.

When she comes in, I am standing in a sea of skirts and bodices. Some of the fabrics are thick linens, tightly woven fabrics in soft shades of greens, blues and browns that hold their shape when thrown over a chair back. Other dresses are made of slippery silk that draw the eye with their vibrant hues. Taytra, what do I wear? I ask as I wade through the sea of fabric, looking for a dress to wear to the Fritual testing.

I told you at lunch, it doesnt matter what you wear. After the water test, they have a change of clothes for you, my older sister replies from the doorway to our bedroom. She is in her signature red gown.

Why am I given a new dress again? I ask, discarding a soft yellow piece.

What? All your research hasnt given you all the answers you need? Taytra teases.

Come on Tay. You know Ive done as much as I can.

Alright, she says, I can tell you this. Taytra waits until I turn from the mirror. You will need a new dress because you will have to get into the water. I dont know why they dont warn people beforehand, so they dont wear something that will be ruined. But I guess they want it to be more natural. They said something about letting the water react to you. I dont know why, it didnt really make all that much sense to me. I just know I went swimming, took a bath, and then went to an amazing feast where they told us we had all failed the test and none of us were the water Fritual. I think they wanted all the candidates to look the same.

You got to go to a feast with mother and I had to sit here and do extra chores? I ask, finally settling on a soft green dress.

That may be what happened, Taytra says. Hurry up, Father is waiting. You may have to go alphabetically, but we have to catch the first boat we can.

Ill be quick, I say, turning from my sister and flinging the green dress over my underclothes.

I am struggling with the ties for the corset of the dress when Taytra calls from the hall, Shauna lets go! Were going to be late! She pokes her head back in and notices that I am struggling. Father is waiting outside, she says coming up behind me to fix the dress. She heads back towards the door. Come on we dont want to be late. I push a curl out of my face and hurry after her.

I step outside to see Father leaning against the fence that lines our property. He steps to the side to walk next to Taytra as we approach. Father strikes up a conversation with her, smiling and looking around at the sunshine; but behind those dancing eyes I can see that he was hurting. I know he wishes Mother was here to see me take the test. I wish she were here too. It has been a hard couple of months without Mother. The vision of her lying under the quilt she had spent months making, shivering, unable to keep down any of the food we tried to give her, was burned into my mind. She came down with the flu and couldnt shake it. At least that was what the doctors said. We tried so hard to make her better, but no matter what we did she just seemed to get worse.

Shauna, Taytra calls to me in her shrill voice, breaking me from the memory. You dont need to walk so fast.

I pause and give them a chance to catch up. Sorry, Im just eager to get there. I didnt realize you had fallen behind.

You were in your little world again, she says rolling her eyes. She turns to Father, catching her skirt in her hand, to stop from it getting tangled in her legs as she takes long strides. Im guessing by the way she grips it she would have rather have worn pants or at least a shorter skirt, but when it comes to events like this Father has to be strict about what we wear.

Father, do you think you could tell me the story again? I ask watching birds dance on the path in front of us.

I think I can do that, he says, with his soft, lilting voice bouncing off the leaves, wrapping them up in the story too. Many years following the fall of Queen Chima and after Queen Moraine took her sisters place, Moraine drafted a treaty that ended the war. The rebel groups that had helped her stop her sister from destroying both races tried to return to their homes.

A young elf named Matron and a girl named Serena struck up an unlikely friendship. Serena met Matron as a client through his blacksmithing business. As she was half elf- half human, she spent most of her life in fear that people would find her out. But when Matron didnt care, they became fast friends. Some, like Matrons Father, thought they were too close. Even in this time of peace, the races were still not content with each other. The two were advised to cut ties, but they continued to fight for their friendship; inevitably falling in love. Here, Father makes a face, scrunching it up playfully in fake disgust. He always gets so flustered when a suitor comes to the door for Taytra. He isnt ready to see us grow up and leave him yet. So whenever he gets to this point in the story, Father tries to pretend that love isnt all that it was made out to be. But Taytra and I know better, we saw him with Mother.

Now Matron was gifted with the ability to control four of the five elements: earth, air, water, and fire. Only the descendants of royalty could control the last element, spirit. These descendants didnt have to take the throne, just be related to those on it. While most elves here were only able to control water, the Goddess blessed Matron with his extended abilities. The people didnt know how he was able to control so many magicks, So they created a name for this anomaly, a Fritual. With so many people hating their love, the young elf wanted to make sure his partner was protected. But he neednt have worried, Serena had her own set of skills. Her father was well trained in the art of sword play, who had taught her all he knew. Between the two of them, Matron and Serena made a formidable team.

Serena and Matron were married, but in secret for their safety. Sadly, when their enemies did find out, disaster struck. Matrons father led an attack against his own blood. Matron was able to fight them off long enough to give Serena the time she needed to escape, but it cost him his life. It is rumored by some that Serena had a son named Amicus. A child that would continue the line, but no one knows who he was, or if he inherited any of his fathers magick.