They had named their daughter Aafje, not a Reim name so that she'd remember her Musta'sim background. The family lived in the middle of nowhere anyways, the young girl could live without going to school, there weren't any around in the first place. No one had to judge her for a foreign name.

…

What they couldn't expect was the way their children would grow up. The oldest son was the social one, talking to other farmers almost every day. He was seen as a good kid and the future looked bright for him.

He found interest in the small family business, being busy to find new, innovative ways to get a good harvest. Even as a young child, he knew what to do and how to help. And everyone loved him.

…

Aafje was the exact opposite. She didn't go outside much, didn't talk to others. She loved her family and her farm, but rarely spoke to strangers. She found her friends in books. There weren't many, and neither did she know a lot about the world. She had been taught the basics of reading and writing, but as her parents hadn't enjoyed a big education either, they did the best they could. Still they knew they couldn't give the girl everything she wanted when it came to knowledge. So they just watched her and tried to do whatever she enjoyed.

Life at the farm was good and peaceful.

…

When she turned 12 years old, Aafje decided to leave the farm behind. Her brother had visited Remano many times and even brought a couple of slaves back home. They didn't have to suffer, only had to help out with the work the four family members couldn't do. It would be three if the daughter left the countryside on her quest for knowledge.

Remano had sounded beautiful in the stories she had heard. There were many big markets, a colosseum and most importantly, a gigantic library.

When she left, Aafje cried. Deep inside, she didn't want to leave the farm. She loved the place. The peaceful surroundings.

"I'll come back soon. In summer, during the harvest, I'll return to help you out. And hopefully, I have learned a lot in that time."

After a quick hug, she finally left. Turning her back to the vineyards, heading out to the big city.

…

"Please allow me to study here." The young girl begged an older librarian. It had only been two days since she had come to the capital. It was a lot different from the countryside. A big fear for being captured and enslaved kept haunting her. She had heard many stories from her mother, about the magicians from Musta'sim, no it was Magnostadt now. Musta'sim was gone, taken over by the magicians it had tortured for centuries. Perhaps it was better this way. After all, Reim was Aafje's home.

"And what can you do in return?" Asked the old woman, who saw the girl as nothing but a hindrance.

"I can work for you. Surely you have a need for someone who can organize the books. I can do that for free, if you let me study here." Aafje told her.

The woman frowned. But still, the girl could stay and study at her leisure.

…

"Sasan? You're interested in that?" Aafje looked up from the scroll to have her eyes meet with another girl. Her long brown hair fell over her shoulder.

"Yes. I love the different cultures. I already studied Heliohapt, Parthevia and Kou. Sasan is highly interesting though. With their religion, there's a lot to learn about it."

It had been two years since she had moved to Remano. In the summer, she found two weeks of free time to return to the farm and help out. Business had started to grow. Her brother's new technology worked amazingly well. Anyone in their neighborhood was using it, bringing their production number to high levels.

"Who are you?" Aafje asked the girl who was now sitting next to her with a scroll about magic.

"I'm Cassandra, a new scholar here." The girl replied.

"I see. I'm Aafje, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Aafje."

…

Together with Cassandra, studying went easy. Where one girl held interests in cultures, the other studied magic and science. The two were in perfect sync. When they had finished studies in their main subject, they went for a challenge: Torran language. Combining it all with a librarian job was still a lot of fun. In the early morning, people could hear chatter in Torran throughout the hallways. Sometimes complaints were outed, that the girls would be saying bad things behind their backs. But the two friends only laughed at it. As long as they were together and enjoying themselves, it didn't matter what the others thought of them.

In the late evening the two lay on the roof of their apartment building. Watching the stars, they laughed together.

"You know," Aafje said, "one day I want to travel. I want to see those countries I have read about. I want to use the Torran language to translate stories we have never heard of. I want to put my research to use. It isn't like your science. You can help the Reim army to create new weapons or help the magicians out. I can't."

She felt a hand intertwine with her own. A reassuring pinch was given to her.

"Don't worry about that. You're doing what you love the most. And who knows, maybe we can travel together one day." Cassandra said as she smiled softly.

"Yeah, that would be great." Aafje replied one more time as she watched a shooting star fall down.