Free The Freedom of Navid Leahy by Jenna Helland Page A

the Plough and the Sun, and often worked until the wee hours of the morning. Brian had dark circles under his eyes, which probably meant that he hadn’t been to bed at all.
    â€œIs that Michael’s paper?” Navid asked, catching a glimpse of the smeary headline emblazoned on cheap paper stock: S HORE P LOTS C OUP! H YWEL R ETAINS S UPPORT IN THE Z UNFT C HAMBER ! Their friend, Michael Henry, published a newspaper, which was an illegal activity for a cottager. If Michael were caught, he would be arrested by the Zunft, the ruling class who ruled Seahaven, a collection of islands where only the elite were free to do what they pleased. Navid and his family lived in Sevenna, the sprawling capital city, but as cottagers, they had no rights at all.
    Brian nodded, crumpling the paper and tossing it into the fire. Just possessing a cottager newspaper could land a man in the Zunft prison compound north of the city.
    â€œCan I come with you and see Michael?” Navid asked as Brian finished the last sip of coffee.
    â€œNot today, son,” Brian said. “I’m sorting out a touchy problem.”
    Navid was disappointed. Michael was a leader to the cottagers, and when he spoke, he always drew great, cheering crowds. And best of all, he was a regular at Navid’s house for dinner. Navid believed that his friendship with Michael was part of the problem with Aron, who was obviously jealous that Navid knew the most important cottager in all of Seahaven.
    â€œBut you can meet us at East Ash Garden around noon. Michael will be speaking against Hywel.”
    â€œI thought he liked the chief administrator,” Navid said. Michael’s incendiary speeches against the Zunft were legendary, but Toulson Hywel had been the most tolerant Zunft leader ever, or so Navid had heard many people say, including Michael.
    â€œWell, he did. But now he doesn’t think Hywel is going far enough.”
    His father was worried, which meant there might be a fight or a riot or, worse, soldiers making raids in the district.
    â€œIs there trouble coming?” Navid asked. “I mean, more trouble than usual?”
    â€œNot if I can help it,” Brian said. He sighed and rubbed his weary eyes with a callused hand.
    Navid didn’t bother his father with any more questions, but he would plan his day around the speech. His mother might have errands for him to do, and if not, he would swing by Piper Leaf Market to see Will. Maybe Will would go with him to fight Aron. Navid wasn’t supposed to meet Aron until—
    â€œNavid?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œDid you hear me?”
    â€œI’m sorry, Papa,” Navid said. “I was thinking about something else.”
    Brian motioned for Navid to sit across from him.
    â€œIs something bothering you? Something I should know about?”
    Navid squirmed in his seat. He didn’t want to tell him about Aron. Brian Leahy was considered the peacemaker of South Sevenna. Cottagers, even from far-flung districts, came to him with problems concerning their kin and neighbors. And Brian would not be pleased if Navid had an issue with a boy from their own street, particularly someone who had shared meals under their roof. But his father didn’t know what Aron had been saying about their family. Navid couldn’t let it stand.
    â€œI was thinking about Mast Square and how the ship got there,” Navid said. It wasn’t a lie, exactly. His showdown with Aron would be near Mast Square where the now-defunct conveyor stretched from the cobblestones to the roof of the three-story building that overlooked the Mast Ship. Navid and Aron had played on that roof many times, but no one had ever dared scale the dilapidated conveyor.
    His father squinted at him and then relaxed. “It’s a great mystery, I agree. Don’t you have school today?”
    It wasn’t real school, but Navid knew what his father meant. The Zunft only allowed cottager children to