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When he opened the door to one of the small rooms lining the corridor, I paused for a beat to steel myself. Preparing to act swiftly and suppress any reaction, I took a deep breath and stepped through after him.
I scanned the room quickly, looking for either a victim or perpetrator. I saw neither.
Instead, an explosion of noise and color made me rock back on my heels as Luna launched herself in my direction.
“Happy birthday!” she squealed as she thrust an enormous bouquet of vibrant flowers into my face.
“Happy birthday, Delphine!”
“Happy birthday!”
A chorus of voices rang out, making me peer around in bewilderment, my vision obscured by the mass of petals and leaves.
“Luna? What’s going on?” I took the flowers from her, lowering them so I could see the room.
“You look so surprised!” My friend was grinning with joy at having caught me off guard. “Did you really think we’d all forget your eighteenth birthday?”
Warmth suffused my face as I finally realized what was happening. I twisted around to look at Amara who was watching from the doorway with an amused expression.
“You didn’t have to do this,” I said.
“I didn’t,” she replied. “It was all Luna’s doing. I was just responsible for getting you here.”
“I’m glad you’re pleased,” said a vaguely familiar voice. “I was afraid that rousing you from your bed at the crack of dawn might not be the friendliest birthday gesture.”
While several people exclaimed that it was hardly dawn, I located the speaker and gasped.
“Master Clay?” I stared at the animal healing specialist, who lived in Ostaria. “What are you doing here?”
“How could I stay away when it’s the birthday of my favorite healing apprentice with a pet fox?”
“She’s not a pet,” I said automatically before shaking my head. “You’re as outrageous as ever, though! You can’t possibly have come to Caltor just for my birthday!”
“I may have had one or two additional reasons,” he acknowledged with a suppressed smile.
Hayes snorted. “I can see you haven’t changed a bit, Clay.”
Stepping forward, he greeted the other man with a firm handclasp and a slap on the shoulder. Clay grinned back at him, the two of them exchanging the greetings of old friends.
Even though Clay specialized in animal healing and Hayes in healing people, it wasn’t surprising they knew each other. Not only were both master healers—a small group—but both knew Amara from their apprentice days. They must have all been at the Guild at the same time.
I looked past them, taking in the rest of the room. A small table against one wall had a cake with crisp white icing decorated with yet more flowers. But my eyes were immediately drawn to the girl standing next to the table. She looked uncertain, hanging back with a hesitant smile.
“Serena?” I gasped and hurried toward the older girl. “What are you doing here? I thought you returned to Tarin to finish your apprenticeship? You can’t be done yet. It’s only been a matter of weeks. Surely your old master didn’t refuse to take you back?”
“No, no, thankfully he’s been more than considerate about the whole thing.” She hesitated before giving me a bigger smile. “Happy birthday, Delphine.”
“Thank you.” I smiled back, my old animosity for the plants apprentice long gone.
After facing Grey together with me, Serena’s previous resentment of me had completely disappeared. I had even been disappointed when she had to rush straight back to Tarin to resume her broken apprenticeship.
I had admired her bravery in facing the issue head on, however. She must have been nervous since her master hadn’t been required to take her back. And even if he did accept her, a stigma would still have remained. Once her apprenticeship resumed, it lifted her status of reneger—and relieved the complete social ostracization that the whole of Tartoran society was required to show those who abandoned their apprenticeships. But that didn’t mean people would welcome her back with open arms.
“When I heard your old friends were going to be in town, I knew we had to have a party.” Luna slipped her arm around my waist and gave me a squeeze before throwing herself at Serena for an enthusiastic embrace.
Serena accepted the hug, blinking at me over Luna’s shoulder.
I chuckled. “Sorry, she’s just like that.”
