Chapter 59

Elika trudged down the stairs and headed towards the kitchen, she didn’t know what to expect, but her heart seemed to skip a beat as she walked in, her eyes wide with excitement.

Mrs Taner had decorated the kitchen in purple and bunk balloons and banners, it looked like she took a scene straight off a tv show and placed it in her kitchen. Yet, Elika loved it. Did Mrs Taner really go to all this trouble just for her?

“Happy birthday!” Shouted the kids, some screaming it as loud as they could, it made the princesses smile widen.

She was so happy that she couldn’t even speak aloud, her mind still struggling to accept this was all for her. Leila’s parents would never have done anything like this, her brother might have, if they weren’t so caught up in the war. But definitely not her father.

Atlas saw love as weakness, and he always has, but Elika saw it as a great strength, it was something to hold onto, even on the days where you can’t find the light. Darkness has a way of seeping into everything, but it cannot conquer love, nothing can.

Love is pure.

The princess loved Mrs Taner in that moment, she was so grateful to be in her care, even if none of this had been planned, she would have still been happy just to spend her birthday in the human realm away from the war.

But no one knew that except for her, and she couldn’t exactly explain her gratitude more than her smile showed.

“Thank you.” Elika says, embracing each of the small children as they rush her all at once. “You are all amazing!”

“You have to cut your cake so we can eat it!” A little girl called Emily says, her brown hair tied up into two pigtails.

“I promised that they could all have cake for breakfast.” Mrs Taner explains, smiling from ear to ear.

Elika smiles back, “Well then, I mustn’t keep them waiting.” She joked.

The princess shrugged off the children as gently as she could, some of them clinging to her and demanding more cuddles, which of course she had to give. She couldn’t let them think she didn’t care.

“Happy birthday Ellie.” Says the orphanage owner, handing her a knife to cut the cake.

“Thank you.”

Elika takes the knife and begins to cut small pieces for each child, placing them onto plastic plates and handing them to the waiting little hands. The children were so excited to have something different for breakfast, something special, and so was the princess, she had never had cake for breakfast before.

Although, before she came here she rarely ate, let alone had breakfast daily.

Immortals didn’t need to eat as much as humans, but they still needed the nutrients and calories. Even if they would never admit it.

Elika handled a piece to Mrs Taner with a soft smile, trying to hide the tears that threaten to slide down her cheeks.

“I can’t believe you did all this for me.” She whispers, watching the children cover themselves in chocolate.

“Every child under my care gets their special day, no matter how old or young.” Mrs Taner replies, shoving an envelope towards her. “I wasn’t sure what to buy you, especially when you already have a bank account of your own from your brother. But I hope you like what I picked out.”

Elika frowns, a present? She had never received a present before, not from anyone.

She quickly opens the white envelope to reveal three gift cards, one to her favourite coffee shop, one to spend on clothes and the last to a book store. It was all the things Elika liked. But how did Mrs Taner know?

Did she really pay that much attention to each child in her care? She must, she wouldn’t know how much Elika loved to read otherwise.

“This is perfect,” Elika sniffs, the tears falling from her eyes before she can stop them. “This is the first present I have ever got.”

Mrs Taner reaches over the kitchen counter and gently pats the princesses hand, her expression softening. “I hope this day is something for you to remember with fondness. You deserve it Ellie, especially with all the help you do around here.”

“I like helping.” She wipes her tears and puts the gift cards into her backpack, “I will always remember this day, it will be a beacon of light in my life.”

The orphanage owner nods, walking off to get the kids cleaned up and ready for school, Elika still stood at the counter in awe of the room and the cake.

If only her family had treated her this way, maybe things would have been so much different.

She shakes her head, telling herself not to dwell of the past as she packs two pieces of cake into her bag, her and Sarah can eat them on the way to school.

She always meets Sarah outside of the home on school mornings and they walk the couple of miles together. They used to get the bus, but some of the teenagers were cruel to Sarah, calling her diseased and dirty.

Children could be just as cruel as adults, maybe more so. But Elika didn’t let it bother her, she had faced much, much worse at the hands of her uncle. The teenagers could never hope to be that bad, they were just lost in their own hate, something the girl was more than a little bit knowledgeable of.

She waved to the children on her way out the door, Sarah already waiting for her just outside the gate, her lips coated in red paint.

“Happy birthday girl!” She calls, bounding up the steps and embracing Elika in a warm hug.

The princess takes her friends hands and begins the long walk to school, her heart full of happiness, and for once she wouldn’t let anything spoil her good mood.

Today was a good day, fuck the darkness and all that it brings.