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The upside of being a princess on her birthday is the mountains of gifts that await you at breakfast, ranging from all shapes and sizes, which usually takes up to two hours to open. The downside, however, is that none of those gifts really hold any value to you – especially if you’re Dove.

She fakes a smile when she unboxes another gift to reveal…another dress. One made with bright gold Elven silk that could blind an entire village if the sun hit it just right. She isn’t particularly fond of wearing gold, but the Elven realm surely doesn’t know that.

Another gift reveals a pair of snakeskin heels, no doubt from some tribe across the waters who also wished to send her a gift. She doesn’t like the snakeskin either and shudders at the feeling of the skin under her fingertips.

Royal birthdays are usually an opportunity for other realms to send the most extravagant items over as gifts, hoping to stay in the king’s good graces. Last year, one of the tribes was even bold enough to send over a real elephant when Emry turned twelve.

“If you’re not going wear that, I will,” Chelsea quips playfully when Dove pulls a face at the dress.

“Please, you’d be doing me a favour,” the younger princess replies and hands the gown over to move on to the next gift.

Elle and Lorcan muffle their laughter from the breakfast table in their secret garden. No one berates the birthday girl for being ungrateful. In fact, it is the opposite. All the princes and princesses receive at least ten gifts on their birthday which they don’t like, and those gifts usually end up getting donated to the town.

The elephant, however, wasn’t, and still grazes somewhere in the castle’s vast gardens.

Fortunately, not all Dove’s gifts were odd or slightly unconventional. Those she received from her family were enough to make her smile. After all, they did know her better than anyone.

Except for Jacques, of course.

“Oh, look,” Dove overexaggerated her excitement, holding up the next gift, “another ostrich feather hat.”

“Give it here.” Bastian snatches it from her hand. “I can use it for target practise.”

“I’m glad to see you’re benefitting more from my birthday than I am,” Dove mutters, fixing her twin brother and sister a pointed look.

However, her head snaps to the entrance of the secret garden when someone steps on a twig, her heart skipping a beat at the hope of whom it may be. But when she sees it’s a servant bringing another tray of biscuits, her shoulders slouch in disappointment.

Every year on her birthday, she would wake up to a present already waiting at the foot of her bed. Jacques always made sure he was the first to congratulate her, even if it meant she’d be opening his gift first.

This morning, however, there was no box awaiting her at her feet. And no healer outside her door or anywhere in sight. She knows he would never forget her birthday, which only meant that he was back at avoiding her like he’s been doing the past couple of days.

Dove doesn’t know why it bothers her so when, in fact, it was her who told him to leave her room after their kiss. Despite her feelings for him, she accepted that her duty was to marry Rubin, and both her and Jacques were doing what was necessary for her to see it through.

Still, he could’ve wished her a happy birthday, at least. The day feels incomplete without him.

A commotion outside the garden breaks her out of her melancholic thoughts. Looking up from the present in her hands, Dove is just in time to see the Southern king and queen stumble through the hedge, missing the gate just a few paces ahead. That was the point of a ‘secret garden’. No one knew it was there unless they knew where the entrance was.

“Goodness me,” the queen exclaims, smoothing down her hair while composing herself. “What a…lovely little place this is. So secluded.”

“My apologies, your grace,” Lorcan says from his spot at the table. “If I had known you’d be joining us, I would’ve sent a servant to guide you through the hedge.”

“Nonsense, stumbling through nature has never hurt anyone – er…” King Aldrich coughs when noticing Dove. Quickly recovering from that awkward moment, he steps aside for his son to enter the garden. “Moving on! I do believe my boy has outdone himself and found the perfect gift for his bride-to-be.”

Rubin steps forward with something wrapped in a white sheet. There is absolutely no telling what it is, however, he does seem both nervous as excited about it.

“Princess Dove,” he begins, reaching for her hand and bringing it to his lips. “I wish you the happiest of birthdays, and for us to spend all of them together in perfect happiness and love.” Pressing a kiss to her knuckles, he finally presents his gift to her. “You said you wanted the thing I find the most beautiful in the world. I admit, it required me to spend most of the night lying in the reeds at the lake, but every second was worth it.”

“Oh?” Dove eyes the object nervously, torn between suspicion and curiosity. Slowly uncovering the sheet, she rears back in surprise when the still, beady eyes of a bird stares back at her. “Oh, my, that’s a…a swan?”

She blinks at the rest of it. Indeed, it’s a swan. A very much dead and stuffed swan. Did he say he spent the night in the reeds for this? So…it was recently…Dove swallows the urge to gag. This poor creature.

“Swans are one of the most beautiful creatures in the world,” Rubin breaks the silence and fondly strokes the bird’s back. “Not only are they pure white and elegant, but they mate for life – like us. I hope that this would not only serve as a birthday gift, but also as a symbol of our love for the years to come.”

Somehow, Dove doubts that the longer she stares into the glossy yet lifeless eyes of the stuffed bird. This…this was not what she had in mind. But one look at the prince’s hopeful features, his father’s blinding grin, and the awkward smiles on her parents’ faces, she forces herself to appear joyful.

“It is truly a beautiful bird, Rubin,” she says, running her hand down its silky neck, imagining she could still feel a hint of warmth coursing through its body. “I shall treasure it like I treasure our love.”

The prince’s joy is evident in his eyes when he smiles. “I am elated to know you like it. But now I must ask a little something from you as well, Dove. Would you be so kind to reserve the first dance of tonight’s ball for me?”

After an atrocious golden dress, a pair of snakeskin heels, an ostrich feather hat, and an entire stuffed swan, agreeing to a dance was a simple task. Dove believes she’s had quite enough celebrations for one morning, thank you very much.

“I shall seek you out once I arrive, Rubin.”

That only thrills him more. With a final kiss to her hand, the prince leaves the garden with his parents, allowing her to resume breakfast with her family. The moment he’s gone, Dove all but drops the swan into the nearest servant’s arms and shudders gruesomely.

From the table, Emry shakes his head. “I don’t think he understood the assignment.”