Page 3 of Lucent Academy: Trinity Awakens
"Not until after the cake," Mother said firmly.
"I wasn't giving it to her now. I was just... letting her hold it."
"Thomas Wood, I have known you for twenty-three years. You have never once in that time managed to wait for the appropriate moment to give a gift."
Father tried to look offended and failed entirely. "It's not my fault the appropriate moments are always so far away."
"It's literally three hours from now."
"Three hours is a very long time."
I tucked the gift into my pocket before the argument could continue, feeling the small hard shape of it through the cloth. It felt like a stone of some kind, smooth and round, and I wondered what it could be. Father wasn't the type for jewelry, and we didn't have the money for anything valuable. But whatever it was, it had come from him, and that was enough to make it precious.
The morning passed in a flurry of preparation. Mother put me to work decorating the table with wildflowers while she finished the cake, a towering construction of layers and cream that looked almost too beautiful to eat. The twins ran in and out of the cottage on various mysterious errands, and Lily followed me around like a small determined shadow, handing me flowers and watching solemnly as I arranged them in a jar. Through the open windows I could hear the sounds of Hartwick going about its business: the distant chime of the cathedral bells marking the hour, the rumble of merchant wagons heading to the great market square, the faint shouts of newsboys hawking the morning papers. Somewhere out there, a hundred thousand people were living their lives, completely unaware that today was my birthday.
"Pretty," Lily declared when I finished the flower arrangement.
"You think so?"
"Yes. Like you."
I scooped her up and kissed her cheek, making her giggle. "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."
"Simon said you look like a horse."
"And that's the least nice thing. I'll be having words with Simon later."
By midday the table was set and the food was ready, and we gathered in the garden under the old apple tree because the weather was too fine to waste indoors. Mother had spread a blanket on the grass and Father had carried out the chairs, and we sat in a rough circle around the food with the sunlight filtering through the branches above us and the smell of blossoms heavy in the air. It was perfect, exactly the kind of birthday I had always wanted, and I found myself blinking back unexpected tears as I looked around at the faces of my family.
"Speech!" Simon demanded.
"I don't have a speech."
"Then make one up. That's what speeches are, right? Making things up and saying them in a loud voice?"
"That's... not entirely wrong, actually." I cleared my throat and stood up, feeling ridiculous but also, somehow, happy about it. "Thank you all for being here today. I know you didn't have much choice, since you live here too, but I appreciate it nonetheless. I have the best family in the entire Invicto Empire, and probably in the whole world, and when I'm old and gray I hope I have a family exactly like this one, except maybe with a few more children because I think ten is a nice round number and—"
"Ten?" Father interrupted, looking alarmed.
"Maybe twelve. I haven't decided yet."
"Gods preserve us," Mother murmured, but she was smiling. "But with your breedable hips... everything is possible."
I wasn't sure what she meant by that but dad's cheeks flushed.
"Anyway, thank you." Warmth filled my chest. "I love you all. Can we eat the cake now?"
We ate the cake. It was delicious, sweet and rich and perfectly made, and I had two slices before Mother cut me off with a pointed comment about saving room for dinner. The presents came after: a new hair ribbon from the twins, purchased with coins they had saved from doing odd jobs around the estate and in the nearby market district; a knitted shawl from Mother, soft gray wool that must have taken her months to make; a picture drawn by Lily that appeared to be either our family or a collection of cheerful potatoes, it was hard to tell; and from Father, the small wrapped package he had slipped me earlier.
I unwrapped it carefully, aware of everyone watching me, and found a stone. It was smooth and round, just as I had guessed, but it was unlike any stone I had ever seen. It seemed to glow faintly in the sunlight, a soft green luminescence that pulsed like a heartbeat, and it was warm in my palm, warmer than it should have been after sitting in my pocket all morning.
"It's beautiful," I said, turning it over in my hands. "What is it?"
"I found it in the north field last month," Father said. "Buried near the old oak. It reminded me of you, somehow. The color of it, the way it catches the light..."
"It's warm."
"Is it?" He leaned closer, frowning. "It wasn't when I found it. Cold as river water, actually."
