“Happy Birthday to youuuuuu!!!” The large group that stood inside Mariyah’s home laughed and clapped their hands as the young girl stared down at the large pile of cookies that she requested.

Mariyah grinned widely at her treats and happily took the plate her mother handed her. “Thank you all so much. Really. I love this.” She took a bite of her cookie, stuffing her face and inciting laughter from all of her friends.

“Those things won’t run away from you, Mariyah, don’t worry!” Equevo, her friend, called out as he himself grabbed some desserts and shoved them in his mouth as well.

“I had to hide those from your father the second I bought them. If it were up to him, he would’ve eaten them in one sitting before the party.” Lucinda laughed to herself and began setting the food on plates and passing them out to the group.

Victor chuckled to himself and shook his head., “I would never…” he said guiltily.

Mariyah giggled as she swallowed her food and looked around at the filled room of her small home with everyone surrounding the tiny table she sat at. “Petrah!” she called out to her friend, “I told you this is better than cake. Was I wrong?”

She shook her head from across the room with a smirk. “Fine, fine, you were right.” She devoured her serving just as quickly as Mariyah did.

Mariyah’s brown eyes lit up around the torches that hung in her home. Her friends all had wide happy smiles on their faces and enjoyed digging into their food. She couldn’t help but keep smiling at everyone’s excitement.

“Seventeen, huh? How’s it feel, missy?” a gruff voice asked from beside her father.

“Feels the same as sixteen.” She shrugged. “One day, I’ll be as old as you and my father, Clover.”

“Who’re you callin’ old?” Clover chuckled and shook his head as his wife beside him couldn’t hold in her giggles. “You callin’ me old too, Polly?”

His wife covered her mouth, laughing, and shook her head.

“Present time!” Lucinda exclaimed with excitement as she brought Mariyah a small box wrapped in a white ribbon. “I know it’s not much but...I thought you’d like it.”

Mariyah glanced up at her parents with grateful and excited eyes as she pulled the ribbon and gently opened the lid of her box. Inside, a beautiful emerald ring lay at the bottom. Her eyes widened as she pulled it out and examined it closer. “Mother, Father, this is beautiful!” She slipped the ring on and held her hand out in front of her.

“Let us see!” Petrah called out, standing on her tippy toes.

Mariyah smiled and showed those around her.

“Oh, Lucinda, that’s gorgeous!” A woman held her hand in her chest in awe.

“Thank you, Stovla,” Lucinda smiled, “I tried to find one that matched her birthstone. It was quite the process.” She smiled down at her daughter.

“Oh, I imagine! It’s a shame Hanson left. He used to sell some beautiful stones and jewelry in his shop.” Stolva continued, “If he wasn’t a Shifter, I would’ve begged him to stay!” She laughed to herself.

Mariyah’s heart suddenly dropped for a moment and her smile almost faded instantly at Stolva’s words, but she knew better and she forced her smile to remain, though her eyes slowly relaxed.

Lucinda nodded her head. “Yes, it was devastating to lose such a talented jeweler.” She hesitantly continued, “I’m glad you like it, sweetheart.”

Her mother was always so good at blending in with the thoughts of the crowd. Mariyah sometimes wished it could be just as easy for her, but deep down, she was glad it wasn’t. She felt guilty enough living in what could be called a perfect life in the kingdom, growing numb to the hidden persecutions around her wouldn’t feel any better.

Polly stepped forward with a small item wrapped in paper and handed it to Mariyah. “Here you go, darling. Not sure if it will beat last year’s gift, but it’s something.” She looked down at her eight year old son who clapped eagerly.

“Thank you both, you didn’t have to…” Mariyah gently tore the paper, exposing a small box. She opened and inside lay a pile of gold coins. Her jaw dropped as she looked at them with wide eyes. “What?!” She laughed, “This is so much!”

Clover scoffed. “Oh, stop. Just a little something since you’re growing up. Figured you could buy yourself some gifts of your own desire.”

“You shouldn’t have- thank you so much!” She giggled eagerly and Clover and Polly both gave her hugs before the gifts continued coming.

“You’re friends with everyone in the kingdom, Mariyah. When do the gifts end?” Siloh asked, yawning behind her.

Petrah elbowed the boy. “Be quiet, Siloh! It’s her birthday.”

Mariyah smiled after thanking Polly and Clover again.

“Hey!” a voice shouted, “It was my gift too!” Aster crossed his small arms as he stood beside his mother, Polly. Mariyah giggled and quickly scooped the child up into her arms. “Thank you too, mister!”

She continued opening her presents, thanking everyone individually as she did so. She received dresses, more books, some candies, and others gave her more gold coins as spending money. “Thank you all so much, this is such a treasure for me,” Mariyah said to all of her guests. As grateful as she was for everyone attending, all she could think of was seeing Oliver this evening, though she tried her best to stay in the moment.

“Yes, we thank you all for joining us and for every gift. Thank you for coming, truly!” Lucinda said as she held the door open for the guests.

“Always such a big party…I just swear there’s more and more people each year.” Siloh mumbled under all of the dispersed conversations that began as people started making their way to the door.

“My father provides tools to almost all the kingdom, you can guess how many friends he makes,” Mariyah said to him, giggling.

“I see that.” He patted her shoulder and chuckled lightly. “See ya tomorrow for games?” He made his way to the door.

Mariyah nodded her head. “See you tomorrow.” She watched as Equevo followed him out.

Petrah hugged her friend tightly. “Happy Birthday, Mariyah. I hope you enjoyed it.”

“Thank you.” She smiled. “I almost feel guilty for having such a large party,” she said with a small laugh after hearing Siloh.

“Oh, Mariyah. Considering you were stuck in the house with your illness until you were five, I think it’s fair that your mother throws you large birthday parties to make up for the missed ones.” Petrah gave her a smile in return.

The mystery infant illness. Also known as, stalling until Mariyah grew to an age where she could control her shifts in public. “I suppose. Thank you for coming.” She smiled back at her friend, walking her to the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow!” She hugged her friend tightly and kissed her cheek before leaving as well, along with the rest of the crowd.

Finally, it was just Lucinda, Victor, and their daughter. Lucinda rested her hands on her hips and looked down at the table. “All these plates.” She puffed out an exhausted exhale as her daughter quickly stood up and kissed her cheek.

Mariyah smiled. “This was splendid!” She did the same to her father as well, “Thank you so much.”

“Anything for you, my darling.” Lucinda looked over at her daughter who stood just an inch shorter than herself.

“No Aunt Twine this year?” Mariyah asked, still upbeat.

“Not this year, dear. She wasn’t able to come, the tensions have grown too high. But she sends her birthday wishes and her love.”

“Tell her I send my love back as well, and I pray for her safety.” She rubbed her nose, as she thought about her aunt. Aunt Twine was her mother’s sister, yet she refused to remain in the kingdom after the new laws. She travels all about as a bird Shifter, rarely visiting. But when she does, Mariyah cherishes it. Mariyah smiled and nodded her head before joining her mother in cleaning the dishes and bringing all of her gifts to her small bedroom upstairs.

She wasted no time returning downstairs and kissing her parents goodbye before grabbing her satchel and a few apples, heading into the forest. Despite their protests as to how late it was, they finally relented as it was her birthday.

“Sorry!” She shouted, bounding through the dimming forest, book in hand. She called out as she heard the running water ahead of her, “I didn’t know it’d take so long- there were so many people!” She jumped over a log as she approached the creek. Her face sparkled with an eager excitement as she saw him.

Oliver was leaning against a tree, his head shot up at her shouts and he smiled widely, “Hey birthday girl.” He looked at her intently and smiled even wider. “How’d your day go?” He pushed himself off the tree and approached her.

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“It was wonderful, but I wish you could have come. I’m sorry for making you

wait.”

She looked around at the dimming atmosphere and then back to him. “I can’t stay long, but I wanted to see you.” She gave him a cheery smile.

He laughed a bit and nodded his head, “You really wanted this flower, huh?”

She rolled her eyes and walked closer to the creek with him. “No, I just-” she felt

her cheeks heat up and corrected herself, “Yes, I’m really excited for the flower.” She gave him a blushed look and sat down in the grass, setting her book beside her.

He held in his smile and sat beside her, “Well. Here, close your eyes.”

She giggled and did as he said, waiting patiently until he let her know to open them. When she opened them, she looked down at her lap and three small flowers lay on her dress. Each one was different in shape and color and petals. She smiled widely and picked them up, “You got me three?” She laughed. “I love them.” Her eyes narrowed as she observed each one closer, her eyes darting from the flowers to her dress. The flowers he picked were the exact flowers that were embroidered onto her gown.

Her eyes took in the plants for a long moment as what was a small gesture turned much larger to her. She looked over at him, “Oliver- this is so kind. You found these?”

He waved his hand, “Come on, they’re wildflowers.”

“But they’re identical- how did you find the exact ones?”

“I looked around,” he shrugged, fumbling for something in his pocket. But she couldn’t take his eyes off of him. She didn’t know what it was about such a small gesture that felt so big, but her heartbeat quickened at the thought of him searching for the flowers. She didn’t recognize these as any she’d found around here. How far had he searched?

He finally pulled out a small object, holding it out to her. “Here’s my choice of a present for you. Since you wouldn’t give me a real idea.”

She looked at him.

“What? You thought the flowers were a real present? Come on, Mariyah.”

She held out her hand and he placed a necklace in her hand. The chain was gold, and the pendant that hung on it was a small yellow flower, intertwined with vines. Her mouth fell open as she held it in her hand, “Oliver…”

He gave a smile and nodded his head, “You like it?”

“Oliver,” she repeated, looking up at him. “How did you…”

He let out a soft chuckle, “I told you, I’d figure something out-”

Her arms were around him in an instant, taking him by surprise but his arms wasted no time in returning her hug. “Thank you so much,” She said into his shoulder before pulling away quickly. “Sorry. But- really, thank you.” She looked at him with wide eyes. “I love both. I won’t take this off.” She let out a laugh again and pulled the necklace on, clipping it quickly around her neck.

He reached out, lifting the pendant in his fingers for a moment, and she held her breath, worried he’d feel her sudden pounding heart. He set it down against her chest. “It looks good on you.”

Her lips pulled into a smile. “Thank you.” She looked down at her flowers “As for these…” She shook her head, “I’ll find a way to keep them intact.”

He took the book from beside her and opened it up. “Here,” He placed them in one of the pages. “Close the book on them when you’re ready to, they’ll press and keep their shape when they dry.” He gave her a smile. “Glad you like them.”

“I love them,” she grinned widely and fiddled with her new necklace. She looked over at him who was watching her carefully. It was then that she noticed his cheekbones pressing against his skin. His eyes looked more exhausted than usual, heavier almost. Darker. She could see a smile on his face, but it didn’t look the same. Her voice came out quiet, “Oliver. I’m worried about you.”

He shook his head, “Not gonna talk about this on your birthday.”

Her eyes narrowed, “It’s just another day. I want to speak to you about this. It’s killing me, I can’t imagine what it’s like for you-”

“I’m not talking to you about this-”

“Well I am.” Her face was serious now, “Oliver, please. Talk to me.” She looked at him blankly, waiting. Her heart had already begun to sink, as if she knew what was burdening him. But she wanted to hear his words.

He breathed out loudly, rubbing his hair aggressively before speaking. “My mother can’t carry on like this. Neither can my friends. Three more in the village just died in the night.” He shook his head. “There’s no food. There’s none. I can see my mother withering away and she tries to hide it... but I can see. It’s painful for her. I know it is. I just gotta sit here and watch.” He ran his hand through his hair more.“Sometimes I hope I die first so I don’t have to watch everyone else go… but I wanna be here to protect them until their time runs out.” He shook his head again, “I don’t know. There’s just nothing left.” He looked at the grass below him. “I hate it,” he whispered. “I hate what’s happening.”

Mariyah’s widened eyes watched him with every word. She turned to the water as her eyebrows lifted in concern. “Oliver…” she said softly. “I’m so sorry.” Her heart pulled lower and lower in her chest, as if it was being weighed down with worry upon every word he said.

“Don’t,” he said quietly, lifting his head to face her “You’ve been nothing but helpful. Your friendship has given me relief during all of this,” he said, meeting her eyes with his.

The tone in his voice frightened her. She had never seen him so serious... He was joyful and happy back when they first met, despite the hardships. Now, the hardships grew deadly and his joy could not withstand it any longer. He finally lost the heart in him and despair looked like it was taking over his once hopeful eyes. And she could only watch. “Wait…Oliver, you can’t give up, right? You guys can hunt? Or-or you can farm or..-”

“There’s nothing. We’ll get killed for hunting in the king’s forest. We have no seeds. You can only live off mushrooms and grass for so long, Mariyah..” He looked into her heartbroken eyes and scoffed, shaking his head as guilt fell over him for making her pity him and burdening her with his problems. “I’m so sorry, I just...it’s not that bad. It’s really not, I’ll figure something out,” he said, unconvincingly. His face fell as he watched her break into sorrow for him, and he frowned, wishing that he never said a word to her.

She sat there silently, staring at her feet in thought. This is enough, she thought. There has to be other ways. There are other ways. “Oliver.” She looked at him with wide and hopeful eyes. “I can help you.”

“How?”

“I can bring you food.”

“No, Mariyah, no. You know this. You’d get in trouble.”

“Not if they didn’t know.” Her eyes widened more.

“We’ve talked about this. It’s too risky. Please...don’t.”

“Yes! When we talked about this, the situation wasn’t so dire. Now it is, and I’m willing to take the risk. It’s not even that big of a risk anyways. The guards rarely come to the village, you said so yourself.”

He shook his head once again. “No.”

Her eyes welled up as he denied her help. “I need to help you. I can’t watch you like this any longer, Olly. I can’t do it,” her voice cracked from holding back her tears.

“No!” He suddenly shouted, making her flinch. He shook his head and held it in his hands. “No, no.” He stood up and looked down at her. “I can’t let you, I’m sorry. We’ll be okay, really. I just get down sometimes.”

“Down? Down? You’re starving to death!” She stood up after him and just looked at him. “Why are you getting up? Where are you going?”

“Back home. I have to go help my mother.” He refused to look at her.

“So I just have to wait until you don’t show up anymore?”

He turned to her finally, his mouth still as he stared at her seriously.

Her face was struggling to remain straight as she began to feel the tears in her eyes making themselves known. “You’ve been ignoring every concern I have, you’ve been pretending nothing is happening and you won’t talk to me about it unless I beg you. I can’t watch this anymore, Olly. We have to figure something out, before it really is too late instead of pretending everything is fine-”

“There is nothing we can do, Mariyah. We are threatened with death in every direction. There are no other options. So I want to continue on without any unnecessary sadness. I want to visit you every chance I have, until I can't anymore. And I want our visits to be how they used to be.” His eyes were locked onto her, his face studying hers as he spoke. “Without you paying attention to how my body is thinning, how my health is diminishing, I just want us to enjoy our time together pretending everything is fine.” He paused to take in her wide brown eyes. “That’s all I want before I go.”

And it felt as if her heart collapsed inside her. Her eyes fell as she remained in his gaze, her tears teetering over the roots of her bottom lashes as she shook her head. Her voice cracked as she whispered, “You cannot ask that of me.”

His face broke as he watched her soft expression tear in front of him, “Please, Mariyah.” He took a step forward, hesitating for a moment before he wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled her into him. She hesitated before she crumbled in his arms, her tears dampening his shirt as he held her. “I’m sorry,” he whispered into her ear, his hand moving to the back of her head into her hair. He stared out at the forest as he held her, feeling her shoulders tremble against him. But all he could do was hold her tighter.

She clung to him just as tightly, knowing she could cry into him for hours. But she replayed his request in her head as she held him, and she knew she must let him have his only wish. So she mustered every ounce of self control she could find, and forced her body to calm itself. After a moment, she pulled away, quickly wiping away her reddened eyes. She whispered softly, looking down at the ground. “Okay, Olly.”

He watched her, his face falling at her demeanor. But he had nothing more he could say, he didn’t want to see anymore tears fall from her pretty eyes. “I’ll see you when?”

She sniffled away any snot and cleared her throat coolly. “Sunday will be best.”

He nodded his head, his eyes low and heavy. “I’ll see you Sunday, Mariyah.”

She nodded in return and picked up her book, closing it and pressing the flowers. “Thank you again,” she said quietly.

“Happy Birthday.” He tilted his head.

She bit her lip as she reached down for her satchel. “Oh, wait. I have some food for you before you go,” she held out her bag of food. “Please, take it.”

He looked at her desperate eyes and then the food. “Thank you,” he said to her with appreciative eyes as she handed the apples to him.

She held her hands together. “I’ll be off now.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

“Goodbye.” She swallowed her sadness as she turned around, starting home. When she was sure she was out of sight, she allowed the tears to finally slip down her cheeks. He was going to die soon. And that was the truth. Her face twisted with grief as she cried during her walk, her mind relentlessly picturing his starving body and the pain he must feel.

Her throat tightened as she held in a sob that begged to come out. She could feel a soreness tightening itself in her heart and she wondered how her heart could feel such a physical pain. She clenched her eyes shut for a moment and pressed her palms into her eyes, begging her mind to let her rest from the dark thoughts no matter how real they were.

I can’t do anything, can I? Naturals are discouraged from helping Shifters in any way and setting poor examples for the other citizens. Discouragement being imprisonment or worse. I’m sure sitting with Oliver alone would give me lashings, possibly even imprisonment depending on the guard’s mood...but helping an entire village? That- that is a certain death wish.

But what if no one knew? What if I came in secret? The guards aren’t constantly watching the village...they rarely care about what they’re doing. They only check to see how many have died in between the visits. And they just recently went to take away Margaret...so they won’t be back anytime soon.

What if…