She continued on toward the eastern vestibule, her simple red dress fluttering in her wake in the most unladylike manner possible.
How did she know they were here? He had clearly sensed her leave her room a short while ago, with such timing that it had almost seemed as if she had been avoiding her father. Alistar hadn’t been trying to track her, but he’d been so focused on following the auras of his friend’s with his magical awareness that it had been hard to ignore the signal that she gave off. She emitted one of the most distracting ones out of everyone on the estate, after all, so it had been quite obvious that she had begun wandering around the eastern hallways of the upper levels once his uncle had left the basement.
Pushing the thought aside, Alistar caught up with her a few moments later and the two of them hurried to the end of the hallway where Harold suddenly came into view. The others followed immediately after, most of them looking around with wide eyes as they subconsciously shuffled along after the grizzled guard.
“And here he is now,” laughed the man, who’d left his helmet back at the eastern gate. “Happy Name Day, Alistar.”
“Happy Name Day, Alistar!” called most of the others, which caused him to blush.
“Thank you, everyone.”
Woods laughed and pointed at him. “You look like Jaden when he talks to Li—” The doughy boy doubled over with a sharp cough, his friend having punched him in the gut. “To Lily,” he choked, scrambling behind the triplets to shield himself from another possible strike.
Jaden tried to follow, but the girl in question held up a hand to stall him.
“Don’t hit him, Jaden.”
Rosa crossed her arms, which were laid bare by the sleeveless, sunset-coloured dress that she seemed to be wearing for the first time. “You hit the other boys too much.”
“Y—yeah,” said Violet, who was a bit more timid than her sisters. “Leave Woods alone.”
“Yeah,” smirked the chubby boy, “leave me alone, Jaden.”
Lily sent him a distasteful glance and then put on a pleading look.
“I…” muttered Jaden, at a loss. “Fine, I’ll stop.” Slinking back over to the other boys with a helpless appearance, he made sure to send Woods a foreboding glare.
“Are you guys done causing trouble?” asked Anice, genuinely curious. “If so, then let’s hurry to breakfast.”
From what Alistar could see, everyone was wearing their finest clothes. For most of his friends, this essentially meant wearing whatever garments they owned that didn’t have tears or mending marks.
Looking at the group of children, Harold gave a long yawn and then turned to go. “The gate guards are the only ones stuck on duty today, so don’t forget to sneak me and Rayson some snacks. Once more, Happy Name Day, kiddo!” Waving over his shoulder, the short man made his way back down the hall at a leisurely pace.
“Anne!” Lessa ran over and greeted Anice with a hug, before turning to Alistar and holding out a wicker basket that was filled with apples. “Happy Name Day, Alistar. This is from me and Helen.” She looked very pretty, her blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail similar to how Rosa had tied hers back with string, though Lessa’s was fastened with a strip of fine felt. Her dress was a beautiful melding of blue shades, with frilly sleeves that ran halfway to her elbow and silver-threaded hems that curled in at the knees.
At the mention of her name, the taller, leaner girl gave a friendly wave from where she stood beside Woods and the triplets. “Happy Name Day!”
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“We know how much you like them, so I made the basket and Helen picked the fruit from a tree outside of town.”
“I only picked the best ones!”
Lessa gave him a quick hug and then turned back to Anice, the two of them devolving into a conversation that went unheard by Alistar’s ears. Why did she…? He hadn’t expected a hug. It happened so fast that he was currently at a loss for words as he stood there holding the basket with a slackened grip, his face almost as red as the ripe apples within.
“Here,” said Jaden, whose approach reignited Alistar’s awareness. “Me and Zech made it for you.” He handed over a roughly-carved fishing rod that had been fashioned from a thick branch of strong yet flexible wood, a long line of string wrapped around its length.
Zech also walked over, clapping him on the shoulder with a smile as he pointed at the end of the rod. “The line’s about five paces long. It’s made of some twine I nicked from my ma’s dresser.”
They both wished him a happy birthday and then stepped back to make room for the others, at which point it registered in Alistar’s mind that the things in their hands were gifts meant for him. This filled him with a complicated sense of happiness and excitement, since the only gift he had ever received for his birthday was back when his father and his uncle Raidon had convinced an amiable guard to fashion a pair of leggings from the cave lizard hide that they had collected after killing one of said creatures.
Lily handed over a rough but soft-textured blanket that was noticeably wider on one side than the other, claiming that she and her sisters had been taking turns knitting it for him over the past several weeks after Anice had told them about his upcoming birthday. Like Lessa, she also gave him a brief hug, and so too did her sisters. It was obvious that Jaden didn’t approve of this, so it was all Alistar could do to direct a helpless, apologetic look at his friend as he accepted the gift and the hugs of those that had made it.
Emely’s present was a ceramic jar full of sweets. “This is from me and Woods. We got them from the old lady that you like talking to, the one who sells sugar sticks.”
Opening the jar, Alistar’s smile grew wider with subconscious appreciation, though her innocent brown eyes suddenly narrowed in displeasure as she beheld the contents of the jar.
“How can you be so selfish, Woods? You ate half the sweets!”
“Of course he did,” muttered Jaden. “He’d eat the jar if you’d let him.”
The boy in question scratched at the back of his head in a guilty manner. “Sorry, Alistar. We don’t often get sweets at the orphanage, so I couldn’t help myself.”
“It’s okay,” he smiled. “Thank you, both of you.”
Like the other girls, Emely gave him a hug, which only reddened his face further. Immediately after, she returned to the group with a frustrated sigh, her curly, walnut hair bouncing around with each step. She made sure to pinch the side of Woods’s belly as soon as she mixed in with her friends, the boy finding no sanctuary behind the other girls this time around.
“Here.” Corrie walked up and handed him a small bag that looked as if it had been crafted from a cut of burlap. “I’m not going to hug you.” With that, the boy returned to the peripherals of the group, glancing up and down the hallway as if he expected the sudden appearance of somebody unpleasant.
Alistar sensed a significant amount of magical energy within the bag, which confused him. Opening it up, he saw that it contained a dark blue magic crystal, likely a low-class one. Even so, it was still worth at least several silver lucets, its hefty price betraying that it had almost certainly been stolen.
Although he felt uneasy about accepting something that had been taken from somebody else, Alistar thanked Corrie nonetheless and then stored the bag in his pocket.
Everyone’s gazes gradually settled on Anice, who trailed off during her conversation with Lessa and then stared at Alistar with wide, silver eyes. “M—my gift… I’ll give it to you later!”
“Leave it to Anne to forget her own cousin’s Name Day present.”
“Shut up, Jaden! I got him a gift, and it’s way better than your stupid stick!” Face flushed and gaze downcast, she grabbed Lessa’s hand and pulled her away, leading the group toward the dining hall as if fleeing the scene of a crime.
Woods rushed after them with eager eyes, wondering aloud what sorts of foods awaited him at the breakfast table.
Alistar gave his friends a light bow, which he only now remembered was the proper thing to do when receiving a formal gift, and then motioned for those that remained to follow him.
It took them a while to reach the dining hall, since the triplets had spotted the art hallway and rushed off to take a long look at the pictures that occupied its walls. Jaden and Zech hung around in the adjacent hallway, enamoured with some old suits of armour that stood silently within cases of glass. While everyone made a fuss about the ornately-framed paintings and the lavish decorations that Caedmon had chosen to characterize his hallways with, Corrie leaned up against a blank spot on the wall and looked around with astute eyes. It seemed as if he were examining every detail about the manor, fingers twitching each time his gaze trailed over something made of precious metals.