After the One: A Connected Selection Series

America's Birthday (part 1)

It was a week before the wedding. Although the ceremony was quickly closing in on us, the palace halted all preparations for my birthday. The only girl to celebrate her birthday here was Kriss, and that was the first time I ever truly saw how much the palace loved celebrating anything.

As much as I felt like it didn't matter that I was aging another year, Maxon insisted, saying that this celebration would be "better than anything we had celebrated yet."

I was awoken by Mary drawing the thick curtains back, letting gray light into my newly decorated princess suite. It wasn't nearly as fancy as other rooms in the palace, but considering that I would be moving into the queen's suite in a week, I didn't want to decorate all that much.

"Good morning, miss. Happy birthday!" Mary exclaimed, as she saw I was awake, scurrying to draw my bath. "Thank you, Mary," I responded, the drag of sleep still wanting to pull me back. I yawned as she dragged me into the bathroom. "You'll want to get an early start. His Majesty has a lot planned for today, I hear." I couldn't help but groan. Maxon knew I didn't like being in the eye of the public. When he proposed, he explained that for the first couple years of our lives, the public would never truly leave us alone, wanting insight on the newly married royals. They hadn't had something like this in over twenty years, so Illea was growing impatient.

"Not too much, I hope," I responded, as Mary massaged shampoo into my hair. Again, I thought back to Kriss' party. It was in the Great Room, with a quartet and more than twenty other girls still fighting for my finace's hand. She wasn't even royal yet. I wasn't even royal yet, but I was on my way to being one. Lavish events would have to be something to get used to.

Once Mary had drained my bath, she started working on my drying hair. She pinned my hair to my head with pearl clips to keep the strands in place. My dress for the day was was sky blue, and a small train flowed out behind it. It had a higher collar than what I was used to, but it being February made it reasonable. I glanced in the mirror and sighed happily.

"Mary, you always do such a great job. What would I do without you?" I asked, smiling at her reflection.

"Well, I assume you wouldn't be able to even rise out of bed without me." We both laughed at that, because it was true. Letting formality escape her for a few seconds, she turned to hug me. "Happy birthday, miss. You've truly made my job here something special." I looked into her eyes. "Thank you, Mary. For all that you do." Remembering that I had to go, she stood straight once again.

"I assume that everyone is in the dining hall, awaiting for your arrival. You'd better go!"  And with that, I hurried out of my room to the dining hall, already feeling late.

I walked in, but Maxon wasn't there. Marlee and Carter were whispering to one another as I walked in, but Marlee quickly stopped once she saw I was there. She jumped out of her seat to greet me.

"Happy birthday America!" she exclaimed, squeezing me in her arms. "Thank you Marlee!" I gushed, squeezing her back. Carter rose to give me a quick side hug. "Happy birthday."

"Thank you, it means a lot," I said with a smile.

We returned to our seats and began to eat. I quickly empties my plate of waffles and fruit, refilling it with strawberry tarts. I then realized there were multiple plates of them on the table. Marlee saw me looking at all of them. "That would be Maxon's doing," she explained, reading my mind.

After a quick breakfast full of strawberry tarts, I decided to take a walk around the palace before retiring to the Women's Room for a few lonely hours. As I was walking down the 4th floor hallway, observing the delicate white and purple flowers in elaborate vases, I heard the magic tinkling of rain, a sound I'd only heard once before at the palace. I scurried to the closest window, and saw a drizzle beginning to settle on the distant forest. Excitement flooded my mind; the last time it rained, I felt in my heart, that I truly loved him.