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Leonie's birthday is 29th February. This extract covers her eighteenth birthday, from two different perspectives.
Prospero
In the end it was Lady Eleanor, not Prospero, who suggested a birthday celebration for Leonie. They settled on a simple cake and a small gift after the evening meal on the last day of February. However, Prospero was involved in the discussions about the choice of a gift. Pedro suggested jewellery, which Gabriel vetoed. Chloe suggested that she be given a Bible. Eleanor was horrified to think that she didn’t have one.
“She does,” Prospero said, “But it’s just an old one from the pile in the Abbey. I saw it in her room the other night.”
Edward disappeared to search in the depths of his stores and came back with a pocket sized Bible in the latest translation, bound in soft blue leather. He passed it to Lord Gabriel.
“That matches her necklace,” Prospero said.
“And the dress she had at Christmas,” Eleanor agreed. She took the Bible from Gabriel and stroked it. “I love the smell of new leather,” she said, inconsequentially.
It was that comment that gave Prospero the idea for the plants.
“Leonie loves herbs,” he said. “Especially aromatic ones. And her room’s really bare. We could pot some up for her.”
Andrew had some good suggestions about which herbs and plants to choose, and then Prospero had to negotiate with Sister Soraya in the gardens for the supplies he needed. Lady Eleanor assisted them with the final execution.
Somehow, despite being sent to fetch Leonie for the evening meal on her birthday, Prospero didn’t end up sitting next to her. Andrew managed that honour, with Lady Eleanor on her other side. Prospero was on the other side of the table, and a seat further away than Andrew. Frustration and jealousy competed for control of his emotions.
“You don’t need to protect me,” he said privately to Andrew. “I was fine looking after her the other day. I can handle it.”
Andrew stared at him calmly.
“Can you?” he asked, equally privately, “You shouldn’t be using telepathy here. Someone will feel the power.”
Prospero all but growled back before he subsided, but he did glance along the table to check who might feel it. Fortunately, those on either side of him weren’t Gifted, and it was Chloe opposite Leonie. Even if she felt something she wouldn’t say anything. And that glance meant he realised that he was in a good place to watch Leonie throughout the meal even if he was a little far away to talk to her. She looked relaxed, chatting with those around her, which puzzled him. She had to be aware that from today they couldn’t hold her, that they wouldn’t come after her, didn’t she? If she was so afraid of being trapped, shouldn’t there be a sense of anticipation around her today, in contemplation of the freedom ahead?
He forced himself to relax, aware of tension in his shoulders, generated by his own fear that she would leave them, that she would leave him. Towards the end of the meal, Leonie got into a dispute with Andrew about the medical uses of a couple of herbs. That made Prospero smile, although he tried to keep it to himself; both those herbs were ones he’d planted up for her. He picked up the dispute as they left the table, manoeuvring so that he was now beside her, and saying something provocative just to get a reaction.
It worked as a distraction, and she followed him into the neighbouring room where they had cake and the gift ready. Her face was a picture as she realised, but he felt a sense of unease emanating from her, and made it his business to stay close by her, radiating calm.
He followed Leonie back to her room after the birthday celebration, telling himself that he just wanted to make sure she was alright and not overwhelmed by what they’d done. In fact, he wanted to be close enough to be able to sense her reaction when she saw the planters in her room. Lounging on a bench in the courtyard outside, he achieved that and her joy and pleasure brought a satisfied smile to his face.
Although he was pleased with himself, once night came sleep eluded him again. He couldn’t help but dwell on the fact that Leonie was now eighteen and he’d have no excuse to go after her if she left at any point. Somehow she lit up his life. It seemed as though up to this point it had been grey and now it was all the colours of the rainbow. Perhaps that was related to how he saw her in different colours, he thought, amused for a moment. He struggled to imagine life without her or without the Order and he couldn’t manage either. What he wanted was both, which was clearly impossible. How was he supposed to know which way God was directing him – was Leonie a test of his commitment and faith, or was she the path he should take now? Was what he wanted – or what he feared – clouding his vision? And suppose he left the Order and she didn’t want to be with him, didn’t feel the same way about him, what then? He would be at the mercy of his fears, having lost everything. And if he wasn’t with her, how could he be happy not knowing how she was faring? He continued to turn these thoughts over, tossing and turning until sleep eventually found him.
Leonie
I’d followed Prospero into the small lounge next to the dining room without thinking. What I’d found there was a group of people, all the ones I’d come to know and trust, wishing me happy birthday, and a cake, specially made by Pedro. And Lord Gabriel had a gift for me.
“Just a token to mark your eighteenth birthday,” he said, as he passed me a small package, neatly wrapped and decorated with a small bow.
I didn’t know what to say, I was so overcome I was tempted to turn and run but there was someone between me and the door. Then Chloe touched my arm and I could feel her calm so I took a deep breath and faced up to it all. I unwrapped the gift to find a Bible, all my own, and Lord Gabriel had also inscribed it. I would treasure that. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed the time although we weren’t there for long as everyone had duties and responsibilities to get to.
I wandered back to my room, thinking about what my birthday meant. I had vague memories of celebrating it from when I was a small child and then it had become irrelevant. When I was with the Traders anybody’s birthday was an excuse for a rest day; it just didn’t matter whose birthday it was. The big problem was that if it wasn’t a leap year I didn’t know whether to have my birthday on the last day of February, or the first day of March. Here, I’d decided it was just easiest to ignore it, at least publicly. But privately, to me it meant freedom. After my birthday, I could choose to leave and nobody would chase after me. Not that I planned to leave yet, I just wanted it to be my choice whether I stayed.
When I got to my room I had a further surprise. Placed around the room were at least a dozen small pretty planters containing herbs and there was a message on the desk, which simply said ‘Happy Birthday’. I had to look at each planter to see what was there. They included several of my favourite aromatic herbs, as well as ones that I used most frequently. I wasn’t sure who was responsible. Prospero had had quite a smug look on his face all evening, but he couldn’t have done this without help. And I suspected the influence of Andrew in some of the choices of plant. I moved them around a little so each came as close to its ideal growing conditions as possible, and put a couple of the sweet smelling ones in my bedroom. I drifted asleep with the scent of them in my nose. When I woke, it would be March and I would be eighteen.
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