On the day Daine turned sixteen, she woke up to the yowls of a cat with a broken paw outside her room. After healing the tabby, who had gotten her paw caught in a door when an inobservant human closed it, Daine was ready to begin the rest of her day. It was the coldest and bitterest month in Tortall, so she wouldn't be able to spend too much time outside, but she would at least make it to the stables to visit Cloud.

But first, breakfast. It wasn't until Daine saw several of her friends clustered expectantly around a table that she remembered it was her birthday.

"Oh no," she said, sitting down across from Numair in a space that had obviously been left for her. "Should I be worried?"

The mage grinned. "Of course not, Daine. We have only the best intentions." He reached behind her ear, touching her hair briefly, and then pulled out a roll. "Eat up."

From one side, Thayet handed her butter and a bowl of fruit. "You'd best do as he says," advised the queen. "You have a big day ahead of you."

"This is ridiculous," said Daine. "I mean, thank you very much, and I so appreciate that you're trying to help me enjoy my birthday, but it's really not important."

"Daine, you're turning sixteen," said Numair. "That's an important age. It means you're all grown up." He adopted a mournful expression. "In all likelihood, you will soon leave us all for some handsome, undeserving young man, and we will be left to mourn the young woman we once knew."

Daine looked at him sharply. He was joking, of course, but there was a mournfulness in his eyes, and his smile was a trifle forced. She put extra heat into her words. "Numair, don't be ridiculous. I would never leave you. Any of you. And besides, it's not as though I'm exactly running into eligible men anywhere."

"You probably meet young knights when you're fighting immortals," offered Thayet.

Daine snorted. "As if any knight would take a bastard Gallan girl for his wife!"

Numair cut at a piece of fruit on his plate with considerable force, and his knife clanged against the side of the plate. "You forget, Daine, that you're the famed wildmage now, friend of the crown. There are many who would see it as a very advantageous match."

"Besides," offered Onua, to one side of Numair, "you don't have to marry them to reap the benefits of all those years of training at the palace."

The tall mage choked. In the time that it took for him to gulp his water and glare at his K'miri friend, the subject was lost.

Thayet stood up. "I have to go, but Daine, I feel obliged to warn you that Jon and I want to throw you a little party tonight." She held up her hand to stop Daine's protests before they could begin. "Nothing too fancy, I promise. No ambassadors or conservatives, just everyone you know and a few people you should know."

"Including handsome knights and squires?" inquired Onua.

The queen's mouth twitched. "Including a few very sweet knights and squires, yes. It'll just be dinner and conversation and dancing, though I am going to insist you dress up. Come to my rooms at five and we can get that all settled."

Daine tried to look grateful. "Thank you, Thayet."

"You'll have fun," said Thayet, "I promise. It won't be nearly as torturous as you're telling yourself it will be. Honestly," she muttered to herself, "I let Alanna and Onua get to you far too early. You'll learn to like all this social stuff yet." She left before Daine could argue.

After practicing all afternoon, Daine should have been tired. Instead she was exhilarated. It was just so wonderful to be back at the palace after traveling so much. A real birthday wish come true. When Numair called to her, she tried not to hear him.

"We should probably go back inside," he said to the shaggy brown bear in front of him. "You need to meet the queen, and I, as you constantly point out, take longer to get ready than you for some occasions. And I plan on a very hot bath to get this blasted cold out of my bones."

The bear's snout morphed into a mouth, from which a vaguely Daine-like voice emerged. "You go ahead. I want to make snow princesses."

The mage watched as his student, still in the shape of a furry brown bear, laid on her back and pushed her shaggy limbs against the snow to form a rough approximation of the shape of the princess. She stood on two legs and daintily stepped over the edge of the snow to admire her work. Numair, near the head of the figure, bent down.

"Allow me," he said, gently tracing the outline of a crown above the head of the figure. "It's not a snow princess without a crown." He smiled at Daine, who had now transformed herself into a thick-coated grey cat. "Come on now. I'll drop your clothes off in your rooms and then I'll see you at your party."

The cat at his side nodded. They reached the entrance to Daine's rooms, and Numair laid her folded clothes on a table and turned to go. "Oh," he said, pausing at the door. "Um, I was wondering if you wanted me to come and walk you to the party?"

Daine changed behind Numair. She knew he wouldn't turn around, not that it really mattered. She didn't notice the red creeping up the back of his neck as he heard her reach for her loincloth. "That would be wonderful," she said. "Thank you so much for thinking of it. I would hate to enter the party alone, and it'll be so much better with Tortall's famous black-robe mage on one arm!" She did love to tease him about his status in court.

"Very well," he said. "I'll see you at half past six, then." He closed the door behind him, so Daine's eyes didn't follow him as he turned down the hallway and cursed his stupidity by the name of every god he knew.

Daine arrived at Thayet's rooms very reluctantly and a little late. The queen shook her head in mock disapproval when she opened the door for the wild mage.

"I see you've been practicing with Numair in the woods today." Thayet removed a small twig from Daine's curls. "No matter, I rather expected it. There's a hot bath waiting in my bathing room. Take your time because I think you'll prefer the bathing to the general dressing up, so you might as well prolong the process as much as possible."

Daine grinned. "You know me well."

The general dressing up was certainly not an enjoyable process, but it wasn't nearly so painful as it might have been. Though Thayet certainly knew the value of a good dress and the judicious use of a little face-paint around the eyes and lips, she was also a woman accustomed to movement and anticipated what Daine did and didn't like. The dress was perhaps the greatest surprise. If she was perfectly honest, Daine had almost expected that the queen would want to give her a dress for her birthday. The gods knew she wasn't going to buy one for herself, and it was just the sort of kindness Thayet was known for.

She just hadn't expected it to be white.

"I'll get it dirty," she said immediately, fingering the soft cloth and the lacy edges. It was a beautiful dress, she knew, and the lavender accents helped it avoid looking bland.

"Nonsense," said Thayet. "You're not clumsy. And even if you do spill something on it, I hear that dragon of yours can magic it right out. It's a nice dress, Daine, and I think it will look lovely on you, if I say so myself. You look good in white, though the only time I see you wear it is when you're working in a shirt and breeches, and you can always use a new dress. Now try it on."

Daine had been a little afraid that she might look like a bride – or an egg – but her fears disappeared when she put the dress on and saw herself in the mirror. The two embroidered lavender panels on the skirt drew the eye up to her waist, the neckline drew down in a soft v that sparkled with silver ribbons, and the sleeves were full and capped with lace.

"The latest fashion," said the queen with a smile. "Only the best for our wild mage."

Daine's hair was meticulously combed by a maid (at least I don't have to do it, she thought) and was tied and braided up into sections with silver and lavender ribbons. She didn't even try to understand the process, just nodded her head happily at the result. After letting Thayet dab a little color on her lips and line her eyes, she was ready to go.

"Don't break too many hearts," said Thayet, turning to her own dress. "Do you want to wait for me, or do you want to go down now?"

"Numair said he would come get me," said Daine.

Thayet raised an eyebrow. "Did he really? Well, I expect he's at the door, then. Remember what I said, though, Daine, about not breaking too many hearts!"

"Thank you, Thayet, for the dress and helping me look put-together," Daine said, "you're the best queen I could ask for."

"Go on, now," said Thayet, grinning. "Numair awaits you."

Numair was waiting outside the door as predicted. He straightened to his considerable height when Daine opened the door and bowed to her, as properly as he would to any court lady. He didn't really look at her until he had straightened back up, and when he did, he paused for a long moment. Something raced through his eyes – some spark of emotion Daine didn't understand. He cleared his throat.

"You look beautiful, Daine."

She smiled. "It was Thayet."

He shook his head slightly. "The queen is hardly responsible for natural beauty. As much of it as she has herself, she can hardly hand it out to people at will. You've grown up somehow without my noticing it, and I'm very lucky that the new Daine Sarrasri still puts up with her old teacher." He paused and cleared his throat. "I just wanted to say that, well, no matter what you end up doing these next few years and whatever undeserving person ends up taking your heart, I'll be here if you need me. You have such an incredible future ahead of you, and I'll be proud just to step back and watch you shine."

Tears sprung ready to Daine's eyes, and her throat ached at the thought. She took a moment to steady her voice. "Numair," she said, "you're being ridiculous. Right now the only thing I see in my future is fighting immortals with you and being made fun of by Onua and Alanna. You're my best friend. You have been almost since I came to Tortall. I'm not about to give up on that."

One side of Numair's mouth twisted into a smile. "Yes, we are friends, aren't we?" He offered her his arm. "Now come along, we shouldn't be late to your party."

It was a lovely party, even Daine had to admit it. Everyone talked and laughed, and some even danced, and for a few hours the inevitable fear and worry that lurked behind the eyes of everyone in the Tortallan court retreated just a little further. Daine was very thankful that none of the "nice" knights that Thayet had promised seemed interested in anything other than talking about how good she was with a bow. She had Perin to think about, after all.

They made her open gifts in front of everybody so they could all exclaim over everything. The king and queen gave her a solemn promise that they would have the stables expanded to get rid of some of the current problems, Alanna gave her a book on the anatomy of animals in the Yamani islands (and, later and more privately, a pregnancy charm), Onua gave her a new bag, and Numair, looking very strange, gave her a beautiful new quiver and a blanket for Cloud. For some reason, this last gift got very amused reactions from Alanna and Thayet, but Daine paid them no mind. She thought that everything was perfect.

At the end of the night, it was just a few of them left, helping the servants clean up and chatting absently. Alanna and Thayet were in one corner, giggling about something or other, and the servants were cleaning around Jon, who had fallen asleep in a chair. Numair and Daine put decorations away and spoke to each other quietly. She was filled with the sleepy contentedness that comes after a good time has ended but before the rest of life has had a chance to renew its attack.

Before Daine headed to bed, she bumped Numair's side with her shoulder. "Thanks for the new quiver," she said. "Mine was falling apart."

"I know," he said, with a little smile.

"And Cloud's going to love that you're trying to bribe her with a new blanket."

"Oh, magelet," he sighed, "I have no illusions on that front. Cloud will continue to make fun of me until the end of time."

"Well," Daine said, "so long as you're clear on that."

"Always." He paused. "Goodnight, Daine, and – happy birthday."

She smiled up at him – her teacher and best friend – and thought somewhat sleepily that it had been a happy day indeed.