Presents for the Birthday Girl

Milena's hand was wrapped gently around her brother's arm as she entered the ball room, his strength and experience seeping into her, keeping her from running. Even though she'd already been through such an ordeal as this before, after her coronation, she knew that this was going to be much worse.

The ball after she'd been crowned had been only that; a ball. There was dancing, drinking, talking and eating, but this time, the nobles would be adding something else onto the plate; marriage.

Logan had told her that after the first couple of months, all the lords and ladies would parade their children before her, hoping that one of them would catch her eye. All the young men would be working their charms to get into her favour, and there was no doubt a few older ones would try as well.

It was a terrifying concept. Being nothing but a thing for people to fight over in order to gain power, her power, was insulting. Being forced to choose a man to rule over her, with greater power than her own, was depriving. But worst of all, being trapped in some kind of loveless marriage for the rest of her days was unthinkable.

This ball was the perfect moment for them to start their attack.

At the moment though, they were all just staring.

She had to smile when she noticed how a few jaws had dropped when they noticed her.

The dress she had chosen was sky blue in colour, the bodice covered in detailed silver lines and her sleeves stopping at her forearms, draping down to her hips, though her gauntlets remained uncovered. She had worn her hair down, though there were two plaits that had been tied with silver thread like a crown atop her head.

As always, she refused to wear anything but her boots, but they had once again been covered by the gown which almost draped along the floor.

Queen Sparrow had been a tall woman, and though Milena may not have been as tall as her, she was close.

"Her majesty, the Queen of Albion, and her brother, Prince Logan," the herald cried, signalling for them to make their way through the crowds and onto the dance floor.

As the crowds parted, the orchestra struck their first chord, and began the celebrations.

Logan was, and always had been, and amazing dancer. He had taken lessons, on their father's insistence, since he was eight years old, and nine years later, Milena had followed. However, where her brother had been the perfect student, she had always been rebellious, preferring to play the Hero instead of following an old man's instructions.

It was only when Logan had personally taken her on that she began to make any progress. And now, over a decade later, the two siblings were floating across the room, following the beat of the music, spinning and stepping through the rhythms.

Every so often, Milena would allow herself to glance over her brother's shoulder to look at the others dancing with them, or the people watching at the side. She couldn't see anyone she knew. There were hundreds of smiling faces, but they were all strangers to her… until a certain grin drew her attention.

There he was, bold as brass in his new uniform, stood next to the man she could only call her father figure.

Ben didn't have that look of expectance that everyone else had. He wasn't scrutinising her, he was just looking at her for what she was, a slight whisper of awe in his smirk. He seemed to be the only person in that room, Walter and Logan included, that didn't care whether she was married or not, didn't care about whether she looked perfect or not, but that she was comfortable and was enjoying herself.

Smiling back at him, Milena silently promised him the next dance.

When the Queen approached him, Ben tried to hide a laugh from the reactions of those around him. Ignoring the gasps and whispers, he followed her many weeks of lessons and bowed, kissing her on the hand.

"I would be honoured," he said in reply, holding his hand behind his back, like a true gentleman.

As they walked onto the floor, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Having so many nobles staring at him was unsettling.

As the music began, they prepared themselves in the same way they had done during those lessons, and they started to pace the room.

As they danced, Ben found that the music began to fade as he started to lose himself in the beautiful eyes that stared back at him. His breathing increased, even though the dance wasn't particularly fast, and his hands became sweaty.

If he had not been holding onto the most precious thing in all of Albion, he would have wiped his hands on his trousers. As it was, he had to keep his fingers wrapped around hers, and finish the dance.

He tried to look away, but he was entranced, unable to remove her from his sight.

She really was beautiful. Every time he had seen her, the same thought had been running through his head, over and over again. She is too beautiful for words.

When the dance was finally over, though he regretted having to let her go, he bowed again and walked Milena to her next dance partner.

Making it back to Walter's side, he let out a deep breath, and smiled.

"Balls," the knight said, looking him up and down, "Since when could you dance like that?"

Ben frowned, "Like what?"

Walter raised one of his eyebrows, "'Like what'. Pah! You were like a real gentleman out there, you know that? All grace and etiquette… If I didn't know you, I'd have thought you came from a noble background!"

"But you do, and you know I come from a real pig sty of a hamlet," he replied with a grin

The old man squinted his eyes, "What have you got up your sleeve?"

"What?" he said, looking innocent, "Do I need a hidden agenda for dancing well?"

"Yes."

You had to hand it to him, the man knew him. "Well, believe it or not, there isn't one. Mil… The Queen just thought it would be a good idea if I knew how to dance."

He didn't seem convinced, "So you spent hours listening to an old man tell you how to move 'gracefully'?"

"No."

They stood in silence for a few moments, Walter frowning at him, until the look of realisation washed over his face.

"So that's what's been going on!" he murmured, grinning, "You lucky bastard!"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Walter slapped his arm, "Of course you don't. But whether you did or not doesn't really matter. People will be talking about that dance of yours for weeks!"

Ben grinned, "You think so?"

The knight laughed, "Not only did you show up most of these stuck up pricks, she chose you before anyone else! Excepting Logan of course."

He hadn't thought about it like that.

His grin grew wider, "She did, didn't she."

Sighing, Walter shook his head, "Come on, Ben, let's go find somewhere a little quieter, before you do something more stupid than usual."

Milena was alone on the balcony just outside of her old room, breathing the cold night air as she sipped on a glass of wine. Being surrounded by eager parents and boasting young men had finally become too much, and she had escaped, leaving them all behind.

There were a few others in the garden, but they hadn't noticed her. Or they had but had decided not to disturb her. It was a good job they did, otherwise she'd probably end up hitting them.

This wasn't how a birthday was supposed to be! It was supposed to be fun and happy, spent celebrating in the way she wanted! Not nerve-racking and terrifying, with every moment possible spent hiding away in the shadows. Mind you, it had been the same story during the past few years, though no one had really been paying her much attention, so she'd been able to get away with more.

"Shouldn't you be inside?" asked a familiar voice, "It is your party after all."

Looking down, she found the Major smiling up at her. Laughing, she signalled for him to come up.

"It's not my party," she explained when he'd reached her side, "It might be my birthday, but it's not my party."

Ben nodded, "You'd have thought you were some kind of horse the way they were talking about you when I left." He frowned curiously at her, "You're… not a horse are you? I mean, if you are, you are a very good looking-"

"Ben!" she cried, punching him in the arm as he sniggered.

"Horse or no," he said, rubbing his arm, "you've got one hell of a punch."

Milena smiled, leaning back on the banister and looking over the garden.

They remained in a comfortable silence for a while, just standing there, enjoying each other's company. It was only when Tyson turned up and started sniffing at Ben's jacket.

"Hello boy!" he said, kneeling down, "Where've you been hiding?"

"Hobson insists that I keep him away from festivities such as these," the Queen explained, watching him rub the dog's head, "So I have to keep him in my old room." She motioned the door which was slightly ajar behind her.

The major looked at it briefly before returning his attention to the canine, "You could smell it, couldn't you. There's no hiding anything from your nose." Standing, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small pile of folded paper, covered in his handwriting, "It's not a birthday without presents."

Unfolding the pile, she read the first few words, ""The life and adventures of Benjamin Finn." Oh Ben-!"

"I had to tell you, one way or another," he said, holding up his hands, "This seemed like the only way I'd be able to do it without making too many inappropriate jokes, or just refusing to speak."

As he looked back at the papers, his eyes showed regret, but he shook it off.

Milena smiled, "Thank you, Ben. This means a lot."

He shrugged, "Well, since you did save me, twice, I thought you might want to know what you've saved." And with that, he started to descend the stairs again.

He was leaving? Why would he… "Wait!"

He froze mid-stride, turning back to face her.

"It's my birthday," she said, "Aren't you going to give me a birthday kiss?"

He stared at her, and for a moment, she thought he was going to keep on walking. But then it was like something inside him had clicked.

In an instant, his lips were pressed against hers, their breath caught in their lungs.

As they parted, Ben breathed deeply, "I've been waiting to do that all night."

"Why didn't you do it sooner?" she asked, staring into his eyes, thinking back to their dance.

Grinning, he pulled her back into his arms, and the night was perfect.

The night was perfect. Nothing could have dampened his spirits. He could still taste her on his tongue. It tasted like fireworks.

Ben had walked with a smile with his face all the way back to the camp, and on some occasions, he even started to whistle. He never whistled.

He knew that giving her those pieces of paper had been the right thing to do. How could he have hesitated before? It made no sense. She needed to know his past. All of it. Even the less than noble parts.

As he passed through the city gates, he gazes at the sight that was home. The hundreds of tents that had been picketed over the landscape and the light from fires showed just how many troops there were. There were at least another dozen sites like this over Albion that thousands of soldiers, such as himself, called home.

Most of them didn't have the right equipment, or the uniform, as there hadn't been enough money, but they were all getting the proper training. It was up to Milena to fund the army, and it was good to know that there were already around five million gold coins in the treasury, so Ben didn't worry himself with such thoughts.

As long as they knew how to use the weapons they were given, had food on their plates and a roof over their heads, then they would be fine.

Making it back to his tent, he sat next to the fire with some of his friends.

"Look who's returned!" one of them cried, "We though' we was gunna lose you to them nobles!"

He laughed, "They've got nothing on you fine boys!" he replied, earning him a few cheers.

Lieutenant Harrison offered him a drink, which he accepted.

"So," Private Vincent said, "What happened?"

"Who says anything happened?"

The boys looked at each other, one or two tossing coins over to others. Of course this was going to be the centre of a wager.

"What was it like?" Freddy asked, nudging him.

"What, that ball?" Ben asked, taking a sip of his ale.

Some of them laughed, "Yeah… sure."

He squinted at them, "I arrived late, so everyone stared at me," more laughter, "It's not funny! Everyone wanted to know if I really had kissed the princess-"

"Which you did."

More cheers.

Smiling, the Major continued, "She arrived and danced with her brother-"

"Wha'? Tha' murderin' bastard?"

Some murmurs rose.

Ben sighed. There was no point arguing, "And then she danced with me."

Harrison snorted, "You? Dance? Yeah right!"

He shrugged, "Well, she did ask, so I couldn't really say no."

Someone spat out their drink, coughing so hard someone next to them had to hit them on the back. "She asked you?"

He nodded, "And that wasn't all she asked me to do, either." They leaned in, "She asked me to give her a birthday kiss."

The men suddenly burst out in shouts of 'I knew it's and 'no's as more coins were passed around.

Freddy nudged him again, "What was it like?"

Ben stared incredulously at him. "Don't you know how to say anything else?"

The men laughed as the young Private blushed, but they all urged him on.

"Well… It was like… It tasted like fireworks. Like the whole world exploded!" he explained, "But her lips were as soft as… as… I can't describe them really. But it felt like… well, like there was nothing but us."

"You know what, Major," Harrison said, "I think you're in love."

"Major Finn in love? Yeah right."

"I bet you he is!"

"Oh really? Fancy putting money on that?"

Smiling, Ben retreated to his tent, leaving them to discuss their wager in peace, as he thought of her in his arms once more.

AN - Yet another really enjoyable chapter to write.

I expect most of you know exactly what Ben's present was! But do any of you know where the story will go next? :P

It was difficult to get this chapter started, but after the first few sentences, it... just came.

Hope you guys enjoyed this, and I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long (even if I do practically update daily).

Until next time!