Coram told one of the servants that Alan and I were here to begin our service as pages. I was still a little nervous and I tried to hide behind Alan, which was pretty hard since he was shorter than me. Then Coram hissed at us, "The Duke's a wizard with a sword and a better master you'll never meet." Alan and I nodded nervously.
Alanna I met Duke Gareth of Naxen and he motioned to me and said, "Coram, are you sure this lad's ten? He looks a little young." I piped up and said, "Excuse me, but I just turned ten today, your Lordship." He smiled at me and said, "A duke is called your Grace." I nodded and said, "Yes, Your Grace." "And happy birthday, lad," he replied.
I gulped and said, "Um, Your Grace, could I talk to you for a second about my birthday?" He nodded and I said, "I don't want to be rude, but I was wondering, if, well, if while I'm here at Court, if I could have a birthday party for my birthday, Your Grace?" "Now why would you want that?" he asked me. I bit my lip, fighting tears as I thought of the one person who'd loved me, my mother, unsure, and then thought angrily, who cares what Frexspar thinks. He hates you. Remember that. Never forget he did hate you, always has hated you, and always will hate you. I gulped and blurted out, "I've never had a real birthday ever—no birthday party, no cake, no ice cream—nothing, not since my first mother, um, she died when I was about four, two weeks before I, well, I sort of ran away from Munchkinland and Lord Alan adopted me—and I couldn't celebrate cause when I arrived it was my birthday, but I didn't know since I was so hopelessly lost and lost track of time, but today definitely is my birthday, and well, you see, Your Grace, my father, not Lord Alan, Frexspar, the governor of Munchkinland, see he hates me and blames me for Mother's death—she was the only person to ever love me and I loved her and I still miss her and it hurts to think about her and I know it sounds really weird, but I remember every minute I spent with her, but it hurts to remember her—and I didn't want her to die, and he says I don't deserve a family and he'd forbidden Nessa from ever wishing me a happy birthday." Duke Gareth glared at me and said, "I cannot promise you that, but I'll see what I can do, lad." I nodded, and said, "Thank you, Your Grace," as I realized that Duke Gareth wasn't angry at me, but at Frex. It felt great for someone to share my feelings for my first father. Duke Gareth dismissed me and Timon, the servingman, handed me over to Coram and I was fitted for my new uniform.
I quickly got changed and I said, "Alan, I really think I'm gonna love it here at Court." Alanna, or Alan now, grinned at me and I smiled back. I grabbed Alan's arm and I whispered, "I'm gonna have my first birthday party, in six years, here at Court, Alan. Isn't that great?" He nodded and I grinned eagerly and then we left our room—we would roommates here at Court, like we were at home—that was so I couldn't blast Thom into the fishpond in the middle of the night—Thom had an annoying habit of making me angry all the time—that was how I told Thom and Alanna apart—Thom made me angry and Alanna calmed me down.