Samantha Edwhan

End of the Winter Star

Chapter 8

Once Gerold had welcomed each of the adults of the visiting noble families and gotten through the duller conversations of status and political niceties, he was able to get started with Luana’s birthday party. He had planned out a few party games that he felt confident Luana would enjoy. He was eager to see her reaction.

First up was Pin the Tail on the Rabbit. Gerold had a small stack of bits and pieces in the corner of the room. He pulled out a wood frame with a piece of paper spread across it. The castle staff had carefully drawn a rabbit on the paper with its back turned and head looking back at the viewer. It was missing its fluffy tail. Thankfully, there was a fluffy cotton ball on a pin as well.

Gerold set up the game and called the fledglings to gather around. Curious wide eyes started at the drawing of the rabbit. Gerold pulled out a blindfold and smiled at them.

“Do any of you know this game?” he asked.

Most of the fledglings nodded. That made sense to Gerold. He'd ensured this game was part of his youngs’ birthday celebrations for the last few years. He noticed Zina standing beside Luana with a confused look.

“Zina, have you ever played Pin the Tail on the Rabbit before?” Gerold asked.

Zina shook her head. Luana smiled beside her, now knowing what the game was.

“It's fun, Zina,” she said. “We all take turns being blindfolded and trying to put the fluffy tail of the rabbit back in place.”

“How did it lose its tail?” Zina asked.

Luana giggled. “Don't question the logic. It's meant to be a fun game.”

“Indeed,” Gerold agreed. “Now, who would like to go first?”

“Me!” Jakob exclaimed, jumping up and down excitedly.

Gerold couldn't help but smile at his son's excitement. Jakob hurried forward to the front of the group and Gerold wrapped the blindfold around his eyes.

“Can you see at all?” he asked.

“No,” Jakob said.

“Alright. Here's the tail, now try to put it on the rabbit.” Gerold carefully passed the cotton ball to Jakob.

Jakob clutched the pin in his teeth and took a few steps forward. He touched the paper, jerked back a step, then pushed the pin into the paper.

“Did I get it?” he asked, pulling off his blindfold.

The goal was to get the rabbit's tail near the bottom of the page where its rump was. Instead, Jakob had pinned the tail in the middle of the rabbit's back, slightly to the right.

“Good effort, son,” Gerold said encouragingly.

“Can I go again?” Jakob asked.

“No, you need to let others have a turn,” Gerold told him.

Jakob pouted but nodded. He gave Gerold the blindfold and scooted out of the way. Gerold looked around at the others. He quickly recognised Adair pushing forward with a grin.

Adair sat in front of the paper and Gerold put the blindfold on him. Once the cotton ball was between his teeth, Adair confidently stood up and leaned towards the paper. He ducked his head low and stuck the pin into the paper. It was a little too far to the left, catching the rabbit's leg.

When Adair pulled off his blindfold, he frowned at the drawing. “So close!”

“Yes, that was very close,” Gerold agreed.

Adair passed him the blindfold and rejoined the others. Luana smiled and took a step forward.

“Can I go next?” she asked.

“Of course, Luana,” Gerold said. “It's your birthday after all.”

Gerold wrapped the blindfold around her eyes. Luana asked, “Do I really need to wear the blindfold when I can't see anyway?”

“It's all part of the experience, Luana,” Gerold told her. “Here's the tail.”

Luana took the cotton ball between her teeth and stepped up to the paper. She ducked her head low like Adair had and stuck the pin into it. Gerold was impressed to see that she got the tail in just the right spot. He hadn’t even told her where to aim. The other fledglings all cheered as well.

“Did I get it?” Luana asked.

“You got it perfectly!” Gerold said with a grin.

Luana grinned at him. Gerold opened the bag of sweets and gave her a few lollies. Luana took them and pulled off the blindfold to give him in return.

Gerold looked at the other fledglings. He noticed Zina staring at the lollies Luana now had.

“Zina, would you like to go next?” Gerold asked.

Zina nodded and stepped forward. She flinched as Gerold put the blindfold on her.

“Don't worry. The blindfold won't hurt,” Gerold said gently.

Zina nodded slightly. Gerold finished the knot of the blindfold and picked the cotton ball out of the paper. He carefully held it in front of Zina and nudged her gently with it. She flinched again, this time taking a step back. Then, she hesitantly stepped forward and took the pin between her teeth. She approached the paper with wobbly steps and carefully pressed the pin into the paper.

It was far too high, sitting between the rabbit's ears, but Gerold felt that he should reward her effort. Something in his gut told him this wasn't easy for her.

“Good job Zina,” he said as she took off her blindfold.

Zina chuckled nervously. “I didn't get it.”

“Maybe not. But you did well.” Gerold gave her a single sweet and took the blindfold.

Zina grinned at him and rejoined Luana with her lolly. Gerold continued to go through the game with the remaining fledglings until everyone had gotten a turn. 

They continued to play party games for a while. Each game had a different winner, though not everyone got a turn at winning. But Gerold could tell everyone was having fun.

After they'd gone through the games, it was almost time for lunch. Gerold took the fledglings to the Great Hall and sat them at one of the tables. He made sure to seat Luana closest to the gifts everyone had brought for her.

Thankfully, it seemed that the nobles hadn’t gone overboard with the presents, excluding Carmina, who had insisted on three gifts.

“Alright everyone,” Gerold announced as he sat down next to Luana. “We're going to open the presents now, then we can have lunch.”

The chatter amongst the fledglings grew quiet and their parents gathered closer to the table. Adair pulled a present from the pile and pushed it towards Luana.

“Open this one first, Luana,” he said. “It's from my family.”

“Okay.” Luana smiled and took the present carefully.

The wrapping paper on the present was colourful, with lots of oranges and purples. It matched Luana's skin and cloak colours very well.

Luana ripped the paper off the present and felt the toy in her grasp. Gerold peeked over her shoulder to see a painted wooden dragon figurine. It was painted to match the colours of a Lightning Dragon with lots of sharp points and spikes.

“That's the last one for your set of elemental dragons,” Gerold told her.

“Wow. The Lightning Dragon was the one I was missing right?” Luana asked. “It feels like that one.”

“That's correct,” Gerold said.

Luana smiled. “Thank you, Adair.”

Adair grinned. He looked absolutely delighted that she liked the toy. Gerold wondered if he'd picked it out himself.

After a moment, Luana put the toy down beside her and reached for another present. Gerold nudged one of the gifts into her grasp. Luana nodded slightly in thanks.

“This one is from Victoria's family,” Gerold told her.

“Thank you, Victoria,” Luana said.

She felt the gift for a moment before pulling the wrapping paper off. It was well packaged and took a bit of effort, but soon Luana uncovered the small musical instrument that was inside. It was small, designed to be portable and easy for younger dragons to use. It had a curving wooden frame with strings that stretched from one end to the other.

“My dad made it himself,” Victoria explained. “He said it's a miniature harp. It sounds very similar, but has fewer strings.”

Luana gently ran her forefoot over the harp. Her claws plucked a few of the strings, the melody ringing through the hall. A huge grin spread across Luana’s face.

“I love it,” she said. “Thank you, Victoria.”

Victoria smiled back at her. Luana set the harp aside to make space for the next one. She spent the next half hour opening the gifts. Most of the gifts were suitable but Gerold noticed that Carmina’s other two gifts were a book and a pair of earrings. He wondered if she had given any thought to Luana’s preferences when choosing those. But even if Luana never wore the earrings, Gerold would make sure to read the book to her whenever she wanted.