I returned to my chamber before the evening meal, wanting a bit of space to process my thoughts. I asked the girls to be back in time to help me dress, but when they returned it was with a large tray. Steam drifted off the various plates of food, and my heart sank.

“Don’t tell me I’m free to eat on my own this evening?” I asked, pretending to them and myself that I was glad to eat alone.

His Highness must have been exhausted by his ride, said Lottie, but she sounded uncomfortable. Everyone knew the prince was back to full strength.

I looked away, hiding a flush. It stung a little to have a whole castle full of people witness my rejection. When I had regained my composure, I turned back to them with a smile. “I think I’ll take the opportunity to have an early night. If one of you can unlace me now, you can both take the rest of the evening off.”

But my early bedtime led to a disturbed night of fitful sleep. I kept dreaming I was back in the woods with the wolves and woke up countless times to the sound of howls.

When I got up in the morning, I felt tired and out of sorts. I missed my sister and the rest of my family, and the various activities that had made my life productive at home. And I was sick of invisible people and strange magic…and a beastly man who did nothing but confuse my emotions.

After being abandoned the day before, I had no intention of showing up for our usual garden stroll. But my decision to visit Chestnut led me through the entrance hall only twenty minutes later than our usual meeting time.

To my surprise, the prince waited there, one foot propped up on the stones in front of the fireplace as he stared blindly into the unlit cavity. At my entrance, he started and looked up.

You came. I had almost concluded there was no point waiting any longer.

I bit my lip; I felt too tired for a fight.

He cleared his throat, and I frowned at how uncomfortable he looked. I’m sorry for yesterday. I needed space and a chance to clear my head, but I should not have gone riding without first informing you of my change of plans.

I stared at him, temporarily robbed of words. Had the Beast just…apologized for something?

He grimaced, as if embarrassed by the justice of my shock. I would like to make it up to you, with a surprise of sorts.

“A surprise?”

He held out his arm. I promise it is a pleasant one—or at least I have tried to make it so.

I shook my head, still in shock, but placed my hand on his arm. Today had taken an unexpected turn, and my emotions were scrambling to catch up. As Dominic led us through the castle, he talked casually of his pleasure at riding again and of Spitfire’s excellent condition. Every now and then he glanced at me, concern lurking in his eyes, as if he feared I might take offense at the topic.

I responded as minimally as politeness would allow, trying to work out from our path where he might be taking me. But we seemed to be moving deeper into one of the few parts of the castle I had yet to explore.

Finally, he pulled me to a stop in front of a double wooden door, arched and carved with flowers and woodland animals. I eyed it. What lay behind such a door?

Will you close your eyes? I’ll lead you in. The anxious uncertainty in Dominic’s eyes seemed out of proportion to the seriousness of the question. Looking up at him, I realized he was asking something deeper. He was asking me to trust him.

My breathing hitched and then sped up as I considered the question. Could I trust someone with such wild swings of emotion and behavior? But his earlier apology still echoed in my mind. After the past month, I knew how big a step that had been for him and, somehow, I couldn’t bear to reject him immediately afterwards.

“Of course.” I closed my eyes, keeping them shut even when he moved away from me.

I heard the doors creak open, and then he returned and took my hand. A small shiver shook me. It felt far more intimate than my hand in the crook of his arm. Or perhaps it was just because my eyes were closed.

He pulled on my hand, and I stepped tentatively forward, resisting the urge to stretch out my other hand to feel for obstacles. We walked forward several steps before he stopped and dropped my hand. You can open your eyes now.

I opened them and looked around. For several seconds, I couldn’t make sense of what I was seeing. I appeared to be looking down on a wonderland—an internal garden that mimicked the one outside. For a delirious moment, I couldn’t determine if it grew flowers or books. Then I blinked and the scene came into clarity. I stood inside the doorway, at the top of a small flight of stairs, looking down on the most unique library I had ever seen. Wooden bookshelves formed spiral passageways that wound around each other into a distant center. And every one was filled with books. Tall arched windows flooded the space with light, and chairs nestled within the curves, carved in the same patterns as the door.

It would have been a beautiful room just from its design and contents, but someone had transformed it into something magical by covering the entire room with roses. They wound around the chairs, covered the book shelves and had even been stuck between the books themselves.

Without conscious thought, I stepped down the stairs and began to wind through the books, running my hands along the spines and breathing in the smell of them. As my eyes caught on titles, I saw books on mathematics, economics, history, politics. I walked past them, memories of home and my family overwhelming me. My sister-in-law, Alyssa, would love it here.

But as I curved around, new memories came as well. Memories of reading aloud to Dominic as he recovered from his illness. As the spiral tightened, I felt utterly enclosed by the safe and familiar. And yet, at the same time, the room was so unlike any library I had ever encountered. This mirror of the magical rose garden outside felt as much like my new home as my old one.

I made a final turn and found myself in the center, where the spirals met. I could hear Dominic’s soft footfalls behind me and began to turn toward him, but gilded pages caught my eye. I stopped to examine the books more closely, before looking up at him in wonder.

“Fairy tales,” I murmured. “The fairy tales are all in here.”

I made this for you, so what else would be at its center? The smile looked awkward on his face, his fangs getting in the way, but the light in his eyes more than made up for it. I know that you would have wanted to share your birthday with your sister, and…” He paused, looking almost as awkward as he had done during his apology. “…and I know that it’s my fault you cannot. So, I wanted you to have something special for your birthday. In Palinar, a princess’ eighteenth birthday is usually celebrated with a ball. But I hope that you will be able to enjoy this anyway. He gazed into my eyes. Happy Birthday, Sophie.

I drew in a sharp breath. My birthday. Today was my eighteenth birthday. And Lily’s. I had completely lost track of the days in this strange life, so removed from my normal one.

Flushing, I looked away. The center of the spiraled bookcases formed a round nook where two comfortable chairs flanked a small table. A vase of roses and a chocolate cake had been placed there. I walked over to it, slowly shaking my head, still in shock.

But perhaps some part of my mind had remembered, and that was why I had woken dissatisfied and with my family on my mind. Two tears slipped down my cheeks. I had never imagined that I would spend this day apart from my twin. We had spent years dreaming up different plans for our eighteenth birthday, many far too outrageous to ever come to pass.

I swallowed and wiped at my face. Somehow Dominic had known and had gone to all this effort for me. My grief didn’t erase my gratitude to him for marking the day, and I didn’t wish to show him a face full of tears. When I was sure I could smile, I turned around.

“I could not have imagined such a thing,” I said. “Thank you.” He hadn’t moved from where he stood, but at my words he strode over to join me. “But how did you know? I didn’t think I’d mentioned anything about it?”

He glanced away, his face tightening and my curiosity rose. “Dominic?”

He looked back at me. I don’t want to make you angry with me on today of all days.

“Angry with you?” I put my hands on my hips. “Well now I’m really curious. And it’s my birthday so you have to tell me anything I ask. And do whatever I say, too,” I added for good measure.

Dominic raised both eyebrows. Is that how birthdays work in Arcadia?

“Oh, absolutely,” I said. But I couldn’t quite restrain my smile, and I could read in his eyes that he knew I was teasing.

Well, in that case…But the amusement dropped from his eyes as he continued to speak. When I returned from my ride yesterday, I knew I had behaved badly. I returned to my chambers, but my thoughts of you had made me curious. I wanted to see your sister, this other Sophie who might have won the Tourney and come in your place. So, I asked the mirror to show her to me.

I gasped, but he didn’t stop.

Its logic sometimes works strangely, and I thought that, given our betrothal, it might see her as one of my family, despite her not being Palinaran. And it worked. He paused. I didn’t expect her to look so much like you. But at the same time, she seemed different, somehow.

She was with Prince Jonathan of Marin and another girl I didn’t recognize. They were discussing how the other girl had decided to delay a visit to Princesses Emmeline and Giselle of Eldon.

“Celine! So, she’s still with Lily? I’m so glad!”

Dominic looked at me questioningly.

“Princess Celine of Lanover,” I explained. “One of our allies from the Four Kingdoms. She and the Lanoverian delegation came on the same ship we did.”

He looked at me curiously. You’re going to have to tell me more about your home and how you came to be a part of the Tourney. It still seems like a great mystery to me.

I bit my lip. We had avoided talking about our families previously, keeping our conversation to less personal ground. Did his sudden interest mean he also intended to finally tell me what had happened with his family?

“But how did you know about my birthday?”

He shifted uncomfortably. This Celine apparently doesn’t want to leave while you’re still in danger. Your sister was pleased that delaying the trip meant Celine would still be there for Lily’s birthday ball the following night. Tonight. She was angry…” He coughed. “…with me. That you couldn’t be there.

My tears welled again at the thought of Lily and my shared grief. But I also felt a tiny pang as I thought about the sorts of things Lily had probably said about Dominic. Still…if he hadn’t been spying on my sister, he wouldn’t have heard horrible things about himself. How else would she be likely to feel?

I realized that it was your birthday today, and that you would be sad without your sister and your family. So, I spent the night setting this up. I thought forgoing sleep was the least I could do after all the rest you lost for my sake during my illness. He frowned. There wasn’t enough time to set up a ball, but I wanted to mark the day for you. And we can still have a belated birthday ball on another occasion.

I felt such a swirl of emotion that I didn’t know what to say. Grief to be parted from Lily and denied the celebration I always expected to have. Pleasure at this beautiful room. Anger that Dominic had seen my sister only yesterday while I was not permitted to see her myself. Embarrassment that I had been upset when he canceled our meal the night before. Astonishment that he had gone to such lengths. I kept trying to remember when I had ever seen him show such understanding and consideration toward another’s feelings. Weeks had passed now, and yet he kept surprising me.

I swallowed and looked down at the table. “How about we have a slice of cake? If it’s anything like the pastry chef’s other creations, I’m sure it will be more than delicious.”

Dominic looked almost as torn as me, and I suspected he felt relieved I wasn’t angrier but also disappointed I wasn’t more whole-heartedly happy at his gesture. But he only nodded his agreement.

So, we sat down together, a Beast and a foreign princess, in a flower-filled library and discussed the smallest and most inconsequential of things while we ate the most incredible cake I had ever tasted. For all Lily and my wild ideas, I could never have imagined such a birthday.