Rinaye woke up on the thirteenth April 31st of her new life. It was a standard morning. She woke up within her mess of blankets and slowly walked up the stairs to the living room. The first unusual thing of the day was her breakfast menu. Normally there was a list of every breakfast the kitchen could make with the ingredients they had but today there was only one option. Birthday breakfast. Now Rinaye still hadn't gotten used to her new birthday. She still got excited when her old one rolled around so she forgot that today was anything special.
Without much thought, she circled whatever "birthday breakfast" was and waited on the couch. Reading whatever book was left out from yesterday. Still in her nightgown, she got up from the couch when the meal bell rang and looked down on her "birthday breakfast." It wasn't anything special to anyone but Rinaye. It just looked like a child's breakfast with a card beside it but to Rinaye this was beautiful.
When Rinaye still lived in the South Annex, Sabrina would often cook Rinaye her breakfast when all the others were busy with other work. It was simple. Two eggs and a piece of bacon arranged in a smiling face with a side of apples. That was exactly what was on her plate today. There was a card beside it. It read:
.
Rinaye picked up the card with a smile and opened a drawer where she placed it with the other two cards written by Sabrina for each birthday Rinaye spent in the Tower. Rinaye loved her friends. After eating the breakfast she went over to her wardrobe and decided on the outfit she would wear today. The outfit Rinaye chose was rather nice. She wore a dress shirt over her chemise with a sage green overdress on top with simple embroidering. It was both simple and beautiful and Rinaye loved it.
After getting ready and grabbing what she needed for the day she headed out on the now familiar route to town. Everyone she met wished her a happy birthday on her way to town. The guards, the maids, anyone who saw her. Rinaye had found herself quite beloved to the people she came across often. Even the guards that were supposed to be keeping her in the forest just let her walk right on by. She stopped by her aunt's place before leaving hoping to just say hello but her aunt wasn't going to let her beloved niece walk on by after saying hello, especially on that said niece's birthday! Rinaye couldn't escape from the flurry of birthday hugs and kisses but Aunt Madeline stopped so she could give Rinaye a gift.
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Madeline's gift to Rinaye was a very luxurious book. Rinaye did not open it partly because it looked really expensive and partly because whenever she tried it screamed. Into the interdimensional bag you go! Rinaye barely managed to escape the affection of her aunt. It was a dangerous and uncertain journey, Full of peril and death by hugs. She shivered at the thought. When she left the house, she was glad her aunt didn't wear lipstick that day because if she did, Rinaye would not have been able to wash off the stains.
Rinaye got to the town in about ten minutes like normal. Everyone who knew congratulated her on her birthday on her way and pretty soon she made it to the town square.
She started setting up her stage that she used regularly now that she had done this for a few years. As soon as the wooden stage started appearing in the square, people started gathering around her in anticipation for her performance. Because today was special, Rinaye was planning on playing a few of her favorite songs back in the day. Songs from and were top contenders along with music from the 2015 hit game, by indie developer Boby Box. It's not overplayed if it doesn't exist here! Honestly, Rinaye was just having fun. She screamed lyrics to songs protesting a government that didn't even exist in this world. She sang sweetly about how the world works with the help of a sock puppet. (We don't talk about the sock puppet). She even sang songs that were originally sung by a frog with a similar name to . Who can say that video game fan songs are embarrassing and cheesy if no one knows what a video game is! Why sing them?
Rinaye was having fun until the very end of her performance and when she told the crowd that today was her birthday, the cheers her louder than what Rinaye had ever heard from her crowd before. Her friends were all there too. Ruby and her aunt Amalia were there. Her brother Arion was there, how he escaped training, she had no idea. Allison was watching from the back, hoping not to be noticed because she was a noblewoman and all. Nina had taken off work to watch and Edna came over on her lunch break.
It truly felt like her whole family was there.