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the party.”
    Duncan directed me to the upstairs living room. It had been
Rhys’s playroom when he was little, but they’d converted it into a place to
hang out when he became a teenager. But the ceilings had murals of clouds and
childish things, and the walls were lined with short white shelves that still
held a few of his old toys.
    When I opened the door, I was bombarded by streamers and
balloons. A banner with the words “Happy Birthday” in giant glitter letters
hung on the back wall.
    “Happy birthday!” Willa shouted
before I could step inside.
    “Happy birthday!” Rhys and Rhiannon
said in unison.
    “Thanks, guys,” I said, pushing a helium-filled balloon out
of my face so I could go in. “You guys know my birthday isn’t actually until
tomorrow?”
    “Of course I know,” Matt said, his voice a little high from
inhaling helium. He had a deflated balloon in his hands, the source of the
helium, and he tossed it aside to walk over to me. “I was there when you were
born, remember?”
    He’d been smiling, but it faltered when he realized what
he’d said. Rhys and I had been switched at birth. Matt had actually been there
for Rhys’s birth, not mine.
    “Well, I was there when you came home from the hospital
anyway,” Matt said and hugged me. “Happy birthday.”
    “Thank you,” I said, hugging him back.
    “And I definitely know your birthday,” Rhys said, walking
over to us. “Happy birthday!”
    “Happy birthday to you too,” I smiled. “How does it feel to
be eighteen?”
    “Pretty much exactly the same as it does being seventeen,”
Rhys laughed. “Do you feel any older?”
    “No, not really,” I admitted.
    “Oh, come on,” Matt said. “You’ve matured so much in the
past six months. I hardly even recognize you anymore.”
    “I’m still me, Matt,” I said, shifting uneasily from his
compliment.
    I knew that I’d grown up some. Even physically, I’d changed.
I wore my hair down more now because I finally managed to tame my curls after a
lifetime of struggling with them. Since I was running a kingdom now, I had to
play the part and wear dark-colored gowns all the time. I had to look like a
Princess.
    “It’s a good thing, Wendy,” Matt smiled at me.
      “Stop.” I waved my hand. “No more seriousness. This is supposed to be a party.”
    “Party!” Rhys shouted and blew on
one of those cardboard horns they used on New Year’s.
    Once the party got underway, I actually did have fun. This
was much better than if I’d had a ball, since most of the people here wouldn’t
be able to go. Matt wasn’t even supposed to live in the palace, and since Rhys
and Rhiannon were mänks, they would never be allowed to attend a ball. Duncan
would be let in, but he’d have to work. He wouldn’t be able to laugh and goof
around like he did here.
    “Wendy, why don’t you help me cut the cake?” Willa suggested
while Tove attempted to act out some kind of clue for charades. Duncan had
guessed everything under the sun, but he wasn’t even close.
    “Um, sure,” I said.
    I’d been sitting on the couch, laughing at everyone’s failed
attempts, but I got up and went over to the table where Willa stood. A cake sat
on a brightly colored tablecloth, next to a small pile of gifts. Both Rhys and
I had specifically asked for no gifts, but here they were.
    “Sorry,” Willa said. “I didn’t mean to drag you away from
the fun, but I wanted to talk to you.”
    “Nah, it’s okay,” I shrugged it
off.
    “Your brother made the cake.” Willa gave me an apologetic
smile as she sliced through the white frosting. “He insisted that it was your
favorite.”
    Matt might be a very good cook, but I wasn’t sure. I dislike
most food, especially processed ones, but Matt had been trying hard to feed me
for years, so I pretended to like a lot of things I didn’t like. My birthday
cake was one of them.
    “It’s not horrible,” I said, but it kind of was. At least to me, and Willa and all the other