Whenever I looked at Princess Selena, her eyes seemed to bore into me like she was studying my very soul. It reminded me of two years ago of when I saw her freezing outside in the heat of day. It had been her seventh birthday. I tried to make her feel special, but somehow, anger, fear, and sorrow took hold of her anyway. Using a heating blanket, I melted the ice that was threatening to bury her by her own power, but all she could see was how sad I was as she gazed up at me. I had often inquired of Father as to why I could not succeed in keeping all the angels happy in the heavenly realms, but he insisted that I was doing a good job and that pain was part of a process that will lead to an existence of eternal love, light, and joy.

The looking glass in my bedroom was full length, just tall enough for me to see the entire form of my Father. I never got to see myself in mirrors, but always the image of my Father, whose presence filled the heavens. I used to wonder what I looked like, but Father often told me I looked like himself, except that he is not an alicorn archangel, having no unicorn or animal characteristics other than dovelike wings.

As I approached the mirror in the corner of the room one morning, Father’s smile was radiant. He must have been happy about something, though I couldn’t tell if he was thinking about something in the past, present, or near future.

“Good morning, my Son,” his warm voice resounded not from the mirror, but from within my heart. In the image before me, the golden light of his halo flashed with brilliant white light. It then formed wildly prismatic colors that scattered around him like pieces of rainbow glass floating in midair. Father’s bright blue eyes were full of joy and I realized he was extremely glad about something that he anticipated later that day. He often had a way of letting me know things in my heart without using words.

“Good morning, Father,” I answered him. “I’m so happy you are going to have a good day today.” I hoped he would tell me what was going on, but then there was a knock at the door.

“Archangel?” the princess’s voice sounded hesitant “It’s me, Selena.”

I was about to ask her to wait a little bit. I preferred to prioritize time with Father in the mornings, but I felt him telling me in my heart that, just for today, I should cut our meeting short to go and see what she wanted.

When I opened the door, Selena jumped back, as if taken by surprise. The nine-year-old princess was gleaming and sparkling as she looked up at me. Somehow, she was looking more regal than ever before. She interlaced her fingers together in front of her as she stood back for me to emerge. Her large blue and golden eyes filled with wonder as she saw my face. I felt flattered, but more than a little uncomfortable as I noticed that she was wearing her fanciest silk ball gown that was for special occasions. She also had much more of jewelry on than she usually did at one time. She was wearing a silver tiara and bracelets, rings, and a necklace that all had matching pink hearts on them.

“Good morning, Princess Selena,” I said. “You’re up early today. Did you get enough rest?”

“Good morning, Archangel,” her tone was pleasant, but unlike the times her brother sounded sweet when he wanted something, I sensed no deceptive charm. “To be honest, I didn’t sleep much last night, but I don’t feel tired at all. I’ll be okay.”

Lacking sleep but still having a lot of energy was not a good sign. Nature did not work that way. Nevertheless, I waited for her to continue.

“Anyway,” she paused as she shuffled her feet. Her dovelike wings beat with nervousness as she glanced at the floor. “I wanted to wish you a happy birthday.”

“Oh,” I said. I was thrown off guard by her words. I didn’t have a birthday. She still didn’t seem to understand who I was, but Father insisted on letting her figure it out for herself. “Today is not my birthday, Sweetheart. Who told you it was my birthday?”

“Nobody did,” she answered. “It’s just that for as long as I’ve lived here, we’ve celebrated Prince Swarovsky’s birthday, Prince Lucifer’s birthday, and my birthday, but we never get to celebrate yours. I tried asking my brother about the day of your real birthday, . but he just…” she trailed off and shook her head as if there was something she was choosing not to say. She continued, “I got frustrated, but whatever your real birthday is, I wanted to give you another one too. You’ve done so much for us. You take care of us and give us everything we have, so I think it would be great if you had two birthdays instead of just one from now on. I hope that’s okay with you.”

“Selena,” I blinked away tears as I wrapped my arms around her. No one ever thought to give me a birthday before in the entire history of the universe. “Thank you. You really didn’t have to do this, but I appreciate it.”

“Please come downstairs with me, Archangel,” she said when I released her. She took my hand and I felt myself being pulled as she ran in the direction of a corridor that led to the main stairway. It startled me, but I adjusted my stride to keep up. As I looked down at her feet, I realized she was running at the speed of sound. Her footsteps were not consistent, but were filled with energetic skipping, trotting, and galloping, especially as we descended the spiral staircase. I caught a hint of her humming a joyful melody I had never heard before. As I listened, her silvery voice trilled and resounded in bliss as she seemed unaware that she was doing anything magical or out of the ordinary. She didn’t even seem to realize how fast we were going.

We halted near the dining table which had been covered with a golden and cerulean blue tablecloth as opposed to the usual white one with lace patterns. The new cloth was mostly weaved with shining gold threads, but had floral patterns of blue roses and leaves embroidered all along the edge and in the center. The table had also been set with gold plates and a golden chalice next to a silver fork at the head of the table where I usually sat. I did not remember providing these objects, but I wondered if Selena had thought to ask Father about provisions for my “birthday.”

“Prince Swarovsky said that your favorite color is golden yellow,” the princess explained. “That’s why I changed the tablecloth, but I wanted it to have blue in it like your eyes.”

“You changed the tablecloth?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Oh no!” she shook her head frantically and laughed. Her voice had a nervous edge to it. “Not like that. The original tablecloth you gave us is still in the cabinet. This is another one. I mean, I put a new tablecloth on the table.”

It was interesting that she knew exactly what I meant by the phrase, “changed the tablecloth.” She also seemed to pick up on the fact that I felt uneasy about power being used to change things that are perfect the way they are into other things. The voice of Father in my heart, however, reassured me that she was telling the truth.

“You can…” she continued and gestured towards a chair before stopping in midsentence. I got the impression she had just realized it was too authoritative to suggest that I sit down, though she didn’t seem to understand why or who I really was. “I need to go and get your present,” her voice trembled, but I wasn’t sure why she felt so nervous. “I will be right back.”

“Thank you,” I smiled at her, hoping it was reassuring.

She took flight, dashing up the stairway in midair. A rainbow trail hovered after she departed, indicating that she had achieved the ability to fly at the speed of light. I silently wondered to Father how many abilities he gave her. I thought I heard him laugh before making a comment about how much fun it will be for me to rediscover the things we planned together as if I had never known them.

Lucifer walked into the dining area from the throne room. To my pleasant surprise, he was wearing a shirt in the palace, though it seemed like a sudden change of heart. Usually, this meant he wanted something, but even so, I thought it wise to provide positive feedback. I didn’t recognize the shirt as part of the wardrobe I gave to him. It was much flashier than what I usually provided him, with bright white satin and embroidery designed to look like red flames. In any case, it was a nice change to see him trying to have some form of royal etiquette.

“Good morning,” I said. “You look nice today.” I hated how awkward that comment felt, but I made sure it did not sound forced.

He appeared taken aback and glared at me. “You’re downstairs early.”

“Yes,” I answered. “Selena called me downstairs because she wanted to give me a birthday celebration.”

The floating rainbow trail of light reappeared and Selena was standing in front of me with a small white box wrapped in a red ribbon. Her cheeks blushed from cherry pink hues to colors that reminded me of red apples. “Happy birthday, Archangel. I really hope you like it.”

“You,” Lucifer’s voice rang out sharp and raucous. He pointed a finger at Selena. “You little snake. You made me wear this shirt because you wanted to give him a birthday.”

“What?” I asked as an unsettling feeling washed over my stomach. Of all the siblings I watched over in heaven, these two had very strange dynamics between each other.

“She told me this was a king shirt!” Lucifer complained. “She kept talking about how the fabric is nice and shiny and extra luxurious and she went on and on about how kings have stuff like this.” He rolled his eyes. “But she only said that so you,” he pointed at me as his voice turned vehement, “could have everything you wanted on your so-called birthday.”

“It is a king shirt!” Selena defended. “My exact words were ‘a shirt fit for a king.’ And kings do wear things like that. It’s a pretty shirt with silver buttons and it’s made of very fine satin. It even has embroidery that looks like your favorite element, fire. It’s pretty! Why-”

“I AM A MAN, SELENA!” Lucifer declared with numerous tones echoing down the to the next chamber. “I HAVE NO INTEREST IN WEARING A PRETTY SHIRT!”

I honestly hoped that this discussion would be funny sooner, rather than later, to look back on in the past. Nevertheless, in the moment, I was growing tired of their constant arguing. To be fair, Selena seemed to believe that everyone, male and female, equally loved being beautiful and having pretty things. Lucifer, who seemed to love the shirt before it was described in a way that he found undesirable, wasn’t even meeting her halfway.

“Where did this stupid shirt even come from anyway?!” Lucifer growled.

“I…” Selena began. “I made it.” I turned my head to look at her suddenly as she continued. “To be honest, I can’t sew or knit or make anything like that. I was just imagining what I wanted it to look like, the perfect shirt that I thought you would wear- at least for Archangel Michael’s birthday, and it just appeared. I didn’t know that would happen until it did, though. I was just daydreaming.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “Well, the jokes on you now, because I hate this shirt,” he scoffed as he pulled the shirt off over his head. He then proceeded to carefully fold it as if he didn’t want to crush or ruin the fabric. Then, he carried the shirt in both hands, holding it in front of his torso as he marched out toward the direction of the throne room.

Selena looked at me. “I’m sorry, Archangel.” She shuffled from side to side. “I wanted to make your new birthday special and knew it was important to you that a prince should wear a shirt.”

“You don’t have to be sorry about that, Selena,” I responded. “But, nobody likes to be tricked into doing things, even good things. In the future, it might be a better idea to go about doing things a different way.”

“I know,” Selena winced as she looked away from my eyes. “I didn’t lie to him, though. I told the truth, but I did it in a way that gave the wrong impression so that he would wear it. It is the kind of fancy thing that kings would wear. The only thing I didn’t do was tell him that I only gave him that because I wanted him to dress appropriately for royalty on your birthday.” She stared down at her feet.

“I know you are not a liar, Selena,” I told her as I lifted her face to look at me. “I did not say what I said for his sake, but for yours. Lucifer does not like to be tricked, or humiliated, or outdone, even if you never wronged him or lied to him. Your life will be a lot easier living here with your brother if you don’t do things that would make him extremely angry with you. If you know something is the right thing to do, you should do it no matter what he feels or thinks. I am not saying to compromise like that, but there are times when we don’t need to make people angry, even if they have no right to feel that way.”

Selena blinked. Her brow furrowed with concern as her eyes became teary. “I thought he should wear it and I truly meant well."

“Yes, Selena,” I pulled her into a hug. “But he keeps choosing not to do what I said. It is not your responsibility to trick your older brother into obedience, even if you do it by giving a gift. I appreciate that you were concerned about how I felt and what I wanted.” I pulled her out of the hug to look at her face. “But it’s his responsibility, not yours, to make sure he focuses on how he should act and behave as a prince. I’m just saying this to protect you.”

She blinked and tilted her head as her facial expression turned from sad to confused. Within my heart, I heard Father whisper that she was trying to figure out if being protected in this case, meant emotionally, physically, or something else. I wondered if I should elaborate, but neither I nor Father thought it wise to tell her the kind of things brother had been getting into over the last thousand years.

I looked at the small white box in her hands as she stood still with a frozen expression. I figured she was lost in thought, but it was still unnerving to see an angel who was usually expressive and full of energy stand motionless for longer than a few moments.

“What a beautiful box,” I commented. “It looks like you wrapped it with a lot of care.”

She jumped, startled. “Oh, um…yes. I wanted to give you a present, but I didn’t know how to make it. It also appeared when I thought about it and wanted it to…exist.” She scratched her head in a frenzy and her voice trembled. “I’m not sure…But I made sure the ribbon and the box appeared separately, so I definitely got to tie the bow without it just appearing.” She laughed and I felt ashamed that she was so nervous around me.

“Selena,” I addressed her. “Angels can do things that humans do not do- at least not on their own. The reason why humans are forbidden to practice what is known as magic arts or sorcery is because they don’t have those powers within themselves. Human beings have to communicate with unclean spirits to be able to do things like that, which is dangerous. But you are an angel and power is given to you. Not only the power of your faith in God, but also the abilities that you were created with. There is nothing wrong with having them as long as you are not using them in ways that are unlawful.”

“Oh,” she remarked. I was sure she was disturbed by the fact that she was doing things that she was not aware she had a right to be able to do, but she still looked as if something else bothered her as well. “Is it bad for men to have things that are described as pretty?”

As strange as many people would find that question, Selena had always been one to ask questions that were, often by accident, odd but insightful. She accepted things that reflected ethics or compassion without question, but she was inquisitive about matters where people, even angels, just seemed to think something was normal for no other reason than that most people did it.

“Well,” I began after a long pause. “It isn’t bad exactly, but most men want to think of themselves as strong or brave and they don’t think that pretty things give that impression. Of course, women can be strong and brave also, but most of them can do that without being preoccupied about looking tough when it’s not needed for the situation.”

Selena laid down the present she was holding onto the dining table. “But the shirt that I gave him was a men’s shirt. It was pretty, in a way, but it wasn’t a women’s shirt. It had a men’s fit like…” Selena used arm movements to mime the shape of a long, straight torso. “And it was not…” she made a gesture that was intended to indicate a women’s hourglass figure.

“Please, Selena,” I interjected. “Do not worry about this. I think Lucifer really liked that shirt up until he was told how pretty it was.”

“But that doesn’t make sense!” she argued.

“I know,” I soothed. “It doesn’t matter what he thinks. You did something nice for me and tried to include a nice gesture toward him, even if it involved tricking him for my sake. Moving forward, you don’t need to keep trying to please people who are determined to create enmity no matter what.”

Her expression shifted from frustration to one that reflected hurt. “I know, Archangel,” she responded. “But I think I got you the wrong gift too.” She looked up at me with pleading eyes and I was about to reassure her that I love her more than anything she could ever give me. “Please let me explain,” she begged as I opened my mouth to speak. “Before, like about a few weeks ago, I went traveling to another world in this galaxy. I found a planet that was not far from here. I think it was called Venus. It made me think of you because the people there seemed very loving and kind. They have a custom where, when you have a friend that you want to be your best friend forever and ever, you give them a bracelet that matches one that you have. They’re even called Friendship Bracelets and they have charms that demonstrate things that the friends have in common.”

I was confused about her train of thought and how going to another planet had to do with anything. “That is a nice custom they have on Venus,” I answered. “I know it well and I’ve been there too.” I paused. “I probably should have been more direct about things like this, but please remember, in the future, that you’re too young to leave the palace grounds unattended. Okay?”

Selena flinched. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.” She shook her head. “I thought it was safe.”

“You’re not in trouble,” I remarked. “It’s just a precaution for…Selena, what does Venus have to do with my birthday?”

She picked up the gift she had placed on the table and held it out to me. “I don’t even know if it’s something you’ll like, but I could try to get you something else if...It’s probably not something you would like. I don’t know-”

I couldn’t help but wonder why she was being like this. One minute, she seemed to adore me and the next minute, she’s terrified of me as if I would punish her for giving me the “wrong” present. I needed to help her, but I was confused and offended that she was relating to me like I was a tyrant. She had been close to me her whole life. “Selena,” I kept my voice steady and blinked back tears. “May I open it?”