Ya Na's dull eyes met Norch's dark ones, and he lifted a feeble hand towards Norch, the movement halted by a well polished-manacle.

"Now, now," Poul said, patting the Bahss's hand. "Don't you worry about a thing Ya Na. I am sure this young man will be a delightful addition to our team."

The Bahss made a gurgling sound from the back of his throat.

Poul smiled at Norch. "They're for his own protection, dear. He gets overworked. Running the Largest Mining Operation in the world, plus all these little side ventures, well, it takes a toll."

She patted his hand again before releasing it. "That is why he has me, of course. I take care of all those little details for him so he doesn't have to worry about a thing."

Norch stared at the still gurgling Bahss, who, once again, was reaching towards Norch.

"He's, uh, very lucky to have to you," Norch said.

"Of course he is, dear," Poul said. "I must warn you though, nothing gets to Ya Na without going through me first, you understand?"

"Perfectly," Norch said. 

He doubted anything that got through would have much effect on the old Bahss. Even if he had the right faculties, what could he do?

"Now, dear," Poul said, " I really must be going. So many meetings. I tell you, if I had known just how busy I would always be, I might have re-thought this position!"

She laughed to herself, then guided Norch back through the door towards the room with the large overlooking windows.

"Oh, excellent. Kassia is here." She indicated a small aig who had entered the room in their absence. Shorter than most of her kind, Kassia barely came up to Norch's shoulder.

 "I will leave you in Kassia's care," Poul continued. "She'll take you down for dinner and show you to your rooms. Tomorrow your work begins in earnest."

Norch hesitated, then cleared his throat. gNar had warned him against this.

"Could I--, that is, do you think I could see my friends?" he asked.

"Fool," gNar growled in his ear.

Poul stared at him, eyes hardening, before replying.

"No, dear," she said firmly, "I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Um, forgive me, m'am," Kassia said. "The First Matron has actually requested his presence when time allows. She would have asked you herself, but she didn't want to bother you."

Poul frowned and tapped her lip thoughtfully.

"Very well," she said after a moment. "I suppose one visit is allowable. After all, Norch here is going to work so hard tomorrow, I'm sure he'll more than make up for it. Oh, but don't forget to take Afie with you."

Poul reached for Norch's hand and held it in her firm, sturdy ones. "You understand, of course. It's not that we don't trust you, it's that we just need to be sure. Oh, but I know. I just know you will live up to Poul Stitch Standards and shine like a star, won't you?"

"I'll, uh, try." Norch replied uncertainly

Poul leveled a firm look at him. "Oh, here we don't try, dear. We do."

She patted his hand and let go. "On your way then."

Norch shot a quick glance in Fleck's direction before following his guide down the hatch. He hoped gNar had had enough time.

"This way," Kassia said, leading him back down the trail.

The sun had dipped below the horizon, but there was still light enough that only a handful of lamps and torches were lit in the canyon below. Norch wondered if Afie could still shoot him in the dark.

The three of them walked in silence, until they reached the base of the cliff where the path veered off in several directions. Kassia took the left path and motioned Norch to follow.

"Come," she said, not slowing.

There were more aig on the path now, and many brushed past him without a glance. A few, however, nodded to him with a barely perceptible tilt of the head. One aig woman met his eye, and slowly, lifted her hand to press two fingers to her navel. Norch turned his head to frown after her, but Kassia slowed to walk beside him. 

"Don't do that," she murmured in his ear.

Norch glanced at her. "Do what?"

"Draw attention," she said, barely moving her lips. "gNar should have explained, the useless flea."

A snort sounded in his ear, followed by an unflattering observation of the young aig. Kassia, luckily, heard not a word of it.

She frowned to herself. "Fools should know better. Publicly displaying--nevermind. Just keep up, we're almost there."

Norch opened his mouth to ask where, but Kassia shot him a look that shut it again.

They stopped in front of curtained off doorway and Kassia raised her hand to ring the small bell on the wall beside it. There was a noise from inside, the sound of slippered feet on wood floors, and then the curtain flipped back to reveal a tall, hard-eyed aig woman.

"Yes?" she said curtly.

"The First Matron sent for us," Kassia replied, keeping her eyes on the floor beneath her. 

The curtain flipped shut again and the sound of footsteps retreated. After a moment, it flipped open again. The woman on the other side of the curtain looked like iron made flesh, her skin pulled so tight over bones Norch thought it might tear. Her lips, a hard thin line, barely moved when she spoke.

"Inside," she said curtly.

The three of them shuffled in, past the curtain. The woman, whom Norch assumed was the First Matron, gave Afie's crossbow a disapproving stare, but said nothing. Beyond the curtain lay an empty school room, each orderly desk aligned next to its partner. All but one desk, which sat in the back, alone, askew and covered in glitter.

The First Matron followed Norch's gaze, her lips thinning further.

"Yes," she said, "we will speak of that child."

Norch didn't care for her tone.

"Nae Xali, you mean?" Norch asked. "She's here?"

"Yes," the First replied. It was a sound like water hitting hot rocks.

"Here," she said, waving a bony hand around the room, "is where we teach our young the learnings of the world. Arithmetic, spelling, logic."

She paused and ran a finger over one book, stacked neatly on the foremost desk.

"A certain decorum is expected of our pupils," she continued.

Norch thought he knew where this was going.

The First Matron raised her eyes again to the little, shambolic desk in the back, her lip curling up in distaste. She turned to face him, and the intensity of her gaze was enough to make Norch take an involuntary step back.

"You have agreed to be here," she said firmly. "You will make that--creature understand the importance of obedience. I will take you to her, you will speak to her."

Norch only nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak. If he said the wrong thing, he feared he would lose the chance to see Nae Xali.

The Matron turned on her heal and lead the way further into the school.

"Come."

***

Amid a bustling dining hall, Nae Xali sat at a small table by herself. Usually so animated, Norch found her stillness unnerving. He looked closer.

"Why are her wings bound?" he demanded.

"They get in the way," the matron replied. "The other children find them distracting."

Norch bit back a heated comment. Instead, he said, "How is she supposed to focus with her face tied up like that?"

The matron frowned. "The other children do just fine without wings."

"The other children don't have  wings!" Norch exclaimed.

"Is that not what I said?"

Norch ground his teeth.

"We are doing her a favour," the Matron continued. "With those things on her face, she could never truly be like her peers. We might set her up with a proper amputation in the future, but for now, this will do."

She eyed Norch flatly. "I will go get the girl. You will make her listen or we will expel her to the mines where her nature will bother only the unwashed filth that inhabit it. Understood?"

Without waiting for a response, she turned and went to fetch Nae Xali.

***

When Nae Xali approached Norch, she did so timidly.

"Norch," she said, twisting her hands together.

Norch felt a small pain in his heart as he knelt down beside the tiny figure. The binding seemed worse up close.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

The little fairstash shrugged.

"They say my wings are ugly," she said.

She fixed sad little eyes to his. "Are they?"

"Not at all," Norch replied. "They are the most beautiful wings I've ever seen."

With a sob, Nae Xali flung herself into his arms and cried the cry of a broken hearted child. Norch couldn't think of anything to say, so he just held her. When she had cried herself out, she pulled back and wiped at her dripping nose. Norch dug a piece of linen out of his pocket and held it to her nose.

"Blow," he commanded.

She blew.

"Norch," she said again.

"Yes," he replied.

She looked at him with serious eyes."If I'm a terrible learner will you still like me."

"Why would you be a terrible learner?"

She shrugged and picked at one nail. "Because I don't listen, and I don't sit still and maybe because I like to talk too much."

Norch laughed. "That's not new. You've never listened and you've never been still, but you know what? I like you anyways. No, that's not right.  I like you because of those things."

"Plus, no one can talk more than the Jemily," he added.

Nae Xali frowned. "You like me because I never listen and don't sit still."

"Of course," Norch said. "I mean, sometimes it makes me angry, because I want you to do things my way, but I know when you're not listening it's because your own voice is so strong, and when you can't sit still, it's because your mind is so busy you have to move to keep up."

He leaned in close to her. "Do you want to know a secret?"

She nodded.

"I never listened either," Norch confided in a half-whisper, "and my brother, Wayje, he could never sit still. My mother used to tell him he just had too much life in him. Life, she said, was made for moving. Sitting was for the dead."

"She sounds nice," Nae Xali said.

"She was." Norch replied. "Now. Tell me. Does your mother love you?"

Nae Xali smiled. "Yes. Very Much. And my father too."

She paused, then added, "and my brother, I guess. He loves me too even if he is a bit annoying sometimes."

"That's the nature of brothers," Norch said with a sad smile. Then he looked her firmly in the eye. Dark brown meeting bright blue. "So, with all these people who love you, are you really going to let a few stupid ones make you sad?"

Nae Xali shook her head, but her fingers rose to the string that bound her wings.

"Don't you worry about that," Norch said. "I have a plan, but I'm going to need your help."

As Norch told her his plan, Nae Xali's quick and clever mind began to spin. Her eyes sparkled with delight, and she smiled her widest smile yet.

A/N : This chapter is for my niece, Alexina, whom I love exactly as she is, and for my Sister and Brother-in-law who have raised her to be a wonderful, smart, and vibrant little girl. Thank you for letting me borrow a part of your life.

The dialogue in this chapter, while not word for word, is borrowed from a culmination of my sisters own dialogues with her daughter (the real world Nae Xali), who is autistic and trying to live in a non-autistic world.

To all autistic children (and non-children),

May the world one day see your greatness without imposing its own limitations.

❤