In the morning, I found Fen stoking a campfire. He gave me a tight smile when he saw me. "I trust you slept well?"

"It's nice not to wake up groggy for a change." I gave him a teasing smile that faltered when he didn't return it. "Is something wrong?"

A guilty look flashed across his face, before he shook his head. "Everything's fine."

I sat on the nearby wood pile. "Then why doesn't it feel fine?"

His eyes darted nervously around, until they landed on Minocken stalking past. (Did that guy ever walk normally?) The bewhiskered man glanced in our direction, and then I got it.

"What did Minocken say to you?" I asked Fen.

He couldn't meet my eyes, and instead added a piece of wood to the fire.

"Fen."

"I—" He cleared his throat. "I can't—I mean, I'm not supposed to—" He frowned at his verbal fumbling.

I touched his arm. "Fen, it's okay. You can talk to me."

"That's the thing, I can't."

"I don't understand."

He gazed at me then, and the guarded look in his eyes seemed to melt a little.

"I'm sorry. I like you. A lot," he added in a whisper.

My stomach flipped giddily.

"But I'm not supposed to be friendly with you anymore." He looked away.

"What?" That giddy feeling evaporated. "Why not?"

"I have to be loyal to my family," he said as he stood. "I'm sorry." His brown eyes landed briefly on me, and I could see traces of regret before he turned away.

A commotion on the other side of Camp saved me from having to figure out what I was supposed to do next.

"Niralessa's back!" Resh exclaimed, as he zipped past me on all fours.

Finally. Maybe now I could get some answers.

I waited outside the clump of onlookers as they crowded around Niralessa and Corin, who each held one hand of a child who seemed to have a pair of twitching antennae sprouting from the brown hair on her head. She couldn't have been more than eight years old.

The Camp inhabitants practically mobbed the girl in their efforts to welcome her, and I found myself strangely envious of a little girl, who probably got treated like an outcast on a regular basis. When I'd arrived, all I got were furtive whispers and dirty looks.

I waited some more.

I had no idea these people were such a chatty bunch. Just not with me, I guess.

Niralessa stood by, answering questions, her shoulders occasionally drooping with weariness before she made a conscious effort to straighten them again. Her people didn't seem to notice, but Corin did. He slipped away and quickly returned with a bowl of water. She shook her head. He pressed the bowl into her hands and whispered something into her ear, which made her smile. She kissed him tenderly and drank the water.

It was such a small exchange, but it spoke volumes. Love, trust, companionship, it was all there.

The crowd finally dissipated enough for Niralessa to usher the girl forward. A yammering Kam practically latched onto the girl, obviously excited about the prospect of not being the only one with pointy things growing out of his head.

I took that opportunity to approach. "Niralessa, can I talk to you?"

She turned her tired eyes to me. "I suppose it's overdue." For supposedly being my mother, she sure didn't seem all that eager to talk to me. "Let's take a walk after we get Kibi settled."

I opened my mouth to reply, but she turned away without waiting for my response.

Okay, now will we get some answers? (And some votes?)