“But babies stay,” Illium argued. “You said.” That’s what she’d told him when he’d asked to fly beyond the boundaries of the Refuge.
“Yes, mostly babies stay here.” She ran her hand over his hair, and he saw that she had a streak of green paint in her own hair. “Unless their parents need to travel and the location to which they’re traveling is a safe one for a child.”
Illium’s papa didn’t live at the Refuge. He wondered if he could go with his papa. Only he never would. He loved his papa, but if he went away, then his mama would be all alone. And Illium already knew that when his papa was at his court, he must be very busy. He was busy even when he came to visit Illium and his mama.
Seeing that the sparkling boy was standing alone while the woman who was probably his ma talked to another grown-up, Illium said, “I go play?”
“Be home before dark.”
As Illium began to walk toward the boy, his wings dragging, he heard Teacher say, “Don’t you worry about him wandering the Refuge on his own? He’s so small.”
“Oh, we all watch the little angels, Jessamy—you know you do it, too. And I know my tendencies.” His mother’s voice changed. “I would keep him tied to my apron strings, protect him from all harm, and in doing so, I would damage him beyond repair.” A deep breath. “So I have learned to let him go, allow him to stretch his horizons.”
Not really paying attention to the grown-up talk, Illium tried to pull up his wings as he walked over to the other boy, but it was hard. His wings were bigger than his body and they kept on scraping along the ground.
He wanted to fly, but he could only go two or three wingbeats before he got too tired and had to land. His papa had said he’d be able to fly farther and longer soon, but it was really, really, really, really, really hard to wait!
“Hello,” he said to the boy angel, who was the shiniest person Illium had ever seen. Even his hair sparkled. “I’m Illium!” He knew the boy would understand him—everyone was taught this language even if they spoke lots of others.
The sparkly boy didn’t smile, just looked at him with eyes that were all shattered but pretty. “I’m Aodhan.”
“Wanna play?”
The boy looked up at the woman with a long fall of hair as pale as the dawn sunlight Illium’s mama liked to paint, while Illium snuggled in a big and fuzzy blanket next to her, but she was still talking to that other grown-up. “I gotta wait.”
Illium tried to be pa-pa-pa—tent. He truly did. But grown-ups talked a lot. Deciding that maybe Aodhan’s ma just hadn’t seen Illium, he tugged on the bottom of her gown. When she looked down with a little jerk that ran through her body—see, she hadn’t seen Illium—he said, “Ah-dan go play?”
Green eyes bright like Aodhan’s. “Yes.” A smile that was quiet, but not mean. “It’ll do him good to make little angel friends after his time away.”
Not waiting for more, Illium held out his hand to his new friend. “We go play!”
The other boy took his hand, and they ran off, wings dragging on the grass. They only stopped after they were out of sight of the grown-ups, their chests huffing. Then they looked at interesting stones, and Aodhan found a spotted yellow bug that they watched for a while before they decided to go someplace else.
“Ah-dan,” Illium said, trying out the name that made his tongue twist up.
“Ee-lee-um.” Aodhan made a thinking face, then pointed at Illium’s wings. “Blue?”
Laughing, Illium nodded, thought about it, then said, “Adi?”
Aodhan smiled.
At some point, they found themselves near the gorge, a massive split in the stone of the Refuge. Sneaking to the edge on their bellies, they peered down. Angelic aeries dotted the insides at the top, but there was nothing lower down. Only a darkness that made things secret.
“Papa says river there.” Illium pointed.
Aodhan squinted. “I can’t see.”
“It’s too far.” Copying his friend’s expression, Illium peered down, too . . . and noticed there were no grown-ups in the vicinity. “Wanna fly there?” he whispered.
Aodhan looked at him with those eyes that weren’t like anyone else’s. “Not allowed.” Solemn words. “Mama said.”
Illium looked down again, his heart beating too fast. “Yeah.” But his wings twitched.
“Okay,” Aodhan said suddenly.
Grinning, Illium rose and stepped a bit away from his new friend. Otherwise, their wings might tangle up. “Ready?”