(( I am so so sorry for abandoning this - I had a lot of stress in real life and no energy for writing. I completely understand if you don't want to continue anymore after such a long break, but I'd love to see where this story takes Gustavo, Ama and Nox. Again, I am terribly sorry it took me so long to say anything, I should at the very least have let you know what was going on with me! ))

Sealing her letter, Ama gave Gustavo a questioning look, but he didn't say what he thought about her words. That obviously meant there was nothing he terribly objected to, so she looked around her room for a place to put the envelope. Not on the night stand, it would be so prominent there that Liza, who'd surely be coming in after she left to clean up any mess left by the packing and departure, would immediately spot it. That was too soon.
Her glance fell on her dressing table, which was covered in a thousand little things as always, and a smile spread across her face. Yes. They'd find it for sure, since Mia would probably use her absence to declutter a little, but not today. She slipped it between a perfume bottle and a large brush and whirled around to follow Gustavo, who had already left.

They had agreed to meet at Nox' cage while the servants were busy loading their carriage. Gustavo would be getting the ladder, Ama's responsibility was the key. She hurried towards the servants quarters, her heart beating so fast that she worried it might escape her chest. This was it - today it would be decided. If they succeeded, Nox would be free and there was hope for Sondrier Forest. But if they failed... She pushed the thought away. They could not fail.
Nox' caretaker was asleep in his bed, just as Gustavo had promised, mumbling softly about the greatness of Bacchus, causing her to chuckle under her breath. She wondered what exactly had been in the note Gustavo sent with the wine - luckily, the caretaker was obviously not familiar enough with Mozart to see where he must have drawn his inspiration and to jump to the right conclusions.
He had dropped his keyring right on his night stand, so she held her breath and snuck closer, carefully taking up the keys with as little noise as possible. The man grunted and she thought her heart might stop, but he just rolled over to the other site and started snoring loudly. Perfect!

When she arrived in the grand hall, Gustavo had already positioned the ladder and was poised to climb up. She handed him the key ring with a smile as she said "Vivat Bacchus!". With a little laugh, Gustavo took the keys and answered: "No worries, I know the man a little. I was sure he had never seen the inside of an opera house."

Ama stood back and watched the doors as Gustavo made his way up the ladder and fumbled with the keys to open the ornate padlock on the cage.

Nox watched Gustavo climb the ladder with both excitement and trepidation and grabbed the man's arm when he started to wobble as he reached just below the cage. He waited for the man to stabilize himself before letting go and watched him insert the key into the ornate lock. He watched it turn as if the world was moving in slow motion and held his breath until heard a click and saw the lock pop open. Gustavo pulled the cage door open before offering a hand to the Raven Boy.

Nox more than gladly held onto the musician's hand before wobbling onto the ladder. He wrapped his fist tight around the rungs as he descended slowly, unused to moving around so much. And as he just about reached the floor, Gustavo closed and locked the cage and started his own descent.

On the last rung, right before reaching the marble floor, Nox paused. Then he lifted his head to look at Amaris before a grin slowly spread on his face. He let go of the ladder and ran towards her, almost tripping as he did. And when he reached her, it dawned on him that she wasn't as tall as he thought she was. He was standing a whole head above her and sent her a teasing look. "Amaris-"

"We've no time for reunions, sadly." Gustavo cut in as he carried the ladder to the side. "Nox, into the case. It will be a little cramped, but I'm sure you'll fit." He instructed as he pulled the boy towards the dark oak case and sent Amaryllis an apologetic look. He turned to Nox who was now silently sitting inside the case and almost pulled him out when he saw the puppy-eyed look on the boy's face but he steeled his heart and started to shut it close. "I've created some holes in the case for you to breathe. It will be dark but I assure you that you will be out of there once we're far enough from the mansion."

He turned to face his student and sent a reassuring smile. "Ama? I believe the carriage is waiting for us."

(( I hope this is alright o.o ))

(( Of course it is! :) ))

When she heard the faint click of the padlock opening, Ama couldn't resist turning around to watch Nox emerge from his cage. She held her breath while he slowly descended the ladder, obviously weakened from the time spent in such close confinement without the ability to really stretch and move his limbs.

As he grinned an ran towards her, all the worries about his reaction to her once he was free that had still lingered at the back of her head fell away. She smiled widely and stepped towards him, suddenly unsure what to do. One part of her wanted to spread her arms wide and embrace him, but another part still feared rejection. There was also a third part that made her blush about even considering such intimate contact with a boy at all.
When he got closer, she noticed the error of this thought - boy was not really an adequate description after all. Standing up straight for the first time, the young man was a lot taller than her and there was an amused twinkle in his eyes as he looked down on her and said her name.
Before she could say anything, Gustavo interrupted them and shoed Nox into the case.
In her head, Ama knew that he was right, they didn't have time, but her heart was sad to be robbed of this moment of joy.
She told herself that it was worth it, that they would have all the time in the world once they had escaped for good and it was not worth risking their escape for a few minutes of happiness, but it still stung to see the lid of the case shut.
She nodded to Gustavo and started towards the door as he picked up the case, surprised to find it much lighter than he had expected after seeing the tall boy climb into it.

They walked in silence until they reached the carriage, where Mia and some other servants awaited them.
"Lady Ama, I hope you'll have a wonderful time! I'm sure the concert will be a great experience." Mia gave her a wide smile and helped her settle into her seat. "Thank you, Mia! I'm sure it will be great!" She was not really talking about the concert, but the feeling was genuine - she felt giddy with excitement about the adventure she was embarking on.
Ama felt a certain urge to properly say goodbye to her friend, unsure when she might see Mia again, but she knew she couldn't risk making her suspicious. So she restrained herself and only said: "Goodbye! Make sure you also use my absence to spend some time on yourself instead of keeping yourself busy all the time!" Mia laughed and nodded before she shut the carriage door and waved.

Gustavo had climbed in from the other side, bringing the case with him into the passenger compartment. He smiled at Ama as the carriage slowly started to move. A grin spread on her face as they passed the outer gate of the estate. This was it - they had done it, they had escaped. Now all that was left was getting rid of the driver and reaching the forest before anyone caught onto what had really happened.

(( I hope this is alright as well. That Gustavo hired a driver but didn't tell him about Nox in case the driver would be tempted enough to tell the Wittinghams about the stolen boy for the ransom ... This driver shall proceed to disappear from the story as he is just an extra. ))

An hour or two into their journey, the group came to a rest stop when Gustavo made his way to the front of the carriage beside the driver. He placed a packet between them while both looked forward. "As we agreed upon."

The man nodded slightly and stashed the packet into his pocket before looking around to make sure that no one else was following them or listening in to them. He grinned at Gustavo and saluted. "Thanks for hirin' me sir. Now I can go back to my ma and my sister. I'll make sure they won't catch me." He then left with a final wave and disappeared into the crossroads.


It was dark and bumpy. It was cramped and uncomfortable and there was barely enough space for his head and his neck but Nox knew that all this was worth what they were about to do. He was going to see his brothers again with Amaris and Stavo and they would all live peacefully with Ygddra. And just as he was trying to stretch his back, he heard a knock on the case which made him pause. Then a crack of light which eventually widened to show Gustavo's relieved face. "Let's get you out of there, boy. I'm sure it wasn't a smooth ride."

Nox climbed out of the case and out of the carriage and stretched from head to toe. And when he noticed that they were stopped in a clearing in the forest, a smile slowly stretched on his lips. "I'm ... outside." He chuckled with eyes full of wonder. "I'm outside!" He spotted Amaris a few meters away and ran towards her. He held her in his arms and swung her around in a circle, laughing with mirth. "We're outside, Amaris! We're free!" He smiled at her with twinkling eyes while Gustavo watched them from where he sat by the carriage with a slight upward curve of his lips.

(( Sure, that is a good solution :) I can very well imagine that Gustavo came up with some creative story to tell the driver for why he wanted him to leave them :) ))

The journey was going smoothly, but it felt like Ama was staring at the closed bass case for ages before they finally came to a halt and Gustavo paid the driver to leave them alone. She wondered for a moment what the driver might think they were up to, since they had agreed that it would be way too dangerous to let him know about Nox. That had the unpleasant effect that they could not risk letting the raven boy out inside the passenger compartment before loosing the driver, as he might see him and head back to the manor in the hope of a greater reward than what they'd paid him already.

Gustavo steered the carriage from the crossroads where the driver had left them into the forest and off the road onto a small but sunny clearing. Ama jumped out of the carriage as soon as they halted again, opening the door for Gustavo to get the case out before stepping out of the way and letting him open it.

Nox seemed disoriented at first, which was expectable after such a long ride in the dark, but as soon as he saw her he ran towards her and swept her up, celebrating his freedom and surprising her a little with his forwardness. She blushed a little, but his laugh was contagious and she answered with a laugh of her own. "Yes, we are! Feels almost surreal to finally be outside in the sun together!"
When he sat her back down on the ground, she took a deep breath, feeling like it was the first time she really breathed freely since coming up with their plan. Then she smiled and sang the beginning of her song again, and this time it was not a promise, this time it was a description: Gustavo was still watching them, and he was fascinated to hear how different the song sounded out here. He wondered if it was just his imagination, the circumstances making it seem different to him, or if it was the much better mood of his student changing her interpretation. He hadn't noticed the song sounding sad when she performed it inside the manor, but somehow there was so much more joy to it now. Maybe it was not a song to be sung next to a cage, maybe it just belonged under the open sky.

Nox smiled at her as he listened to her sing and closed his eyes halfway through as he turned his head towards the sky and spread his arms, feeling the breeze on his skin, hair, and feathers. And when the song ended a birdsong began. He looked towards the sound and saw the horned bluebird that greeted him a good morning every day. It flew circles around the three before landing on Nox's head and nestled itself in his hair. Nox looked to Amaryllis with a grin, knowing what the bluebird wanted. "She wants to come with to Ygddra."

"I think it would be best if we continue on now so we can reach the next town by day break. And once we're rested, we depart for Sondrier Forest in the morning." Gustavo spoke up as he pulled some clothes from a bag and called for Nox to come near. "And we can't have you travelling around half naked. Put these on and I'll sift through these bags for shoes. I hope those will fit." He was about to turn towards the bags in the back of the carriage when a thought struck him and he nudged Nox into the carriage. "Change your clothes inside. We can't have Ama seeing you." The musician then turned towards his student and signaled her to turn around to preserve her innocent eyes.

Nox later exited the carriage with a misbuttoned shirt and suspenders circled around his waist holding a jacket in his arms and a confused expression on his face. Gustavo sighed and chuckled and he blamed himself for forgetting that the boy wouldn't know how to wear the clothes he just gave him and helped him fix the buttons and taught him how to properly wear suspenders. He later sat the boy down to help him wear socks and shoes which he was sure was uncomfortable for him. "I know it feels strange, but you'll have to wear these at least until we reach the forest." He helped Nox shrug the jacket on and placed a paperboy cap on his head, hiding the feathers there.

Gustavo stood beside Amaryllis with his fingers around his chin. "What do you think? The marks on his face ... we could just point the hat downwards and he'll look just like any other sixteen year old."

(( Sorry for taking so long, I was frantically posting for spring points yesterday whenever I had time to go to KofK and I didn't want to rush my post here ))

When a bird took up singing after her, Ama smiled. She wondered what the bird might be singing about - it surely was a happy song as well, from what it sounded like to her. The bird landed on Nox and as he grinned, the perfection of the picture in front of her struck Ama. The little blue bird looked incredibly cute nested between tousled strands of dark hair and feathers and the grin made it clear that Nox was perfectly fine with his guest. This is what he ought to look like, Ama thought. Happy, birds and nature around, there was barely a trace of the frightened boy she had encountered in the cage on that first day left. She suddenly wished she had the skills to paint this.
She answered Nox' declaration of the bird's wishes with a nod. "Hello little birdie! I'd be happy to take you along on our journey."

Gustavo interrupted them to get Nox dressed up. Ama's face lit up like a ripe cherry when she realized that her teacher had prevented Nox from changing right in front of her at the last second, and she hastily followed his instruction to turn away.

When Gustavo presented the disguised raven boy, she was impressed. On a cursory glance, nobody would notice that he was not an ordinary young man - only if one looked at his face with some attention one might notice his distinct markings. She smiled and nodded. "Yes, I think that will work. It's probably also a good idea if you look down when we come across people, Nox, that'll help as well. Just pretend you're shy about strangers."
She turned to Gustavo. "Did you plan to take accommodations in the town? Then we need some role for Nox to play." A thought struck her. "Nox, do you think you'd manage to drive the carriage?" They were short a driver anyway, and his disguise was fitting for this function. And they still had a few miles for Gustavo to teach him the basics before they were likely to encounter any people.

(( It's completely fine ^_^ ))

Nox simply looked to Gustavo when Amaryllis asked if he could drive the carriage. He knew nothing of the wooden contraption but he was willing to try this 'driving' if it meant that he would be able to help them. Gustavo simply gave him a smile before leading him to the driver's seat and sat him down to run him through the basics. "I think it would be better for me to sit beside him, Ama. Just in case events call for us to gallop away."

Nox made a few test runs around the clearing, showing himself to be a natural at steering the horses. "We understand each other." He explained as he made a sharp yet graceful turn around a stump with the carriage following after like a paper boat on a lazy river.

Gustavo gave a nod of approval before taking out his pocket watch to check the time. "We have to start moving soon if we want to reach the next town before daybreak." He spoke as he moved to open the carriage door for Amaryllis before handing her a small dagger, easy to conceal between the fabrics of her dress. "Just in case things turn sour. I don't want you using it for anything else." He whispered to her ear.

Ama watched in amazement as Nox steered the carriage around the clearing as if he'd been a professional carriage driver for years. "Oh my, this is perfect!" She smiled, reassured that they'd not have any trouble passing him off as their driver.

When Gustavo opened the door for her, he pressed something cold and hard into her hands. She looked down and swallowed hard as she saw the blade, but nodded to what he said. She clutched the cold metal in her right hand, careful not to cut herself or her skirts with it as Gustavo helped her into the carriage.
She settled into her seat and held it across her lap, ready to hide it in the folds of her dress and trying her hardest not to think about what situations might arise in which she'd need it.

Gustavo climbed onto the coach box and sat down next to Nox, smiling at him. "Maybe I wouldn't actually need to sit with you after all. Might be you're better at this than I am." He grinned. "Let's go then, Ama is settled into the passenger compartment and I loaded everything I unpacked searching for your clothes as well."

The road was deserted as they drove through a vast area of fields and pastures, but Gustavo took some time to explain to Nox how he should behave on the road if they encountered pedestrians or other vehicles. Once they reached town, that would happen and it would be too late to explain then. Once he was finished with this, they sat together in silence for a moment, before Gustavo spoke up again. "Okay, so here's our story, in case anyone asks where we're headed or what we're doing. Ama and I are planning to visit someone in Lestington, you are a young man who recently obtained the position of carriage driver in our household and this is your first longer trip, which will explain your unfamiliarity with the town as well as you being a bit intimidated and shy around the townspeople. But hopefully nobody will inquire about any of this. The best will be if you just avoid talking to anyone unless directly asked a question, the more we tell the easier it is to get some contradictions and raise suspicion." He nodded to himself. Lestington was a slightly larger town not very far away, it would not seem odd for people visiting there to come through this town. It was in a good direction as well, not the same as Sondrier Forest, but similar enough that their departure towards the forest would not seem odd to anyone. He looked to Nox again. "Any questions? I think you've been driving very well, so maybe it's best if you halt for a moment and let me get into the passenger compartment with Ama. Then I can go over the story with her as well and we will also be less conspicuous than if I was sitting with you." He paused and then realized that Nox would probably have no idea why that should be the case, so he added: "I wouldn't usually sit with the driver."

"Lestington." Nox repeated continuously in his head before nodding to Gustavo. "Just tell me where to go." He said as he stopped the carriage and watched the man enter the carriage and when he saw through the small window that Gustavo had taken a seat, he nudged the horses to move forward.

Driving the carriage was fairly easy to him and it was pretty relaxing. Nothing could beat running with the horses in the forest clearings, though. But doing the opposite of the adrenaline-filled races was quite pleasing for him as well. He was sitting down, watching the world uncover itself right in front of his eyes. His eyes would sometimes roam the area, letting the horses lead the way, as he looked at every detail of the things they drove by. He would notice the nests up in the trees and the rustling of bushes as small animals ran away from the road. He would look up to the sky to watch the little horned blue bird fly above them, and he would look below when they drove over a bridge.

He watched the day pass and loved how the clouds rolled over the sky, spreading from their condensed forms and scattering until they were nothing. And he especially loved the way the last bits of sunlight light up the sky like a flaming curtain and was amazed at how similar it was to when he saw it back at home. Then he started to wonder if the sky was the same and hoped that Gustavo would let him out to see the stars when they entered the town.

Right before the dawn fell into night, they arrived in the town. The lamplighters were doing their rounds, making sure that the town was illuminated even at night and paid no attention to the carriage driving past. Nox steered the horses towards an inn that Gustavo pointed out and tied them to the post after sending them an apologetic look. He moved to open the door like a coachman would and offered his hand to Amaryllis with a smile on his face.