Seeing Nox' wide smile lifted her mood even more.
"I am wonderful today! Nobody was watching to keep me away from you, so it seems my worries were unfounded!"
She followed his gaze to the window. The curtains were closed, so she quickly went to open them. The warm sunlight shone on her face and she sighed in delight before returning to sit in front of Nox.
"That is nice of the bluebird. I wish I had heard it."
She smiled, but grew serious when she thought about singing.
"Nox, I have to tell you something. Tomorrow, there will be people coming to see you. My father wants to show you off." Her tone grew bitter at the end.
She hesitated a moment, wondering how to phrase what she needed to say.
"Maybe I will be there, too. Maybe you will hear me sing a song that sounds like it mocks you in your cage, but if you do, I want you to close your eyes and not think of the cage. Think of what I sing as a promise for the future."
She looked at him intently, hoping he would understand, hoping it would make him feel less terrible once the situation came.
"I will also have to pretend that I am okay with what is happening to you. It won't be easy for me, but I need to know that you won't believe that. Whatever I say to the other humans, it does not mean anything. Only what I say to you when we are alone is what I truly think."

Nox leaned towards the sunlight as it shone into his cage, creating a soft halo around his black tufts of hair, the light reflecting over the feathers creating an iridescent teal glow.

"She passes by every morning, it seems." he told her, "I think she knows that I am here."

When Amaris told him about the people gathering to see him in a cage, a multitude of emotions passed through his eyes until it landed on understanding. "The father is someone you must follow so that you will not be locked away. I understand. You have to pretend so much in front of other humans. It must hurt you. You must be exhausted."

He leaned further that his back touched the cage. His whole persona lay relaxed on the cage as if it was him who chose to be in it. The morning light fell over his skin somehow shining so bright that the black markings over his skin disappeared. He actually looked ... human.

"I will look forward to hearing you sing, Amaris, just as I have looked forward to seeing you every day."

(( Time skip? ))

The day of the gathering had come. The man had pulled him out of his cage, stumbling over unused legs. Everything happened so fast that if you were to ask Nox what happened, he wouldn't know what to say. One second he was sitting in his cage, and the next he was thrown into a tub of water, scrubbed and manhandled and then suddenly drowned in a sea of towels.

They had changed his pants and his unruly hair slightly combed. They left it wild enough that he would still look the part of a forest creature. And after adding the finishing touch of a black band around his neck with a shining blue crystal hanging from it, they threw him back into the cage. And there the Raven Boy sat, completely caught off guard, inside a newly cleaned and polished ornate golden cage.

Glad that she had been able to let Nox know what was about to happen, Amaryllis spent the rest of the day almost relaxed, rehearsing her song again with Gustavo.
She took dinner alone, both her parents were busy with preparations. It did not disturb her.

The next morning, Mia came in with breakfast on her tray. "Good morning Lady Ama! Today is the big day! Your mother wants you to look your very best, so she has given me enough instructions to fill the whole day with dressing you up, but I think we might manage to finish in time for your performance if we do our best!" She grinned and set the breakfast on Ama's little table. While she was eating, Mia rattled on. "She had a new dress made for you even! I can't wait to show it to you, it is gorgeous! I don't know what she does to the seamstress to make her work that fast."
She drew a bath for Ama and went to fetch the dress while she was washing herself.
"Look! Isn't it wonderful?"
Mia was right. It was wonderful, a dream of golden brocate and delicate cream-coloured lace. The skirt was wide and covered in ruffles and bows, the top a corset held mostly in gold with just a few ruffles of the cream lace around the decollete and a bow in the front.
"It is! Mother has outdone herself. Just make sure not to lace me too tightly, I still need my breath to sing."
Mia nodded and the two of them began dressing her up, freshly curling her hair, powdering her face and generally making sure she would looks flawless.
In the end, Mia handed her long gloves made from the cream lace and fixed a golden tiara into her elaborate hairdo.
"You look like a queen, my lady!" Mia gave a little mock curtsy and grinned. "And I think we finished in time. Hurry now, your father wants you to wait next to the grand parlor where the gathering will be."

Gustavo was waiting for her in the little side room. "Alright, Ama, remember what we practiced. The plan is the following: There will be a cage covered with cloth inside, you are to stand in front of it and sing the song. I will be accompanying you on the cembalo and once we are finished, we just bow once and mix into the crowd. Then your father will have the cloth drawn and the creature revealed. Understood?"
She nodded, her heart fluttering a little with a sudden onset of stage fright. She remembered what Nox had said. He was looking forward to hearing her sing. So she would give her best and sing for him instead of the people gathered to be her audience. She could do that.

The moment came, the door to her waiting room was openend and she tried not to look too much at the covered cage as she took her place.
And then she sang.

The man came into the room together with three other humans. They were all holding a thick black cloth. Nox wondered. Where they going to change the curtains? But they had thought otherwise.

The men draped the cloth over the cage, drowning Nox in a world of darkness. Then suddenly, the cage tipped. He moved to grab at one of the bars as the cage was lifted and tilted left and right, forwards and back. He knew what was happening now. They were taking him to the other humans.

He had tried to steady his erratic breathing, but when he was almost relaxed, he heard the endless chatter of voices. He heard the collective gasp they made as he was brought into the room and he swear he could feel their piercing gazes through the cloth. He held his knees close to his body, his heavy breathing filling the cage as he waited.
Amaris! he had thought when he heard her voice. It was beautiful. He had closed his eyes, concentrating on hearing her voice. In the whole room, with the humans speaking over each other, Amaris' voice was the only one he could hear. He could hear her sing for him. He could hear her promise of freedom.

And then, the brightness of the room stabbed his eyes.

He held a hand over his face, trying to hide from the light. Then once again, he heard the gasp and the whispers of the humans.

"My ... it's a boy!"
"No. Not exactly a boy."
"Is it ... is it a Raven Boy? Like the dead one they found in the forest?"
"Oh my. It is beautiful! Where can I get one?"

Amaris was standing next to some friend of her father when the servants drew back the cloth. She did her best to look as stunned and surprised as the rest of the audience and found it wasn't even that hard. They had dressed Nox in clean black pants and exchanged his golden color for a black one that held a crystal the colour of his eyes. Not that the others could see that, since he was shielding his eyes from the sudden light. His feathers were shining and she could hear the exclamations around her.
Then the man next to her spoke.
"Oh my. It is beautiful! Where can I get one?"
She fought against herself, trying to keep quiet, but she couldn't. The thought of this display leading to more of Nox' brothers being caught and caged was too horrible. She turned towards the man.
"But it looks so human! Do you think it is right to keep him in a cage?"
Maybe she could convince at least some of the guests of the amorality of it all. She had to try.
Without her noticing, her father had approached and heard her speak. He laughed and patted her shoulder, addressing the man. "Ah, my little gentle flower. She is so kind to all animals, you should see her when she plays with my swankittens, Harold. How is your son by the way? I heard he was making a name for himself in the troups. You should bring him over sometime, I'm sure he and Amaryllis would get along very well."
Ama remembered Harold's son - she did not think they would get along at all, actually. It had been a while ago, but it had been a rude and impolite kid that would yell at the servants for no reason. She tried to think of something clever to say, like Cassy would have. Cassy always had the right answer to discourage her father from trying to set her up with some guy she didn't like.
"Oh, he is in the military? Isn't that dangerous? You must be terribly worried all the time, I would not wish that on any family!"
Thank god, she had remembered something that Cassy had used once. Her father gave her an odd glance, but didn't pursue the subject further and she was able to slip away from the conversation.
She walked up closer to Nox' cage, feigning excitement and curiosity.

He watched the crowd, wide eyes scanning the ruffles and lace and the overwhelming scent of perfume. He could hear nothing, everything was a blur. But when he saw Amaris, he nearly jumped up in excitement, only to remember that he's 'never seen her before'.

Nox looked at her. No. Focused on her. No one else existed in the room save for him and his sun. He watched a large human pat Amaris' shoulder and speak with the other humans. That must be 'father'. He saw her become uncomfortable as the humans were talking. Oh, how he wished he could break out of the cage just to help her out of that situation but could only watch as she slipped away.

When she was coming nearer, he still had his eyes on her and a faint smile was spreading over his lips. A little pink dusted his cheeks. And the aura of excitement burst from him.

Some of the guests watched as the little lady Wittingham approached the golden cage and the Raven Boy, curious as to how they would interact.

Ama saw the smile spreading on Nox' face as she approached. She smiled back, glad that she had her back turned to the audience so she didn't need to control her expression.
She felt the stares on her back though. Trying to imagine what she would do if she really hadn't seen Nox before, she stepped up to the cage.
"Hello Raven Boy! You look so human. Can you speak?" She made her voice sound soft and innocently curious. She had carefully chosen her words not only for the crowd but also to remind Nox that they needed to pretend they'd never talked to each other before.
She imagined the situation must be quite overwhelming and stressful for him, so maybe the cue would be helpful to him.
Suddenly she had a thought. Yes, he was human and to show the guests, she would treat him with the same respect and formality she would any guest. She grinned at Nox as she sank into her best formal curtsy.
"I am Amaryllis Violet Gardenia Wittingham, daughter of the house. Who do I have the honour of addressing?" Her tone was still soft, as if trying not to scare a potentially wild animal, but there was formality in it as well. Her face was all grins, though, and she had to suppress a giggle in the end.

Nox understood what Amaris planned when she asked him if he could speak. He nodded, innocently nervous. And when she had curtseyed, he stood up to bow only to hit the top of the cage with his head. He stayed slouching, holding his head, his face contorted in a fake wince. "Uh, ah. I- I'm Nox." he answered, quickly bowing then sat back down. "It is nice to meet you, Amaris, daughter of the house." he smiled innocently with a fifteen-degree tilt of the head. The type that would make people squirm from cuteness.

Just as he greeted Amaris, a lady much taller than her but looked oddly alike moved towards them. She had a regal air around her, greeting guests as she passed.

Ama smiled when Nox picked up her little game flawlessly. She heard several startled exclamations behind her when Nox hit his head on the cage and bowed. Apparently a lot of the guests hadn't expected him to actually understand her, thinking he was merely a wild animal looking somewhat human.
Even more of them came when he spoke.
And she believed she heard quite a few ladies sigh when he tilted his head and smiled. She couldn't blame them, it was an incredibly sweet picture.
"I am glad to meet you as well, Nox!"
She gave another, smaller curtsey and turned, composing her face when she heard someone approaching.
It was her mother, frowning at Nox in the cage.
She silently motioned for Ama to follow her, obviously unwilling to discuss what she had seen at the center of attention. Her face was artfully neutral when she turned away from the cage, leading her daughter to the side of the room, not far away but out of the area the guests were watching. "He really does seem startlingly human, doesn't he? But you must not forget that he is also a wild creature, Amaryllis." She gave her a stern look and Ama couldn't quite figure out if she disapproved of her behaviour or not.
So she nodded. "Yes mother. I was just very surprised."
Her mother smiled. "So was I. He almost looks like a boy your age... I'm not sure I like seeing him in a cage like this either."
Seeing the opportunity, Ama nodded again. "It is at least not big enough. Did you see how he hit his head on it?"
Her mother looked thoughtful. "I shall speak to your father about that later." Then she smiled. "You look lovely by the way. And you sang beautifully. I am proud of you, daughter."
And with that she left Ama, mingling with the guests and chatting idly again.

As Amaris was called away by the regal woman, Nox let out a shy "Bye, Amaris!" which made the women in the room giggle at his cuteness. One seemed more charmed than the others and confidently walked up to his cage.

"So the little birdie knows how to speak, hm?" The old woman whose face was caked white winked at him. "Tell me little Noxie, what about you come home with me and be the star of my collection?"

"Oh no no no, he'll be part of mine!" Answered another in a dress so large the people around her had to move away to avoid suffocating from fabric.

"Nonsense! I am Lord Wittingham's closest friend!" Hollered a man who seemed to love his perfume more than he did his wife. "If the creature were to go anywhere, it would be in my mansion. It would be my greatest pleasure to distribute Raven boy-Ostrich pig chicks. What about ten thousand each? Fair price, hm?"

Nox started to retreat further from the humans, their words bringing him disturbing thoughts. Amaris ... help!