I met Nochuatl outside the Great Hall and he offered to walk with me.

"Are you excited for school?" he asked.

I shrugged.

He nodded. "It's a big change."

"I'm use to change," I said, trying to sound strong like my mother.

Nochuatl chuckled. "We've certainly had our share of that lately. We have to move on, but that doesn't mean we have to forget. I miss Black Otter too, you know."

His saying that sprung a leak in the elaborate dam I'd built up around my heart over the months. "Do you think he's all right?" I asked in a hush, serious voice.

He didn't answer right away, but then said, "I really hope so."

It felt nice that Nochuatl treated my concerns as real rather than just dismissing them, the way my father always did. "Do you think we'll get see him again?"

"I honestly don't know. There's an awful lot of bitterness between Ihuitmal and your father."

"Why?"

"It goes a long ways back, to before your father became king. And Ihuitmal has a right to be angry, but eventually we have to let go of the past, before it completely destroys us."

"Is that why Father told you all that stuff about getting married?" I asked, and when I saw the stricken look on his face, I regretted saying it. "No, please don't tell me. I'm not good at keeping secrets anymore."

Nochuatl gave me a weak smile. "Some secrets are better off left as secrets, Papalotl, but yes, that's exactly what your father meant when he told me to move on."

We found father back in the aviary, watching his brand new pair of quetzals. Today he smiled at me like he had the day of my wedding and that put my mind at ease a bit. I thanked Nochuatl for walking me there and added, "I'm sorry if my question upset you, uncle." I was extra careful these days to make sure I said my apologies in a timely manner.

"You haven't anything to be sorry about," he told me with a smile then he went back the way we'd come.