Merit didn’t like meetings, but he preferred sitting in a room with anybody over hunting coronas with harpoons and explosives.

“In fact, I should be leaving,” Father said. “So I’ll see you tonight or maybe sooner, if I can slip away early.”

Diamond closed the encyclopedia.

“Your mother is going out too,” Father said.

The boy slid off his bed and followed him out of the room. In the hallway, just short of the front door, Merit bent to kiss his son’s head, burying his lips into the thick and twisted brown hair, and Diamond kissed the last part of his father to leave, which was the back of one hand.

Mother was in his parent’s bedroom. The small woman was sitting on a tall stool, working with her reflection in a mirror. Diamond had seen her wear those clothes twice before, always on special days. The tunic was gold with white flowers that weren’t quite like any of the world’s flowers. Her slacks were the kind of black that looked purple in a strong light. Haddi saw him watching, and guessing what question would come next, she said, “I’m going shopping with my cousins. You handle your next meal and get to school on time.”

“Tar`ro will make sure I do,” he said.

She looked at him. Old women usually weren’t as pretty as she was. Her hair was still long and thick, white as sun-washed mist and now carefully combed and braided. Haddi’s trousers had thick legs and the tunic reached down near her knees. Powder painted her face and jeweled clips rode the tops of her ears, one pink and the other pinker, and she was smiling even when she told her son, “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“These men are here for a purpose, and it’s not to be servants, much less act like extra fathers.”

“Sophia is here too.”

Mother looked at the pale coral rings on her fingers. Again she said, “Don’t.”

“Don’t want?”

“Deflect my very good point.”

Was he doing that? Maybe, and he felt a little bit clever.

She said, “Darling,” and looked at him. “You have your own responsibilities. And your father and I expect you to carry them out like any boy of your age.”

“How old am I?”

For a third time, she said, “Don’t.”

Diamond remained silent.

“Normal lives. That’s what we want. For the three of us, we want some existence that can be confused for ordinary.”

She stood and worked on a single wrinkle on the blouse that refused to obey the sweep of her long hands.

He studied her wardrobe and face, as always.

“Do I look all right?”

“Yes.”

She glanced at him.

“You look spectacular,” he said, mimicking what Father offered at moments not unlike this.

Then she laughed softly and kissed him on the tiny, tiny nose. “Have a good day at school, son.”

“I will.”

She left the room, left their home.

Except of course Mother was still standing inside his mind, and for as long as he lived, there she would be.

No new day wanted to repeat the rhythms of its ancestors. Each morning found its pace and its perfect length, and the most unremarkable child was expert in reading signs, knowing when one thing had to end and another begin. But not Diamond: left alone, he arrived early to most events and ridiculously late for everything else. Metronomes counted recitations, but they only helped find rough answers. That’s why the boy relied on friends and the endlessly competent guards, and that’s why he was busily setting up a wooden army when he should have been leaving for school.

Tar`ro kicked the window with the heel of his boot, warning him that this morning was growing shabby.

Diamond gave his soldiers one last study and then ran for the front door.

The tall guard looked as if he had just been roused from an unhappy nap. But his voice was alert and pleasant. “Your monkey and I just had a nice chat. Did you know? I’m very stupid and he is very smart, and he has ten girlfriends for my ugly one, and that’s why he pities me.”

“Is that what Good said?”

Tar`ro grinned. “The message was implied.”

No other guard talked this way, and Diamond was always interested in their game and how his own face tingled and grew warm.

Pulling the door curtain back into place, Diamond touched two of the heads of the painted corona, wishing for its protection.

Then Tar`ro led the boy to the gate.

Switches had to be turned, alerting unseen people about the client’s movement. Two locks needed different keys. Sophia was stationed inside, Bits outside, and they worked together with neat, efficient motions.

The morning mists had disappeared. Following a weak rain, waters escaping from the high ponds and swollen bladders were barely able to hold together in one thin ribbon of tumbling water. Ten thousand winged creatures crisscrossed inside the bright air while endless voices screamed. The great old forest was vertical pillars of wood, none close to its neighbors, all hanging from the invisible roof of Creation. Diamond knew the names of every tree and how to recognize the various species. The canopy below was a dense dark green carpet, thousands of people and millions of animals living inside that tangle of branches and huts and farms and little factories. Diamond had often visited the canopy, and his father and Master Nissim twice took him to the highest portions of the District, showing him that odd realm never touched by daylight. And of course he once flew through the wilderness and walked on the reef country. Almost no one was able to walk with the papio. Yet despite his experiences and the flawless memory, Diamond knew almost nothing about the people that he saw every day—those scurrying figures moving up and down the various home trees.

The gate opened with a sharp whine. Beyond was a small platform ending with a strong ladder leading only downwards. Bits took the lead, grabbing the ropes with hands and the insides of his boots, dropping neatly out of view.

From overhead, a voice called out, “Diamond.”

“Your girlfriend,” Sophia teased.

Elata.

“Go,” Tar`ro told him.

That was the rule. Three guards had to stay close while he was outdoors, and Diamond knew that Bits would turn to vinegar if he were told to climb back up and wait for the neighbor girl.

Elata was standing on the walkway far above.

“Catch up,” Diamond called.

“Don’t tell her that,” Tar`ro said.

Bare ropes used to dangle between there and here. They were a security risk and cut away, but that didn’t keep a bold girl from climbing over the railing, jumping with limbs stretching out and her belly down.

Tar`ro cursed quietly, without heat, and again, he said, “Go.”

Diamond took the ladder with one hand, but he moved slowly, watching Elata dive onto the highest portion of the net. Supporting ropes creaked, absorbing the impact. Laughing, she rolled down across the fine-meshed netting, reaching him in a few moments. Her trick was well-practiced, as was the guards’ outrage. Some high boss had decided that the net would protect Diamond, and maybe it did, but not when it came to keeping one young girl away.

“Good morning, Diamond.”

“Hello.”

Elata loved falling. She was fearless and pretty and big in the shoulders, which were stronger shoulders than most people her age could muster, girl or boy. Her wide mouth suited her, as did the golden teeth, and her long straight hair always wanted to be tied into elaborate braids. Her uniforms were usually clean but sometimes thin in the elbows and knees. She had taught her friend how to climb, and she had watched him heal when he made mistakes and fell. But Elata never mentioned what both of them understood: Diamond would never be her match when it came to scampering up and down.

“I’m first,” Elata said, slipping past him on the ladder.

Tar`ro cursed again, but he was laughing too.

These were daily games.

Diamond followed. From above, his new landing seemed large yet normal enough, but from below it was far more impressive. Great timbers of bloodwood had been brought from the District of Districts, bolted to Marduk to lend unusual strength to the supporting framework. Within the timbers was a protected berth where a police blimp could be tethered safely out of the elements. Different blimps rotated through, each one black as ink. Some crew was always on duty, and as the subject of all of this interest dropped onto the lower walkway, today’s blimp kicked its engines awake and pulled out into the open air, ready to make the escort complete.