Nirrin spends her days in Foresthome caring for orphans, getting into trouble, and listening to other people's adventures with secret envy. Which is why following an intriguing stranger into an unknown part of the forest seemed like a good idea at the time. Nirrin doesn't expect to find her missing parents among a band of odd-looking misfits, but family is family, right? Her hopes to reclaim the kin she'd lost are challenged, however, when she uncovers their violent plot against "Normals" like her. They'll make an exception for her (Nirrin has always been great at excepting herself from rules), but doing nothing would mean endangering her friends in Foresthome. She must stop these outcasts from—who is she kidding? She's a smart-mouthed girl with no special talents. What is she going to do, talk them to death? Maybe babysitting a bunch of other orphans in Foresthome wasn't such a bad deal after all.