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nodded.
    “How can you tell so soon?” Lepkin asked.
    “Oh the energies show everything in our bodies. They show it much sooner than physical symptoms appear also. I have, on occasion been wrong, but I have seen this many times. Whether a woman, a horse, or a cat, it is always the same. There is always a spark of life that appears.”
    “Do you think she knows?” Mercer asked.
    Marlin shook his head. “I don’t think so, not yet.”
    “This stays between us,” Lepkin said with a sudden seriousness in his tone. “Not a word to anyone.”
    Mercer grinned wide. “Whatever you say there, father.”
     

CHAPTER THREE
     
     
    Lepkin knocked gently and pushed the door open slowly. He saw Dimwater sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at her hands in her lap. She looked up and smiled sheepishly.
    “Sorry,” she offered. “I know I shouldn’t be surprised by what you did. It was the logical thing to do.”
    “It’s alright,” Lepkin said. He stepped in and closed the door behind him. He was no longer wearing his armor. He was in a simple tunic and matching trousers. He moved in to sit on the bed alongside her. “I promise, I won’t take any unnecessary chances.”
    Dimwater nodded and looked out to the window. “Where do you think Erik is now?” she asked.
    Lepkin smiled. “If I know Erik, he is likely halfway to the mountain, and figuring how to sneak in.”
    She dropped her head down to rest on Lepkin’s left shoulder. He thought about telling her what Marlin saw, but thought better of it. He wasn’t very well versed in family matters, but he knew enough to understand that it was not his place to tell her about it. It was something she should discover for herself.
    “What are you thinking about?” Dimwater asked.
    Lepkin opened his mouth but nothing came out. He frowned and furrowed his brow. Finally, he said, “I am not thinking about anything.”
    A horn sounded off in the distance. Lepkin could tell from the low, vibrating call that it was not a horn used within Ten Forts. Likely it was a retreat somewhere along the walls, calling other orcs back to the hills to regroup. At least, that’s what he hoped it was. A knock thumped on the door.
    “I have supper ready for both of you,” a voice called from the other side of the door.
    Lepkin moved to the door and opened it to see a young porter carrying a very wide metal tray with wooden covers secured over the plates. “Thank you,” Lepkin offered as he stepped aside to make room.
    “Supper is hot,” the porter said. “We have venison chops and a bit of soup. Bread is in the basket, and butter is in the dish.” The porter turned sideways through the door and placed the tray on the table before bowing and backing out of the room. He was so quick that Lepkin barely managed to thank him before the door closed again.
    The two rose and moved to the table. Lepkin pulled the lid from the plates and set them off to the side. They ate their meal quietly. Lepkin thought about what Marlin had said, and what that would mean for him. He was already in his late forties, having a child now would put him well into his sixties before the child would be old enough to venture out on his own. Then again, who was to say it would be a he ? Could be a daughter. Lepkin swirled his spoon around in the soup and let that thought sink in for a bit. How would he raise a daughter? He didn’t really know the first thing about girls.
    “Something wrong?” Dimwater’s voice pulled him out from the spiraling labyrinth in his mind. Lepkin hastily took a spoonful of soup. He chewed the chunks of carrot and swallowed.
    “No,” he said. “Just thinking.”
    Dimwater raised a goblet of wine to her lips and drank, eyeing Lepkin all the while. When she set the goblet down, she arched a brow. “I have known you long enough to see when something is on your mind. What is it?”
    Lepkin sighed. “I was…” the words trailed off. He looked at her, locking in with her eyes and he