"Well, babies belong to their mothers here," Marcello explained. "It's a little strange...to me, at least. The men aren't...you're the baby's father, but it's not your baby. You're more like an accident of birth."

"Like me" Maalech lit up, the concept of the father having little to do with it seemed to be one he could agree with. "So people here wouldn't think it was strange that I don't have a father?" Nobody had really asked him about it, he had just been assuming they were polite, and snickering behind his back.

"No," Marcello replied. "They would only care who your mother is. Your father doesn't matter. I don't-- I don't know how they would feel about a baby born in the circumstances you were born in, but they wouldn't blame you for it. They wouldn't think you were evil."

"I like that" Maalech admitted. "I like that a lot." He had lost a lot of the suspicion since he came here, being a lot more open and smiling. It was just at times of decisions like this when he found it hard to ignore the feelings that welled up inside him.

"Is Cnoch na Niall far from here? Are we going to walk all the way? Or will there be ponies?" He said the last with nervous awe.

"I'm not sure, and I'm not sure," Marcello said. "I thought we could travel by circle, but maybe not. I'm not really sure how this works." He smiled slightly at the boy. "I'm happy it works for you," he told him. "But I'm a little sad about what it means if Niabheara and I have children. I want them to be ours, not just hers."

"Circle!" Maalech exclaimed, almost bouncing before he calmed himself down. "Yes, circle, please, that was so awesome last time and I'm still not sure how they work being in two places at once and all." He took a breath, then looked at Marcello "If they're her babies here because the mother is so important, and your babies where you comes from because the father is so important, won't they be both your babies?"

Marcello shook his head. "No, because we'll be living here," he said sadly. "And I'd like to take the circle again, too," he said. "If there is one. It would make things easier, and we'd get there sooner."

"I wonder why some places have circles and some don't" Maalech mused. "I wonder who build them in the first place." It was by far the most awesome thing he had encountered since coming here, and they were a source of endless fascination for him.

"But you still know, don't you? That they are your babies. Even more than if you had been anybody else, because you're so funny looking. And I mean Donal is Acorn's dad, everybody treats him like it, what could be better than that?"

Marcello laughed. "I'm funny looking?" he asked. "Why, thank you. You're so kind. And I don't know. I suppose they built circles where people need to go to."

"Well, just a little" Maalech smiled, looking innocent as he clasped his hands behind his back. "The circles is like little harbors on rivers we can't see. They are awesome." But he fell silent, looking a bit more seriously at the older man.

"Thanks. For what you said before."