The next morning Marin and Hobard awoke as the sun stretched its fingers over the eastern horizon. Streaks of bright orange and hot pink smeared up from behind the black silhouettes of trees. The two men were stiff and covered in dew.

Despite his sore back and aching muscles, Marin was glad to see his father. He hadn't realized how much he missed him over the past few weeks until now.

"Good morning," Hobard said, followed by a cough.

"Are you ok?"

"Just the damp spring air. Summer nights are better for sleeping outside." Hobard cleared his throat again.

"Well, hopefully by tonight I'll be allowed to sleep back on my cot."

"Yes, we should go see Abbot Osbert immediately." Hobard tried to stand up, but with a grunt he returned to sitting.

"Here, take my hand," said Marin, getting to his feet. "And maybe we should try to get a morning meal first. After yesterday, I'm famished."

His father took his hand and slowly made his way to a standing position. "I don't know if you'll be allowed in the dining hall," he admitted. "But I can surely bring you something to eat."

"That would be wonderful, thank you."

Hobard gave his son a pat on the upper arm. "We'll get this squared away. It may take some time, but it will get worked out."

Marin wasn't so sure, but he didn't argue. His stomach gnawed at his insides and he desperately had to relieve himself.

After Hobard walked through the gates, Marin walked around the periphery of the stone wall that surrounded the compound. He found a small grove of trees and stood where no one would have a clear view of him. He undid the ties that held up his trousers and lowered them slightly from his waist. With his robes still covering his backside, he leaned his torso back and with his right hand manipulated the hot stream so it landed in the dirt just beyond his boots. It was a trick he'd figured out as a teenager, and one he had perfected in the years since.

"Marin?" He heard Tilly's voice call out.

Finished with his business, Marin pulled up and retied his trousers. "I'm over here," he called back.

"Am I interrupting?" she asked.

"All done."

"How did you sleep?" She stepped around the bend to meet him.

"Fine. Considering." He stepped closer to her and inhaled deeply. "But, I missed being next to you."

"Shh," she scolded, her brows furrowed. But she still stepped closer to him, their stomachs nearly touching, their fingertips brushing against each other. "We can't risk anything until your place in the medics is re-secured."

"I'm not sure how long I'll be able to stand it, having to be apart from you," he whispered, causing a flush of pink to bloom on her cheeks.

There was a moment of stillness. All that existed was the warmth between their bodies. The sparks caused by each light touch of fingers. Breaths being exhaled by one and inhaled by the other. It took all of Marin's strength not to close the space between them, to kiss her, to press her against the wall. His mind flashed with everything he desperately wanted to do, but could not. As lust clawed at him, his breath came in shallow pants and his pulse beat wildly. He bit his lip, hoping to slow his heart.

"I need you," he pleaded in the lowest of whispers.

Tilly leaned forward, her mouth pressing close to his ear, causing a flood of heat to fill Marin's chest. "You must wait," she teased, and then stepped back, moistening her lips seductively, and then smiled. As her eyes crinkled, her features softened. "I brought you a bucket of water so you could wash your face. It's back by the gate."

"That was very kind of you." Marin returned her smile.

They walked back around the wall until they reached the gate. The fresh water was a welcome sight, and Marin quickly rolled up his sleeved and scooped water to splash on his face. Cold liquid helped to tamper the fire that had ignited in his loins. And it was good timing, because as Marin was shaking his hands dry, Hobard came out from the gates with a bowl of porridge topped with fresh berries.

"Oh, good morning, Tilly," Hobard said without any hint of surprise in his voice. "I hope you had a pleasant night's rest."

"Yes, Brother Hobard. Thank you." She bowed her head respectfully. "I should go partake of the morning meal. Please fetch me when you go to speak with the Abbot."

"I surely will," Hobard answered as Tilly dismissed herself with a slight nod to the older man, followed by a small wave to Marin.

Marin didn't move his eyes or accept the outstretched bowl until she had left his sight.

When Marin turned back to his father, he noticed he was staring at him with a twinkle in his eye, his lips turned up just the slightest bit. "What?" Marin asked.

"I didn't say anything," Hobard responded, his smile increasing a few degrees.

"Thank you for bringing breakfast. It smells delicious."

"Of course, my child. All I want is for you to be healthy and happy."

From that odd response, Marin assumed his father had missed him too during the weeks he was gone. Marin accepted the steaming bowl and sat down where he had slept the night before. "Very good," he confirmed after taking a bite.

With a slight grunt, Hobard joined his son on the ground. "So, as soon as you are done, I will try to arrange a meeting with the Abbot. We should discuss what you will say." Hobard's tone and demeanor became more serious.

"I'll say that I prayed on it, and that I am not guilty of the crimes accused against me," Marin said between bites.

"And how will you explain your initial confession?"

"I'll say that... I don't know. I'll say that I felt guilty because I knew I had been in her room when I shouldn't have been. That much is true. Greggory saw me, after all."

Hobard thought on it, his fingers playing at the stubble that was growing in on his chin. "Did you tell Abbot Osbert that you had been... intimate with Jocelyn?" Hobard chose his words carefully.

After a moment to reflect, Marin responded. "No. But I said I had been guilty of lust." It hurt to admit that now. Embarrassing, even. Not only because it was not a topic he wished to discuss with his father, but because of how tormented his heart now felt over Tilly. He was still guilty of lust. Just now those base feelings were directed at someone who reciprocated them. And if he had been alone with Tilly in the loft of Hobson's barn on a night when he wasn't bleeding, would he be guilty of even more than lust? The wanton kisses he had stolen. The midnight caresses. They were all against his vows. He was guilty. Just not guilty of planting any seed in Jocelyn.

Hobard nodded and steepled his fingers. "A sin of the heart is not the same as a sin of the flesh."

There was that word again. Sin.

Maybe he didn't want to be part of The Order. The rules over his body chaffed against his heart. But if he wasn't a medic, then what was left to him? Who was he?

But the bottom line was, even if he was a sinner, he wasn't guilty of the crime that Jocelyn had accused him of. His decision to stay in or to leave The Order should be one he made with his own free will. The will that God granted him and all men. Right now he was being forced out unjustly, and that alone should prod him into action.

"Besides," Marin said, "Tilly has evidence that the timeline doesn't add up. I was set up and caught leaving Jocelyn's room less than two months ago, but by Tilly's estimations, Jocelyn is at minimum four months along in her pregnancy."

"Yes, so she says," Hobard nodded.

"That is what I will tell the Abbot. I may have sinned in my heart, but I did not sin with my flesh, and there is evidence to support that claim." At least my flesh didn't sin with Jocelyn, he thought.

"I hope he sees light of truth," Hobard said. "And if he doesn't, I still believe that you should confess the true reason you could never be a father."

Could never be a father. Something about that phrase hit Marin squarely in the chest. He had never thought much about being a parent. Just like he had never seriously thought that someone else would want to kiss him. Especially if that someone knew about his secret. But Tilly knew. And she wanted to kiss him. Would Marin ever want to be a father? To have a child look at him the way baby Margaret looked at Hobson? He shook the thought from his head. His father was right. Parenthood wasn't in Marin's future, despite the accusation that now hung over his head.

"I'd rather be cast out for good than reveal the truth of my body's inadequacies," Marin mumbled. He didn't mean for the words to be acid, but sadness invaded Hobard's eyes. "I'm sorry, father, but it's the truth."

"Let's hope it won't come to that."

"Let's hope."

"I think it's time to go find the Abbot," Hobard said. "Would you mind helping me up?"

"Of course, father," Marin said as he stood and held out a hand.

They brushed the dirt and grass from their robes and then walked through the gate. Marin marveled at how much more of the garden had bloomed in just the past two or three weeks. Spring really was here in all its glory.

Father and son walked under the stone archway of the monastery's main entrance and approached Edwin, who was ever dutifully standing guard of the Abbot's door.

"We are here to request a meeting with Abbot Osbert," Hobard announced.

"He isn't available," the boy said in his usual bored voice.

"Please check." Hobard's voice was stern.

With a huff, the boy closed the book he was studying and turned to walk into the Abbot's office.

Tilly walked up behind Marin and Hobard as they waited. "I thought you would fetch me."

"Just wanted to see if the Abbot could see us first. I know you have many duties to attend to," Hobard explained.

Marin gave her an apologetic smile.

After a moment Edwin reappeared. "Abbot Osbert will not see you until after the babe has been born," he pronounced.

"What? But that's rid–" Marin started, before his father cut him off.

"Please beg him to reconsider. We have evidence to support my child's innocence."

"The Abbot was very clear. Come back when the child has been born." His youthful face wore a smug expression.

"What is Marin to do until then?" Tilly asked.

"Pray," the boy answered. And with that, he opened his book again, ignoring the three people standing in front of him.