Chapter seven.

''How was he?'' Sophie asks as she comes through the door, her arms filled with shopping.

''I think I got through to him a little.'' Howl replied, meeting Sophie as she closes the door behind her and relieving some of her burden. ''It's going to take a little while though I think. His grief has obviously sapped his magic, so we've just got to find a way to get him back to himself.'' Sophie nodded in agreement, placing her share of the shopping on the wooden table. She looks around slightly as Howl joins her at the table.

The sound of steps made Sophie look to the stairs. Markl was walking slowing down, red eyed and sniffing. Sophie's heart went out to him as he continued down the stairs.

''Markl?'' Sophie said, coming round the table.

''I'm alright.'' He muttered, coming to the bottom of the stairs and walking up to her. He gives her a hard hug.

''I'm glad you're back.'' He muttered in to Sophie's ear. Sophie hugged back almost as hard, and they slowly released.

''We'll be coming into Star Lake soon.'' Sophie mentioned casually, and she say Markl's face light up slightly. It'd been a while since they'd been, and they'd made plans to meet there with Prince Justin after his visit yesterday. All too soon his expression returned to the saddened and somewhat lost look he'd had since Granny's death. The last visit had been with Granny, and Sophie remembered Markl learning a new spell from Granny on that particular visit.

''How about you join me on the balcony for the decent?'' Sophie asks softly, and Markl nods gently. He walks off slowly and goes back upstairs.

''I'm thinking of letting him know.'' Sophie tells Howl quietly.

''You feel it's the right time to do so?'' Howl replies, and Sophie nods.

''Star Lake is a place of happiness for us, so I think it's as good a time as any to let him know about the addition to our family.''

Half an hour later, Sophie was stood on the balcony, watching the lake slowly get closer. The door opened behind her, and a second later, Markl joined her. They stood in silence for a moment.

''I always love this view.'' Sophie said, glancing across the far distant mountain. Sophie vaguely notices Markl's nod of agreement. Another few seconds pass.

''So I had a reason for doing this.'' Sophie goes on, twisting slightly to look at Markl. ''I have something to tell you.'' Markl looks at her.

''I'm pregnant.'' Silence follows this statement.

''What?'' Markl croaks slightly in disbelieve.

''I'm pregnant.'' Sophie repeats uncertainly, noticing the shocked and somewhat hurt look spreading across Markl's face. Markl looks back over the water, before slamming his hands on the railing and rushing back through the door.

''Markl.'' Sophie called after him, surprised at his reaction. She stands there for a few moments, before looking back over the lake. In the fading sunlight, she could just make out Prince Justin's shadow on the water's edge as they started their decent. Sophie follows Markl back into the castle, where she heard his door slam.

'Why on earth did he react like that?'' Sophie whispered.

N.B. How're you liking the story so far? I'm slowly getting there with trying to get these up as often as possible, but the last few weeks have been very crazy what with uni starting up again and moving into my own place. I hope that things will be posted up a bit more often, so keep an eye out.