It was late and the waning moon wouldn’t make its appearance for hours yet as Snagsby shooed the last of the usual drink until closing time customers from the Rusty Bucket. As the last one exited, Bel propped open the door to the kitchen, letting its bright light spill into the common room. She proceeded to snuff out the oil lamps over the bar as Snagsby extinguished the ones on the tables.

From the direction of the kitchen, there was a soft scraping sound followed by a thunk. Bel hadn’t set the stop properly: the heavy door pushed it aside and knocked it over. The light in the room faded rapidly as the door swung shut on creaking hinges, and with a loud slam Bel and Snagsby were plunged into darkness.

“Dammit!” Bel exclaimed. She turned around and stomped towards the kitchen. Without thinking, Snagsby called out, “Step a bit to your left to avoid the spittoon in front of you and then there’s the chair someone pulled over…”

Also without thinking, Bel cut him off. “I see them.”

Bel stopped in her tracks and turned to face Snagsby. There was a long pause as they stared at one another, and in near perfect unison, they both asked, “You can see in the dark?”

This was followed by another pause. Bel broke the silence. “You first.”

Snagsby cleared his throat but remained silent for a few moments as he considered how much to tell and how much to leave out. He looked at Bel for a few seconds before suddenly realizing, “I trust her.”

“I never knew my parents and so I am not sure of my ancestry, but my entire life until quite recently was spent among half orcs,” Snagsby began. “They considered me one of their own and despite the occasional joke about being a ‘pretty boy’ I had no reason to think I was any different. We often worked below ground without light and I gave it little thought until I realized that whenever the human overseer came down he brought a lamp to inspect our progress.”

He thought back on his journey here and continued, “And when I left and made my way… here I found that the the humans I met along the way were often rude or even hostile. But I discovered that with a few alterations in how I dressed and kept my hair they just assumed I was also human, which made my life much easier. And so I have just continued to let people believe what they will. But I was never in doubt that I had some amount of orcish blood running through my veins. Half blood, quarter blood — it doesn’t matter: either a single drop is too much for some folks while no amount matters at all for others. I prefer the company of the latter.”

He stopped, wondering if he had said too much or too little and turned back to Bel. “But you were born here, correct? You know your parents. How is it that you can see in the dark places where humans cannot?”

“Yeah, I was born here. Turns out my great-great grandmother shook the sheets with a dragon posing as a human,” she says, grinning. “At least, that’s what my Aunt Esma thinks. She’s apparently got some old letters and diaries and such.” She stops and studies Snagsby. “I would never have figured you for part orc, so you are hiding it well. Kind of a shame that you have to do it, though around here maybe it’s for the best. It’s not exactly a progressive town.”

Snagsby snorted loudly in agreement.

“You’ve figured that part out on your own, I see,” Bel says, grinning. “Kullen doesn’t have many problems, but that’s probably not a standard you want to hold yourself to.

“So, assuming you had some choice of where you went when you, uh, left your overseer,” she says, slowly pronouncing the last words in a way that suggests she gets the meaning behind them, “I’ve got to ask. Why here?”

“Do you know how a lobster trap works?” Snagsby asked. Bel arched an eyebrow, inviting him to continue. “A hole in a cage is made such that it is easy to get in but not so easy to get out. For people without resources Diamond Lake is just like that. I was looking for a place to hide and followed the road here. But by the time I realized maybe I wanted to leave I found it difficult to get back out. I could just walk to someplace else like a refugee, but that’s just another form of slavery and I’d rather not fall down into that hole again.”