it takes two to whisper quietly

Rhythm's obvious discomfort made her smirk but it was the shifting of Rhythm's eyes when Cascade mentioned the juniper berries - a shifting that spoke of something being committed to memory - that made her have to bite her tongue to force back a gleeful grin that threatened to break out. "That is rather obvious. It's no wonder you and Valen haven't gotten anywhere if you can't even talk about it," she fired back with more tartness than she'd showed thus far, though that was in part because she was still wincing over the necessary pinch on her tongue. "So you're a midwife or something? Don't really have one of those anymore, our last one took off after Valen claimed the range. Maybe she didn't like his methods." Now she did grin, thinking of the slaves he'd brought in that day - even if she did end up being the designated caregiver for the slaves' munchkins. "Considering the amount of kids born since Valen made Imperium it might be something you might want to brush up on. Who knows how many more he's going to end up with here?" Her wording was deliberately cryptic - did she imply that all of the litters born here had been Valen's? Well of course she implied it, what would be the fun if she didn't? But it was vague enough that if someone happened to run to Valen about it she could deny everything.