Page 17 of Her Orc Blacksmiths

He doesn’t explain who Marut is, but I suppose he must be a librarian.

“So how did they deal with it back then?” I ask.

Torren scratches the back of his neck. “There was one account where two males were mated to a single woman. They fought, and one killed the other.”

I cringe, remembering the brutal way Morg and Torren went at each other in the great hall yesterday.

But Torren isn’t done. “The woman was so distraught by the death of her mate, she killed herself. The remaining male slowly lost all reason and ended up walking into a snowstorm.” He swallows and adds in a hushed voice, “He was never seen again.”

“Gods.”

I shiver, wrapping my arms around me. Torren presses the flask of hot tea in my hands, and I clutch it gratefully.

“Please tell me the other stories end more favorably,” I beg, glancing at him from the corner of my eye.

Torren remains silent, so I face him more fully. His face has gone a darker green, which I now know is the orcs’ way of flushing.

“What is it?” I prompt.

“Well…” He tugs at the collar of his tunic, even though it’s loose enough. “The other three couples—er, groups of mates…”

“Yes?”

“They all lived together,” he blurts out.

He’s staring at his knees, pulled up in front of him.

“Happily?” I ask, an answering blush working its way up my neck. “Without anyone dying?”

He inclines his head slowly. “As far as the records tell, that seems to be the case. There were even four sharing each other in one case, three women and one male.”

Oh, now I’m definitely red in the face. I take another bite of cheese to cover my emotions, but it’s tasteless now. I’m too on edge for food, so I set down my plate and dust the breadcrumbs from my skirts.

“All right,” I say in an effort to regain some composure. “Is that all? About mates, I mean.”

Torren looks like he’s about to nod, then stops himself. “Er, no.”

“Gods,” I say, exasperated. “What else is there?”

He sends me a sheepish glance from under his thick black eyebrows. “Orcs can only have children with their mates.”

It takes me a moment to realize what he’s saying. “So if you—if you, um, with another woman…?”

I can’t bring myself to speak the words, but Torren seems to know what I’m talking about.

“No,” he says. “No babies would result from such a partnership.”

“Oh.”

I raise a trembling hand to my neck, and he follows the movement with a hungry gaze, so I drop it back in my lap. His attention remains on me, warming me from the inside out.

There’s something that’s eluding me in this exchange, because surely being able to have children is a good thing now that he’s found me… Then it hits me.

“So if I didn’t choose you,” I say sharply, “you wouldn’t be able to have children with anyone else?”

Torren’s expression shutters, and all he gives me is a curt nod, as if he can’t trust himself to speak.

I jump to my feet, agitated again. “But that’s horrible!” I fling my arm out, pointing to where I think is the way to the human lands. “Humans can have children with anyone! How is this fair to orcs?”

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