If I go through with this, it would render me unfit for marriage. Not that anyone would marry me, because bastards are a stain on their family lines.
There has to be a way I can get out of this without pissing him off.
But perhaps I shouldn’t be getting out of it,a defiant voice in my head nags.
Grixis is enormous and strong and…handsome, despite looking very different from a typical male.
I’m alone on a terrifying island, because while there may be other women at the shore, many of them despise me.
“If I agree to mate with you, will you protect me?”
The look he gives me is unsettling.
“There are beasts, and I have no weapons. And food is hard to come by.”
“I will give you weapons to fend for yourself.”
I blink back at him. “That’s not something I would ever have to do.”
“Is it as I’d suspected? Are you too weak for—”
“Can we stop this whole weak bullshit?”
He says nothing.
“Are the women where you are from bigger than me?”
“Much.”
“Do your women hunt and provide for themselves?”
“No.”
“Then why would you expect me to?”
“Where I’m from, the women are not weak, and therefore, they do not have to prove themselves.”
“This isn’t fair. Perhaps there’s something I can do that they can’t.”
“That is doubtful.”
“Then I guess we’re not mating.”
His face falls.
“Are you seriously going to act upset when you literally offer me nothing in exchange for mating with you?”
“Like protection?”
“Yes. Back where I’m from, arrangements are made.”
“Arrangements?”
“Men protect the women while the women stay home and tend to the affairs of the house. Everyone has a job, but it’s not the same job.”
He looks contemplative. “I don’t know how my tribe would react to that.”
“Your tribe? You mean your people?”