“It is I who is chief, and that is for me to judge.” I fix him with a hard gaze. “Besides, all I did was cannibalize her.”
“We can’t risk tainting our lines,” Fenrick insists.
“Would it be so bad to have children with these women? They’re small and pink, but by her words, the men are much taller, and I remember the men on the shore being so.”
“Why risk shame?” Fenrick says.
“Because our lines end here if we do not.”
“Better to die strong than continue feeble,” Ramsey spits out.
“Even if we choose not to mate, we should consider giving them assistance.”
“We do not help those who cannot help themselves,” Ramsey insists.
“As Elena said, they’ll be working to provide for themselves, and I have confidence some will survive.”
“What reason would we have to help them?” Ramsey pushes.
“Because even if we choose not to mate, that doesn’t mean we cannot taste of them and allow them to taste of us.”
They stare at me as though the thought had never occurred to them, and I’ll admit that it hadn’t occurred to me until I worried over the fruit of her womb.
I continue with, “Back in Tempest we mated, desperate for children to continue our lines. Here, we’ve given up on the prospect of another warming our bed.”
“So you’re saying we couple without mating?” Ramsey says with no hint of anger in his voice.
“When the taste of her cunt exploded across my tongue, I saw stars. I can only imagine what it will feel like to have her pink lips wrapped around my cock.”
Fenrick clears his throat. “That is most unusual, and not what these slight creatures were meant for.”
“The seed has grown and developed culture.”
“And you believe they’d want that interaction?”
“We’d have to adhere to some of their mating customs, as their ways are far different from our own. Elena has been advising me of their ways.”
“So we serve these weak women? Allow them to take us at their will, even though they are half a Tempest woman?” Ulof asks.
“I’m interested to hear more about these customs,” Fenrick cuts in.
“They have a courtship and the men bring gifts. They take one mate for life.”
I’m greeted with silence. I’d be just as shocked as they are if I were hearing it for the first time.
“But that’s nonsensical,” Ulof says in a low voice. “Why would a woman keep a man around? They take from us what they want and leave.”
“I suppose they might need help raising all their children.”
He spikes a brow. “All their children? They need help with two?”
“Their women are so fertile, they can have from five to ten children. It seems to be their people’s greatest strength.”
Ramsey eyes me critically. “Is that so?”
“That is not all. Their offspring are an equal mix of male and female.”
Their mouths drop from the shocking number. I too am not entirely sure if it’s an exaggeration. The number itself is impressive, but a Tempest woman has been known to birth up to four, but that’s the most I’ve heard of. The fact that so many are female is what is so suspicious.