Star Side

Chapter 68

"There are more reasons," he said from where he'd tried to stuff his horned head beneath my breasts, as though he could hide from the world between them. Too bad not even my large knockers could achieve that.

"Like?"

He harrumphed, tickling my breastbone.

"How she treats my father," he eventually said. Look at me, being such a patient wife. "Multiple mates...hurts."

"Only the royals are allowed that, right?"

"And in times of...less males...or females, though that has yet to occur."

"You mean, like if a bunch die in war?"

"Yes. And females want eggs."

"But your dad agreed to it, didn't he?"

Gilrack didn't respond, nuzzling up so that now his mouth would be covered by my squish.

I sighed and went to petting his hair. He erupted into loud purrs that tickled my whole chest, increasing in intensity whenever I rubbed along the base of his horns.

"I felt his sadness as a child," muttered Gilrack when he had to pull his face away to breathe. "Loneliness."

"Probably wasn't what he was expecting?"

"Mother got third mate."

"Ah. So the third husband is her favorite?"

"..."

"Was your dad her first?"

"Yes."

"Ah."

There was a thoughtful pause between us. I couldn't imagine having to watch my spouse take on two others.

"I take it that means you're the eldest brother?"

He puffed against my chest, probably annoyed that I was interrupting his enjoyment of drowning in breasts to talk about unpleasant things like annoying little siblings and his mother.

"No. I came from her second brood with father. The first brood..."

"The first brood?"

"A sickness. Only one egg survived to hatch. My sister." He puffed again. "She is bossy."

I laughed, and his purrs returned to their usual loudness at the sound.

"Most big sisters are," I said.

"Other broods are from her other mates. Her last brood before she left laying was with father. A brother and sister. They are dedicated to the army, though as smithies. They both inherited my father's slender build, so they are not very big or strong, but are nimble like him. Good with their hands. Red like him too. Red is a strong color in the blood."

I don't know why I was surprised when I heard that Gilrack's people did metalworking. They lived underground and new about all sorts of minerals and materials. While not at the same level as humans, and a bit different due to the curious way they liked to mix minerals, it was still enough to make basic tools and weapons. Mostly, though, they preferred stonework, as basic carving tool could be attached to claws to chip and scratch through most of the rock of their mountain. I had plans to look into the blacksmiths once I didn't have to hug eggs all the time, so it excited me to hear Gilrack had some siblings that were in the know.

As for the red coloring, I assumed that meant red was a dominant genetic trait. Gilrack's brood brother that was green, on the other hand, he must have gotten the recessive gene, just like Gilrack with his purple hands, lower legs, tail, and hair.