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“An Earthman?” he finished coldly. “I suppose you went around telling everybody your suspicions, and Rini wrote that to Irik, too?”

“I didn’t tell anybody!” she protested indignantly. “Not a soul!” She met his eye. “Except Mother, of course.”

“Your mother! You might as well have published it in the District Bulletin!”

“You have no right to speak of Mother like that, even if it’s true!” Embelsira began to sob. “I had to tell her, Balt—she kept asking why there weren’t any young ones.”

“You could’ve told her to mind her own business!” he snapped, before he could catch himself. Five years, and he still made slips. It was her business. On Damorlan, it was a woman’s duty not only to have children but to see that her children had children and their children had children.

He made himself look grave and self-reproachful. “I have a confession to make, Belsir. I should have told you when I married you. I can’t have children.”

“I never heard of such a thing! Everybody has children—unless they’re not married, of course,” she added primly.