She nods and passes me the scroll. “The twenty-three births she mentioned are recorded here. After Irsh and Mele died, we are left with eighty-two elders past the age of childbearing, thirty-three women, and one hundred and fifty-two men.”
The depressing statistics make everyone’s expression dim. Salo, leader of the stone benders, shakes his head. “Of those thirty-three women, fifteen are already mated and married.”
Svanna purses her lips. “And not all of us prefer your large blue—”
“Yes, yes,” Vann says, more irritated than angry now.
The others see his rage, but I see his pain. At his core, he is concerned with survival. He’s just mistaken about the way we achieve that.
Liana crosses her arms, looking brutal in the spell lights. We don’t always see eye to eye, but what a force she is when we agree. “Not all of us are destined to be parents, not even mates, but there is one thing we have known across the history of our people. We cannot conceive without matehood. Perhaps it is a survival instinct, but our basest primal instincts are recognizing these humans. I say we parade the humans around the Enduares. If there is another recognition, then it is clear we must fight for the humans.”
Vann twists around to look at her. “And if there isn’t?”
She looks at him. “Then we will give away all of them except for the human mated to Teo. We need a royal heir.”
Salo lets out a deep sigh, but I speak up. “Let us vote. Those in favor of keeping the humans to see if there are any more mated pairs?”
Liana, Fira, Svanna, and Lothar raise their hand with me, while Ulla tentatively lifts hers after a few moments. She is carefully avoiding my gaze.
Vann looks at the others like they have betrayed him.
“And those against?” I ask.
Salo and Vann raise their hands immediately.
“Noted. The majority says that we will keep them until we can finish taking them through the caves. If there are more matings, then we will start planning how to take more humans from the giants,” I say. “Lothar, would you be willing to start researching for that?” Though he is the leader of the hunters, he has an excellent eye for diplomacy.
He nods. “Of course, my king.”
I stand, dismissing the rest, and gather the mess of scrolls. Spending time in the royal library calms me, so I will happily take the scrolls back before visiting Estela.
Liana helps me rewind one of them. “Vann needs to watch his tongue if he doesn’t want me to cut it out,” she grumbles.
I laugh. “Any luck with the scrying crystal? The last thing I need is her escaping now that I have the council on board.”
She shakes her head and starts stacking the history of our people. “No. I intend to do some tests when she’s healed, but I suspect this human has some drop of magic inside of her.”
I think of what Svanna said about protecting Estela while Liana leaves. The miner doesn’t know that I am protecting my mate from herself.
As I turn to the exit with an armful of stone scrolls, I catch Ulla's eye. She's waiting. There is something there, a sadness I cannot name. I hesitate, then approach her.
"Is everything all right?" I ask her softly.
She hesitates. "The woman, Estela, really is your mate." It is not a question.
The muscles in my neck tighten, and I swallow. "Yes.”
Her gaze drops. “I wish you both well,” she says softly.
My heart cracks. “I am sorry, Ulla. I know that you hoped we would recognize each other.”
Her head whips up, almost angry. "You did not?"
My mouth opens and closes. What can I say? I was very broken when I came home after the war; she was a friend. Someone I was comfortable with. It seems unfair to write it off as comfort, as if comfort was not deeply valuable.
After several seconds of searching for the right words in silence, I continue, "Ulla, you are a talented singer and an even better healer. If we were meant to stay together, our stones would have sung. I promise you that we will find you a mate as well. In fact, most of the humans we have are men. You should meet with them first.”
Her jaw tightens, the same way it always does before she is about to cry. "Very well." Her courage returns as she looks up at me. "I will hold you to your promise about my mate. Do not forget that I can still beat you in a spear fight."