Duskfire Glacier [m] diet mountain dew

faust exhaled slowly, staring down at the neat arrangement of meat she had set before him. marriage. a foreign thing to him, at least in the way she spoke of it—with wonder, with curiosity.
i don't know either, he admitted after a pause, lifting his gaze to hers. men took multiple women where i lived. it wasn't about… this. he gestured vaguely between them, between the unspoken thing that had been weaving itself into place since the moment they met. it was about power. children. alliances.
his jaw tensed, something bitter creeping into his voice. his father had done the same—taken women as one might collect possessions. it was expected. it was normal.
but...
his gaze softened as he looked at her again, at the way she sat, small and unsure but wanting. but i don’t think i could do that. the thought of taking another woman alongside a beloved felt...wrong. a betrayal of something he couldn't name.
i think, he hesitated, choosing his words carefully, if i took a mate, i would only want one.