Srijita wrote: All astute points, but there are reasons why inbreeding has been discouraged in your culture and mine, and those reasons may pertain to its impact on health. This is an issue that has been highlighted recently in the UK.
They may not have such knowledge, however. Mind you, this is a bit of a medieval culture, and an alien one, at that. I'm considering all possibilities because we really can't deem what's accepted or not within a royal family of an alien culture. Perhaps the royal families are the descendants of espers (Layans, anyway), or maybe even gods. We do know that first cousin marriage is accepted in its worldview, so, while more extreme, perhaps half-sibling marriage wouldn't seem too far fetched to them. It's certainly happened in our world.
Srijita wrote:
That has to be the premise we work on: either Lena did not discover her pregnancy until they had parted company, or she chose not to disclose it to him because she perceived his love for Maia. Otherwise Rhys becomes a less than sympathetic character.
I agree, and I've sent you several e-mails about this! Touch base what you'd like to see in your next e-mail; we'll figure it out.