Page 48 of Magic in His Arms

“Trades.Welding, plumbing, and electrical.A bit of construction but not much.”

“Uh-huh.Why do I think you guys are sportier?”

He blinked.“Um, so, we are really athletic.Two clan members made it to the continental games and came back with a gold and a silver.”

She looked him over.“Weightlifting?”

“Powerlifting.Yeah.Before I was speaker.”

“So, ten years after the clan’s founding.”

“You don’t miss much, do you?”

“Not much.You taught Day-ek, so you had to have been a speaker for at least a decade before that.He’s twenty-eight and has been a speaker for six years.I don’t know how long the apprenticeship is for a speaker.”

He didn’t answer.“How long is it for a hunter?”

“Three years if you already have the basics.Seven years if you don’t.”

“How long was your training?”

“Twelve months.Matthias and Dem-rah were thorough on how prey behaves.”

“Yes, I suppose they would.”

“So, what was Abel-ur up to?”

“Ah, he was in the triathlon.Normally, he is solid stamina.”

“He was having a bad day?”

“He had been working with some teens heading off to university.It was early registration, so they did a huge session with computers lined up, and he has fast fingers on a computer.The second they got into the portal, he was entering their information.He calls it clan meditation.”

“Oh.How long was he working on it?”

“He started at three in the morning and kept going until the last kid was registered around six.”

“Three?”

“Four of the kids are heading across the continent.”

“Oh.Right.Time difference.”

“Yeah, their parents are going a little crazy, but we have found a clan to take them in under the traveller regulation, as temporary members without lasting partnerships as a requirement.”

“Okay.Nice.That explains why he was a bit brain-numb.”

“Yup.He is also used to delicate women being delicate.Your sister is...not.”

“Yeah, that was the weirdest switch-up.”

“You have a lot of orcs expecting you to act like a female in heat?”

She shrugged.“A few.They then learn that my combat skills are not theoretical.I fight, tackle, hunt, and torture for a living.”

His eyes widened.“So, the last thing that you want is to have to fight a lover.”

“Yup.”