"How would you know, you can't even try entire kinds of it without getting married."

"The desire has never moved anyone to atrocities!"

"I think that is maybe a separate thing."

"Maybe."

"Yanno, since I can't get married nobody'd even have to know!"

"I don't conduct myself in a way I'd be ashamed for my people to learn of."

"Wow that sounds annoying."

"Occasionally."

"Which occasions?" she wonders brightly.

"Well, say, if something happened to you that you didn't choose, and that you don't really want to talk about, but that would affect whether your people want you to be King if they knew. That's kind of an unpleasant situation to be in."

...nod.

"Or if you don't want to be King at all but it falls to you because the people who wanted it are dead and worse, that's not much fun either."

"Do you want a hug or am I scary."

"I don't think you are very likely to endeavor to use hugs as an opportunity to murder me."

She holds out her arms.

Hug. His arms of course go nowhere near his hair. "We had lots of time for happiness, and we will again someday. What matters now is winning."

She is snuggly but doesn't grab a braid (or try to murder him). "- who's we?"

"My people. My family. You it doesn't sound like had much time for happiness or are fully persuaded on the merits of winning."

"If they win they murder me and my baby too probably but I am not totally thrilled about the impending demise of the rest of my family, I admit."

"If you betray us in the middle of the night they don't murder you or your baby."

"They probably still do, since I did not have permission to attempt this scheme to begin with, but I suppose you don't know that."

"We could ask you to swear to some things but given what you've told us about your current state-of-being-sworn-to-things that is very very dangerous."

"Well I suppose I could just live in this room literally forever, do you think you can count on me not to make my baby swear anything or will she get to go out and play sometimes?"

"Guards would hear. - she can probably go out and play but we'd want to know more about - why orcs even when not under orders seem more willing to do bad things than Elves -"

"...not having the tradeoff between fun and rules and blah blah thing that Elves have?" she suggests. "Growing up in Angband? Possibly you would not be so very well behaved if you were in constant pain?"