> While there has been nothing suggesting multiple wives/husbands that I > can > recall in the novels, there has at the same time been nothing saying that > people can't or don't have multiple spouses. One would think this would be more likely in cases where issue isn't an issue. Dragaeran prostitutes don't get pregnant - especially with Easterners as clients. Look at all the history on Earth where sex and marriage have been less integrated issues than they are today. Marriage has been primarily for life partners and heir producing. Love and romance haven't been as important parts, and were often separate. This is especially true in highly structured societies such as feudal ones. ---- I think what would be most interesting is if the marital/mating patterns of the various houses parallel the habits of whatever animal they are matched with. Such that the other reason that the various Houses don't marry and interbreed is because the whole situation just feels 'wrong' on a whole 'nother instinctual level. Yeah, Orca's have pods, Tiassa sleep with anything that interests them and don't ever really marry, Lyorn have packs, the basic internal family structure of the Houses may all look the same but as soon as you start actually looking at the power and relationship dynamics they are all very different... Absolutely nothing to support this at all, but it's a fun speculation. David