"Perhaps you should ask your mother about the circumstances of her marriage? Being a bastard may not matter here, but it seems to have played a large part in your life. Whether we say so or not, such humiliation can stay with us. I understand what it is to be made to feel inferior because of your birth. Ask her, you may learn more and find something you never thought."

There was a sweet smile on her face. "It depends on the man. The gods are feckless children who indulge in their own pleasures. It would be better to be born of a good man than to be one of thousands from the gods."