“They’re not women, they’re females. And a female’s primary duty to her family is to protect her lineage and ancestry, and to build the best possible alliance for her children. They do this by picking the best male lineage they can legally tie into. As the undisputed holders of the blood lineage, females are sacred. They can be thrown out of their homes, but they will never lose their lineage. However, if a male does something unworthy, he can be thrown out of his family’s lineage. Forever. And the last thing any male wants is to be thrown out of his family.”

“Why?”

“Andarions have a very stringent and rigid caste system. When you lose lineage, you are totally outcast from your blood family, and it cannot be undone. No Andarion is ever supposed to speak to such a being again. They are considered worse than dead. And if found in Andarion territory, the Outcast can be imprisoned or killed, without trial. It’s why all their paperwork requires a dual lineage to be listed. And why they methodically check it.”

That was so harsh. Not to mention the fact that the rest of the universe hated and feared Andarions, passionately. Even in times of peace, Andarions weren’t welcomed into the populations of other worlds. In some worlds, they were killed on sight or instantly enslaved.

The prejudice against them was extremely severe, and since they stood out, there was no way for them to hide or blend among the other known races.

“So how does an Andarion know if another has been disinherited without the paperwork?”

Thia rubbed noses with her lorina. When she met Sumi’s gaze, rage burned bright in those green eyes. “Their fathers hold them while their mothers slash them across both their left and right biceps and pectorals in a specific pattern so that everyone who sees it will know they’ve been disinherited and are Outcast. When they say ‘present arms’ they’re not talking about weaponry. They mean for their males to literally bare their arms for public inspection and scrutiny.”

Sumi vaguely recalled seeing those scars on Fain’s arms and chest when she’d been a girl, but she’d had no idea that was what had caused them. She’d assumed it was from some kind of accident. Never would she have dreamed his own parents had injured him so. “Is that why so many of the Andarion male fashions and formal military uniforms show their upper arms and pecs?”

Thia nodded. “It’s done to prove they’re legitimate sons. Fully lineaged. And those who have tattoos are either paying homage to their noble or heroic bloodlines, or to those they married into… it’s considered bragging when it’s their blood lineage. Noble when it’s the wife’s.”