Page 22 of I Married A Lizardman

That made my anger melt. I didn’t want to upset my mate. It was a fair question to ask, especially considering her background. That was but another thing I should have taken into account when informing Kayog of my requisites for a mate. Then again, had I excluded farming, Susan wouldn’t be by my side right this instant, and she was rather growing on me.

I sighed and nodded. “Let me give you a tour of the village and surrounding areas, and we can talk at the same time,” I said, gesturing towards one of the paved paths. She smiled and fell in step with me. “Farming is a sensitive topic for my people ever since the Vaengi upended our lives. Five generations ago, they came to Xecania. It was my people’s first contact with an alien species. As we’ve lived in harmony for centuries with the handful of other species inhabiting our planet, my ancestors had no reason to expect treachery from these newcomers.”

“But they enslaved you instead,” Susan said.

I nodded. “Their first action, before they even spoke a single word, was to kill the Clan Leader,” I said in anger. “Everyone else was given a collar that inflicted pain and could even cause death if they refused to obey. For the next 54 years, my ancestors were forced to work the land until they died of exhaustion. The Vaengi called it farming, but it was a desecration of the land. The earth and water were poisoned by the chemicals they forced my people to use. It caused terrible rashes to those who worked the fields. Some of their scales even fell off and never grew back.”

Susan covered her mouth in horror as she listened to the tale, barely looking at the various houses we were walking past.

“My people suffered horribly. We would probably still be facing that same hardship if not for one of the Vaengi savagely beating a young female named Molzeg,” I continued.

Susan gasped. “Molzeg? As in the elder that married us last night?”

I smiled. “Molzeg and Pawis—our Elder Gatherer—are the only two still alive who had interacted with the Vaengi as they were both younglings at the time. Everyone else you see here was born after our ancestors routed them. When the adults started tending her wounds, they noticed her collar had been damaged from the beating.”

“Wow,” Susan whispered, her eyes widening in awe. “I bet your people were panicking at the thought the Vaengi might discover it and replace it with a functional one.”

“Yes. That was exactly their fear. They would never have another chance like this,” I said, pleased that my mate was so caught up in the story. I gestured at the Great Hall that we were just passing in front of. “This used to be the common room shared by all my ancestors under slavery. They slept, ate, and lived there the few hours they weren’t working the fields. Molzeg was lying inside that day, being treated. She was a willful child, barely eight years old, and demanded they all heal her as best they could then went back to the fields.”

“Right there and then?” Susan asked, impressed.

I nodded. “She walked past one of the supervisors isolated from the others and jumped on him. Even as children, Andturians possess greater physical strength than the Vaengi. She had no difficulty overpowering him, despite her wounds. His controlling device failed to cause her pain. So, she killed him, took the device, and used it to release the others.” I looked at my woman with a triumphantly vicious grin. “They massacred the invaders who took too long to realize the collars no longer worked. They had grown so complacent that they didn’t have the original lightning weapons they had used to subdue my people.”

“You killed them all?” my mate asked, her eyes sparkling with a vengeful glee that pleased me tremendously.

“Some of them managed to flee,” I said, shaking my head. “The next day, they returned with greater numbers, but my people were ready. They had spent the night recovering all the Vaengi’s weapons in the dwellings and practicing using them. They hid in the nearby forests, some in the fields, and only a handful in and around the buildings then basically hunted down the invaders. My people moved faster, were stronger, and knew well how to hunt. The Vaengi’s technology did not save them.”

“So, after another defeat, they finally let you be?” Susan asked.

“Not right away. They came back a couple of times and failed both attempts. We had their technology to warn us of their approach. They failed because they assumed we were too stupid and primitive to understand,” I said with disdain. “But what truly convinced them to leave was that our Hunters went to the other species inhabiting our world to also find them enslaved. They freed them using the devices and helped them slaughter the invaders. The Vaengi realized there would be no easy way for them to reclaim what they had lost.”

“So, how did the United Planets Organization manage to get a foothold here and convince you to join their alliance?” Susan asked.

I laughed. “It took quite a few attempts from them, and a lot of near tragedies for the emissaries they sent. But it was the Temerns that convinced us to speak with them. Like Molzeg, they have affinities to see beyond what others can. They understood our emotions and how to interact with us in a way that would build trust.”

“Their empathic abilities,” Susan said with a nod.

I smiled in agreement. My mate sighed, a somewhat disappointed expression descending on her features.

“And ever since, your people have been dead set against anything revolving around farming,” Susan said with resignation. “I knew your people had been enslaved, but now I understand better why you feel so strongly against working the lands again.”

“I am pleased that you understand,” I said with relief while continuing the tour of the village.

I pointed out the various points of interest, including the larder, the dry food storage areas, the location of crafting materials and equipment, as well as those of completed arts and crafts. We didn’t have a store or currencies per se within the village. Anything we wanted, we traded for in exchange for another item or service. In some cases, a request would simply be granted in exchange for future compensation. Nonetheless, whenever someone no longer wanted or needed something that was not expected to be sold at the market, it was placed in a common storage. Anyone who wanted it could simply take it. Otherwise, every dwelling had an individual storage for things we wanted to keep and not give away.

Susan expressed a great deal of interest in the common storage. While I had no issue with her redecorating our dwelling however she saw fit, the things that held her interest confused me. Still, I continued the tour, showing her the school, meditation gardens, healer’s hall, play areas for the children and the different ones for the adult sports and physical activities, and then the pier and beach area.

But just as I was readying to conclude the tour, Susan insisted on visiting the land surrounding the village. I immediately got a bad feeling about that request. Nonetheless, I complied and showed her what she wanted. The awed expression on her face as she walked over the abandoned field further distressed me.

She crouched down at one point and took a fistful of soil, breaking it between her fingers before letting it trickle back down to the ground. It had taken years for the environmental damage of the Vaengi’s farming methods to be reversed. Some of it was due to the United Planets Organization sending experts to clean the toxins in the land and water.

Although Susan said nothing, I could see her wheels turning and the excitement growing on her face. She then noticed a couple of abandoned buildings at the edge of one of the largest fields behind the Great Hall.

“What is that?” she asked, pointing at it.

“The one on the left used to be a tool shed, while the one on the right used to contain seeds and other farming resources,” I explained.

“Can we take a look inside?” Susan asked in a voice full of hope.

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