Page 32 of I Married A Lizardman

“There are always other ways,” Zoltar replied, stubbornly.

“I have yet to see those other ways you speak of,” Surtas said with disdain. “You are young and impetuous, Zoltar. When it comes to the survival of your people, pride is a fool’s luxury. Molzeg said Olix’s off-worlder mate would save our people. Maybe she’s showing us the way, but we are too stubborn to follow it. Until then, pray the Spirits that the great hunt is successful.”

With these words, Surtas turned around and headed back towards the plaza, leaving me shaken. Zoltar, ever the dark cloud, hovered around, his gaze weighing on me.

“Whatever you may think of my impulsiveness, heed me well, cousin,” Zoltar said. “You know how I feel about this farming business, but this isn’t about me. Our people willnot workthe land. Youknowit. You have heard them speak just like I have. Your heart is in the right place, butdo notlet your female take you down this dangerous path. If you do, the peoplewillremove you as our leader, and it will be all your doing.”

He didn’t wait for my response, and also left. My chest ached, and the same feeling of helplessness washed over me. Whatever my personal feelings, Zoltar was right. Our people would choose to sell our lands before digging dirt.

But my mate wasn’t digging dirt: her machine was.

Chapter 13

Susan

The next couple of days flew by too fast. I would have put my work on hold to spend more time with my husband before his departure, but his own work and the arrival of first Surtas, then of Clan Leader Oljek, quickly sucked up all of Olix’s time. Even the last play day was cancelled. Therefore, I not only fully plowed and tilled the entire plot, I also planted my corn, wheat, bean, beet, and carrot seeds.

The whole time, an adorable little girl named Nosha lurked around. Despite her very young age, her eyes shone with intelligence and an insatiable curiosity. I could see her desire to come talk to me and ask me questions. I would have loved nothing more than to indulge her, but I pretended not to see her. I was already walking on a fine line, I couldn’t risk offending her parents or the clan with perceived attempts at indoctrinating their offspring.

For the same reason, although Luped had hinted at being able to build me a sprinkler system, I decided to stick to my watering tank. The tank could take 100 gallons and could be programmed to sprinkle the specific amount of water required according to the moisture in the ground and the type of vegetable growing there. With the sink inside the shed and the water faucet outside, I had plenty of sources of water to quickly refill it.

Granted, a proper sprinkler system would have made my life a whole lot easier, but tensions and resentment had grown noticeably since I’d begun working outdoors. The terrible situation with the Inosh Mountains Clan only made things even more tense. Thankfully, the people didn’t have to see me traipsing around the field. The tiller and the water tank did all the work. I only had to refill them with seed and water as needed, which could all be done discreetly in the shadow of the shed.

Still, gathering by the Great Hall to see my husband and more than half of our clan—in an equal proportion of males and females—leave on hunting and fishing expeditions turned me into a real mess. Even Luped left. Only the Crafters, some of the Gatherers, the children, and the elders remained. It was a testament to the peaceful nature of their world that no warriors were needed to protect the village in the absence of the Hunters.

Things hadn’t fully smoothed out with Yamir, but she wasn’t giving me the cold shoulder anymore. The fact that I wasn’t sweating my ass off in the field had earned me quite a few points towards getting back into her good graces. It was all about appearances—a lesson I had properly learned.

By the end of the first week following Olix’s departure, my mother-in-law even expressed a polite interest in visiting the sheds, although I suspected it was more to spy on the extent of my heresy than anything else. Nevertheless, the sight of my mushrooms fruiting on the plastic bags impressed her, not to mention the first sprouts of my seedlings poking their heads out.

With all of this initial work done, I now had very little to do except for checking daily that my seedlings and mushroom beds had sufficient moisture and the right room temperature to thrive. As that was done in a blink, and since I didn’t have to water the outdoor crops daily, that meant lots of free time on my hands. I decided to spend it with the Crafters, learning the basics of their trade as well as familiarizing myself with their products and the unique properties that made them so special.

Ever since hearing about the monthly public market, I’d been doing my homework finding out more about the species inhabiting Xecania, and especially the rich refugees that now dominated the planet’s economy. One of Kayog’s gifts, hidden in my belongings, had prompted this special interest. I hadn’t found the reezia seeds until after the first play day and had been forced to do some research on the knowledge network to find out what they were.

When I realized they produced some sort of berries highly sought after by the Bosengi, I thought Kayog had mixed things up and gifted them to the wrong person. But then I realized how fickle and temperamental they were to grow unless handled by a highly skilled farmer. That’s when I got it.

Part of me was starting to feel used in a game of chess that was far bigger than me. But the other part realized that maybe the Temern was giving me tools and options instead for me to leverage as I saw fit… or not at all. The fact that reezia berries grew very quickly, only 20 to 30 days from first planting, I could have a decent crop for the public market. I’d be cutting it short, but it was feasible. This set a plan in motion in my head that could work even better than my original one.

However, there would be no avoiding some traipsing in dirt as my seedlings began sprouting. Unwilling to antagonize Yamir and the others, especially in the absence of Luped and Olix, I opted for caution and repotted the sprouts ready for transplant into the peat pots I’d had the foresight to bring.

It required a bit of logistics to reorganize everything in a way to give the right access to light to the plants that needed it so they could thrive. But in the end, it worked out. In another couple of weeks, when they were ready to go outside, I’d be able to plant them directly into the ground with the peat pots as they were biodegradable.

By the end of the second week after Olix’s departure, I was truly missing him, but also the life and energy that had reigned in the village with everyone present. Even with all the children around, running and playing—when they weren’t studying or doing chores—Monkoo’s spirit had become subdued, as if the world had paused while awaiting the return of its missing tribe members. Even play days had been very quiet, a majority of people doing personal stuff instead.

To my even greater distress, Yamir informed us that she had received a message from Olix informing her that they would stay away at least another week. By the sound of it, they might even return just in time for the market. That meant possibly up to nine more days before I saw my husband again.

The only mild consolation I drew out of his delayed return was the fact that my period had begun that same morning. Not only welcoming him with a ‘can’t touch this for the next five days’ would have sucked, but I also wouldn’t have been in the mood to explain to him why human females bled for five days every month without dying, and that yes, it was totally normal. While I had brought a year’s supplies of liners and tampons, I would eventually have to look into how to resupply moving forward as one of the extremely rare human females on this planet.

Three days before the public market—and Olix’s presumed return—I began planting my peat pot seedlings in the field outside. My tiller did most of the work, its stinger punching a hole of the appropriate size in the ground so that I only had to grab a peat pot on the hover platform following me and place it in. The tiller’s mechanical arm then covered the pot with dirt before moving on to the next spot.

Despite how little effort it involved on my part, I still ended up spending a couple of hours walking in the field, which drew far too many eyes on me, especially from little Nosha. To my surprise, they weren’t as hostile as I had expected—mostly curious and reserved. Once again, I wanted to believe that seeing me doing this without breaking a sweat might be gradually changing their mind about modern farming.

Had I been richer, I wouldn’t even have had to place those peat pots in the ground. I would have acquired a fancier tiller-planter model that could not only plow or till three rows at the time, remove rocks and weeds, and seed, it could also transplant peat pot seedlings into the ground on its own. If my plans worked out even half as well as I hoped at the upcoming market, I would definitely buy myself an upgrade.

The next morning, Luped and the Fishers returned. No words could express the depth of the happiness I felt at seeing her pretty face and lovely blue scales. How odd that barely a month ago, when I first arrived here, I’d thought the Andturians’ appearance rather freaky, and thought they all looked alike. Sure, they shared genetic features, like humans did, but their faces and bodies were distinct. My Olix and his sister were both on the gorgeous side of the Andturian aesthetic, a beauty inherited from their mother Yamir.

The Fishers’ haul turned out to be pretty good. Although not record-breaking, it had everyone’s spirits up. Not having much to do myself, I happily joined the efforts of fileting and salting the fish and cleaning the shellfish. Everything was then stashed in crate-like cooling units, stacked by category in the huge pantry next to the larder.

The day after tomorrow, I would rise with the sun to harvest my reezia berries and pack similar cooling units with full racks of them. Thinking about it made me a nervous wreck. I had so many hopes pinned on the success of this sale.

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