Page 35 of I Married A Lizardman

Iwanted this day to be over. Although the great hunt had not been a complete disaster, it hadn’t been even remotely as successful as we had needed it to be. I wished to be in my sleeping nest, losing myself in my mate, and forgetting for a short while all the troubles weighing on my shoulders. But now, even Susan had gone to the market to sell goods. I didn’t know how to handle that.

A part of me felt betrayed. Our agreement had been for her to grow produce dear to her people that was otherwise impossible for her to acquire here. There had never been discussions of her producing food to be sold. At the same time, it was fair for her to seek a means of earning some credits in order to purchase things for herself that couldn’t be found here. After all, she had mentioned wanting to upgrade one of her pieces of farming equipment.

I took a stroll through her field, my jaw dropping at the sight of all the fat, leafy greens covering rows of the land I’d allocated to her. The presence of Surtas shadowing me only twisted the knife in the raw wound of my failure. Setting foot inside her sheds robbed me of voice. The amount of food Susan had managed to produce by herself in such a short time left me reeling. None of it was familiar to my people, but it looked fresh, healthy, and quite appealing.

I should be providing for my mate, but she had no need of me.

“She had seven cooling units full of food, and there’s still all of this left?” Surtas said with an odd mix of anger and bitterness.

My head jerked towards him, and I eyed the Inosh Mountain Clan Leader warily.

“In one month, she produced so much food she can sell some of it. We canvassed the forest for three weeks and barely brought back anything,” Surtas said. “What does that tell you?”

“We don’t even know that it will sell,” I argued.

“That’s not the point, and you know it!” Surtas snapped angrily.

No, that wasn’t the point. “It is not me you need to convince, Surtas,” I said in a tired voice. “Maybe her food will sell well at the market. Then all the clans will get to see it.”

“And then?” he insisted.

“And then we will advise,” I replied in a calm voice. “But tell me, my friend, would your own clan agree to work our lands to grow food as my mate has?”

His shoulders slumped. “Right now, no,” he reluctantly admitted. “I pray the Spirits your mate has a resounding success at the market, and that it will open the people’s eyes. I mean, look at all of this food!” he added, waving at the shelves filled with berries, maturing seedlings, and the wide troughs filled with dirt where large, flat mushrooms were growing. “She will never be able to eat all of it on her own.”

“She isn’t going to,” I said. I’d begun to suspect her not so hidden agenda right from the beginning and received confirmation from one of the Gatherers while putting away what little meat we’d brought back. “Tonight, she will prepare some of her human food for everyone at evening meal so that we can sample it.”

“Clever female,” Surtas said, a hopeful smile stretching his lips.

“Clever, yes. But I fear she will face great disappointment,” I said with a frown. “The people will appreciate the gesture, but I doubt it will yield the result she is hoping for. In truth, I’m surprised she didn’t bring a variety of this produce to the market for sale as well. After all, there is a small number of human residents that work at some of the resorts and at the spaceport. Surely, they would have been interested in such goods.”

“I am glad she did not. I believe the Spirits sent your mate to us. Today is important. I feel it in my bones,” Surtas said with a conviction that sparked an irrational hope within me.

“May you be right,” I said.

Casting one final look at the bounty growing inside the shed, I headed back to the plaza to mount my mraka and head to the market, Surtas in my wake. Much could happen if my mate’s venture proved successful. In light of our hunt’s partial failure, would it embolden her into trying to convert our people to her ways?

Would that be a bad thing?

Had she come to us in a generation or two from now, it would have been a great thing. While I was personally softening to the potential of what her skill could do for our people, the majority of our clan would not bend, no matter the cost. A plethora of scenarios on how the day would end depending on the outcome of the market played in a loop in my head as we raced to the spaceport.

By the time we reached it, my heart tightened viewing the crowd already amassed outside the venue. As with every month of late, the same type of customers were gathering, all of them talking about the off-worlder goods they were looking to acquire. Over the past couple of years, the number of native stalls had steadily decreased to be replaced by foreigners trying to flood our market with their products. I held no hopes of a good outcome today—a second blow I could have truly done without.

I made my way to the market where every merchant was finalizing their set up for the imminent opening. Finding my mate’s table almost empty distressed me. As much as I feared her success, I also didn’t want her to fail, not only to spare her the disappointment, but also because it would likely undermine her already shaky standing among the people. Word had quickly spread that she would be attempting to help our sales. Although no one could fault her if that failed, an unhealthy level of anticipation had been building among my clanmates.

However, the first couple of customers roaming nearby drew my attention. I didn’t want to hope, having been let down so many times before, and yet I couldn’t help it. As always, they strolled nearby, close enough to get an idea of what was on offer, but not so much that it would allow us to strike a conversation with them.

And then, the first couple of Bosengis dropped by.

Their lukewarm interest in the weapons and jewelry on display completely transformed the minute the female took a whiff of the berries. Her beady eyes widened, the small holes on her flat face that served as nostrils flared, and the external gills around the upper side of her round face stood on ends, making her head look like a strange star.

“Reezia!” she whispered, half-running to my mate’s table.

Her partner appeared stunned and quickly followed her. We could literally see their heartbeats accelerating through their semi-translucent skins as they stared at the bounty laid before my mate.

“Can I interest you in some reezia berries harvested fresh from this morning?” Susan asked in a gentle voice.

“From this morning?” the female exclaimed in disbelief.

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