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“Yes. As other industries and wealth grew on Zabria it became harder and harder to recruit new labourers for the ranches on this planet. It is not considered a desirable or honourable life.”
She whirled on me, her tiny hands flying to her hips.
“Well, that’s just nonsense!” she said with a fearsome frown. “And I’m sorry if that’s offensive, since I guess that’s your culture and all, but any man who does an honest day’s work is honourable in my mind!”
Her words twisted through me, the oddest sensation of pleasure and pain. Pleasure that she might think me honourable.
Pain that it was not true.
Even now, I was lying to her, at least by omission. I had not lied about the fact that fewer and fewer Zabrians wanted to come work the land on this colony planet. That was all correct, as was the fact that dwindling numbers of women were willing to come here over the cycles, which meant no children to prolong farming family lines.
What I did not tell her was that when the ranchers were all gone, the Empire replaced them with us.
Cherry popped another bite of food into her mouth – bracku meat this time. The anger on her face melted away.
“Wow. Alright. I see why that’s a delicacy. That’s fantastic,” she said, chewing slowly, savouring it. “I’ve never had Old-Earth style beef. I wonder if this is what it was like.”
“That is not even the highest grade,” I informed her. “The bracku meat I smoke usually comes from older beasts that the Empire is unwilling to buy.”
She shook her head again, up and down this time, and ate another piece.
It was strange to converse so much and for so long with someone like this. To stand together, eating with such familiarity.
I was surprised that I did not dislike it. It wasn’t exactly easy to talk to her, but it wasn’t as torturous as I’d feared. Cherry seemed so sincere in her curiosity about this place. And about me. Though I could not fathom why.
But then again, I also could not fathom why she’d wanted to marry me at all.
Yet here she was.
“Well, I don’t care what the folks back home say, Silar. I’m glad to be here.” She met my gaze steadily. “It might be hard work but I’m used to that from the factory. And you’ve got all these lovely animals! Only animals I got to contend with back home were factory rats. Not to mention the amazing fruit and the plants and…”
“And?”
She hesitated. Her eyes took on a peculiar quality. A sort of glow that was not a glow. Not in the way my eyes glowed at least.
“And you.”
“Me,” I repeated hollowly.
She made a dainty sound in her throat and looked down at her plate.
“Yes, you. This is a good life you’re offering me, Silar. And I know we just met, but I feel like I can already tell that it’s better because you’re in it.”
She seemed rather shy as she said it, fiddling with a bit of ardu egg on her plate but not actually picking it up and eating it.
I wanted to hold her.
And not in the perverse way that I’d wanted to put my tongue in her mouth before.
Just hold her.
Just to see what it felt like. What she felt like.
Was that normal? Would she welcome it?
Or would she take back every single word she’d just said?
Perhaps it was not normal. I’d never seen my own father do such a thing, at least not that I could remember. And my father had been a paragon of Zabrian excellence.
