Her Beasts

Weeds

After a few days, the weather cleared up. Iris would finally have the opportunity to weed the field, but she felt conflicted. Today was also the weekly market day and Iris didn't want to miss out.

Caspian could feel Iris's conflicted emotions as if they were physically manifesting before him. Her shoulders were tense and she seemed to be eating breakfast more slowly than usual. Caspian threw Ember a look as he offered

"What if I head to market by myself this morning? You can head over to the fields with Ember and Basil to weed and then Ember could fly you over to the city. You'd still have a bit of daylight left to shop that way.

Basil could go hunting while we are out and Ember could fly you back safely even at night. I would likely get back after you are already asleep, but I won't have a problem traveling at night since I won't be worried about you, little mate."

Iris felt guilty at the idea of making her mates work so hard, but was relieved to be able to do everything she needed today. Iris gave a small smile as she looked to Ember

"I'll be in your care today then."

Ember felt his anger at Caspian deciding things for him subside as he heard Iris's words. Ember was happy to have the opportunity to show off just how useful he really was. He felt that perhaps it wasn't so bad to have Caspian factor him into such matters if it earned Iris's affections.

After breakfast, Iris packed up several dozens of outfits Iris, Basil, and Caspian had painstakingly made. Iris also included a few copies of Manacala and some cookies that she nearly wrapped in animal hide. Holly and some others had wanted a copy for themselves after enjoying game night and the cookies were bound to go over well too.

While the beastmen might not be aware of what a cookie was, Holly was a good friend and was bound to bring other females from their tribe who would also want to buy some. If it came down to it, Caspian could also offer part of a cookie for samples in order to invite more business. Caspian didn't want to do so and devalue Iris's hard work, but he promised Iris he would do his best to sell everything.

Iris also decided to include anything she had been gifted at the beauty pageant that hadn't wilted, only keeping Ember's gift and any honey or furs she had received. Pretty much all of the furs and hides had already been turned into clothes to sell anyhow.

Ember was happy to see that Iris liked his gift enough to keep it for herself. Iris had not removed it since he had gifted it to her so this concern was pointless.

With that, Caspian ran off in his wolf form while carrying an oversized animal skin bag in his teeth. Iris was just as amused as ever by the comical proportions in the beastworld as she smiled amusedly.

Basil and Ember finished the soup and washing up while Iris washed up. Iris was beginning to feel dirty again. Bathing with a wet animal fur was only going to get her so far for so long. Plus, Iris felt that her teeth were in rough shape.

Iris did not have toothpaste or even know how to make baking soda. She also did not have anything that resembled a toothbrush. The best Iris could do was to rub a wet animal hide against her teeth to clear away the plaque and chew on mint leaves for freshness. Iris sighed as she reminisced on how great deodorant, perfumes, and fragrant soaps from the modern age were.

Iris felt quite pampered by her three mates, but there would always be luxuries from the modern world she missed. While Iris had extensive knowledge on many historical technology, she was not good at everything. Iris did not know how to invent baking soda or create nails and her books did not detail these things either.

When Basil returned to Iris's side, he carried Iris up into his arms, nuzzling his face into her neck. Basil was always happy to spend time with his favorite female and he was sad he would be away from her for a period of time today.

Basil gently carried Iris to the cave system entrance and placed her on Ember's back. Then, after he saw them take flight, he quickly chased after them to the fields.

When Iris arrived, she was quite happy to see the crops were already beginning to sprout. There was minimal flooding issues and there were still relatively few weeds in the field.

Basil carefully followed Iris around the field and took note as she pointed out various weeds and plants. Basil had an excellent senses when it came to plants and only needed to have things pointed out to him once before getting the hang of things.

Ember was less sure of things, but didn't think pulling up the weeds would be difficult. The weeds only had short roots and could easily be pinched between Ember's fingers and plucked from the ground.

Iris was patient as she worked with Ember row by row pointing out which plants to keep and which were weeds that needed removed. Thankfully, there were only five types of crops planted and the same thing was planted in each row. This made identifying what belonged much easier for Ember.

While Ember wasn't as suited to working with plants as Basil, he wasn't afraid of hard work. Besides, Ember could travel farther faster and always went out, even in the pouring rain. While Ember did not wish to waste too much time weeding crops, he could spend a little time each day to keep the worst at bay.

After successfully completing the weeding, Iris walked over to Basil. After a brief hug and kiss goodbye, Iris inquired

"Are you really going to be alright by yourself today?"

Basil gave a soft chuckle as he pulled Iris close with his tail. He replied in a teasing voice

"Why are you worried I'll wander off while you're gone? Don't worry about me. I'm just going to gather some more herbs and some of those grasses you like to eat to go with the meat for dinner. I'll be sure to prepare you something good for dinner so hurry back."

Basil leaned in towards Iris as he captured her lips with his. Iris felt her skin grow warm from his passionate kiss and was left panting heavily when they pulled away. Iris quietly said her goodbyes with an "I love you" as she set off.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Want to support the author? Check out my Patreon! For $5 / month you can get full access to my works including early access to the newest chapters, ad-free reading of previously posted chapters, and the author's notes.

patreon.com/AutumnPlunkett