Eating lunch in that heavy atmosphere was not good. I didn't even go for seconds. Everyone was tense as if they were eating their last meal before their condemnation. I knew I would have to work hard to help the farmers improve their craft and the productivity of the farms. The merchants and Lu-Ninurta all left.

Samus was about to leave too but I held him back. "Master Samus, I would like to commission one specific item from your smithy, if possible."

He looked at me thoughtfully. "We are quite full of orders right now, the Enshi is refitting the army. I can sneak something if it is an easy task."

"I want a set of chainmail armor made for me. Out of a special metal I have."

"It might be troublesome. Is this metal hard to work?"

"Not more than steel. And I won't need rivets to close the chain links. I can close them myself later."

He raised an eyebrow but I could sense Nanna nodding on the other side. Samus sighed. "If it is just drawing the wire, cutting the rings and making the chainmail mesh, I can have three apprentices to do it for you. It would take then two days to craft the armor, then another day for the heat treatment."

"You don't need to heat the armor. I can also do it myself later. The metal is a little stubborn though. It requires a strong and steady hand to shape it."

He smiled. "I need to see that metal. Is it something we can work into other things as well?"

"Defensive gear? Yes. It doesn't hold an edge as well as steel, but people in my world did make knives and swords out of it. Unfortunately, we can't smelt it with what we have now, but it can be forged."

The technology required to smelt titanium from ores doesn't exist. But they could forge it.

"Well, shall we see that metal?"

I took Nanna's arm and the three of us crossed the path from the tent to the villa's annex building. I opened the room where my stuff was stored, and Samus' eyes almost popped out when he saw my stash of metals.

Nanna sighed. "I'll be next door if you need me. I'm tired."

He went through the frying-pan ingots and weighted them, checked the texture, scratched the metal, I could swear at one point he was about to lick an ingot.

"That... I can recognize iron, copper, and is that tin? But what are all these metals?"

"Things that were mixed in the slag and in other places. I spent four months in the underground tunnels, of course, I'd do some mining," I boasted to him.

"And this... what might this be?" He lifted a metal piece that might be the love child of a bucket and a whole dry passionfruit.

I felt like a kid showing his scribbles to a museum curator. Samus had a smirk as he turned the piece around to look inside.

"That's a helmet. I made it in the min... underground tunnels to protect my head."

"I can see how it looks like a helmet. But you did it with your power? I'm impressed. Could you put it on?"

He handed the helmet to me. It has a lot of scratches and bumps from all it had to suffer and I think I rebuilt it once or twice. I put the helmet on my head.

"I used a cowl to keep the metal from touching my scalp directly though."

"I can see that's a piece of armor that did its job."

"Yeah. I couldn't just turn it back to a metal ingot. I guess I'll keep it as a memento of my four-month trip through hell."

I took off the helmet and put it back on the pile of stuff. He picked it up and checked the dents and scratches.

"You do that. Some smiths keep their first pieces to remember where they started from. But if this is how the material you want your armor made of looks like I'm sure it will work."

"Thanks."

He put the helmet aside and went back to rummaging through the pile of ingots. He showed me one ingot. "What is this? White gold? It is as heavy as gold should be. And it is harder too."

I was itching to check the resonance of the metal. I didn't need to though. The "W" engraved on the ingot was enough for me. I sighed.

"Can you really tell how heavy a metal block should be?" I asked him.

Nanna snorted from her room, "He's cheating. The damn sorcerer is using magic!"

Samus smirked, caught. "I thought it was obvious. Didn't you see the flash of magic?"

I shook my head. "No. I can't see magic. Nanna said I can't cast spells."

It didn't hurt as much now. I knew I was pretty much unkillable and that was actually pretty nice! I flexed my right hand. The feeling of being able to move it again was just right. Awesome, I mean. Samus, however, didn't seem as comfortable with my statement.

"That's..."

"It is fine though. My magic is used to fuel the boons Tarhun gave me. And as you can see," I tapped a pile of ingots. "it is quite the bounty."

"I must admit. What is this glyph though?"

He drew his finger over the "W" for tungsten.

"It is the symbol for that metal. Back in my world, we knew all the metals that existed and even made up some of our own. This one is called 'tungsten'."

He creased an eyebrow. "A senior magistrate's alarm?" - He said 'Tukku-sartennu' more or less. I think my phonetical English is like a heavily accented and less guttural Akkadian.

"No. In my language it is called 'tungsten'," I repeated the phonemes to him slowly.

"Is this the metal you want the armor made of? Seems really impressive but heavy. Are you sure you will be able to walk wearing it?"

I smiled, chuckled, and shook my head. "No. I want you to make the armor with this one," I showed him the titanium ingots.

He tested the metal. "This one seems really good. I can see it is flexible and resilient. But you said it is a stubborn one. How?"

"This baby, in my language, is called 'titanium'," I mouthed every sound to avoid misunderstandings. "And he dislikes being bent. So it will attempt to return to its shape. It will adapt to the new shape if you anneal it though. This metal is too flexible. You need to put some strength to overcome its flexibility."

There was no word for elasticity. I wondered how many words come out of my mouth as plain English and people just assumed I talk strangely. Damn.

"Can it heat in a forge?"

"Yes, you can forge it just as you would do to steel. How many ingots do you need to make the armor?"

"I'd like to have all of them. Maybe we can do something else. I know I want to try to make a certain type of sword with it."

Okay? I guess. It is not that I have a lot of use for these metals. I mean, I should make some voltaic cells with the magnesium and copper to power my devices, but who has time?

"It is fine if you take what you need. Honestly, most of these metals I can get more of them once I recover my powers."

He looked around and pats his toga. "I think I need a leather bag or something."

"I have one here," Nanna shouted from the other room.

For an old lady, she had excellent hearing. It is amazing what she might be snooping on. Samus shrugged and went to get the sack. He stuffed it with the titanium, the only tungsten ingot I had and some other metals. I didn't let him take any of the dangerous ones, like magnesium or sodium. Speaking of which,

"How did your experiments with the calcium went?"

"I didn't try anything fancy. I made mortar with it and repaired a crack in the storage room's wall. Well, I think this is it. I'll have the apprentices make your armor, it will be a good exercise to get the chain links right, especially if this metal is as stubborn as you claim. I'll send the finished piece here in three days, or early. If there's any problem, I'll tell you."

"Okay, thank you very much. And what about--"

"Don't worry about payment. The metals I got here are more than worth the work of the apprentices. I'll make sure you get a suit of mail fitting for the champion of Tarhun."

He seemed excited to work with the new metals. There was so much to do but things kept piling up. I kept jumping from hoop to hoop until I jumped in a hole.

"When things calm down, there's a lot I want to do. Let me escort you to the front gates, at least."

He nods. "Usually it is the gentleman that escorts the lady, but I will enjoy your company for a bit more. Shall we?"

I offered him my left elbow and he took it like a gentle-lady. We laughed and I took the master blacksmith to the front gate, where the guards just watched us, probably thinking it was another of my eccentric shenanigans. Oh, well.

I stood there in front of the closed gate for a few minutes, thinking about what I should do. Mostly fighting the urge to use what little magic I had in the tank to play with Decompose or just summon a device to use. Or listen to some music. Yes, maybe some music. I turned around and went to the backyard, where Arwia promptly found me and made me ditch my plans.

"Sandra. Are you busy? Could you lecture the children? I promised them you'd teach them another game if they listened to your lecture."

I sensed it was a rhetorical question. Arwia knew I had nothing else to do except spend time and recover.

"I wish I could see Abil-Kisu's baby," I mumbled while we walked to the patch of grass under a tree where the children patiently waited for us.

"You know you can't," Arwia told me in her condescending motherly scolding tone. She was around the kids so much she was entirely in big sis' mode. "The first four months are crucial to a baby's health, he has to stay sheltered with the mother else he can get some disease."

I smirked at her, "Alright, mom."

Arwia missed a step, froze, and did a double-take, "What?"

"You're acting like a mother scolding a child. And you know, if everyone washed their hands, cleaned their butts, and bathed every day, babies could get out and take in some sun."

Arwia rolled her eyes and caught up with me, "Babies do take sunlight. Why do you think the bedroom faces east? They take sun through the window. And where would we get enough water to bathe every day? Can you make water out of thin air?"

I fought back the urge to be snappy and give her a comeback. I could get water out of thin air, it was called condensation. We were about to reach the tree when she held my arm, making me stop.

"Sandra, there's one thing I want to tell you," She said with a fidgety voice.

I turned around to meet her eyes. "Okay. You can say anything to me, Arwia. I'm not going to get angry at you or anything."

"You strongly oppose the rites of the temple of Ishtar... Do you hate the goddess? She is a very kind and caring goddess..." She told me while tiptoeing every word.

She made me think. Was I being a bigot? Hating someone's religion? If the people wanted to do their bronze age fertility rites and were okay with that, who was I to judge them? I felt bad and conflicted. Worse, the gods were real. Heck, I was living proof of that. What if Ishtar really granted great fertility to the women that underwent the ritual? I mean, I hadn't no census data, but the small sample of mothers I'd seen had been very fertile.

Arwia's mom popped six over more than a decade. Rubati, five and her pregnancies were side-by-side. Banunu, three. Hama-Tula had eight children in eight years. And he was gunning for Belle.

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I'd become a religious hater. That was terrible. And it didn't even start with Ishtar. I already hated Nergal and his church. I went so far as to ask Nephew to ban them. My modern Earth values were shattering one by one. But death cults that committed crimes were outlawed.

Yes, I was being a jerk. But there was one point in this whole mess I didn't agree with and would never.

"People shouldn't be forced to do something they don't like. I have nothing against Ishtar if people are willing to go and do the rites because they like it, or it is their way of worship, or just as a trade for the blessing of fertility, I'm not against it. I'm sorry if it sounded like I was against the religion or Ishtar herself. I just hate when people are forced to do something they don't want to. When their freedom to choose is taken from them. I overreacted."

Arwia seemed relieved. "Oh. I'm sorry. I thought you hated Ishtar."

Yes, I kinda did.

"No, not at all," I replied, oozing hypocrisy. "Arwia, can I ask you one thing? When you went to the inn, did you go to the temple of Ishtar?"

She made a sad face. I couldn't tell if it was because I remembered her of her indentured service because she wanted to but didn't.

"No. Going there would mean I married him. He was just trying to impregnate me. If I got his child, then I'd become his second wife and after childbirth, I would go to the temple. But it is hard to conceive a child without the goddess' blessings."

"So are you saying you wanted to go to the temple and do the rites?"

Arwia smiled. "Yes, I want to be blessed with many children just like my mother!"

Was my prejudice making me deny these girls a golden opportunity to get a husband? The market could even make them get extra money for their dowries.

"If you want to--"

She was quick to interrupt me, "No! My duty is to you and my siblings. I can wait, no problem. At least until Tuwazi reaches the majority."

Tuwazi is seven, so... "You'll be twenty-four years old by then. Isn't it a bit too old to marry?"

Not by Earth standards, but in this world, life expectancy should be lower, and it was a place where a girl was old enough to marry if she had periods. Like Belili. Damn, she turned eleven and we didn't throw a birthday party.

"It is a bit late, but not by much. Men usually marry at twenty-five so it's still fine. Besides, can you imagine how expensive my price would be?" She asked, a bit dreamy. "I would've served as a maid for the champion of Tarhun for seven years!"

I guess a high price equates a 'good' husband. At least a rich one. And that's a double incentive since I declared they would take their bride prices with them as dowries.

"Oh, great," I whimpered with a feigned hurt voice. "So you're using me just to increase your price and will leave me alone once a rich man is found. Yes, if that's what you want, Arwia, I won't hold you back!"

I felt bad for teasing her and making a hurt girlfriend skit. Arwia almost teared up.

"No! That's not what I meant! I won't abandon you, Sandra! I lo--"

I grabbed her waist and put a finger on her lips. "Say no more. I accept your feelings. Silly Arwia, you think I'd let you go easily? The man to take you away from me must be quite impressive or I'll make him run away crying."

I let go of her before I either broke the girl's mind or awakened some new kind of wishes. It took some time for Arwia to come back to her senses.

She blushed and whispered, "Thank you."

Yeah. TIme to bring us back to reality. I pointed at the crew of brats waiting for us.

"The kids will become wild if we don't hurry. Let's go, it's lecture time."

We walked the rest of the way in silence. I was feeling bad for being such a bigot. People did similar things back on Earth without knowing the gods were real. Here? It was scarce but they had proof of the gods' existence. I thought also about what should I talk about. Maybe I should let the kids decide. Or not. I know the most important thing for them now.

"Everyone, line up. Sit on the grass," Arwia shouted like a drill instructor. "Today we'll have Sandra teach us something new and exciting! So pay close attention to what she has to say."

New and exciting my... maybe the bar is too low. Let's not undersell us. The children sat on two rows of eight with the little ones in front, forming a semicircle under the big tree's shadow. Arwia leaned against the tree trunk and crossed her arms. I winked at her and sat on my spot.

"Okay. Negotiations are underway to exempt us from drafting to build the ziggurat. But we had to commit to helping feed the town. I don't know if you are aware but the food situation is bad. Ivanika, could you tell us about the prices of food lately?"

Arwia's middle sister was responsible for buying and cooking food for her father and brothers after Zuska was sold and her older brother left home to avoid being sold too. She shrunk a bit because I singled her out, but I needed her point of view.

"Prices were steadily rising even before the great and mighty Tarhun smote the infidel Enshi. Some vegetables and grains were unavailable for days and when they come back the price would rise or the quantities were smaller. Father kept complaining, thinking I was stealing money..."

"That's enough, thank you, Ivanika," I said to cut her because she was getting too emotional. I knew they tried to hide their family situation under the rug like everyone else. "Okay. That shows us that food is going to be a major problem in the coming months. And I promised to help with that if the Enshi grants our houses amnesty from the compulsory drafts. But my powers can't make plants grow. Now, can anyone tell me what plants need to grow?"

"Sunlight and water," Muranu replied. He was the silent mastermind type. It was good that he warmed up to me as several of his siblings looked up to him for guidance.

"And soil!" Zuska added. "No plant grows on rocks or thin air!"

"You both are correct. There are two other things plants need to grow. And that is air and minerals in the soil. Plants don't grow in sand, most of them don't. Because the sand doesn't have the minerals the plant needs. Now, we are facing a severe drought, aren't we?"

They nodded. "It's been more than a year since the last rain," Rimush added.

"Yes. However, the grass in the great plateau is still green and the plants are still growing. That tells me that there's water in the soil. It is dry, I won't deny that. But I've seen how a real drought looks like, and the earth becomes barren, cracked. Dead. The river is still flowing. That water must come from somewhere. The water level in our wells is indeed very low, but there's water around here even though it hadn't rained. So, out of the five essential components, we can tell the plants aren't lacking sunlight, air or soil and that they have some water. What is missing then?"

"Minerals?" Belili proposed timidly. "But aren't minerals rocks and ores? How can a plant eat ores?"

"Yes, rocks and ores are made of minerals, but the plants don't eat them. These nu.." I paused. There was no 'nutrient' word in their language. "They break down the rocks and ores into dust so fine we can't see it with our naked eyes and then absorb them through their roots. And that is the problem with the crops we have. The plants can't get enough of the minerals they need."

The discussion went on for the best part of the afternoon. I had to explain to them about micronutrients, soil enrichment, and most important, fertilizer. It was then that things broke down.

"You are insane!" RImush shouted. "Why should we mix shit with the dirt to feed the plants we are going to eat? Are you trying to make us eat poop?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Should I tell him the world was round too? Antagonizing him wouldn't earn me nothing but more headaches down the road.

"No. There are creatures in the soil that break it down. Once the plant food is ready to be consumed, it is no longer poop. Okay. Look. This is very important. And also is how my power works. You've seen me transform things, right? Well, I didn't transform anything. I just moved around the building blocks they are made of.

"Let's say you get this blade of grass. And then split it in two. Keep splitting. There will be a moment where the pieces will be too small for you to split. But can we imagine we have a tool that can split it even further? What happens once you split it enough. Will it be still grass?"

"Obviously!" Rimush replied right away, unwilling to lose the argument.

"Well, the ancients in my world also thought that. But in truth, the plant is made of several different pieces that are not plant. It is like a brick. You can build a wall or a house or a castle with bricks. These pieces are very few, actually. Eighty. Everything that exists, even you and me, are made of a few of these eighty blocks of matter. Their combinations, however, are infinite. The living beings are made of mostly ten of them. But we need small quantities of several others.

"These 'atoms' are very important," I said, using the Greek word. They didn't have a word for 'atom' as that idea never crossed their minds. "Some of them are rare and valuable, like gold or silver. Some of them are very common, like carbon, silicon or oxygen. Some of them we can see, some are floating around us. All of them are important. The plants are lacking some of these 'atoms' so they can't grow healthy. It is just like us. If we don't eat food..."

Oh. That's golden.

"Rimush!" I called him out. "You eat vegetables, right?" He nodded. "Are you a plant? Are you green anywhere on your body? Of course not. Does anything green comes out of your body?"

"I'm not a plant! That's silly!" He protested. "I'm a person, not a vegetable!"

"Exactly! But we eat plants. Our bodies break down the plants just as I told before. Until the smallest pieces, we can use are found. Then we use these pieces to build our bodies. What we don't use or need anymore comes out. I don't need to explain that part to you."

They laughed. Kids are kids anywhere. A good poop joke is worth gold for them.

"However," I picked up before their raucous laughter ruined the lecture, "What we need is different than what cows and goats and sheep need. I don't want to use human poop as fertilizer. That would be terrible and would spread disease. No! I want to use animal manure, especially from herbivores. Even the horses' manure can be used."

I checked the position of the sun and decided to wrap it up.

"That's why tomorrow we are going to start an experiment. We are going to plant some seeds in normal soil and others in soil enriched by our horses' manure. In a few days, we might be able to see how well the plants are growing. I don't want you to believe what I say straight out. I'm going to show you if what I said was true or not. And then your kids will help me spread the knowledge around. We need to train the farmers, gather the manure, compost it, fertilize the land."

I looked south. Damn people and their crazy bids at power. The army that came to conquer us is coming and they will get in without a siege. I hoped we could assimilate them and turn them into our citizens. The prospect of painting the streets red with spilled blood was still not off the table. But I knew I'd do anything to protect us.

Even contribute to the effort to spill that blood. The outsiders' blood.

I wished it wouldn't come to that. That the faith in Ishtar and the prospect of helping build the ziggurat would be enough to keep the tempers down. I didn't have much faith in that.

Arwia sensed my confusion and clapped her hands, startling me out of my brooding. "Okay, it is getting late. I want you to go and play for a while before dinner. Remember to wash your hands when you get back."

The children didn't go.

"You promised to teach us a new game!" Pidda revealed their hesitation.

I laughed. "Okay. Let's learn a new game. It is called earth and sky."

In fact, the game was called 'dead or alive' when I learned it, but there was no need to use those terms. I was introducing it and decided to change.

"Arwia here will be your crier. Everyone will line up side by side, with room to move. She will call out either 'earth!' or 'sky!'. If she says 'earth!', everyone has to crouch. If she says 'sky!', everyone must stand up and reach with their hands up. She doesn't have to alternate. She can call the 'sky' twice. Or three times. I'll do the first round, and then Arwia or someone else can become the crier."

The trick to the game was to not give them time to think. We played a couple of rounds and I excused myself. The next game in the queue would be musical chairs.

Leaving the children behind, I sought Kali-Maru. During the day, I could feel my healing boon working overtime to catch up and restore my body. The bra and panties were really tight and I needed them adjusted, the same with my clothes. Some of the loose stitches madam Cloe put on the dress was already unraveling. She was at the servant's quarters.

"Sandra! What brings you here?" She was surprised by my visit.

"I need help with my clothes. Can you repair them?" I asked.

"Of course. Come, let's go to a room where you can have some privacy."

We went to one of the shared bedrooms that were empty at this time. I undressed and gave her the clothes. She took the pieces but kept looking at me. Conscious of her gaze, I covered myself.

"What?" I asked, totally on the defensive. "Is there something wrong with me?"

"No, I'm sorry if I stared for too long. It is good to see you are recovering. There were talks... people said you came here to die. I couldn't believe."

I shook my head. Of course, people would gossip, and someone in the state I arrived would be a goner.

"You know I can heal from almost any wound. I just went too far this time and it is taking longer. But I am fine as you can see."

She nodded. "Yes, I didn't believe in them. I'll fix your clothes right now," She said and put herself to examine the clothes.

Cloe intentionally made stitches that would be easy to remove and in a few minutes, I was putting on my clothes. My body was almost back to the way it was. I hoped that tomorrow I would be able to use my powers, at least for a while. I returned to the annex. I wanted to talk to Nanna.

These were precious moments before nightfall. Before a moonless night drenched the world in foreboding darkness. Darkness I was powerless to fight against. I knocked on the door and the witch answered from inside. The smell of herbs was overpowering as usual.

"Enter, Sandra."

Not 'girl' or 'you' or anything else. Nanna seldomly used my name. I was afraid something was up. I entered and smiled at her. She seemed to be just resting, sitting on the bed.

"Hey, Nanna. How's my favorite witch?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"I am pretty sure I am the only witch you know. But that is fine. What brings you here?"

"Several things. First, do you still have some enchanted eyes? Abil-Kisu told me you sold the eyes to him."

She studied me for a while and then moved to get the same box of eyes she wanted me to give to the Enshi. "Yes, I saved a half-dozen eyes for you. Do you mind me keeping the money?"

I shook my head. "No. I have too much wealth, and to me those eyes are useless. Keep the money to yourself," I said as I took the box and lifted the lid up a crack. The light from the eyes painted a band of light across the whole room. I shut the box. "They seem stronger."

"That's because you spent the night charging them. I can't even measure how long this batch would last. Maybe a decade or so. Ah, and I gave the teeth to Albert. He said he'd make some weapons and tools out of them for you."

I really didn't mind that she kept the money. Another reason was that I knew where to obtain more water goblins. There were dozens of them in the underwater brine tunnels.

"That's fine. Nanna, do you think I can use some of my powers tomorrow? I would really like to at least use my computer or listen to some music."

She looked at me in that creepy way as if she was staring at my soul.

"You said before that you can feel your magic power, didn't you?" I nodded. "Then come see me tomorrow morning. I'll check on your progress and see how you recovered. But let me warn you, you shouldn't use magic if your power is below half, and during the next days, you should use only the smallest amounts. It seems your boon is restoring the damage of the burnout now," She finished with a yawn.

"I'll let you rest. What you did to me yesterday really tired you out, didn't it, Nanna?"

"Yes!" She groaned. "And I hope you remember it later. I spent a lot of energy I have no way of recovering on you. I'll call in that favor."

"Anything, Nanna. I only hope you don't ask me to do something evil."

She cackled. "What is evil? Some might say that denying the girls the opportunity to participate in something as epic as the construction of the ziggurat is evil. Evil is subjective. But I won't ask you to murder anyone. Or steal anything. It will be easy on your part."

That was very suspicious. I knew Nanna already had a plan in mind.

"But you won't tell me what you have in mind, will you?"

"No. I can't. If I tell you now, it won't work. But you shouldn't worry. It won't hurt you or your soft principles."

"Okay, Nanna. I promise to grant you the favor when you need it."

She smiled. "Good. Now, off you go, girl. I need to rest."

She pushed me out and closed the door behind me. I clenched the box of glowing eyes against my chest, indulging in the feeling of something being squished against the box. You might complain that they hurt, they weigh you down, they bounce, but girl how are they missed when they're gone.

It was dinnertime so I went to the tent as usual. One of his scribes was coming from inside and stopped to talk to me.

"Milady. Master Abil-Kisu said he's sorry but he won't be able to join you for dinner. Would you mind to eat in the kitchen?"

"No. Is there any problem?"

"Business as usual. The master is working hard to make sure all his business flourish even with this crisis."

I nodded. "Please tell him I appreciate his hospitality and don't mind. Also, tell him I'm willing to help him if he needs."

He pointed at the kitchen, "Your sentiments will surely be transmitted. Thank you for understanding, milady."

That he would be out during the night was troubling. People usually didn't do that, and merchant lords even more. Pushing my worries about Abil-Kisu's safety, I went to the kitchen where Belle had a bowl of stew and some flatbread ready for me. I ate my dinner then visited the bathing room to wash away the sweat. Then I went to my room and forced myself to sleep. I was eager for tomorrow.