Chapter 23 Polyandry

• Anindira and Zia had gone up and sat relaxing in one of the houses perched on a tree branch. The house was much smaller than Halvir's house, only about five by six meters, but the interior was quite complete. There were several wooden boxes for storing clothes and cloth, there was a straw bed covered with animal skins, which was also as large as Halvir's bed.
• There is a table and shelves next to the bed, complete with tools for Zia's daily life. Some are made of wood, earth, and stone. You can see that there are several ornaments and jewel trinkets lined up neatly on one of the shelves. In the four corners of the room, you can see candle holders in the shape of pillars that are the same height as Zia.
• ''Maybe these things are what Havi is looking for, apart from a bed and a chest. I don't see all of them in Havi's house…'' Anindira thought to herself.
• ''Zia, I didn't see your mother?'' asked Anindira.
• ''She went with Ruvi's father,'' answered Zia.
• ''Father!... Ruvi?!'' exclaimed Anindira, asking with a confused face, ''Then who was before? Uncle Mischa...'' asked Anindira probingly.
• "Mischa's father, he is also my father, Ruvi's father is also my father. Ruvi's father, he's my mother's other spouse... an *Amethyst from the Jaguar Clan, just like Mischa's father. However, Mischa's father is much more stable than him…'' answered Zia with a proud face.
• ''A couple?!'' Anindira exclaimed in surprise, ''Ah sorry!... I don't know, I'm sorry...'' Anindira said with a sorry face, thinking she had hurt Zia's feelings.
• {Anindira thinks that Zia's father and mother have divorced}
• ''Sorry?! For what?" Zia asked, confused.
• ''That... I thought I had hurt you because it reminded you of your mother...'' said Anindira, looking down in shame.
• ''What's wrong with remembering my mother? If she was here, she would also chat with us,'' said Zia, still with her cheerful demeanor.
• ''Wait!... Going away?!... You mean, your mother lives here with you?!'' Anindira asked, returning with a surprised face.
• ''No!'' Zia shouted firmly, ''Mom lives in the biggest house, that's the main house right above this house…'' Zia continued her answer while pointing her finger up.
• ''Then... your father?'' Anindira exclaimed, asking with an even more astonished face.
• ''If he was not with mom, dad would sleep here, if it was winter. If not, next door, that's dad's house…'' answered Zia innocently, pointing to the house next to Zia's.
• ''HA?'' exclaimed Anindira with a questioning face. She was no longer able to hold back her facial expression, which now looked very strange.
• Anindira still couldn't understand Zia's words, which made her try harder to process all the meaning of Zia's words, deeper, deeper into her limited little brain.
• ''You said your mother already has a new spouse?!... And that too above your house?... Aren't there many other trees?'' asked Anindira with a confused face while frowning.
• ''What do you mean?... Why does it have to be in another tree?... What's wrong with my mother's house above my father's house?'' Zia asked back with a surprised face.
• ''How can it not be wrong?'' asked Anindira, ''Wait a minute! Am I overly responding to adult problems?" she asked again, "The village head should also relax... you also don't have a problem if your mother is with another man...'' Anindira said, then answered her question.
• ''Of course not like that!'' exclaimed Zia, immediately rebuked, ''Other men are, of course, its a problem!'' exclaimed Zia replied firmly, ''There must be approval from my father, if not, not only my father but other mates of my mother's. also has the right to kill him, for disturbing a woman without the permission of her spouse!'' cried Zia and continued to answer very seriously.
• ''Ha?! Killing?!'' Anindira exclaimed in surprise. She was shocked to hear the extreme thing Zia said. ''But... wait!... Wait a minute!... A couple... mate?... Did I mishear or misunderstand?'' asked Anindira, looking at Zia with a stupid, dumb face.
• Zia was surprised by Anindira turning her head, because Anindira immediately approached Zia and looked at her very seriously, ''What's wrong?... Why?" Zia asked with a frown. Zia's eyes looked a little scared seeing Anindira's reaction, which seemed strange.
• ''So... that... so... your mother has more than one mate?'' asked Anindira with a slightly trembling voice. She was afraid that he had made a mistake.
• ''Yeah!'' nodded Zia confidently, ''Five,'' answered Zia, then showed her five fingers.
• Anindira remained silent and did not react, her eyes widened in line with the thoughts that left her.
• Slowly Anindira began to return to consciousness.
• ''Has it gotten that bad?'' Anindira asked in her heart.
• Anindira remembered Hans' story, which said the number of women was very small, compared to very far from the number of men. Anindira remembered the Guanches Tribe, which she had read about in an article.
• {The Guanches are the indigenous people of the Canary Islands on the northwest coast of Africa. During the famines of the 14th and 15th centuries, many girls died, resulting in an imbalance in the population. The number of men was more than men. As a result, they practice polyandry so that women in the tribe could marry up to five men.
• There was also a tribe in a famous mountain range which was in the mountains, made some farmland difficult to cultivate and required a lot of physical strength. Women end up marrying many husbands because they are stronger and can help take care of the farmland.}
• ''Zia!... Is it normal here for women to have more than one partner?'' Anindira asked after calming down for a while.
• Anindira started trying to find information. She was digging deeper now.
• ''Of course,'' answered Zia seriously, still with a frown, because she felt something was strange about Anindira.
• ''Why?... Is that what we should do here?'' Anindira asked again, very enthusiastically.
• "Huh?" Zia furrowed her brows.
• However, this time the reason was different. Zia was thinking hard about answering Anindira's question.
• ''I do not know whether to, or not. Because that's commonplace here… But, mother said, if there was only one man in the household, he couldn't look after a woman alone. Because of that, my mother always taught me to find a spouse who can guarantee he is very capable of taking care of me,'' said Zia, while remembering her mother's advice.
• ''Eh?!... TWO AT A TIME?!?!?!'' Anindira exclaimed, even screaming.
• Anindira, who comes from a different culture, is, of course, still surprised by Zia's explanation. She still can't accept it all.
• ''You weren't told anything by your mother?'' asked Zia, probing Anindira back.
• ''Ehh... um, that... no...'' Anindira hesitated to answer, she was confused about what to say about herself.
• ''Maybe because you're beautiful, your family is relaxed…'' Zia said with a sad face, but she sincerely didn't hate Anindira.
• ''Beautiful?!... Who?!... Me?!'' exclaimed Anindira asking with a surprised face again, ''Hahaha...'' Anindira laughed at that word, but, she was a little happy to be called beautiful, because no one had ever said that to her before.
• ''Yes, you are beautiful, your skin is dark but it looks very good. Your hair is also like most men's, so beautiful…'' answered Zia, innocently admiring Anindira.