Voices of Humanity

Chapter One

    "Will it hurt Mama?"

    I was seated at the big wooden table in the kitchens of the Dulane house. My mother and Lexia, the sibla overseer responsible for all domestic tasks in my Master's home, were the only two present. All the other humans had already finished breakfast and gone off to their daily chores, leaving us alone.

    I'd done my best to eat the food Mama had prepared specially for me. On the plate, she'd placed eggs and bacon and fresh bread. All of my favorite things. But I didn't have much appetite and most of my meal still remained uneaten, pushed around in circles with my fork.

    I'd heard from others' whispers that breeding hurt. Humans existed to provide stock for our sibla masters & our overseers had determined I had reached maturity. If I was not put with a male, I would have no future and I knew that well enough. It didn't stop me from being nervous.

    "You'll be fine, my love," my mother answered reassuringly as she cleared my plate. "You need only obey and do as you are told. "Here," she said, handing me a tall glass of water and the vitamins she'd been making me take for weeks now. "These will help keep you strong and ensure the baby you conceive will be healthy."

    I took the pills and swallowed them down, though my stomach flipped and flopped, making the water churn uncomfortably in my gut along with what I'd managed to swallow of my breakfast.

    "Finish the water and breath," my mother ordered, no doubt seeing my fears. "Master Dulane has already promised you will be put with one of the younger males. All I have talked to say he is quite gentle with his mates. Just lay back and imagine the child that will form in your womb. Imagine yourself done with the ordeal and back here with me."

    I nodded and Mama gave me a quick hug of reassurance.

    "I will return soon, Lexia," she told our overseer. "I just wish to accompany Alice since it is her first time."

    The older sibla woman nodded, her wrinkled grey skin creasing as she smiled. "You can take the rest of the day if you need it, Alice," she said, addressing me directly, her gaze warm and reassuring even though her blue eyes had the same striking iciness of all others of her species. "May you quickly conceive and bring new life to this estate."

With the nerves in my stomach, I couldn't quite force any words in response to her kind offer or blessing, but my mother returned Lexia's smile as she helped me from my seat.

    "You are too generous, Ma'am," she replied in my stead. "Alice will be back by this evening fully recovered. My daughter is strong and will no doubt add many healthy humans to Master Dulane's stock."

    "Of course," Lexia answered. "I will see you when you return, Mariana. Cedrick has asked that you prepare pies for his guests this evening. You will be able to make a few before the rest of our dinner prep?"

    "I will," my mother answered, her discourse with our overseer no different than it might be on any other day. Her confidence and attempt at normalcy helped my leaden feet to move as she put a hand on my back and guided me from the kitchen.

    The breeding sheds were separate from our sleeping quarters, designed only for the purpose of human mating and birthing, set on a remote part of the estate so as to maintain privacy. By the time we arrived, Aaron Everett, Dulane's head overseer, was already waiting my selected mate by his side.

The human male my Master had chosen sported shaggy chestnut hair and a round face. As my mother reported, he was clearly among the younger human males Dulane allowed to breed.

    I shrunk back catching sight of them, the reality of the situation becoming all the more real. Mama had no sympathy. She took my arm firmly in her grasp and dragged me forward.