Voices of Humanity

Chapter Twenty-Three

AN 6.4.24: Friday is my birthday and this string of chapters is really meant to be read together so I decided that for this week....you will get a chapter a day! Its like a bday gift for my readers hehe. Hope you enjoy!❤️ This section of the book get's rough. Buckle up...

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Fearing too much attention I tried to help the girl remain as erect as possible, hoping no one would notice her condition and start asking questions. I knew bringing her to the nursery complex was my only option. Dreda had enough supplies to help Lina quickly without alerting any sibla overseers. She could hide her in her room with the infants she watched. Not that it mattered. Cedrick Dulane himself knew what had happened. My stomach churned at the thought.

    I'd pushed him. I'd struck my Master. There was no way I would escape punishment. And what of Lina? Would he simply forgive her? She'd done nothing wrong after all. It was merely one of his outbursts that had caused him to lash out so. I'd kept him from completing his aim. He'd been intent on practically killing the child in his rage-filled daze. Perhaps he could forgive my indiscretion because it had spared him a valuable slave? Surely killing viable human chattel over a minor offense would have been a poor, momentary, lapse in judgment. I wondered if there was any hope Dulane might see it as such once he calmed himself.

    Fearing that Garen might see us if we went through the main door I helped Lina around the back of the complex to the small kitchen where Dreda helped prepare the children's meals and warm bottles. There was a door there that would lead us straight to Dreda's quarters. With any luck, she would be overseeing dinner preparations for the toddlers.

    Leaving Lina propped up against the building, I went to the back entrance and opened the door with confidence, trying to affect a look of total calm as if nothing were out of the ordinary. The last thing I needed was to be caught by a sibla overseer or a nosey slave who might be looking to report trouble.

    "Miss. Alice?"

    I practically jumped at the sound of my name. Though my heart pounded in painful bursts against my ribs, I managed to turn towards the voice with some semblance composure, hoping it belonged to a friend.

    It took me a moment to register the tall woman who greeted me. Cacey. I remembered the tan skinned freckled face, though the girl before me was now fully grown.

    "What are you doing here?" she asked.

    "My goodness you've gotten tall," I said, deflecting her question. "I scarcely recognized you."

    Cacey stared at me uncertainly and I felt the discomfort growing in my stomach. Did the girl know I should not be there? I hadn't worked in the nursery quarters since Mary was a baby nor even visited in well over a year.

    "Casey, I came here looking for the nursery head. Do you know if she might be pulled away for a moment to come speak with me?" The girl's expression did not change.

    "Miss. Dreda is busy and we were told not to disturb her. You might catch her for a moment when she comes to help prepare the toddlers' dinner."

    I thought of Lina waiting outside, so vulnerable. If any were to see her in such a state. If rumors were to fly as to how she'd come to sustain such injuries...nothing would save us if our crimes became public. Dulane couldn't tolerate such subordination without action if the whole estate knew!

    "This is very important, Cacey," I answered, trying to infuse my tone with as much authority as possible. I was a head of house. I was older than her, a senior slave. There might be consequences for overstepping outside of my authorized domain of power, but she didn't know that. She couldn't risk offending me.