After Humanity

Chapter Fourteen

New Character alert..... Meet Kathryn!

-------

Rachel

Outside the day was bright and fair. It was cold, considering the season, but with her dress and jacket, the breeze that swept across the sky was nothing more than a pleasant breath against her exposed skin. Rachel found herself struck by how beautiful the grounds of Magnus's estate truly were.

    All around her, signs of spring sparkled with promise. The grass was green, the majestic trees all around dotted with fresh buds of flowers, threatening to open. Their scent already perfuming the air. In the dim of twilight she hadn't realized how expansive her new Master's estate truly was. It seemed as if the land stretched on forever, marked by lovely low hills on which sheep grazed in the distance.

    Alice smiled when she saw Rachel's expression, staring wide-eyed at the expanses of lush greenery of the grounds.

    "I knew you'd like it here," she said. "Later if you wish, you can wander on your own. I have work do, but once you've had some food you are welcome to explore. As long as you stay on the estate you will be perfectly safe. The various sibla Magnus employs know well that our Master will tolerate no abuse of his slaves.

    Rachel nodded her understanding. From the way Alice stated that fact she realized that it must not be so on other estates. After learning more of human slavery under other sibla masters, she could hardly doubt it and had no wish to hear more horrible truths.

    "What's that?" Rachel asked as they came to a large long building, not far from Alice's home. Another large structure beside it.

    "That," Alice said, "is where the rest of our Master's slaves reside. When you have recovered a bit more it will be your new home. The building by its side is a recreational hall Magnus has generously created for his humans to relax and socialize. It is a true luxury, especially in the winter months when it is too cold to remain outside for long. There are comfortable chairs, a warm fireplace. He has even stocked it with an assortment of books at my request. Can you read Rachel?"

    Rachel nodded. "A little," she answered. "my mother had a few books. She started teaching me."

    Alice smiled. "Wonderful," she said. "All of our Master's stock are born wild, aside from myself that is. I am always pleased that, as a result, most have at least rudimentary reading skills. I personally love to escape into a book and am grateful that I was granted the privilege of literacy in spite of my start in life."

    "Your start in life?" Rachel asked, trying to make sense of Alice's words. "You mean on the farm where you were born?" Were all of Magnus's other slaves stolen from their homes as she was? The old woman's statement seemed to confirm it. But why would Alice have been different? And, if she'd been born a slave, why had she been taught to read? But Alice seemed not to have heard her question.

    "Later I will bring you to the slave hall to meet the others. Most enjoy relaxing there after the day's work is complete, but I have already informed them that attendance tonight to welcome you officially is compulsory."

    Rachel was not certain what compulsory meant, but Alice spoke the word with a certain accent of authority. It was clear enough that, whether she wanted to or not, she would soon meet the other humans of her master's estate. Staring at the building uncertainly Rachel wondered what the others might be like. Alice might be a bit distant, but she seemed to be kinda as well. At least now. But the would the others think of her if, as Alice had said, none of Magnus's slaves were as young as she was.

    The older girls she'd known in Demin had always been too busy with their own friends to ever pay much attention to her, worrying about the things she imagined older girls worried about like helping tend their families' homes or looking for a husband. But Rachel had been an only child and Mamma had taken care of almost everything around the house. Her parents had certainly never let her talk to any boys, so she had had little to talk about when she did manage to encounter any older girls in Demin. It had never been easy for her to just talk to strangers.