After Humanity

Chapter Fifteen

As with their first visit, Cedrick Dulane seemed happy to see him when he arrived on the estate, offering a drink before suggesting they go to inspect the slaves he would soon entrust to Magnus for care.

"We can view them in the main holding facility," he said, leading Magnus to a small barn lined with sizable cages, resembling the bars of a prison.

"You set the animals aside?" Dulane asked one of the men who came to greet them. The farm worker nodded.

"Put them in the last two stalls," he answered.

"Any of them give you trouble?" Dulane asked. The man shook his head as they walked towards the last cages in the barn.

"They were docile enough," he answered. "One or two of the main stock was asking questions of us  as we took them, but we put a stop to that."

Magnus felt a small shiver run through his body at the latter comment. He noted the club the man wore on his belt, the wood at the tip stained with the unmistakable dark red of dried blood.

"Bring them out into the shed row," Dulane ordered. "Their new master has come to inspect them."

"Get out here all of you!" The farm hand shouted as he unlocked the cage and rapped his baton menacingly against the bars, only barely missing the humans as they quickly complied. "And line up for inspection. Heads up arms at your side."

Magnus was somewhat disturbed to see the fear in the eyes of the slaves that soon stood before him. A collection of twenty females of varying size.

"This one is already confirmed with child," Dulane said, dragging one of the frightened humans forward. "Though she only just showing her condition, she should be due in early spring."

"Her name?" Magnus asked as he walked towards the creature, noticing the tension that sized her body at his approach.

"Elaine," the man answered, though Magnus could hear a certain annoyance at the question. Perhaps he did not think it necessary to pay attention to the titles the animal carried, but Magnus had seen the humans on his father's estate interact. Names were important to them. It was necessary to ensure that the individual humans felt recognition and safety for their personal wellbeing.

"Elaine," Magnus repeated as he reached out and put a gentle hand on the woman's stomach. "Are you well, Eliane?" he asked her, smiling as he felt the slight movement beneath his hand of the baby within.

The human nodded, the tension in her body remained unabated, though he noticed her expression relax slightly.

"She has produced three healthy offspring for my estate thus far," Dulane commented. "Though last season she miscarried twins." Magnus heard the edge in his tone at the later statement and noticed the fear return to the poor human's face.

"I allow the breeders one mistake," Dulane said. "It took far too long for the animal to become pregnant again. If this offspring is not carried to term, she will be culled. But perhaps you will have better luck with her. As I promised, in return for housing and feeding her any children she should produce while under your care will be yours to keep."

Magnus again saw the distress in the woman's eyes and felt a certain anger bubbling inside of him. Perhaps it did not make sense to keep the animal if she was not successfully producing, but to have the discussion of her fate in her presence seemed unnecessary. No doubt the human fully realized the consequences if she could not bear a child for him.

Magnus took hold of the creature's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm certain your baby will be strong and healthy," he told her. But the human only lowered her gaze in response, avoiding his eyes. Of course that was understandable. Not only was he a stranger to the animal but he knew well from experience how fiercely humans cared for their offspring. No doubt she already saw him as the one who would take her young.

Still, Magnus was not deterred. Kindness would win her trust. If she was taught that he truly did have the best interest of his animals in his heart, he was certain she would become far less fearful. Perhaps she might even see that her child would have a kinder future if born to the Kendrick estate.

The other women Dulane presented to him were all relatively thin. The most troublesome of his flock, the man explained. All twenty women had all failed to produce offspring as successfully as their fellows, though two of the group we pregnant now. The barren among them had been determined better suited for market but were not growing at the rate they should.

"You told me that you believe your methods for animal rehabilitation might yield better results than even confinement," Dulane said. "I have decided to test your theories on this small portion of my stock."

Magnus nodded. "I hope I will be able to prove myself," he answered, giving the humans standing before him a warm smile. "I assure you they will all be well cared for under my roof." Not one of the animals responded.

"Take them," Dulane said to one of his men.

Magnus watched as Dulane's man nodded and a few more sibla workers came forward, putting the humans in chains before leading them away. "Where are they taking them?" he asked with concern.

Dulane scowled slightly and Magnus was surprised by it. He had not meant to question the man's methods.

"I like to keep those slaves destined to be rehoused or slaughtered separate from the others," he said, his tone slightly hard. "It causes ultimately less trauma to the main stock when they are removed from the premises and allows the separated humans time to calm down and be subdued if they have adverse reactions to the news. Until you are ready to take them to your estate They will be kept caged and chained alongside the veal animals. It will only be for a day or two after all."

Subdued.

Magnus had seen the clubs Dulane's farm hands had carried on their belts. He wondered how much force was authorized to "subdue" the animals to compliance. And did the man truly intend to chain them so heavily for a full day? Two of the poor creatures were with child! It seemed excessive to his mind and if any of them panicked in such confinement, they could cause inadvertent harm to themselves or their captive fellows.

Magnus supposed he could only hope that his new slaves had seen the compassion he hoped to convey in his gaze. That they might have somehow understood that he had no intention of treating them with anything less than kindness. Perhaps if they were calm they would obtain no serious injury before transport.

"Come," Dulane said, pulling Magnus from his thoughts. I have a great feast for us to enjoy this evening. We shall break bread together and toast to our great new partnership."

As the man's arm wrapped around his shoulder, Magnus forced a smile to his lips to imitate Dulane's jovial tone. No matter his feelings on the man's practices, they were committed to work together now and for that relationship to bear fruit, Magnus knew he must at least tolerate Dulane enough to form some level of friendship between them.

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Any idea where this back-story is headed? Thoughts on Dulane now I know quite a few readers already have quite a bit of distrust words him... How about Magnus? Doest learning about his past from his POV add to his character for you? Does it add some sympathy? This is in his mind so you can see his true feelings about humans and human farming. Of course this was 30 years before our main story....anyone curious how we got to where we are now???