Free The First Tribe by Candace Smith Page A

think that’s why she refers to the Kirabi’s lusts so often. She is as enthralled with sex as she is with sacrifice.”
    Palla glanced over to where Seela remained kneeling with her hands folded in her lap and her eyes downcast. “I can’t imagine the ritual she will build when the beast rider takes her. To her, it will be a sacrifice paramount to death.”
    “Then, you do believe this is why they captured us?” Sabra asked nervously. “Dasheen has made no inappropriate advances.”
    “Masan told me that I don’t belong to him until the leaders condone his possession. They aren’t allowed to use us that way,” Anali informed her friends.
    Though Anali found comfort in the Kirabi’s words, Sabra was nervous. While she curled up on her furs that night, she wondered if this also meant that the leaders could choose to give her to someone else. It was not that she had a true affection for her beast rider, but he had not been overtly cruel to her.
    The caravan moved out in the morning, and Sabra and her friends studied the landscape they passed. It was green and lush, with an abundance of fruit trees and strange, warm climate vegetation they had never seen before. Four more days they traveled a path, with the beast riders in the front letting their bantas clear the way of any plants that had encroached on the trail since they had traveled north. Sabra was becoming used to the swishing sounds of their slicing claws.
    The end to the jungle was abrupt, and the caravan rolled into a sunlit space with many Kirabi and even more unusual creatures wandering about. Sabra stared at ancestors of the tribes from the Vastara legends. So far, none of the tales had been false, though they were a little inaccurate. Some information had been left out as too gruesome to pass down through the tribe. Much more was not told, because the Vastara had split from the First Tribe before the atrocities had gone so far.
    As soon as the procession was spotted… as soon as the fragile, colorful women were noticed… beast riders ran to the cages, gripping the bars and trying to reach the captivating women. Sabra screamed, though the sound was lost among a chorus of frightened cries, mixing with cheers and excited curses from the Kirabi.
    Sabra joined Anali and Palla in the center of their cage, and they clutched each other tightly in fear. Seela remained close to the bars, kneeling with her straight back and chanting rituals while the beast riders reached through the bars and pawed her. Sabra finally closed her eyes, begging the Mother of Life… or Dasheen… to rescue her.

Chapter IV

    The returning Kirabi were proud of their accomplishment, and they dismounted their banta to make sure their brothers did not injure their slaves in their excitement. Masan pushed his way close to the cage and he pointed to Anali. “That one, the one with the sunlight hair. She is mine,” he boasted.
    Sefine was standing next to him, and continued to reach out and try to grab Anali’s long golden braid. Masan gripped his forearm. “She is mine, Sefine,” he repeated, not understanding why his brother would try to grasp his property.
    “No, Masan. The leaders held tribunal, and they have declared any Vastara that might be captured were too rare a find. They will decide who will possess them.”
    Masan’s mouth twitched at one corner, and he looked up to see Dasheen’s murderous glare aimed at the back of Sefine’s head. “Who has declared this ruling? We have captured the slaves, and our laws state that they are our possession.”
    Sefine turned to look at him, and when he saw the angry black gaze, he moved aside. “No, Dasheen. We have just always allowed that, because we had plenty of the other slaves to distribute. The law states that the leaders declare ownership.” A worried look crossed his face. “You have not compromised them on the trip down?”
    “Of course not,” Dasheen muttered. “Masan, watch our slaves while I seek answers.” He