boy

Chapter 1

The father died during childbirth. Everyone knew that was just the way it was. Arzid males’ short lives had only one purpose: to brood the eggs females laid in them. That was nature, nothing personal; it’s why females never bothered to name the males that were born. i was 'boy', nothing more, the same as most males i'd ever met.

“Males are so simple,” the Mother commented, petting my head as i knelt by her chair. “They’re made to breed and brood our young.” The Priestess nodded, as she sipped the tea i'd made and served them. She was twice the height of an Arzid male, taller than the Mother, and the red silk robe that priestesses normally wore made her seem intimidating. i guessed she was 40, but the cycles had been kind to her. In different clothes and wearing her setae long she might have passed for a female just out of third school. 

“It’s how the Goddesses ordained it,” Priestess Xarzi agreed. “They’re just vessels, born to servitude.” She looked down at me, and i shivered.  There was an iciness in her look i didn’t like; perhaps it was just because she was a Royal, the most important caste, and both her birth and her position made her haughty. The facets of her compound eyes glistened a tranquil turquoise but, whenever she glanced at me, i saw flecks of desire shimmer coldly across them. It was disturbing, and the Mother seemed uneasy, too. The reception cell had a faint scent of alarm.

The Mother and the Priestess continued to talk, ignoring me; it wasn’t as if i could have said anything, even if they wanted me to. Like most males, my vocal apparatus never developed. i'd have had more value, if they had. Males who could vocalise were in great demand as singers, in the temples, in the homes of powerful Aristos, and increasingly for entertainment on the radio. Singers were usually spared the ordeal of breeding and brooding – male vocalisation was a developmental accident, not inherited –  but died anyway; male Arzids had short lives.

If i could vocalise it would have given the Mother something to brag about, instead of complaining i was just another mouth to feed. But then the pressure to trade me would have been intense, and i doubt she could have resisted. The Temple would have taken me as a tithe, long ago, or an Aristo would have taken me – Aristos usually got their way, after all. So i didn’t mind being mute; no one ever seemed to talk to singing boys, or care if they had any ideas, anyway. Most females were sure all males had empty heads; “boys are good for one thing, and one thing only,” was the common opinion.

My sister Kaerzoria knew that wasn’t true, of course. i’d been her personal pet since we were little and i think we were both surprised to find males did have minds, no matter what common sense believed. It was forbidden to teach males to read and write, but Kaer was curious, more than rebellious, and often tried things that others never considered. The idea of teaching me amused her, so she never told the Mother, and i was careful not to give it away, either. In her cell, sometimes until early in the morning, she’d talk to me and tell me what she’d learned in school, and i'd write notes asking questions. 

The Mother was entertaining the Priestess in the reception cell, the best room in her modest home. i'm sure the Priestess had bigger cells, and nicer ones, but i kept the Mother’s house clean and tidy and i liked it. The hexagonal cell was painted the pale pink of a mrazar flower, warm and inviting. A lesser guest might have been brought to the kitchen, but that wouldn’t do for a Priestess, even if she hadn’t been a Royal.