Hunters of Gor coc-8 Page 6

I saw first the girl, stumbling. She was already stripped. Her hands were tied behind her back. Something, pushing her from behind, had been fastened on her neck. Behind her came a flat-topped wagon, of some four feet in height. It was moved by eight tunicked, collared slave girls, two to each wheel, pushing at the wheels. It was guided by a man walking behind it, by means of a lever extending back, under the wagon, from the front axle. Flanking the wagon, on both sides, were musicians, with their drums and flutes. Behind the wagon, in the white robes, trimmed with gold and purple, of merchant magistrates, came five men. I recognized them as judges.

  A pole extended from the front of the wagon, some eight or nine feet. There was, at its termination, a semicircular leather cushion, with a short chain. The girl’s neck had been forced back against the cushion, and then the chain had been fastened, securing her, standing, in place. As the wagon moved forward, she was, thus, forced to walk before it. The pole, projecting out from the wagon, isolated her, keeping her from other human beings.

  The music became louder.

  I suddenly recognized the girl. It was she who had cut my purse earlier in the day, the sensuous little wench, whose ear had been notched. I gather that she had not had such good fortune later in the day. I well knew what the punishment was for a Gorean female, following her second conviction for theft. On the flat-topped wagon, fastened to one side on a metal plate, already white with heat, was a brazier, from which protruded the handles of two irons. Also mounted on the wagon was a branding rack, of the sort popular in Tyros. It was, I conjectured, another instance of the cultural minglings which characterized the port of Lydius.

  The wagon stopped on the broad street, before the wharves, where the crown could gather about.

  A judge climbed, on wooden stairs at the back of the wagon, to its surface. The other judges stood below him, on the street.

  The girl pulled at the leather binding fiber fastening her wrists behind her back. She moved her neck and head in the confinement of the chain and leather, at the end of the pole.

  “Will the Lady Tina of Lydius deign to face me?” asked the judge, using the courteous tones and terminology with which Gorean free women, often inordinately honored, are addressed.

  I looked quickly at Rim ND Thurnock. “Tina!” I said.

  They grinned. “It must be she,” said Rim, “who drugged Arn, and took his gold.” Thurnock grinned.

  I, too, smiled. It must indeed be she. Arn, I supposed, would have much relished being here.

  I suspected that little Tina would cut few purses in the future.

  “Will the Lady Tina of Lydius please deign to face me?” asked the judge, with the same courtesy as before.

  The girl turned in the chain and leather to face her judge, standing removed from her and above her, in his white robes, trimmed with two borders, one of gold, the other of purple.

  “You have been tried, and convicted, of the crime of theft,” intoned the judge. “She stole two gold pieces from me!” cried a man standing in the crowd. “And I had witnesses!” “It took an Ahn to catch her,” said another man, laughing.

  The judge paid no attention to these speakings.

  “You have been tried and convicted of the crime of theft,” said the judge, “for the second time.” The girl’s eyes were terrified.

  “It is now my duty, Lady Tina,” said the judge, “to pass sentence on you.” She looked up at him.

  “Do you understand?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said, “my judge.”

  “Are you prepared now, Lady Tina of Lydius,” said the judge, “to hear your sentence?” “Yes,” she said, regarding him, “my judge.” “I herewith sentence you, Lady Tina of Lydius,” said the judge, “to slavery.” There was a shout of pleasure from the crowd. The girl’s head was down. She had been sentenced.

  “Bring her to the rack,” said the judge.

  The man who had guided the wagon from the rear, and had now locked the brake on the front wheel, went to the bound girl. He unfastened the chain that bound her against the curved leather at the end of the pole, and, holding her by the arm, her wrists still tied behind her, led her to the rear of the wagon, and up the steps. She then stood beside her judge, barefoot on the flat-topped, wooden wagon. Her head was down.

  “Lady Tina,” requested the judge, “go to the rack.”

  Wordlessly, the girl went and stood by the rack, her back to the curved stone. The man who had brought her to the wagon now knelt before her, locking metal clasps on her ankles.

  He then went behind her, and unbound her wrists. “Place your hands over your head,” he said. She did so. “Bend your elbows,” he said. She did so. “Lie back,” he then said, supporting her. She did so, and was stretched over the curved iron. He then took her wrists and pulled her arms almost straight. He then locked her wrists in metal clasps, similar to those, though smaller, which confined her ankles. Her head was down. He then bent to metal pieces, heavy, curved and hinged, which were attached to the sides of the rack, and a bit forward. Each piece consisted of two curved, flattish bands, joining at the top. He lifted them, and dropped them into place. Then, with two keys, hanging on tiny chains at the sides, he tightened the bands. They were vises. She might now be branded on either the left or right thigh. There was ample room, I noted, between the bands on either side, to press the iron. She was held perfectly. Her tanned thigh could not protest so much as by the slightest tremor. She would be marked cleanly.

  The man, placing heavy gloves on his hands, withdrew from the brazier a slave iron. Its tip was a figure some inch and a half high, the first letter in cursive script, in the Gorean alphabet, of the expression Kajira.

  It is a beautiful letter.

  The judge looked down upon the Lady Tina of Lydius. She, fastened over the rack, stripped, looked up at him, in his robes, those with two borders, one of gold, the other of purple. Her eyes were wild.

  “Brand the Lady Tina of Lydius,” he said. “Brand her slave. Then he turned, and departed from the platform.

  The girl gave a terrible scream.

  There was a shout from the crowd.

  The man now, swiftly, brutally, released the girl, spinning open the vises, and dropping them against the rack, unfastening her wrists and ankles, and dragged her to her feet. Her hair was over her face. She was weeping.

  The man’s hand was strong on her arm. “Here is a nameless slave!” he cried. “What am I bid for her?” “Fourteen copper pieces!” cried a man.

  “Sixteen!” cried another.

  I spied, in the crowd, two men from my ship. I gestured that they should join us, Rim, Thurnock and myself. They worked their way through the crowd. “Twenty copper pieces!” cried a leather worker.

  The judges, I noted, had left. The musicians, those who had played the drums and flutes, escorting the judges and the prisoner, had also left.

  The slave girls who had drawn the wagon, stood about, watching the crowd. “Twenty-two copper pieces,” called a metal worker.

  The girl, stripped, stood on the platform, her arm in the grip of the man. Her hair, was sill over her face. But her tears were now only stains on her body. Her mouth was slightly parted. She seemed numb. It was as thought she scarcely understood that it was she, who was being bid upon. Her thigh, sill, much have burned with searing pain. Yes, of all her body, it was only her eyes, dull, glazed with pain, that acknowledged that she had been branded within the Ehn. She did not seem, otherwise, fully aware of what was happening to her. Then suddenly she threw back her head and screamed, and tried to twist away from the man. He threw her to her knees on the boards and she knelt there, bent over, her head in her hands, fully and wildly weeping. She understood now, fully, that she was being sold.

  “Twenty-five copper pieces,” called a pastry vendor.

  “Twenty-seven!” screamed a seaman.

  I looked about. I could now see there were more than two hundred men about, and women and children, as well. I saw some four or five more of my crew. And many ot
hers, of other crews.

  “Let us see her!” called a merchant.

  The man reached down and seized her by the hair and pulled her again to her feet, now bending her body back, exposing her the bow of her beauty to the crowd. “Let the men see you, little slave,” he laughed.

  She was indeed beautiful.

  “One silver tarsk,” I called.

  There was a silence in the crowd.

  It was not a bad price for such a girl.

  Rim and Thurnock looked at me, puzzled.

  I waited.

  This girl, I knew, was skillful. She had deft hands. Perhaps, I thought, I might find some use for such, a wench. Besides, I knew that she had drugged and robbed Arn, the outlaw. I supposed he might be pleased to have her. He might be of use, should matters turn out that way, in my pursuit of Talena.

  “I am bid one silver tarsk,” called the man. “One silver tarsk! Am I bid more? Am I bid more?” I asked myself why I might want her. I told myself I might find use for her skills. I might use her to bargain with Arn for his aid.

  “Am I bid more?” cried the man.

  Also, of course, she had stolen from me. This did not please me.

  “Am I bid more?” called the man again. He still held her, bent cruelly backwards, his hand in her hair.

  She was a vital, beautiful, sensuous little wench. She struggled in pain. She tried to reach his hand in her hair.

  “Sold to the captain!” called the man.

  I owned her.

  “Thurnock,” said I, “give him the silver tarsk.”

  “Yes, Captain,” he said.

  The crowd began to melt away, “Stay,” said to two of my men.

  As Thurnock, by her arm, led the girl down the stairs of the wagon, the other slave girls, who had moved the wagon, struck at her, spitting and jeering. “Slave!” they cried. “Slave!” Thurnock led the girl before me. She looked at me, with glazed eyes. I turned to one of the seaman with me. “Take her and chain her in the first hold,” I said.

  “Yes, Captain,” he said.

  He began to lead her away, by the arm. Suddenly, she stopped, and looked back over her shoulder. “You?” she said. “This morning.” “Yes,” I said. I was pleased that she remembered.

  Her head fell forward on her breast, her hair, too, forward. Then she was led away to her chains on the Tesephone.

  I thought I would enjoy owning her.

  “Now,” said I to Rim and Thurnock. “Shall we return to the tavern and enjoy our paga.

  I was much pleased.

  Rim lifted his key. It bore the number six.

  “Tendite will be waiting for me,” mentioned,” mentioned Rim.

  “I”, said Thurnock, “ wonder about that dancer. She is a juicy, fat little tabuk is she not?” “Indeed,” granted Rim.

  “What do you think they would charge for her pelt for an hour?”

  “Perhaps tow copper pieces,” I suggested. The other girls, the common slaves, like Tendite, went with the price of a cup of paga.

  “let us go to the tavern,” said Thurnock, licking his lips.

  Together, we went to the tavern. It was not long past noon, and there would be time, later, to begin the purchase of supplies.

  I did not wish to deny Rim his lovely Tendite, nor Thurnock his Ahn with the luscious wench, chained, who had writhed before us on the sand.

  I myself expected, at that time, to be content with a cup of paga.

  But I found more in the tavern, which I did not expect to find.

  4 An Acquaintance is Briefly Renewed

  Rim went to Tendite, whom he had left in the paga tavern.

  She looked at him, in her yellow silk, kneeling in the darkness by the low wall, her hands braceleted above and behind her head.

  “Thank you for waiting, my little talender,” he said.

  He unfastened her, and she preceded him across the floor, between the tables. As Rim passed the proprietor, in his apron behind the paga-stained counter, he tossed him the key. The girl climbed the narrow, iron ladder to the sixth alcove. Rim followed her.

  Thurnock then began to negotiate with the proprietor. I had had Thurnock give me some coins, which I had placed in my tunic. I did not wish to be embarrassed by not having the price of a cup of paga. The coins were from the profit taken on Tana and Ela. The proprietor slopped out from behind the counter, and Thurnock, impatiently, stamped about. In a few moments, I saw the luscious, short-bodied dancer, in pleasure silk, hurry from the kitchen and climb to the eighth alcove. In a moment, Thurnock had leaped to the ladder, following her. I saw him draw tight the curtains of the alcove behind him.

  I expect she would have more than she bargained for with great Thurnock, of the Peasants.

  I looked about myself.

  There were the men at the tables, the girls, in slave bells, and yellow silks, serving them.

  The proprietor had now returned behind his counter, and was polishing paga goblets.

  I smiled.

  To one side, the Player and the fellow from Torvaldsland, with the ax, were still engaged in their game. Neither had left the board to investigate the commotion which had, shortly before, taken place outside. They, perhaps, had been oblivious of it.

  I was served a cup of paga, and I drank it slowly, waiting for Rim and Thurnock. They would not hurry. Gorean men do not.

  I looked down into the paga cup, and swirled the liquid slowly, and again drank. In the next few days, in Lydius, we would lay in supplies. We would then make our way upriver to Laura.

  I was content. Things were going well.

  It was then I saw her.

  She came through the kitchen door, in the tiny slip of diaphanous yellow silk allotted to paga slaves, bells locked on her left ankle. She was doubtless returning to the floor after her rest, to freshen her for further service. I had not seen her before. She carried a vessel of paga. She was barefoot on the tiles.

  She saw me, and gasped. Her hand fled before her mouth. She turned, and ran back into the kitchen.

  I smiled.

  I snapped my fingers for the proprietor to come to my table. He did so. “One of your slaves,’ I said, “just stepped from the kitchen, and then returned to it.” He looked at me.

  “Send that slave to me,” I said.

  “Yes, Master,” he said.

  I waited.

  In moments, the girl approached, carrying her vessel of paga.

  She knelt before me.

  “Paga,” I said.

  Elizabeth Cardwell poured me paga.

  We looked at one another. We did not speak.

  I well remember Elizabeth Cardwell. Once we had cared for one another. Together, we had served Priest-Kings. I had brought her, in such service, into much danger. Then, in the Sardar, I had decided what was best for her. She would be returned to Earth. She would be freed of the perils of Gor. There she might contract a desirable marriage. There she might be safe. There she might own a large house, and have the convenience of labor-saving devices.

  She had dared to protest.

  What place was Gor for a woman?

  I had made up my mind.

  I knew what was in her best interest, and I would see to that interest. I knew what was best for her.

  But that night she had fled the Sardar. Ubar of the Skies, my great war tarn, for some reason, though, he had slain men for this attempt, permitted her, only a girl, to saddle him and fly.

  I had seen what was best for her. But she had refused to accept my will. Ubar of the Skies returned, four day later. In fury I had driven him from the Sardar.

  I had not seen him since.

  I had seen what was best for Elizabeth Caldwell. But she had not seen fit to accept my will.

  “Tarl,” said the girl, now, whispering it.

  “Go to the wall,” I said.

  She put down her vessel of paga, and rose lightly, I saw the beauty of her body beneath the silk. She went to the wall, where Tendite had been chained. I went to the proprietor. �
��Key,” I said, handing him a copper tarn disk. It was number ten.

  I went to the wall, and indicated that the girl should kneel before ring ten. It, like the others, had, strung through it, a short length of chain, some five inches, each end of the chain terminating in an opened slave bracelet. She put her hands above and behind her head, and I snapped her wrists into the slave bracelets.’ I sat down, cross-legged, across from her.

  She smiles. “Tarl,” she whispered.

  “I am Bosk,” I said.

  She moved her wrists in the slave bracelets. She smiled. “It seems you have found me,” she said.

  “Where did you go?” I asked.

  “I sought the northern forests,” she said. “I knew that girls, sometimes are free in them.” She put down her head.

  “So you arrived at the edge of the forests,” I said, “and released the tarn.” “Yes,” she said.

  “And you entered the forests?”

  “Yes,” he said.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “I lived for some days in the forest, but poorly, on berries and nuts, I tried to make snares. I caught nothing. Then, one morning, when I was lying on my stomach beside a stream, drinking, I lifted my head to find myself surrounded by armed panther girls. There were eleven of them. How pleased I was to see them! They seemed so proud, and strong, and were armed,” “Did they permit you to join their band?” I asked.

  “They had not been satisfied with me,” said the girl.

  “What happened then?” I asked.

  “They told me to remove my clothing. Then they tied my hands behind my back and put a leash to my throat. They took me to the banks of the Laurius, where they tied me to a pole set in the stones, my hands over my head, my neck, belly and ankles, too, bound to it. A river craft passed. I was sold for one hundred arrow points. I was purchased by Sarpedon, master of this tavern, who occasionally scouts the river, to pick up such girls.

  I looked at her. “You were foolish,” I said.

  Her fists clenched in the slave bracelets. Her collar, yellow and enameled, shone in the darkness, at her throat. Her hair, a black sheen, loose, fell over her shoulders, and to the small of her back. She was beautiful in the bit of yellow silk. She pulled at the bracelets. Then she relaxed.