Conspirators of Gor

Chapter Twelve

I dipped the first of the two buckets into the fountain of Aiakos, where I usually drew water. It is at the intersection of Clive and Emerald, and is the nearest fountain to the shop of Epicrates.

It, as many fountains, has two basins, water flowing first into the high basin, and then running over to the lower basin. As an animal I was permitted to drink only from the lower basin, but there was no difficulty in filling the buckets in the upper basin, and we invariably did so, as it was deeper and fresher. The water entered the fountain through eight spouts, oriented to the eight major points of the Gorean compass. Below each spout, on the adjacent stone rim, there are two shallow depressions, or worn areas, the one on the right deeper than that on the left. This difference takes place over generations, as right-handed persons tend to brace the right hand on the rim while leaning over to drink, and left-handed persons tend to place their weight on the left hand as they lean forward to drink. Similar worn places do not appear on the lower rim as slaves, sleen, kaiila, and such, are expected to drink while on all fours. The water is brought in from the Voltai Mountains, or Red Mountains, which at that time I had not seen, far north and east of Ar, by means of long, towering aqueducts, most of which are more than seven hundred pasangs long. The Builders, the “Yellow Caste,” one of the five castes commonly regarded as high castes, engineered these remarkable constructions, and are charged with their supervision, upkeep, and repair.

“Step aside, girl,” said a woman’s voice, and I backed away, my head lowered. The free woman then dipped her pail into the water, and left.

Some free women are cruel to slaves.

I was pleased she had not switched me across the back of the thighs.

I dipped the second bucket into the water.

Men prefer us, I thought.

“Where is Lord Grendel?” the Lady Bina had inquired, unfastening the shackles which held me in place, across the threshold of the apartment.

“Is he not on the roof, Mistress?” I inquired, rubbing my right wrist. To be sure, it was light, and, by now, one would expect him here, below, in the loft, or apartment.

“No,” she said.

“I do not know, Mistress,” I said.

“It is not like him to be absent,” said the Lady Bina.

“No, Mistress,” I said.

I feared he had departed from the roof, after dark, after the curfew had sounded.

I feared there might have been another killing in the streets.

“I would be spoken to,” I said to the Lady Bina.

“To what end?” asked the Lady Bina.

“Things have been muchly different, of late,” I said.

She did not respond.

“There has been much reticence in the household,” I said.

“It has to do, I think,” said the Lady Bina, “with the curfew, the killings. Lord Grendel has been uneasy.”

“There is much unease in the city,” I said.

“That is clear in the streets, the markets,” she said.

“Something is out there, at night,” I said.

“Not always at night,” she said.

“May I speak?” I said.

“Surely,” she said.

“I do not understand Lord Grendel,” I said.

“How so?” she said.

“In the past,” I said, “he cleaned his own body, oiling the fur, washing it, brushing and combing it, with particular care, and, of late, he has had me much attend to him, sometimes an Ahn at a time, often concerning myself with such things.”

“You are grooming him,” she said, “cleaning the fur, and such. Have you encountered small forms of life in the fur?”

“No,” I said.

“Good,” she said. “He is a cleanly brute, and, for his kind, fastidious.”

“I do not understand,” I said.

“Pets,” she said, “are often used by his kind to groom their masters. Much is done with the fingers, and the lips, and teeth. The small forms of life, caught in the fingers, or between the teeth, are eaten.”

I felt ill.

“I am not a pet,” I whispered.

“Of course not,” she said, “or, at least, no more than any other slave is a pet.”

“Who is he, Mistress?” I begged. “Who are you?”

I expected to be told that curiosity was not becoming in a kajira, but the small, exquisite Lady Bina, despite her selfishness and vanity, her almost charmingly innocent lack of concern with the feelings and lives of others, was often pleasant, and communicative. Too, she was not natively Gorean. That, I thought, quite possibly, was relevant.

“There are metal worlds, large metal worlds,” she said, “like small planets, inhabited by Kurii, rather like Lord Grendel, though he is not truly Kur.”

“No?” I said.

“Lord Grendel,” she said, “is the result of an experiment, one which apparently did not turn out well.”

As far as I could tell, Grendel, or Lord Grendel, was Kur. I recalled he had identified himself as such, on the very evening he had brought me to the domicile, the first floor of which held the living quarters and shop of Epicrates.

“I myself,” said the Lady Bina, “was originally a Kur pet.”

“A pet?” I said.

“There is nothing wrong with being a pet,” she said. “Indeed, on the world once of Agamemnon, Eleventh face of the Nameless One, it was a great honor to be the pet of a Kur, particularly if one were only a human being, and not a female Kur, defanged and declawed, kept in chains and chastisable by the rod. I myself had the privilege of being the pet of Lord Arcesilaus, who now, as I understand it, is the Twelfth Face of the Nameless One, Theocrat of the World, that world. Pets are not taught to speak, but I learned to do so; the mechanical translators, and Lord Grendel, and some others, were helpful; and, after the dislocations of an insurrection, and the downfall of Agamemnon, Eleventh Face of the Nameless One, former Theocrat of the World, that world, learning of this world, a beautiful, natural world, not a small world and one of metal, and ships which might voyage here, I decided to embark, reach this world, and make my fortune here, in particular, becoming a Ubara, a ruler or consort of a ruler, of some great city — I had heard of Ar — or, possibly, of the planet itself.”

How naive she is, I thought.

Again I tried to envisage what might have been her socialization, her acculturation.

Then it occurred to me that, from what she had said, for most practical purposes, she had had little in the way of such customary amenities.

“You spoke of an experiment,” I said.

“Yes,” she said.

“It did not turn out well?” I asked.

“Apparently not,” she said.

“I do not understand,” I said.

“You should speak to Lord Grendel of that,” she said.

“Might he not kill me?” I asked.

“You could ask him, and see,” she said.

“I do not think I will do so,” I said.

“I do not think he would hurt you,” she said. “At most you would be well lashed, perhaps several times, over several days, and warned not to speak of it again.”

“You speak of Lord Grendel,” I said. “I gather, then, he was important on his world.”

“He came to be so,” she said. “Muchly so, in power and prestige, and, if he had been interested in such matters, and wished it, might have become so in wealth, as well.”

“Why then would he leave?” I asked. “Why would he give up so much?”

“To accompany me,” she said.

“To a new world, a strange world, an unfamiliar, perhaps hostile world?” I said.

“Yes,” she said.

“Forgive me, Mistress,” I said, “but why would he, so strange and different a form of life, do so?”

“I have never inquired,” said the Lady Bina. “He insisted on doing so.”

“Here,” I said, “he is feared, even loathed.”

“That is because he is not a true Kur,” she said. “The true Kur is beautiful, large, agile, proud, long-armed, glossy, wide-nostriled, with six-digited appendages, with a voice a larl might envy. Grendel has deformed paws, with only five digits, and the throat, and tongue, the oral orifice are different, and the eyes, too. He can even approximate human sounds.”

“I think,” I said, “he is devoted to Mistress.”

“I have never objected to his presence, despite his appearance,” she said. “He is useful to have about, and I am fond of him. He cannot help his ugliness. Too, I suspect his presence, like that of a pet sleen, would encourage predators, thieves, or such, to circumspection.”

I had no doubt about that.

“I do not understand,” I said, “why, of late, Lord Grendel has had me attend to his grooming.”

“Nor do I,” she said.

“Mistress is well aware of the killings,” I said.

“Surely,” she said.

“Some fear a Kur may be involved,” I said.

“There are no Kurii on Gor,” she said.

“Lord Grendel,” I said.

“Not a true Kur,” she said.

I was not so sure of that. I had sensed that the beast regarded itself as Kur, and prided itself on the possession of that dark, dangerous blood. As noted, he had certainly, and, indeed, unhesitantly, identified himself as Kur.

“There was one, I think,” I said, “who performed in a carnival.”

“It died, did it not,” she asked, “in the sewers?”

“It is thought so,” I said.

“Then a larl, a sleen, or such, perhaps a sewer tharlarion, must be about.”

“Kurii are dangerous,” I said.

“They must eat,” she said, “and sometimes, it seems, they want blood.”

At that moment we heard a movement, above us, as of a large body turning about, moving, on the roof.

“Ah,” said the Lady Bina, pleasantly, “Lord Grendel has returned.”

I was readying myself to return to the shop of Epicrates, with the two buckets, freshly filled, when I became aware of a shouting about, and I saw several citizens hurrying to join a cluster of others, gathered near the double doorway of an insula on Clive, not more than a hundred paces from the fountain.

I saw a slave rushing past, hurrying away from the insula.

“What is going on?” I cried.

“A body!” she cried. “Another killing!”

“Wait!” I called, but she had sped past.

I remained at the fountain, the buckets put to the pavement, beside me, shading my eyes.

The crowd parted a bit, as four guardsmen, summoned, I gathered, pressed through the gathering.

I saw them pull part of a body by one foot toward the center of the street. More than one free woman wrapped a veil more closely about her face, and backed away.

Guardsmen were motioning to the crowd, to disperse. The body, what I saw of it, was placed in a mat, which was folded about it.

A Tarnster, come from the crowd, was passing. Near him, similarly withdrawing, was a fellow in the brown of the Peasants, a bundle of the leafy vangis over his shoulder.

“Masters,” I called.

“A larl is loose in the city,” said the Tarnster.

“It was no larl,” said the Peasant.

“A sleen then,” said the Tarnster.

They had then moved past.

I then rose to my feet.

“Persinna!” I called to a shapely slave, in a brief gray tunic, with a tiny, locked message box, chained to her collar.

Her eyes were suddenly wild with fear. “Be silent!” she said, looking about her. “Do not speak that name, I beg of you.”

“Do you not remember me?” I said. “I am Allison. We were sold together, in the Metellan district.”

“I am not Persinna,” she said.

“You are, or were,” I said.

“You see my tunic!” she said. “I am a state slave. I am owned by the state of Ar!”

“Now,” I said. “And that is ironic, is it not?”

“Be merciful,” she said, looking about.

“I thought you had a private master,” I said.

“I did,” she said, “but he sold me to Ar, as a joke, for a pittance.”

“Doubtless there are some in Ar,” I said, “who would like to see you adorn the spike of impalement.”

“Do not reveal me,” she begged.

“There is doubtless an anonymity for you,” I said, “being chained amongst state slaves.”

“Please,” she said.

“But, of course, if you are discovered,” I said, “you would be nicely at hand, on a chain.”

“Worthless barbarian!” she hissed.

“I think I shall call out your name,” I said, angrily.

“Please do not,” she whispered, “-Mistress.”

“I am not a Mistress,” I said. “We are both now no more than collar sluts.” I could conceive of a fellow in whose arms I thought I might now well be no more than an eager, grateful, squirming collar slut. How far I was now, a slave, from the cool, smug, haughty, so-self-satisfied Allison Ashton-Baker!

“You perhaps,” she said, “not I.”

“Wait,” I said, “until you are put out for public use, with a hundred others, on a feast day.”

“Let me go,” she begged.

“What is going on, down the street?” I asked.

“Curiosity-” she began.

“Speak,” I told her.

“A body was discovered,” she said, “thrust between buildings.”

“From last night?” I said.

“One supposes so,” she said.

“Then the larl must be about,” I said, frightened.

“If it is a larl,” she said.

“What else could it be?” I asked.

“I do not know,” she said. She touched the message box chained to her collar. “Please,” she said. “I must be back within the Ahn.”

“Who was killed?” I asked.

“Did you not see the garmenture?” she asked.

Somehow I had refused to see it, or, better, to see it for what it was. Too, of course, I had only glimpsed it, some shreds, and at a distance. I suddenly felt very much afraid. “Yes,” I said.

“A Metal Worker,” she said.

“What is wrong?” she asked.

I could form no words.

“I am Mina, Mina,” she said. “May Mina go?”

“Forgive me, Mina,” I said. “I wish you well.”

The former Lady Persinna then turned about and, gratefully, hurried away.

There would be, of course, hundreds of Metal Workers in Ar.

“Do you dally, Slave?” inquired a free woman, come to the fountain.

“No, Mistress!” I said. “No, Mistress!”

I then seized up the handles of the buckets and, step by step, slowly, carefully, for the weight, and that no water be spilled, frightened, miserable, made my way toward the shop of Epicrates.