Kajira of Gor

33 The Inquiry; The Outcome of the Inquiry; I Am the Slave of Miles of Argentum

The dancers had now scurried away with a jangle of […].

The musicians were quiet. The floor, between the tables cleared. The feast slaves had drawn back, behind the table. At these tables were Claudius, the Ubar of Argentum members of the high council. There were-numerous other dignitaries there, as well, both from Argentum and from cities. Miles of Argentum was there, and Drusus Rencius Ligurious.

Interestingly enough, Aemilianus of Ar, wb(once been my master, was there, and Publius, who had the house master in the house of Kliomenes, in Cos Hassan, the Slave Hunter, I noted, however, was not prt Toward the back of the room, at one of the lesser t there was a hooded guest, a medium-sized man. I dii know who it might be. It was much too small to be Has was naked, in slave chains, behind a beaded curtain. I be produced when Miles of Argentum, my master, wisi Because of my proximity to the narrow, linear space between the beading, I had little difficulty in seeing well in hall. The guests, on the other hand, given the closeness beading and their greater distance from it, could detect presence there only with difficulty, and, even then, probably, they would be able to tell little other than the fact the individual there, as might be discerned from the v~' detectable form, was a stripped or scantily clad female, I bly a slave. "It is now time," said Claudius, the Ubar of Argentum come to the major business of the evening. Let the sack be brought forth."

Two soldiers, from a side room, dragged the golden across the floor and put it before the center table, that table where sat Claudius, the members of the high council and other significant guests. At this table, too, sat Ligurious, Miles of Argentum and Drusus Rencitis.

"This feast," said Claudius, "is one of victory, one of triumph. Months ago the unprovoked aggression of Corcyrus, seeking the silver of Argentum, was repelled. Further, to ensure our security, and to prevent a repetition of this form of aggression, we fought our way to, and through, the gate of Corcyrus itself. There, abetted by the people of that city, we defeated the forces of the Tatrix of Corcyrus and overthrew her tyrannous regime."

There Was Gorean applause at this point; the striking of as the left shoulder with the palm of the hand. Even Ligurious, I noted, politely joined in the applause. "The ties of Corcyrus with Cos have now been severed," said Claudius. "She, now, like Argentum, is a free ally of glorious Ar."

Here there was more applause.

"And fortunate is this for her," said Claudius, "for Ar, as she has demonstrated, stands by her allies"

Again there was applause.

"As her allies stand by her!" he added. There was more applause.

Ar, of course, had substantial land forces. She had, doubtless, the largest and best-trained infantry in known Gor is the land forces of Cos, on the other hand, were probably not it superior to those of a number of Gorean city states, even)e- much smaller in their populations than the island Ubarate. These balances tended to be reversed dramatically in sea he power. Cos had one of the most powerful fleets on Gor. The sea power of Ar, on the "The villainess in this matter, the culprit, the instigator of all these hostilities, was Sheila, the cruel and wicked Tatrix of Corcyrus."

"Yes, yes!" cried several men.

"She was captured in Corcyrus but, en route to Argentum escaped. A great search was organized and conducted. A handsome reward was posted. Still, for months she eluded us Then Hassan, the Slave Hunter, he of Kasra, consented to take up her trail. Her days of freedom were then numbered. In Ar, not two weeks ago, she fell to his bracelets."

There was applause.

"He then saw fit to bring her to us in his own inimitable fashion, in a wagon, like a common girl, tied naked in a slave sack."

There was laughter. "This time," laughed Claudius, "she did not escape!" There was more laughter. I saw Ligurious smile.

"It is now time," said Claudius, "to have Sheila, the former Tatrix of Corcyrus, presented before her conquerors, to await their pleasure!"

There was applause.

"Ligurious," said Claudius, turning to him.

Ligurious rose, and walked about the table, to stand before it, and near the sack.

"Many of you know me," said Ligurious, "if only by reputation, as the former first minister of Corcyrus: what many of you may not know is that I was also the secret leader of the resistance in Corcyrus to the rule of Sheila, the Tatrix. For months within her very government I strove to dissuade her from endeavors hostile to the great state of Argentum. I attempted to assert a persistent influence in the directions of harmony and peace. Alas, my efforts were frustrated, my counsels were ignored. The best that I could hope for was to prepare the way for the victorious forces of Argentum, which I managed to do. You may recall the ease with which you took the city, once the great gate was breached."

Drusus Rencius was smiling.

"In this time, of course, I was often in close converse with the Tatrix. In my efforts to convince her of the futility and madness of her policies I was in almost constant proximity to her. I think it may well be said that there is no man on Gor better qualified than I to recognize her, or to identify her for you. "Thank you, noble Ligurious," said Claudius. "Now," said he, "let Sheila's captor, the noble Hassan, of Kasra, have the honor of presenting her before us, that she may await our pleasure." It was quiet. Men looked about. "Where is Hassan?" asked Claudius.

"He is not here," said a man.

Ligurious looked down, smiling.

Claudius shrugged. "He is perhaps indisposed:" he said. "Let the sack be opened!"

Ligurious looked about himself, pleased. He scarcely bothered to note the opening of the sack, and the drawing forth of its helpless, gagged, bound, stripped occupant. She was knelt then, bound hand and foot, naked and gagged, before Claudius and the council.

Ligurious looked about. "Yes," he said, "I know her well. There is no doubt about it." He pointed at the kneeling figure, dramatically, but scarcely looking at her, directing his attention more to the audience. "Yes," he said, "that is she! That is the infamous Tatrix of Corcyrus!"

She uttered wild, tiny, desperate, muted sounds, shaking her head wildly. How well Goreans gag their prisoners and slaves, I thought.

"Do not attempt to deny it, Sheila," said he, scarcely noting her. "You have been perfectly and definitively identified."

She continued to make tiny, desperate, pleading noises. She continued to shake her head, wildly.

Tears flowed from her eyes.

Ligurious then, perhaps curious, regarded her closely. Even then, for a time, I do not think he recognized her. I think this was because of our very close resemblance, and, too, perhaps, because he found it almost impossible to believe that I was not the woman who had been drawn forth from the sack, who now knelt helplessly before Claudius and the council. Then, suddenly, he turned white. "~a it!" he cried. He crouched down, then, and took the woman's head in his hands. Her eyes looked at him wildly, filled with tears. "No!" he cried, suddenly. "No! This is not she!"

"I thought," said Claudius, "that you identified her as Sheila, perfectly and definitively."

"No, no!" said Ligurious. He was shaking. There was sweat On his forehead. "I made a mistake! this is not she!"

"Then where is she?" asked Claudius, angrily.

"I do not know!" said Ligurious, looking wildly about. "Hassan, of Kasra!" called the feast master, from near the door, announcing the arrival of Hassan in the hall.

"I am sorry I am late," said Hassan. "I was temporarily retained. I was attacked by two men. They are now outside my quarters, where I put them, tied back to back. Their arms and legs are broken."

"See that the assailants of Hassan are taken into custody and attended to," said Claudius.

"Yes, Ubar," said two soldiers, and swiftly left the room.

I saw Sheila, at the appearance of Hassan in the hall, immediately put her head down to the tiles. Hassan trained his women perfectly.

"Is this the woman you captured in Ar?" asked Claudius pointing to Sheila. Hassan walked over to her, pulled her head up by the hair and then, holding her by the arms, put her to her belly, and then turned her from one side to the other, examining lici body for tiny marks.

"Yes," he said, "this is she."

The Gorean master commonly knows the bodies of his women. They are, after all, not independent contractual partners, who may simply walk away, but treasured possessions. They receive, accordingly, careful attention. Many Women, indeed, are never truly looked at by a man until after they are owned.

He then put Sheila again on her knees before the council.

"Do you believe her to be the Tatrix of Corcyrus?" asked Claudius.

"I believe that she was the Tatrix of Corcyrus," said Hassan, "yes." "He has never seen her!" shouted Ligurious.

"She was identified by sleen," said Hassan.

"But from false clothing!" cried Ligurious. "She is not the true Tatrix of Corcyrus! But the true Tatrix of Corcyrus is here, somewhere! I am sure of it!" "How do you know?" asked Claudius.

Ligurious looked down, confused. He could not very well inform the assemblage of the exchange he had attempted to effect earlier in the throne "room. "I have seen her here in the palace, somewhere about," he said quickly. "It was she whom I thought was to be withdrawn from the "sack."

"My Ubar," said Miles of Argentum, rising to his feet, "reluctant as I am to agree with the former first minister of Corcyrus, and doubtless one of the finest liars on Gor, I think it not impossible that he may have seen Sheila about in the palace, perhaps on her hands and knees scrubbing tiles in a corridor, the type of task to which it has amused me to set her."

Men looked about, wildly, at one another.

"With your permission, my Ubar," said Miles of Argenturn. Then, suddenly, sharply, he struck his hands together twice. "Sheila!" he snapped. "Fortit!" Startled, frightened, I parted the headed curtain with my chained hands and, with the small, measured, graceful steps of a Woman whose ankles are chained, hurried to him. I knelt on the tiles before the table, before his place, my head down "Lift your head," he said.

I heard cries of astonishment.

"Go, kneel beside the other woman," he said.

"Yes, Master," I said.

"There," cried Ligurious in triumph, "that is the true Sheila, the true Tatrix of Corcyrus!"

"Do you not think you should examine her somewhat more closely?" asked Drusus Ligurious threw him a look of hatred and then came closer to me. He made a pretense of subjecting me to careful scrutiny. Then he said, "Yes, that is the true Sheila."

"Let them be identically chained," said Claudius.

Miles of Argentum gestured "to an officer. He had apparently anticipated this request.

In moments Sheila, freed of the gag and cords, wore chains. We now knelt naked and identically chained, side' by side, before Claudius, the Ubar of Argentum. Each of us had our wrists separated by some eighteen inches of chain. Each $ of us, too, had our ankles separated by a similar length of chain, only a little longer. Another chain, on each of us, ran from the center of our wrist chain to the center of our ankle chain. This central, or middle, chain was about three, and a A half feet in length.

"It is a remarkable resemblance," said Claudius', wonderingly.

"They could be twins," said a man.

"You can tell them apart," said a man. "One has shorter hair."

"That is not important," said another.

"There are other differences, too," said a man, "subtle differences, but real differences."

"Yes," said the man, "I see them now." That was he who had suggested that we might be twins.

Had we been twins we, at least, would not have been identical twins. Fraternal twins, separate egg twins, "two boys, two girls, or a boy and a girl, are not likely to resemble one another any more closely than normal siblings, except, of course, in age.

"If you did not see them together, however," said a man, "it would be extremely difficult to tell them apart."

"Yes," said another.

"I submit, my Ubar," said Miles of Argentum, "that the woman on your left, she with the shorter hair, is she before whom I appeared in Corcyrus, when I brought, at your request, the scrolls of protest to that city."

"Are you certain?" asked Claudius.

"Yes," said Ligurious. "That is true. She is Sheila, the former Tatrix of Corcyrus."

"That is not the one whom the sleen selected," said Hassan.

"I have witnesses who will identify her," said Miles. "I my-self am the first such witness. She is Sheila, the Tatrix of CorCyrus.

"How do you know?" asked "Drusus Rencius, rising to his feet.

I was startled. How dared he speak?

"The captain from Ar is out of order," said Claudius.

A "Please let him speak, noble Claudius," said Miles.

"Is it your intention to speak on behalf of the shorter-haired slave?" asked Claudius.

"Yes," said Drusus Rencius.

There were cries of astonishment in the banquet hall. Even the feast slaves, in the back, girls such as Claudia, Crystal, Tupa and Emily, looked wildly at one another. I moved in my chains. I was thrilled,.

"You may do so," said Claudius. "My thanks, Ubar," said Drusus Rencius. "Is it your intention to jeopardize our friendship, old comrade in arms?" inquired Miles of Argentum.

"That is no friendship, beloved Miles," said Drusus Rencius, "which can be jeopardized by truth."

"That is the woman whom I saw in Corcynis when I carried there the scrolls of Argentum," said Miles, pointing to me. "That is she who was on the throne. That is she whom I captured after the fall of the city. That is she whom I had locked in the golden cage!"' "I do not dispute that," said Drusus Rencius.

"You grant, then, my case," said Miles.

"No," said Drusus Rencius. "I do not dispute that you saw her in Corcyrus, that you later captured her, that you had her placed in a golden cage, and such things. What I dispute is that she was the Tatrix of Corcyrus."

"The captain from Ar," said Miles, "has apparently taken leave of his senses. He is being foolish. Would he have us believe that the true Tatrix was off somewhere, polishing her nails perhaps, while someone else was conducting the business of state in her place?"

There was laughter. Drusus Rencius clenched his fists. He was a Gorean warrior. He did not take lightly to being mocked and chided in this fashion.

"My second witness," said Miles of Argentum, "is the woman who served her intimately in her own quarters, who bathed her and clothed her, and combed her hair, who was to her as her own personal serving slave, now one of my own slaves, Susan."

Susan was summoned forward. How exquisite and beautiful, and well displayed she was, in the trim, tiny tunic that was the uniform of the girls of Miles of Argentum. We now wore the same collar. He owned us both.

She knelt before him, his.

"Is that the woman whom you served In Corcyrus?" Miles asked her, pointing to me.

Susan came over to me. "Forgive me, Mistress," she said.

"Do not call me Mistress, Susan," I said. "I am now as much a slave as you." "Yes, Mistress," she said.

"Is that the woman whom you served?" asked Miles.

"It is, Master," she said.

The members of the high council and many of the guests looked about at one another, nodding.

"As this girl is the property of Miles of Argentum," said Claudius to Drusus Rencius, "you may move that her testimony be discounted or be retaken, under torture."

In Gorean courts the testimony of slaves is commonly taken under torture. Drusus Rencius looked across the room to Miles of Argenturn.

"I will withdraw her testimony," said Miles of Argentum. "If she is to be tortured, it will be at my will and not that of a court. In this, however, I make no implicit concession. I maintain that the truth which she would cry out under torture would be no different from that which you have already heard freely spoken."

"Well done, Drusus Rencius," said a man, admiringly.

I saw that Miles of Argentum did not wish to have Susan subjected to judicial torture, perhaps tormented and torn on the rack, even though it might validate her testimony and strengthen his case. But she was onl~ a slave! Could it be be cared for her? I suspected it was true. I suspected that the little beauty from Cincinnati, Ohio, in his collar, had become special to him, that she was now to him perhaps even a love slave.

"I do not ask that her testimony be discounted or withdrawn," said Drusus Rencius, "only that it be clearly understood."

There were cries of astonishment from those about the tables.

"Susan," said Drusus Rencius.

"Yes, Master," she said. "Do you think this woman is wicked?" he asked. "I think she can be nasty and cruel," she said, "but, in a collar, she will doubtless be kept well in her place."

"From what you know of her," he asked, "do you think she could be guilty of the enormities and crimes commonly charged against the Tatrix of Corcyrus?" "No, Master," she said, happily.

"Mistresses sometimes have different relationships to their serving slaves, or friends, than they do to others," said Ligurious. "It is well known that great crimes can be committed by individuals who are, to others, kindly and affectionate."

"And," said Drusus Rencius, "that a man who is a wrathful master to one woman may be little better than the obsequious pet of another."

"Perhaps," said Ligurious, angrily.

"You know that this is the woman whom you served, Susan," said Drusus Rencius, indicating me, "for you are familiar with her, and have no difficulty in recognizing her. What I am suggesting is that you do not really know that she was the true Tatrix of Corcyrus. You suppose she was because that is what you were told, and for certain other reasons, such as others took her also for such, and you saw her performing actions which, you supposed, only the Tatrix would perform, such things as holding audiences with foreign dignitaries, and Such." "Yes, Master," said Susan.

"But is it not possible," he asked, "that she might have been reported to be the Tat, has, and might have done such things, without being the true Tatrix?" "Yes, Master," Susan granted, eagerly.

"Do you regard it as likely, Susan," asked Miles of Argenturn, "that that woman was the Tatrix of Corcyrus?"

"Yes, Master," she said.

"Do you regard it as extremely likely?" he asked. "Yes, Master," she whispered. "Do you doubt it, really, at all?" he asked. "No, Master," she sobbed. She put down her head, "Remain here, Susan," said Miles.

"Yes, Master," she said.

"I call my next witness," said Miles of Argentum, "located In Venna by my men, and brought here, Speusippus of Turia."

To my amazement Speusippus was conducted forward. He seemed cringing and obsequious in the presence of such a noble assemblage. No longer, now, did he seem as detestable to me as he once had. Too, I was now a slave and a thousand times lower than he. Too, it was he who had taken my virginity. Too, I now realized that my femaleness had shown his maleness too little respect. I was a woman. Yet, in spite of that, I had not properly related to him. I had not shown him the deference which, in the order of nature, it was proper for my sex to accord to his. He was a member of the master sex; I was a member of the slave sex.

"You were, several months ago, were you not, found guilty of certain alleged commercial irregularities in the city of Corcyrus, and banished for a time from the city?"

"Yes," said Speusippus.

"As the reports have it," said Miles, "you were marched naked from the city, before the spears of guards, a sign about your neck, proclaiming you a fraud." "Yes," said Speusippus, angrily.

"Who found you guilty, and pronounced this sentence?"

"Sheila, the Tatrix of Corcyrus," said Speusippus.

"Is she who was the Tatrix of Corcyrus in this room?" asked Miles of Argentum. "Yes," said Speusippus.

"Would you point her out for us?" asked Miles.

Speusippus, unerringly, came to my side. He pointed to me. "This is she," he said.

"Thank you," said Miles. "You may now go."

"I had her in my grasp," cried Speusippus, "but she escaped. The reward should have been mine!" This reward had originally been one thousand pieces of gold. It had later been increased to fifteen hundred pieces of gold.

"It is not my fault if you could not hold a slave," said Miles.

"She was not then a slave," said Speusippus. Then he turned to me, with hatred. "But I got something from you, you slut," he said. "I took your virginity away!" "Am I to understand," asked Miles of Argentum, "that you are confessing to the rape of a free woman, one who was even a Tatrix?"

Speusippus turned white.

"May I speak, Masters?" I asked.

"Yes," said Claudius.

"After he had captured me," I said, "I presented myself to Speusippus of Tuna naked and as a slave, and begged for his use. As a true man he could not do otherwise than to have me."

Speusippus looked wildly at me.

"Very well, Speusippus of Tuna," said Miles of Argentum, "you may go." "Forgive me, Master," I said to Speusippus of Turia. "I muchly wronged you. I was stupid and cruel. I showed you too little respect. I now beg your forgiveness, as a woman, now a slave."

"You seem much different now from before," he said.

"I have now learned that I am a female," I said. Then I put my head down and did obeisance to his maleness, kissing his feet.

He crouched down and lifted my head. He looked into my eyes. "Fortunate is the man who has you under his whip," he said.

"Thank you, Master," I whispered. He then kissed me, rose to his feet and hurried away.

"Slave!" snarled Drusus Rencius, looking angrily at me.

"Yes, Master," I said. "I am a slave."

"Let it be noted," said Miles of Argentum, "that the witness unhesitantly identified her as Sheila, the former Tatrix of Corcyrus."

"It is noted," said Claudius.

"He, too," said Drusus Rencius, "could have been mistaken In this matter!" There was some laughter from some of the members of the high council, and from some of the others about the tables.

"I call now my fourth witness," said Miles of Argentum, "Ligurious, former first minister of Corcynis. He, if no one else, should know the true Tatrix of Corcyrus. I now ask him to make an official identification in the course of our inquiry. Ligurious."

Ligurious unhesitantly pointed to me. "I know her well," he said. "That is Sheila, who was the true Tatrix of Corcyrus.

"Have you further witnesses, General?" asked Claudius of Miles.

"Yes, noble Claudius," smiled Miles, "one more."

"Call him," said Claudius.

"Drusus Rencius," said Miles.

"I?" cried Drusus Rencius.

Men looked at one another, startled.

"Yes," said Miles. "You are Drusus Rencius, a captain from Ar, are you not?" "Yes," said Drustis Rencius, angrily.

"The same who was on detached service to Argentum, and was engaged in espionage within the walls of Corcyrus?" asked Miles.

"Yes," said Drusus Rencius.

"I believe that while you were in Corcyrus," said Miles, "one of your duties was to act as the personal bodyguard of Sheila, the Tatrix of Corcyrus."

"I was assigned the post of guarding one whom I at that time thought was Sheila, the Tatrix of Corcyrus," said Drusus Rencius. "I no longer believe that she was the true Tatrix. I think that I, and many others, including yourself, were eon fused and misled by the brilliance of Ligurious, Corcyrus's first minister. She was used as a decoy to protect the true Tatrix. In effecting this stratagem she was educated in the identity and role of the Tatrix, in which role, part-time at least, she performed. The success of this plan became strikingly clear after the fall of the city. She fell into our hands and, as the supposed Tatrix, was stripped, chained and caged. The true Tatrix, meanwhile, eluded us, escaping in the company of Ligurious and others."

"Ligurious?" asked Miles.

"Preposterous," said Ligurious.

"Is the woman whom you believed to be the Tatrix of Corcyrus, and whom you testified in Corcyrus was the Tatrix, before the very throne itself, in this room?"

Drusus Rencius was silent.

"As you may have noted," said Miles, "Publius, the liou master of the house of Klioiiieiies, of Corcyrus, is in the room. I think that he, with the practiced eye of his profession, skilled in the close scrutiny and assessment of female can render a judicious opinion as to whether or not she whom you brought to the house of Kliomenes, she whom you were guarding, is or is not in the room." "How did you know of this?" asked Drusus Rencius.

"In the search for the Tatrix," said Miles, "the records hundreds of slave houses were checked, to see if a woman her description might have been processed. In this search, the records of the house of Kliomenes, we found entries taming to your visit there with a free woman, purportedly Lady Lita. Descriptions of this "Lady, Lita' were furnished to several members of the staff. There was no difficulty wi these descriptions. They were splendidly clear, and useful and intimately detailed, even to conjectured shackle sii.es, ji as one would expect of descriptions of a female in a slave garment. The descriptions tallied, of course, with those available of the Tatrix of Corcyrus."

"I did not know," said Publius, rising to his feet, "that was for such a purpose I was invited to Argentum. As Miles of Argentum knows, I am the friend of Drusus Rencius will not testify in this matter."

"You can deny, of course," said Miles of Argentum Drusus Rencius, "that she whom you took to the house Kliomenes was the same woman you were guarding as I putative Tatrix. In that fashion, even if Publius can be encouraged to testify, his testimony could do no more than confirm that she here chained is the same as she whom you th brought to the house of Kliomenes. You can still deny ti she who is here chained is she whom you then took to I Tatrix of Corcyrus.

Drusus Rencius was silent.

"We have, of course, independent identifications."

"We do not require the testimony of Drusus Rencius in this matter," said Claudius.

"I do not refuse to testify," said Drusus Rencius.

Men looked at one another.

"Let me then repeat my question," said Miles of Argentum. "Is she whom you believed to be the Tatrix of Corcyrus, she whom you identified as the Tatrix in Corcyrus itself, before the very throne of Corcyrus, in this room?"

"Yes," said Drustis Rencius.

"Would you please point her out?" asked Miles.

Drusus Rencius pointed to me. "That is she," he said.

"Thank you," said Miles.

"The matter is done," said a man.

"In making this identification," said Drusus Rencius, "I do no more than acknowledge that I was once the dupe of Ligurious. Can you not see? He is making fools of us all!"

Ligurious looked down, as though grieved by some irresponsible and absurd outburst.

"By the love I bear you, and by the love you bear me," said Drusus Rencius to Miles, "hear me out. That woman is not the Tatrix! She sat upon the throne! She appeared in public as the Tatrix! She sat in court as the Tatrix! She conducted business as the Tatrix! She was known as the Tatrix! But she was not the Tatrix!"

"Lets not ignore the evidence," said Miles of Argentum. "The evidence, some of which you yourself have presented, clearly indicates that she is the Tatrix What sort of evidence would you wish? How do we know, for example, that you are really Drusus Rencius, a captain from Ar? Or that I am Miles, a general from Argentum? Or that he is Ligurious, who was the first minister in Corcyrus? How do we know anyone in this room is who we think? Perhaps we are all victims of some elaborate and preposterous hoax! But the question here is not one of knowledge in some almost incomprehensible or absolute sense but of rational certainty. And it is clear beyond a doubt, clear to the point of rational certainty, that that was the Tatrix of Corcyrusl"

There was applause in the room.

"I recall an earlier witness," said Miles of Argentum, "my slave, Susan." "Master?" she asked, frightened.

"In your opinion, Susan," he asked, "did the shorter-haired slave, she kneeling there in chains, she whom you served, regard herself as Sheila, the Tatrix of Corcyrus."

"Yes, Master," whispered Susan, her head down.

I, too, put my head down before the free men, the masters. It was true. I had regarded myself as Sheila, the Tatrix of Corcyrus. Indeed, even now, there was a painful ambiguity in my mind in this matter. I supposed that, in a sense, I was a Sheila, who had been a Tatrix in Corcyrus. I was, I supposed, one of the two Sheilas, who, in their different ways, had been Tatrix there. I knew, of course, that I was not the true Sheila, or, at least, the important Sheila, the Sheila in whom they were particularly interested. I, too, in my way, had been a mere dupe of Ligurious.

"She herself," said Miles of Argentum, "regarded herself as the Tatrix of Corcyrus. She accepted herself as that! She did not deny it or dispute it! Why not? Because that is who she was!"

"No!" cried Drusus Rencius.

"Why do you think she was not the Tatrix of Corcyrus?" asked Miles.

"I do not know," cried Drusus Rencius. "I just know!"

"Come now, Captain," said Miles, patronizingly.

"I know her," said Drusus Rencius, angrily. "I have known her from Corcyrus. She is petty, and belongs in a collar, and under the whip, but she is not the sort of woman who could have committed the enormities and outrages of the Tatrix of Corcyrus. Such things are not in her!"' "Has the good captain from Ar," inquired Miles, "permitted the glances, the smiles, the curvaceous interests of a woman to sway his judgment?"

"No," said Drusus Rencius. - "I think you have succumbed to the charms of a slave," said Miles.

"No!" said Drusus Rencius.

"She has made you weak," said Miles.

"No!" said Drusus Rencius.

I looked at Drusus Rencius. I was only a naked slave, and In chains, How could I make such a man weak?

"The evidence is clear," said Miles of Argentum to the Ubar, Claudius, to the members of the high council, to the others in the room. "I rest my case." He then pointed to me. "Behold she who was the Tatrix of Corcyrus!"

There was much applause in the room. Drusus Rencius turned angrily away. He stood to one side, his fists clenched.

"That is not the one whom the sleen selected," said Hassan.

Drusus Rencius spun about. "True!" he said.

"May I speak?" inquired Ligurious.

"Speak," said Claudius "I anticipated some difficulty in the matter of the sleen," he said. "First of all, we must understand that the sleen are merely following a scent. They recognize a scent, of course, but not know, in a formal or legal sense, whose scent they are following. For example, a sleen can certainly recognize the scent of its master but it, being an animal, does not know, of course, whether its master is, say, a peasant or a Ubar. Indeed, many sleen, whereas they will respond to their own names, do not even know the names of their masters. I am sure the type of point I am making is well understood. Accordingly, let us suppose we now wish a sleen to locate someone, say, a Tatrix. We do not tell the sleen to look for a Tatrix. We give the sleen something which, supposedly, bears the scent of the Tatrix, and then the sleen follows that scent, no differently than it might the scent of a wild tarsk or a yellow-pelted tabuk. The crucial matter then is whether the sleen is set upon the proper scent or not. Now fifteen hundred gold pieces is a great deal of money. Can we not imagine the possibility, where so much money is at stake, that a woman closely resembling the Tatrix, as this woman, for example, might be selected as a quarry in a fraudulent hunt. It would not be difficult then, in one fashion or another, to set sleen upon her trail. A scrap of clothing would do, a bit of bedding, even the scent of a footprint. The innocent woman is then captured and, later, presented in a place such as this, the reward then being claimed."

Claudius, the Ubar of Argentum, turned to Hassan. "Your integrity as a hunter has been impugned," he said.

All eyes were upon Hassan.

"I am not touchy on such matters," said Hassan. "I am not a warrior. I am a businessman. I recognize the right of Claudius and the high council to assurances in these matters. Indeed, it is their duty, in so far as they can, to protect Argentum against deception and fraud. Much of what Ligurious, the former first minister of Corcyrus, has told you is true, for example, about sleen, and their limitations and utilities. These are, even, well-known facts. The crucial matter, then, would seem to be the authenticity of the articles used to provide the original scent. When I was in Corcyrus and I received from Menicius, her Administrator, clothing which had been worn by the Tatrix, I divided it into two bundles and had each sealed with the seal of Corcyrus. A letter to this effect, signed by Menicius, and bearing, too, the seal of Corcyrus, I also obtained. One of these bundles I broke open in Ar, and used it to locate and capture the former Tatrix of Corcyrus."

"She whom you claim is the former Tatrix," said Ligurious.

"Yes," said Hassan.

"Do you still have the second bundle, unopened, and the letter from Menicius, Administrator of Corcyrus, in your possession?" asked Claudius of Hassan. "I anticipated these matters might be sensitive," said Hassan. "Yes." Hassan was truly a professional hunter. I had heard the name "Menicius' somewhere before, but I could not place it.

He, whoever he might be, was now apparently Administrator in Corcyrus.

Claudius regarded Hassan.

"I will fetch them," said Hassan, rising to his feet.

"I, too, have clothing from Corcyrus," said Ligurious, "but it is authentic clothing, clothing actually once worn by the true Tatrix of Corcyrus." "Please be so kind as to produce it in evidence," said Claudius.

"I will be back shortly," said Ligurious.

"Bring guard sleen and meat," said Claudius to one of the guards in the room. In a few Ehn Hassan and Ligurius bad returned. Too, but moments later, two sleen, with keepers', had entered the' hall. The feast slaves and dancers shrank back against the walls. Such beasts are used to hunt slaves.

I, too, shrank back, fearfully, in my chains. I, too, was a slave.

"As you will note," said Hassan to Claudius and the high council, "the seal on this bundle has not been broken. Here, too, is the letter from Menicius." The letter was examined. Claudius himself then broke the seal on the bundle and handed clothing to one of the sleen keepers. One soldier came and crouched down behind me, holding me from the back by the upper arms. Another so served Sheila, to my left. We were not to be permitted to move from our places. I saw one of the keepers holding the clothing beneath the snout of one of the sinuous, sixlegged beasts. The specific signals between masters and sleen, signals which, in effect, convey such commands as "Attack," "Hunt," "Stop," "Back," and so on, are usually verbal and private. Verbality is important as many times the sleen, intent upon a scent, for exaniple, will not be looking at the master. The privacy of ~he signals is important to guarantee that not just anyone can start a sleen on a hunt or call one away from it. The signals to which they respond, then, are idiosyncratic to the given beast. They are generally not unique; however, to a given man and beast. For example, in an area where there are several sleen and several keepers, the keepers are likely to know the signals specific to the given beasts. In his fashion any beast may be controlled by any of the associated trainers or keepers. These signals, too, are usually kept written down somewhere. In this fashion, if a keeper should be slain, or change the locus. of his employment, or something along those lines, the beast need not be killed.

Suddenly the beast, on its chain leash, leapt towards us Sheila and I screamed, pulling back. I actually felt the body of the beast, its oily fur, the muscles and ribs beneath it, brush me, lunging past me. Sheila tried to scramble back, wild in her chains, but, held, could not do so. She threw her head back, her eyes closed, sobbing and screaming, begging the masters for mercy. The frenzied sleen tried to reach Sheila Its claws scratched and slipped on the tiles. It snapped and bit at her, its eyes blazing, its fangs, long, wild, white, moist, curved, gleaming, were but inches from her enslaved beauty.

A word was spoken. The sleen drew back. It was thrown meat. Sheila, her eyes glazed, hair before her face, looked numbly at the animal. She was still held by the soldier. Had she not been I think she might have slumped to the tiles How helpless we are, naked and in our chains, before masters. How they can do with us whatever they wish!

"The clothing with which the sleen was put on the scent of the woman on our right could have been imbued with her scent at any time, of course," said Ligurious. "For example, it could have been put in the sack with her for a night, when she was being brought to Argentum. I have here, however and I now break the seal, clothing which is actually that of the former Tatrix of Corcyrus. See? Already she cringes and shrinks back. She knows that by this clothing she will be exactly and incontrovertibly identified as the former true Tatrix of Corcyrus."

I watched in horror as Ligurious tossed the clothing, piece by piece, to one of the sleen keepers.

One of the pieces was the brief, sashed, yellow-silk robe I had been fond of. It was the first garment I had ever worn on Gor.

"That one garment," said Miles of Argentum, indicating a scarlet robe, with a yellow, braided belt, "appears to be that in which she put her curves on the day of my audience with her, that having to do with the scrolls of protest." "It is," Ligurious assured him.

I also saw there garments which looked like those I had worn to the song drama with Drusus Rencius, and had worn later with him on the walls of Corcyrus. "Surely you recognize that garment?" asked Ligurious, indicating a purple robe with golden trim, and a golden belt. "Yes," said Miles of Argentum. "That' is the garment she wore when she was captured."

"By you," said Ligurious.

"Yes, by me," said Miles.

"But she did not wear it long, did she?" asked Ligurious. "No," he grinned. There was laughter from the tables.

I did not doubt but what these garments were genuine. The last garment, for example, was undoubtedly really that which had been taken from me in the throne room of Corcyrus, before the very throne itself, before I had been taken naked and In chains outside, into the courtyard, to be placed in a golden cage. These garments, Ligurious had informed me in the throne room of Argentum, before placing me in the golden sack, from which I had been rescued by Drusus Rencius, had been smuggled out of Corcyrus. He had probably paid much to obtain them. The last pieces were all items of intimate feminine apparel, which had been worn next to my body.

I was embarrassed to see them. Now that I was a slave, of course, I would have been grateful to have even so much to wear publicly. But when I had worn them they had been the garments of a free woman. Thus, when I saw them now it was as one who had once been a free woman that I was embarrassed. Few free women care to have their intimate garments exhibited publicly before men.

I then saw the sleen, a different sleen, thrust its snout deeply into the pile of garments. I could hear it snuffling about in them. I saw the keeper, too, take the intimate garments, wadded in his hand, and thrust them beneath the animal's snout. He then held one of the longer, sliplike garments open from the bottom, and, to my horror, I saw the beast, sniffing and growling, thrust its snout deeply into the garment. My scent, from my intimacies, would doubtless be strongest in such a place.

I shrank back, even further. The hands of the soldier be-hind me, on my arms, forbade me further retreat.

In a moment the sleen leaped forward. I closed my eyes and screamed. "I felt the hot breath of the animal on my breasts. I seemed surrounded by its snarling. I heard the scratching and slipping of its claws on the tiles, the rattle and tightening, and rattle and tightening, again, of the links of the chain leash, in its lunges toward me. I sensed its force, its terribleness, its eagerness. I heard the snapping of its jaws. Could the keeper judge the distances unerringly? Could he hold the animal?

What if the chain broke? I opened my eyes. In that instant the beast was again lunging toward me. In that instant, in a flash, I saw the cavernous maw, the fangs, the long, dark tongue, the blazing eyes, the intentness, the single-mindedness, the power, the eagerness of the beast. I threw back my head and screamed miserably. "Pity!" I begged. "I beg mercy, my masters!" I cried, a terrified slave, addressing them all, in my terror, as though they might be my legal masters.

Then the sleen, with a word, was withdrawn, and thrown meat. I trembled. Were it not for the hands of the soldier behind me, on my arms, I might have collapsed. I saw Drusus Rencius looking at me with scorn. I did not care. I was not a warrior. I was a girl, and a slave.

"Thus, you see," said Ligurious, "who was the true Tatrix of Corcyrus." "Each woman, it would seem," said Claudius, "has been identified as such, one in virtue of the articles of Hassan and one in virtue of the articles with which you have furnished us."

"Examine the seals," said Ligurious, triumphantly. "See which bears the true seal of Corcyrus!"

The broken seals were brought to Claudius. He put them on the table before him. Members of the high council crowded about him.

"The seal broken from the package of Ligurious," he said, "is the seal of Corcyrus."

"That cannot be," said Hassan.

"Perhaps you will be given two Ahn in which to leave Argentum," said Ligurious. "I have the letter from Menicius!" said Hassan.

"It, too, doubtless, will bear the same seal as was on the package," said Ligurious.

"Yes," said Hassan.

"I, too, have such a letter, but a genuine one," said Ligurious, "describing and authenticating the garments I have produced for you. That letter bears the signature of Menicius and is marked with the true seal of Corcyrus." He reached within his robes and produced a letter, wrapped with a ribbon, the ribbon and the flaps of the letter secured with a melted disk of wax, this wax bearing the imprint of a seal.

The seal was examined.

"It is the seal of. Corcyrus," said Claudius.

The letter was opened and examined.

"The descriptions tally with the garments brought to us by Ligurious," said one of the members of the high council.

"Who has signed the letter?" inquired Ligurious.

"Menicius," said one of the members of the high council, looking up. "I think not," said a voice.

All eyes turned to the back of the room. There, the guest who had been hooded rose to his feet.

"Who would dare to gainsay me in this?" inquired Ligurious.

With two hands the guest brushed back his hood.

"I think that I am known to several in this room," he said. "Some of you were present at my investiture as Administrator of Corcyrus."

"Menicius!" cried more than one man.

Ligurious staggered backwards.

"My dear Ligurious," said Menicius, "your confederate in Corcyrus is now in custody. He has confessed all. I deemed, accordingly, it might be of interest to venture incognito to Argentum. I did so with the papers of a minor envoy, bearing my own signature."

How startled I was! I now recognized, and clearly, the hitherto unknown guest. I had known him as Menicius, of the Metal Workers. He was the man whose life I had spared when he had spoken out so forcibly against the Tatrix, on that day, so long ago, when I had been in the palanquin with Ligurious, that day in which, in the glory of a state procession, we had been carried through the streets of Corcyrus Doubtless Drusus Rencius, who had prevented him from reaching the palanquin, remembered him well, for his courage and his opposition to the rule of the Tatrix.

"I was interested to hear that you were the leader of the opposition to the rule of the Tatrix," said Menicius to Ligurious. "I, myself, had thought that that honor was mine." Ligurious looked about himself. He took one or two steps backward.

"I suggest that that man be put in shackles," said Menicius. "Do it," said Claudius. Two guardsmen moved swiftly to Ligurious. In a moment his wrists had been shackled behind him.

"The seals," said Menicius, "on the package and letter of tile Hassan were genuine. It is natural, however, that they were unfamiliar to you. They are imprints of the new seal of Corcyrus. It was discovered, after the institution of the new regime in Corcyrus, that the old seal was missing. Presumably it had been taken by Ligurious in his flight from the city That now seems evident. For this reason, and also to commemorate the rise of a new order in Corcyrus, it was changed."

Ligurious, shackled, looked down at the tiles.

Manicius came about the tables. He stopped before Sheila and myself. We, slaves, put our heads to the tiles. "Lift your heads, Slaves," he said. We complied. "We meet again," said Menicius to me.

"Yes, Master," I said. "Who are you?" he asked.

"My master is Miles of Argentum," I said. "He has named me "Sheila.'" "You look well in slave chains, Sheila," he said.

"Thank you, Master," I said.

He turned to Sheila. "Who are you?" he asked. "My master is Hassan, of Kasra," she said. "He has named me "Sheila.'"

"You look well in slave chains, Sheila," he said.

"Thank you, Master," she said.

He then, from his robe's, removed a package and, opening it, exhibited soft and silken contents.

She drew back, shuddering in her chains.

"These are further garments from Corcyrus," he said "They were taken from among the belongings of the Tatrix of Corcyrus, found in her suite of rooms in the palace." He turned to regard Sheila. "Perhaps, you recognize them?" he asked. "Admit nothing!"

"Consider the nature of these garments," he said. "They are clearly, in a fashion, slave garments. This may be determined from their lightness, their softness and thinness. On the other hand, there are some anomalies here. For example, note that here there is a nether closure. That would certainly be unusual in a garment permitted by a Gorean master to a female slave."

"They are barbarian garments," he said. The garments hE There was laughter here. was exhibiting to those at the tables were undergarments of sorts common to free women of Earth. I had not really thought before, of how feminine they were and how appropriate to slaves. Who but a slave would permit such delicious delicate and silken things to touch their bodies?

"But few barbarian girls, as nearly as we can tell, come to Gor clothed and, if they do, they are seldom permitted to retain their clothing, or the bits of clothing left to them at that point, past the sales block, on which, one supposes, it might be removed from them."

There was some acknowledgement of this from the tables There is a Gorean saying that only a fool buys a woman clothed.

"The Tatrix of Corcyrus, on the other hand, though a barbarian, was apparently permitted to keep this clothing. Similarly she was permitted to keep her freedom. That was removed from her only recently by Hassan and Kasra." Men at the tables looked at one another.

"Some of us," said Menicius, "are familiar with the rumors, the frightening rumors, that there are forces on Gor and elsewhere, who would challenge the power of the. Priest Kings themselves, rulers of Gor from time.

Men looked at one another, fearfully. Sometimes it seem likely to me that the Priest-Kings were mythical entities. Surely they mixed, as far as I could tell, little in the affairs of Gorf. On the other hand, it was also clear to me that someone, or something, must be in opposition to the forces which bad brought me to Gor. Those forces, for example, had mastered space flight. Surely Goreans, with their swords and spears, by themselves, could not have resisted them. Their clandestine efforts, for all their power, suggested the existence of a formidable counter-power. That counter-power, I suppose, for want of a better name, might be referred to as that of Priest-Kings.

"it seems likely to me, thus," said Menicius, "that such forces might bring wealth and barbarian agents, perhaps, with no Gorean allegiances, to our world, laboring in their behalf Too, of course, they might recruit native Goreans for their purposes. How, except for such power, could a barbarian woman, "such as Sheila, the former Tatrix of Corcyrus, come to power in a city such as Corcyrus? I suspect, also, that the true motivation of the attack on the mines of Argentum was not to fill the coffers of Corcyrus, already a prosperous city, but to supplement the economic resources of these other foes. They intend, perhaps, failing success in outward aggression, to subvert our world, city by city, or to form a league of cities, that may become dominant among our states. This might be accomplished, presumably, within the weapon laws and technological limitations imposed upon Gorean humans by Priest-Kings, for whatever might be their purposes."

Men looked at Sheila. She put her head down, trembling.

"Preposterous though those ideas may sound," said Menicius, "there is some plausibility to them. Too, further evidence comes from two sources. Outside of Corcyrus, in a great field, have been found burned grass and three large, deep, geometrically spaced depressions, as though something of great heat and weight, perhaps some giant, heated steel insect or fiery mechanical bird, had alighted there. Too, within the palace itself, in a subterranean chamber, we found the smells, the spoor and traces of some large, unknown beast which, apparently, perhaps from time to time, resided there. It had apparently removed itself from those premises, however, well before the downfall of the city."

Ligurious was looking at the tiles. He did not look up. "Ligurious?" asked Claudius.

"I know nothing of these things," said Ligurious, shrugging.

"Shall we see whose garments' these are?" inquired Menicius, lifting the delicate undergarments of Earth clutched in his fist.

"Yes, yes," said various men in the room.

"Please, no, Master!" wept Sheila. Then she lowered her head, cringing, for she had spoken without permission. The soldier behind her looked to Hassan, who nodded. He then cuffed her to her side from behind with the back of his hand and then ordered her again to her knees, to which position she struggled in her chains. Menicus, meanwhile, had thrown the garments, in a silken, fluttering wad, to one of the sleen masters who thrust them beneath the snout of the beast. In a moment it was moving swiftly about the room its nose to the floor, and then, suddenly, taking the scent, lunged murderously, claws slipping on the tiles, toward Sheila. Inches from her body, the chain on its collar jerked taut, it was held back She screamed but could not withdraw, held mercilessly, immobilely, on her knees, in place, by the soldier behind her.

"The identification is made," said Claudius, and, with a wave of his hand, signaled the sleen keeper to divert and pacify his beast. A word was whispered. The sleen, suddenly in the superbness of its training, drew back. It seemed, suddenly calm. Its tail no longer lashed back and forth. Its tongue, from the heat of its activity, lolled forth from its mouth, dripping saliva to the tiles. I could see, too, the imprint of its paws, in dampness, on the tiles. The sleen tends to sweat largely through its mouth and the leathery paws of its feet. It fell upon the meat which it was thrown.

Sheila, released by the soldier, struggled to remain upright She sobbed, then, gasping, shuddering, her head back, half in shock. I was pleased that it had been she and not I who had been the object of this second identification. I felt sorry for her. I saw that she now, like I, was only a slave. Not only are there masters on Gor, but there are sleen. We strive to be pleasing. We do what we are told.

"May I speak, Master?" asked Sheila of Hassan.

"Be silent!" said Ligurious.

"You may speak," said Hassan to his slave.

"I confess all," she said. "I was the true Tatrix of Corcyrus! The woman next to me is innocent. She was brought to Gor as an unwitting dupe, one selected to serve as proxy for me in case our plans should go awry. She had no true power, save a pittance which we, for our purposes, were sometimes pleased to accord to her. What crimes there are here are mine, or those of the free woman I once was. It will not be necessary, therefore, to impale us both. I alone am she whom you seek. I was captured in Ar by Hassan, of Kasra, who is now my master. The reward of fifteen hundred gold pieces is thus rightfully his. I am prepared now to be turned over, as a slave, to Claudius, the Ubar of Argentum, and the high council of Argentum, to face their justice."

"Fool!" cried Ligurious. "Fool!" He struggled in his manacles. They held him well.

I regarded Sheila wildly, almost disbelievingly. She had acknowledged her identity. I was now an exonerated slave, at least of her crimes, if not of mine, those of pettiness, of pride, of selfishness and cruelty, crimes for which a woman on Gor can be regarded as fittingly enslaved.

"You have me naked and in chains now before you, I who was once Sheila, the Tatrix of Corcyrus, your enemy," she said. "I am now yours to do with as you please."

"Fool!" cried Ligurious.

"What of the speculations of Menicius," Inquired Claudius, "those having to do with affairs of worlds, of the business of Priest-Kings and others."

"They are sound, Master," she said.

"Be silent!" said Ligurious.

"Speak," said Claudius.

"Hold, Caludius," cautioned a man. "Consider whether or not it is proper for mere mortals to inquire into such matters."

"Such thoughts are surely to be reserved for the second or third knowledge," said another man.

"I am a man," said another. "I repudiate the distinctions between knowledges. Knowledge is one. It is only knowers who are many.

"We are not Initiates," said another man. "Our status, prestige and livelihood do not depend on the perpetuation of ignorance and the, propagation of superstition"

"Heresy!" cried a fellow.

"I shall inquire into truth as I please," said another. "I am a free man." "It is our world, too," said a fellow.

"Surely it is permissible to inquire into such matters," said another, "if we do so with circumspection and respect."

"I think," said Claudius, "in these matters both our fears and our noble, belligerent vanities are out of place. Gods, for example; I trust, do not have need of the silver of Argentum, nor do they have need of fiery ships for plying the long, dark roads between worlds. Gods, I trust, do not leave spoor in subterranean chambers nor deep wounds in remote turfs. These things of which we speak, I think, are things which can eat and bleed."

"We do not speak, then, of Priest-Kings," said a man, relieved.

"Who knows the nature of Priest-Kings?" asked a man. "Some say they have no form," said a man, "only that they exist."

"Some say that they have no matter," said a man, "except that they are real." "Surely they are like us," said a man, "only grander and more powerful." "Let us not waste time in idle speculations," said a man.

"Speak," said Claudius to Sheila.

"There are two worlds involved, Master," she said, "Gor, and the world called Earth."

"Lying slave!" said a man. "Earth is mythical! It is only in stories. It does not exist."

"Forgive me, Master," she said, "but Earth is real, I assure you. I am from Earth, and so, too, is the slave to my right."

The man looked at me, closely.

"Yes, Master," I whispered, frightened.

"That Earth is real is in the second knowledge," said one of the men, a fellow wearing the yellow of the Builders, a high caste.

"I was taught that, too," said the fellow with him, also in the yellow of the Builders. "Do you think it is really true?"

"I suppose so," said the first man. The classical knowledge distinctions on Gor tend to follow caste lines, the first knowledge being regarded as appropriate for the lower castes and the second knowledge for the higher castes. That there is a third knowledge, that of Priest-Kings, is also a common belief. The distinctions, however, between knowledge tend to be somewhat imperfect and artificial. For example, the second knowledge, while required of the higher castes and not of the lower castes, is not prohibited to the lower castes. It is not a body of secret or jealously guarded truths, for example. Gorean libraries, like the tables of Kaissa tournaments, tend to be open to men of all castes. "Gor, and the world called Earth," she said, "are prizes in a struggle of titantic forces, the forces of those whom you call Priest-Kings and of those whom you think of as others, or whom we might think of as beasts."

"And what is the nature of these Beasts?" asked Claudius.

"I have never Seen one," she said.

"Ligurious?" asked Claudius.* "I choose not to speak," he said, sullenly.

"Continue," said Claudius to Sheila.

"Both Priest-Kings and Beasts possess powerful weaponry and are masters of space travel," she said. "Intermittently, it is my understanding, for generations, they have been involved in combat. Probes and skirmishes are frequent. As yet outright force has been unable to prevail. In many respects Priest-Kings seem to be tolerant and defensive creatures. For example, they permit native beasts on Gor, marooned beasts, and such, provided such obey, their laws, particularly with respect to weaponry and technology. And never have they pursued the beasts to their steel lairs in space, pursuing temporary advantages in these perennial conflicts. The beasts, it is my surmise, having hitherto failed to win Gor by overt conquest, attempt now to obtain power on this world by specific and detailed subversions, mixing in, and influencing, the politics and affairs of cities. Indeed, in this way, perhaps they, too, hope to prepare the way for an eventual full-scale invasion, one which could then be supplied and supported by a number of strategically located cities, or leagues of cities. I know little more, specifically, in these, matters than my own role. By means of the wealth of beasts and the influence of Ligurious, the first minister of Corcyrus, I was brought to power in Corcyrus. There, supported by the influence and Wealth of beasts, and abetted by Ligurious, I ruled. I grew soon fond of the throne. Testing i~y power I found it real. I Was exhilarated. I became ambitious to expand the sphere of Corcyrus's influence and, in particular, to obtain, if possible, for my own wealth, the mines of Argentum. In these things I exceeded my authority. Ligurious, against his better judgment, at least initially, pleaded my case with beasts and protected me from them, convincing them to accept my proposals. Ligurious was smitten with me. I seduced him to my projects. I played with his feelings. I toyed with his emotions. I exploited his sentiments. I made him dance like a puppet to my will. I deprived him of his leadership and manhood."

I looked at Ligurious. His face was dark with anger as he looked down at Sheila, now another man's slave.

"These projects, to be sure, were dangerous," she said. "Too, I was a valued agent. Thus, through Ligtirious, an order was placed with the beasts, that a double might be obtained for me. The girl selected was the collared slave to my right, how the slave, as I understand it, of Miles of Argentum. He was brought to Gor and taught that she was Sheila, the Tatrix of Corcyrus. She came to accept this identity. Some knew me as the Tatrix. Some knew her as the Tatrix. That there were actually two women involved was a carefully guarded secret, known only to a handful of trusted followers. We miscalculated seriously in at least one matter. We did not think that Ar would honor its treaty commitments with Argentum, that it would risk all-out war with the Cosian Alliance, in which Corcyrus was implicated. As it turned out, of course, Ar did support Argentum and, as it also turned out, we were not supported by Cos. Defeated in war and in the face of an uprising, too, within our own city, Ligurious and I, with some others, fled. The slave on my right, she who was brought to Gor as my double, was left behind on the throne, to be captured and, in my place, bear the wrath of the enemy. As you know, she escaped. A vast, intense and lengthy search was undertaken to recover her. In this search, as you know, as well, both of us were eventually apprehended. Now both of us, she who was the Tatrix and she who was her double, now both no more than slaves, kneel stripped before you, helpless In your chains." She put down her head.

"Speak further," said Claudius.

The slave lifted her head. "You may put me under tortures, Master," she said, "but, woe, I know little more than I have spoken. The beasts keep us much in ignorance so that, if captured, we can reveal little of their strategies and plans. What details there are beyond those I have given you would, I fear, be meaningless or trivial to you, such things as descriptions of the appearances of agents on Earth, where I was first contacted, and such."

"As beasts may be allied with men," said Claudius, "so, too, I suppose, might men be allied with Priest-Kings."

"Yes, Master," she whispered.

"Are there not, then, on Gor, places where such men may be found?" asked Claudius.

"There are several, doubtless, Master," she said.

"Name one such place," said Claudius.

She turned white. She looked to Hassan, her master. His eyes forbade hesitation. Neither mercy nor lenience were to be shown to her.

"The house of Samos, in Port Kar," she whispered.

Claudius looked to Menicius.

Claudius then regarded Ligurious.

"I choose not to comment on these matters," he said, straightening himself. He seemed very strong. He was the sort of man, it seemed to me, who might serve as master to the slave in almost any woman. Many times, I knew, I had felt the helpless desire and fear of a slave in his presence. Sheila did not meet his eyes. No longer was she a Tatrix. She was now naught but a stripped and chained slave.

"Tortures, doubtless," said Menicius, "might be brought to bear upon your resolve."

"True," said Ligurious, "but only at the cost of sacrificing the honor of Argentum."

Claudius looked at Ligurious.

"Claudius?" asked Menicius.

"Ligurious, it is true," said Claudius, "came to us a free man, of his own will. He has been guaranteed immunity in Argentum, and has been guaranteed a safe conduct from her walls."

"He has sought to misdirect our inquiries and has distorted and misrepresented evidence," said a man.

"Perjurious abominations he has uttered!" cried a man. "Impale him!" cried another.

"Impale him!" cried yet another. Men rose to their feet, shaking their fists. "Impale him!" cried several.

Ligurious smiled. The victory was his. What a small thing would be his impalement compared to the stain on the escutcheon of Argentum. His freedom was guaranteed.

"Remove the former first minister of Corcyrus from our presence," said Claudius, "lest I be tempted to betray the pledge of my city. Let his shackles be removed only in his own quarters, to which he is to be closely confined."

Two soldiers seized Ligurious by the arms,

"We have to inquire into these matters," said Claudius to Ligurious, "and resolutions to be made. It is possible we may have need of you for further testimony, asseverations germane to our proceedings. In any event, your presence will be retained for our pleasure until our deliberations have been concluded. Then, and then only, will the pledge of Argentum be honored."

"Such a reservation is fully in accord with our original arrangements," said Ligurious loftily.

"I abide by your decision as willingly as I must also abide by it, perforce." "Postpone the deliberations a thousand years!" cried a man.

"That is not the way of Argentum," smiled Claudius.

At a gesture from Claudius Ligurious was conducted from the room.

"Do you object, Menicius, my friend?" asked Claudius.

"I had not realized the guarantees extended by Argentum," said Menicius. "You have, of course, under the circumstances, no choice."

"I feel sorry for him in a way," said Claudius, looking after Ligurious. "He is a strong man, ruthless and powerful, proud and strong, but he permitted himself to be the dupe of a female, to be wound about the finger of a woman."

Claudius then pointed to Sheila. "Bring that slave forward," he said. With a whimper Sheila was dragged to her feet, pulled forward and, with' a rattle of chain, thrown to her knees before Claudius.

"This woman," said Claudius, pointing to Sheila, "has been proved by evidence and testimony, both written and oral, to be the former Tatrix of Corcyrus. Indeed, this fact has been acknowledged, ultimately, even in her own admission." He looked down at Sheila. "Who captured you and brought you here, Slave?" he asked.

"Hassan, of Kasra, Master," she said.

"The reward, then," said Claudius, "clearly belongs to Hassan, of Kasra. let it be brought!"

An officer left the room. Hassan came' forward, about the tables, to stand near the kneeling slave. In a few moments the officer had returned. He carried a heavy, bulging sack over his shoulder which he lowered gently, heavily, to the floor before the table. It must have weighed between ninety and one hundred pounds.

"In this sack," said Claudius, "carefully counted, but assure yourself of the matter, are fifteen hundred pieces of gold, stamped staters of Argentum, certified by the mint of the Ubar."

Hassan looked down at Sheila.

"Shall scales be brought?" asked Claudius. "We will take no offense. If any discrepancy be found, perhaps the result of some inadvertence, we shall see that it is made good."

"No," said Hassan. "Weights and balances, the chains and pans, need not be fetched forth."

"Accept then the reward," said Claudius. "You have well earned it." "What fate do you intend for this woman?" asked Hassan.

"Claudius shrugged. "The mounting for the impaling spear has already been prepared," he said.

"The spear itself has been sharpened and polished."

"Fifteen hundred gold pieces," said Hassan, "seems a great deal of' money for a mere slave."

"It was you yourself, as I understand it," smiled Claudius, "who "neck-ringed her and, shortly thereafter, with a blazing iron, marked her slave."

Hassan smiled. "I seem to recall something to that effect," he said, He looked down at Sheila.

"Are you a slave?" he asked.

"Yes, my master," she said, "and only you know how much a slave." I was thrilled to hear her say this. Every woman, in her deepest heart, wants to find a man whom she must serve perfectly, a man who will bring out the fundamental and profound slave in her, a man who will bend her uncompromisingly and helplessly to his will. In Hassan Sheila, obviously, had found such a man. "Are you prepared, now," asked Hassan, "to be turned over to Claudius and the high council?"

"Yes, Master," she said. "I ask only, first, to be permitted one last time to kiss your feet in respect and reverence, and, in doing so, to express, too, my gratitude for the joy you have given me in these few days you have owned me. They have been the most precious of my life." She then, tenderly, kissed his feet, extending obeisance and love to the man who had made her a slave. There were tears in my eyes.

Hassan laughed, a roar of a laugh. She looked up, startled.

"Do you truly think I brought you here," he laughed, "to turn you over to Claudius and the high council?"

"Of course, Master," she said. "No!" he laughed.

There were cries of astonishment from those about.

"Kiss my feet fifteen hundred times, you luscious baggage," he laughed, "at least once for every gold piece you are costing me!"' "Yes, Master," she cried, startled, putting down her head.

"This woman was the Tatrix of Corcyrus, was she not?" laughed Hassan. "Yes," said Claudius, startled. "That has been established, even by her own admissions."

"And I have, thus, earned the reward, fully and clearly, if I should wish it?" asked Hassan.

"Certainly," said Claudius, puzzled.

"That is all I wanted," said Hassan. "Indeed, it is all I ever wanted." "I do not understand," said Claudius.

"For years," said Hassan, "I have heard of the Tatrix of Corcyrus, of her tyranny, of her fabled pride and beauty. I found such a woman intriguing. Then, wonder of wonders, she fell. None could find her. I was curious to know what it would be like to have such a woman in my collar, a fair skinned, golden-haired Tatrix of the north, to make her crawl, and cry and serve, to make her a man's woman."

I looked at Sheila. She was weeping with joy at his feet, kissing them, and his ankles and legs. "I love you, Master," she wept.

"So I captured her and made her a slave, mine," said Hassan.

"It was never your intention, then, to deliver her to us?" asked a member of the high council.

"No," said Hassan. "Had that been my intention I would not have removed her virginity from her and enslaved her."

"Had you never any doubts on this matter?" asked a man.

"Had I any," smiled Hassan, "they disappeared the instant I saw her. I knew then I would keep her for my own slave."

"But why did you bring her here?" asked a man.

"That you might see her humbled and helpless, and for my own glory," said Hassan.

"It is pleasing to see the former Tatrix of Corcyrus as a humbled slave," said a man.

"Yes" said Hassan.

"What if we take her from you?" asked a man.

"You will not do so," said Hassan. "That would be theft"

"But what of her crimes?" asked a man.

"Those were the crimes of a free woman," said Hassan. "She is no longer a free woman. She is now only a slave."

"I love you, my master," whispered the slave, her head at his feet.

"Sheila," said Hassan.

"Yes, Master," she said, lifting her bead.

"You may continue your obeisances and services in the privacy of my chambers," he said.

"Yes, Master," she said. She rose to her feet, her head humbly lowered. "Conduct her to my quarters," said Hassan to a soldier, he who held the key to her chains, "and chain her to the slave ring at the foot of my couch." The soldier glanced to Claudius, and then nodded. "Come, Slave," he said. "Yes, Master," she said, and was conducted from the room.

It has been an interesting evening," said Hassan, lifting his hand to the assemblage. "I wish you all well!"

We, too, wish you well, Hunter," said Claudius.

"Hail, Hassan!" called a man.

"Hail, Hassan!" called others.

The men rose from about the tables, saluting and applauding Hassan. He, lifting his hands, and turning, waving to them, took his leave from the hall. I think he was eager to begin the instructions of a slave.

Men, then, in twos and threes, began to take their leave. Menicius stood before me. He put out his hands and I lifted my chained wrists to him. He took my hands and turned them over, looking at the snug wrist rings locked on them.

"If I had my tools," he said, "I could have these off of you in a matter of Ehn."

I looked up at him, startled. I knew, of course, that he was of the metal workers.

"But without a key, or such help, you are absolutely helpless in them, aren't you?" he asked.

"Yes, Master," I said.

He smiled.

"You!" I said. "It was you who freed me in the camp of Miles of Argentum!" "Once," he said, "you spared my life, in Corcyrus. It seemed only fitting, then, that I might, if it were within my power, grant you some small favor In return." "But how could you have gained entrance into the camp," I said. "And there were two of you."

There was another, as well, one who must have had influence, one who must have been trusted, one who must have been more highly placed.

I saw Drusus Rencius looking at me.

"You," I whispered. "It was you!"

"Perhaps," he said.

"But you are an officer of Ar," I said. "How could you do such a thing?" He looked at me, angrily. "I know you," he said. "Whatever might be your frailties, your weaknesses, your pettinesses, your cruelties, I could not believe you were guilty of the crimes of the Tatrix of Corcyrus. Such things I could not believe were In you. Thus, I did not free the Tatrix of Corcyrus. Rather, to prevent a miscarriage of justice, I assisted in the escape of an innocent woman. In this sense I could even regard my act as having been performed in the line of duty."

"You did not know, truly," I said, "that I was not the Tatrix, nor that I could not be guilty of such crimes. Indeed, in Corcyrus, you even identified me, explicitly, as the Tatrix!"

His face clouded with anger.

"Your motivations were more complex," I said, "and deeper, and more painful and more cruel. I was not within your province to determine my innocence or guilt. That responsibility was that of Claudius, the Ubar of Argentum, and the high council. In no way was it incumbent on you to risk your commission, your future, your honor, your life, on what must at best have been little more than a remote possibility."

He regarded me with fury.

My heart leapt with joy. "You love me!" I whispered. "You love me!" I feared for a moment he might strike me. But he did not do so. I was another man's slave.

"I love you, Master!" I wept. "I have loved you from the beginning, when I first met you!"

He regarded me, wildly. Then be sneered, "Lying slave!"

"No, Master!" I protested. "I love you! I do love you! I love you with my whole heart!"

"What is going on here?" asked Miles of Argentum, coming over.

"Nothing," said Drusus Rencius

Menicius was smiling.

Miles of Argentum took the key to my chains from the soldier who had held it. He freed me of those stern impediments, so suitable for the confinement of women such as I slaves.

"Slave," said he.

"Yes, my master," I said.

"Go to the quarters of my women," he said.

"Yes, my master," I said and, tears in my eyes, fled to the quarters of his women.