Magicians of Gor

24 Staffs and Chains

"You understand what to do?" I asked her.

"Yes, Master," said Lavinia, kneeling beside me. She trembled, slightly. I looked down at her. She was now in a short cloak, held about her neck, and, under it, in a tiny, loose, beltless rep-cloth tunic, fastened only at the left shoulder. The cloak, held as it was, concealed her collar. She was now in the collar that read "RETURN ME TO TARL, AT THE INSULA OF TORBON." She was thus now well identified as my slave. The tunic's fastening at her left shoulder was a disrobing loop. That was important. I wished her to be able to disrobe on an instant's notice.

"The timing of these events is extremely important," I said.

"Yes, Master, she whispered.

"If you do not do well," I said, "I will have you fed to sleen."

She looked at me, white-faced.

"I will," I said.

"I will do my best, Master," she said.

I had made certain, in my rehearsals, that she could remove both cloak and tunic expeditiously.

Marcus, sitting to one side, sharpening his sword, lifted his head.

"That is the fifth Ahn," he said.

I nodded. We could hear the bars, even at a distance of over a pasang.

We were in a room in the Metellan district. I had sealed the shutters, and blocked them, on the inside, so that no one might, from the outside, through the cracks, observe what occurred in the room. In the center of the room there was a large couch, a round couch, some seven or eight feet in diameter. It was well cushioned, and covered with furs, and was soft and inviting. At one point, in its sides, there was a slave ring. We had set a small table near the couch, bearing a decanter of wine, with glasses, and a small, tasteful array of sweets. The room was lit with a small tharlarion-oil lamp. I had already tested the apparatus in the adjoining room. It was activated by a simple wooden lever, and the weights would do the rest. I had also brought along some other articles, which I thought might prove useful.

"You informed the slave," I said to Lavinia, "that the plan had been advanced, and that he was now to be here at half past the fifth Ahn?"

"Yes, Master," she said.

"He thinks that is the new time of the assignation?"

"Yes, Master," she said.

"And he has not had time to convey this information to his master, as far as you know."

"I should not think so, Master," she said.

"He will then presumably regard it as his work to keep the free woman, whoever she turns out to be, here until Appanius and the magistrates arrive."

"I would think so, Master," she said.

"Which arrival, as he understands it, will be in the neighborhood of a half past the sixth Ahn?"

"Yes, Master," she said.

"Good," I said. The original time of the assignation, conveyed to the slave, which he, in turn, would have conveyed to his master, was the seventh Ahn. Accordingly the master, and presumably two magistrates, who would act as official witnesses and be officers versed in certain matters, would wish to arrive early, presumably about half past the sixth Ahn, or, at any rate, at a decent interval before the seventh Ahn. The free woman might very well, of course, not appear precisely at the seventh Ahn. She might prefer to let her putative lover wait, perhaps torturing himself with anxieties and doubts as to her intent to appear at all. This is very different from a slave, of course. The slave must be instantly ready to serve the master, and at so little as a whistle, a gesture or a snapping of the fingers.

"But," I said, "I have sent a message to Appanius myself, an anonymous message, on which I think he will act. He should, then, if all goes according to my plans, not arrive at half past the sixth Ahn, as the slave expects, but shortly after the slave himself arrives, which should be shortly."

"I think," said Marcus, "we should consider withdrawing."

"True," I said.

Marcus put away his sharpening stone.

He wiped the blade on the hem of his tunic.

"Do you expect to use that?" I asked.

He sheathed the blade. "I do not know," he said.

"The slave is likely to enter through the main door?" I asked Lavinia.

"I do not know," she said.

"He was here when you arrived?"

"Yes," she smiled. "I made him wait."

"But you entered through that door?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "That is the door by means of which I was entered into this room. Appanius, and the magistrates, and others, apparently had entered through the back, or some side entrance."

"There is such an entrance," I said. "It lets out into an alley, a little further down the street. One then comes back to the street between buildings."

"That is, I believe," she said, "the way I left the premises. To be sure, once out in the street I was almost instantly disoriented."

I nodded.

"I did not even know where I was," she said, "until I was unhooded, and found myself chained by the neck in a magistrate's cell."

"Good luck," I said to the girl.

Marcus preceded me. We would leave through the back. "Remember the sleen," I said.

"Yes, Master!" she said.

How marvelous she looked, slave, the collar on her neck!

In a moment or two Marcus and I were on the street, outside the room.

"There!" said Marcus.

"The hooded fellow, in the robe?" I said.

"That is our friend, I am sure!" said Marcus.

"It is his size, at any rate," I said. The golden sandals, too, suggested it was he for whom we were first waiting.

"He is going between the buildings," said Marcus. "He will use the side entrance."

"I trust that Lavinia will not be too disappointed," I said.

"Why should that be?" asked Marcus.

"Nothing," I said.

"He will think he has at least an Ahn alone with her," said Marcus.

"Even if he is not in the least interested in her," I said, "Lavinia knows what to do."

"Why should he not be interested in her?" asked Marcus. "She is a well-curved slave."

"It is just an apprehension," I said.

"You certainly went into it in great enough detail," said Marcus.

"It is important to be thorough," I said.

"I never saw a woman get undressed so fast," he said.

"It may have to be done between the sound of a footstep and the bursting open of a door," I said.

"I myself prefer a more graceful, sensuous disrobing on the part of a female slave," he said.

"I would generally agree," I said, "if there is time." It is a delight, of course, to have a slave disrobe before one, gracefully, sensuously, displaying herself, revealing her master's property to him. Women are excellent at this sort of thing. They seem to have an instinct, or a natural sense, for it. And I think that they are not always averse to noting the effects of their unveiling upon the master, to note how they, in this revelation of their beauty and loveliness, can drive him wild with desire. In such things I think a slave has great power. Yet, in the end, it is still she who is owned. In slave pens, incidentally, girls are trained to disrobe, and, indeed, robe gracefully. Slave girls are not permitted to shortchange their beauty. They must fulfill its promise. There is something to be said in favor of the swift disrobing in certain contexts, of course, aside from its more unusual employments, as in plans such as mine. For example, a master, whip in hand, may order a slave, usually a new slave, to disrobe instantly, and then robe, and then disrobe, and so on. This may be done fifteen or twenty times in a row. This is useful in teaching her that she in now a slave. It also, of course, gets her used to disrobing before her master. Another use is when the slave desires to surprise her master with her beauty, perhaps before begging use. She might then utilize a particular moment to disrobe, perhaps one in which he has merely turned away. When he turns back, she is naked. She then kneels before him. "Ah!" said Marcus. "What a shame!"

"What is a shame?" I asked.

"The poor fellow will have almost no time with her," he said.

"Yes," I said. "Here, if I am not mistaken, come Appanius, and he has men with him."

"You will approach him?" asked Marcus.

"Certainly," I said.

"Hold!" I said, angrily, stepping forth. "Are you Appanius, he of well-known house of Appanius?"

"Who are you?" said he, angrily.

"By my armband, you see I have authority to stop you," I said, not pleasantly. Both Marcus and I, of course, as we usually did, wore our armbands, signifying our status as auxiliary guardsmen. A major advantage of this, of course, is that it entitled us to go abroad openly armed.

Appanius lifted his staff, angrily.

I took no note of the raised staff. I could, of course, at that point, have killed him. They, too, carried staffs. Other than this, however, in accord with the weapons laws, they were not armed. Two also carried chains.

"You have been questioned," I reminded Appanius.

He lowered his staff, angrily. "Yes," he said, "I am Appanius, of that house, best known for his agricultural enterprises."

"Do you own a disobedient, wayward slave?" I asked.

"I do not understand," he said.

"I have a little slut named Lavinia," I said.

"Lavinia!" he cried, in fury.

"Recently purchased," I said.

"The lewd little baggage!" he said.

"A fellow, whom I gather from others is your slave," I said, "had apparently seduced her."

"Impossible!" he said.

"You know this Lavinia?" I asked.

"I am sure it is the one!" he said. "I should have sold her out of the city as a pot girl months ago!"

"They have apparently been seeing one another," I said. That was true enough, of course, as Lavinia, in the garment resembling that of a state slave, and in what seemed to be a state collar, had been in contact several times with the slave, carrying verbal messages, and arranging the details of the putative assignation of this morning. Too, of course, she had been similarly in contact with the Ubara, only in that role, of course, in a collar purporting to be that of the house of Appanius.

"I cannot believe that!" said Appanius, angrily.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"You!" he cried. "It was you who sent me the message of this morning?"

"Yes," I said. "I have followed him. They meet somewhere around here. I am not sure where."

"If that is true," cried Appanius, "I know where!"

"Your slave should be disciplined," I said.

"It is your slave who should be disciplined!" he said. "Mine is innocent!"

"Mine is only a female slave," I said.

"Only a female slave! Only a female slave!" he exclaimed. "That is exactly it! She is a female slave! They are all the same. They are have hot little bellies and can't help themselves. They are always licking and kissing and begging! And that Lavinia is one of the worst! She is a seductrix, I tell you. They are all seductrices!"

"I have heard that it is your slave who is a seduction slave!" I said.

"Who has said that?" he cried.

"I have heard it said secretly in the city," I said.

"It is false!" he said. "False!"

"Nonetheless," I said, "it is your slave who is at fault."

"No," he said. "I know your Lavinia. It is she, the lewd little baggage, who is at fault!"

"She is only a female," I said.

"But a female slave!" he said. "Whip them and chain them, I say! Keep them in the kitchens and laundries, in the fields, put to labors as is fit for the little beasts! Keep them from honest men! Let honest men be protected!"

"At any rate," I said, "it seems they have been seeing on another."

"It cannot be!" he said.

"Your slave, it seems, has been carrying on a shameless affair with her."

"That cannot be," he said.

"I have seen them," I said. "He is a big, handsome fellow. Why could it not be?"

"He would not betray me!" he said.

"I do not understand," I said.

"I trust your little slut is on slave wine," he said.

"Of course," I said. "I have not chosen, at least as yet, to have her mated."

"You should keep her shackled," she said.

"To protect her from your slaves," I asked.

"Do you know who my slave is?" he asked.

"He is known in Ar?" I asked.

"Somewhat," said Appanius.

"I am not from Ar," I said.

"I gathered that," he said. "Were you from Ar you would know that a slave of my slave's quality could not be interested in the least in a meaningless little pot girl."

"You are sure of it?" I asked.

"Certainly," he said.

"Yet you have come here, with men," I said.

"That his innocence may be proved," he said.

"Is that why your men carry staffs and chains?" I asked.

"You are an insolent, surly fellow!" he cried.

"Beware, Appanius," said one of his retainers. "He is of the police."

"We could make a clear determination on this matter," I said, "if we could only locate them."

"You do not know where your slave is," he said, scornfully.

"How should I know where she is?" I asked.

"If you kept her at home in close chains, so she could hardly wriggles, and fastened to a ring, you would know," he said.

"And so, too," said I, "you would know the location of yours, if you had kept him in his cell!"

"It was your mistake," he said, "to let a slut like Lavinia off her chain!"

"What of you," I asked, "letting your fellow wander about Ar like a vulo cock?"

"My slave is innocent, honest and trustworthy!" he cried.

"And that is why you have brought men, and staffs and chains?" I asked.

"Sleen!" cried Appanius.

"Caution, Appanius," said one of his retainers. He was not unaware, as apparently was his employer, of Marcus, behind them, his hand on his sword. Marcus, I conjectured, could probably cut through the neck vertebrae of two of them before they could break. Also he could probably apprehend at least one of them, assuming they started off in different directions, as would be in their best interest. I, on the other hand, might hope to catch up to the other one, after dropping Appanius where he stood. If I had had to wager on the matter I did not think any of them would escape. The staff, except in the hands of an expert, is not a weapon to put against the blade.

"At any rate," I said, "I trailed Lavinia to this area, and I saw your slave about, too, and then, somehow, it seemed they disappeared."

"You did not actually see them together?" he asked.

"No," I said.

"Then they are not together!" he said.

"I am sure they are together," I said.

"No!" he said.

"It seems both just disappeared." I said.

"Do you not think they might be, separately, of course, in nearby buildings?" asked Appanius.

"How could that be?" I asked. "Slaves do not just walk into buildings without some business there. Too, folks do not just welcome strange slaves into their houses, greeting them and inviting them to share their kettles. And I would assume they had no money to bribe free persons for a room, for their clandestine rendezvous. Certainly Lavinia had no money."

"Have you counted your coins lately?" asked Appanius.

"Have you counted yours?" I asked.

"My slave has spending money," he said.

"Then they could be anywhere." I said, angrily.

"No," he said. "He is too well known."

"Where then?" I asked.

"There is only one place!" he said.

His retainers exchanged glances, and nodded.

"Where is that?" I asked. To be sure, we were within ten yards of it, though of its front entrance, not its side or back entrance.

"That is," said Appanius, "there is only one place where my slave might be. I do not know where your slave is. She, the baggage, the chit, the tart, the wench, the use girl, might be slutting about anywhere, clutching at someone in a doorway, writhing on a discarded mat, squirming in an alley behind garbage containers, moaning in a dark corridor, who knows?"

"I wager," said I, "that if we locate your slave we will also locate mine."

"I know where mine would be," said Appanius, defensively. "He has gone to a place where he may study his lines in privacy."

"His lines?" I asked.

"He is an actor," said Appanius.

"Well," I said, "if he is currently studying lines, I have little doubt that they are those of my Lavinia."

"Sleen!" said Appanius. The fellows with him shifted, restlessly. Two of them glanced back uneasily at Marcus, much as they might have at a larl behind them.

"I think they are together," I said.

"No!" said Appanius. "That could not be!"

I shrugged.

"Follow me!" he said. He started for the street entrance of the room.

I trusted that Lavinia would have time to throw off her cloak and get at the disrobing loop on her tunic before the door could be opened. She could then fling her arms about the slave, protesting her love, and such. I hoped she could manage to do this believingly.

At the street entrance of the room, however, Appanius stopped. It seemed he was considering something. "Open it," I said, "if this is the place." I certainly did not want them sneaking about to the rear or side entrance and coming on the two slaves without warning. That would not give Lavinia time to disrobe. If they were found yards apart, fully clothed, engaged in exchanging comments on the state of the theater in Ar under Cos, or something, I might as well forget my plans. I strode to the door, and raised my fist, to pound on it, and then, an Ihn or two later, I would kick it in.

"No," whispered Appanius, seizing my hand. We then, I rather disgruntled, stepped back a little, a few feet from the door.

"Yes, Appanius," said one of his retainers. "It would be better to go around the back. In this fashion one may observe through the observation portals the front room."

"Observation portals?" I said.

"Thus," confirmed the retainer, softly, suavely, "one need not disturb him while he is reading his lines, as he undoubtedly is, and, more importantly, he will never know of our coming and going. Thus, he will never suspect that you might have been jealous, or ever suspected him of any unwonted treachery."

"Jealous?" I asked. "Treachery?"

"My thoughts, exactly," said Appanius. The retainer, I saw, was not only a retainer, but an able courtier. Those fellows have a talent for telling important people what they wish to hear. To be sure, such fellows have occasionally been responsible for the downfall of Ubars, and themselves, because of their desire to protect the throne from unwelcome truths. Serenity has reigned in more than one royal residence while a country's borders crumbled. I myself, however, was about ready to strike the fellow. I was plunged into despair.

"Come with me," said Appanius. "Move quietly."

"Of course," I said, through gritted teeth.

I glanced at Marcus.

He smiled.

This made me angry. Did he not realize that my plans might now, in a moment, be destroyed?

I turned back, to pound on the door, but he took me firmly by the arm and we followed Appanius and his retainers back down the street, until we turned left, and made our way through an opening between two buildings.