Players of Gor

21 What Occurred in the Apartments of Belnar; Leather Gloves

I spun about.

"I thought you might come here," said Flaminius. "No, do not draw."

My hand hesitated. He had not drawn his own weapon. Behind him, in a rag of silk, was female slave.

"You may kneel, Yanina," he said.

"Yes, Master," she said, swiftly falling to her knees.

"You must forgive her," he said. "she is new to the collar. Only an Ahn or so ago was she branded."

She who had been the Lady Yanina looked at me, frightened. Then she put down her head, swiftly. I had seen in her eyes, in that brief moment that she had looked at me, that already she had learned that she was slave. This does not take long in the vicinity of Gorean men.

"Do not draw," he said.

"Is she yours?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

"A pretty slave," I said.

"Yes," he said.

She trembled, scrutinized.

"I brought her along," he said. "She was with another search party. Almost anyone who could recognize you was with one party or another."

"I gathered that that might be the case," I said.

"She was given to me by Belnar," he said.

"Belnar is now dead," I said.

"So I understand," he said.

"The slave seems frightened," I said.

"You have reason to be frightened, don't you, my dear?" asked Flaminius.

"Perhaps, Master," she whispered. "I do not know, Master."

"Put your head down to the floor," he said.

"Yes, Master," she said.

"She was put in a state collar," said Flaminius, "with no specifications or restrictions. Accordingly, even if she had not been given to me, I could have obtained her for myself, sending a silver tarsk to the exchequer. Who would gainsay me in that?" He looked down at the girl. "So in either case you would have come into my chains, wouldn't you, Yanina?" he asked.

"Yes, Master," she said, her head to the floor.

"Are you here for the same reason that I am?" I asked.

"Perhaps," he said.

I had returned by way of the passage behind the ubar's box in the baiting pit. Once here, I had begun my search, in various rooms, for obvious, unconcealed paraphernalia, of a sort that might be germane to kaissa, such things as boards and pieces, books, sheafs of papers, and records. I had, of course, in my return, lifted the dropped iron gate separating the private room, giving access to the passage, from the rest of the area. This was not difficult from the passage side. It had taken only a moment to locate the appropriate apparatus. I had then freed the lock bolts, which keep the gate in place once it has dropped, and, by means of a wheel, associated with chains and counterweights, raised the gate. The gate is freed, incidentally, by a small lever. Its fall is gravity controlled. The fall, though swift, is not destructive. The speed of its descent is controlled largely by the counterweights.

I had found what I had been looking for in a room apparently devoted to kaissa, in the midst of what were apparently merely the records of games, jotted on scraps of paper. Among those records, fitted in with them, were other papers. There was little doubt these were what I had sought. On one paper was a numbered list of names, names of well-known kaissa players. That, even, of Scormus was among them. On another paper there was what purported to be a list of tournament cities, and on another list of names, of individuals supposedly noted for their craftsmanship in the skill and design of kaissa boards and pieces. There were also, on other papers, numbered, too, the representations of boards.

Arranged in various ways on these boards were letters, sometimes beginning from a word, sometimes from a random, or seemingly random alignment of letters. These were all, I took it, keys to kaissa ciphers of one level of complexity or another. In a very simple case, for example, a given word, say, "Cibron," the name of a wood worker of Tabor, might occur. This key, then, in a simple case, without variations, would presumably be used in the following manner: the deciphering individual would write «C–I-B-R-O-N» in the first six spaces at the top of a kaissa board, moving from left to right, then following with the other, unused letters of the alphabet, moving from right to left on the second line, and so in, as "the ox plows," as standard Gorean is written. In this fashion each square of the board, with its name, such as "Ubar Five," and so on, would correspond to a letter, and some spaces, of course, would correspond to the same letter, thus providing cipher multiples. When one comes to the end of the originally unused letters, one begins anew, of course, starting then with the first letter of the alphabet, writing the full alphabet in order, and then continuing in this fashion.

Some of the lists had small marks after some of the words, seemingly casual, meaningless marks. These, however, depending on the slants and hooks, indicating direction, would indicate variations in letter alignments, for example. "Begin diagonally in the upper-left-hand corner," and such. Those keys on which the entire board appeared usually possessed complex, or even random, alignments, of letters, and several nulls, as well as the expected multiples. A Gorean «zero» was apparently used to indicate nulls.

I had thrust these papers in my pouch. The hastily opened coffer, which had seemed so momentous, and inaccessible, before, of course, had been only a diversion. The true concealment of the papers, one assuredly calculated to deceive those individuals who might have some just notion of their value, one worth of Belnar's brilliance, was to have them lying about, almost casually, mixed in, and seemingly belonging with, papers of no great importance. This subterfuge, was, so to speak, the disguise of unexpected obviousness. In this manner, too, of course, they would tend to be safe from common thieves, whose investigations presumably would be directed more toward the breaking open of strong boxes and the search for secret hiding places.

Given their relative accessibility and their apparent lack of value common thieves would not be likely to find them of interest.

If Belnar had erred here, I think it was in a very subtle matter. The pieces in the kaissa room, and the boards there, did not indicate frequent usage. The wood was not worn smooth and stained with the oil of fingers; the surface of the boards showed little sign of wear, or use, such as tiny scratches or even the subtle indications, the small rubbing marks, of polishings. Belnar, like most Goreans, was doubtless familiar with kaissa. On the other hand, it did not seem he often played. That being the case the abundance of hand-written notes and records about, seemingly related to the game, must, at least to some observers, appear something of an anomaly. It was at this point that I heard a subtle noise behind me. I had spun about.

"No," he said. "Do not draw."

"Why not?" I asked. "Do you expect to leave this place alive?"

"Of course," he said. He made no move to remove his blade from its sheath.

"You will, of course," I said, "tell me that I am surrounded."

"I have men about, of course," he said. "Some are stationed in the vicinity of the ubar's box, and at other openings, known to me, of the passage from the tower. Do not think to escape that way. Other men I have outside, but at a distance, on the bridges, outside the gate to the garden."

"That," I said, "the distance involved, would seem to be a flaw in your plan." I moved my hand to the hilt of my sword.

"I do not really think so," he said. "We certainly would not want them present at just any conversation which we might choose to have, would we?"

"I suppose not," I said. "Have you also considered how you might save your life, before I can reach you?"

"Of course," he said.

"Oh?" I asked.

"Come with me, to the front threshold," he said. He turned about, exposing his back to me, to lead the way. I was intrigued. "You may come, too, Yanina," he said.

"Yes, Master," she said.

"Precede me, girl," I said.

"Yes, Master," she said.

I followed Flaminius and Yanina through the house. I wanted them both in front of me. I was wary as we passed through doors and archways. Yanina, I could not help noting, was quite lovely.

She walked well, doubtless conscious of being a slave before a free man. I felt a brief wave of gratitude to the fellows who wove, and designed, slave silk. It displays a female marvelously. It was tiny, and all she wore, except a close-fitting steel collar. She was barefoot. Whether or not she might have footwear was no longer her decision, but that of a master.

"See?" asked Flaminius, at the exterior threshold, that leading to the balcony garden.

"What?" I asked.

He raised his arm, signaling to some men on the other side of the garden gate, on the narrow bridge outside it.

"No," I moaned.

His men lifted up, holding him by the arms, a tall, lanky figure, limp and bleeding, showing him to us.

"He is your fellow, Petrucchio, I believe," said Flaminius. "I encountered him on the bridge. Apparently, anticipating your interest in the quarters of the ubar, he had come here, to defend the bridge, to keep you safe. He had only his huge, silly sword. I felled him in an instant."

"He should have fled the city," I said.

"Apparently he turned back, hoping to be of assistance to you, or rescue you," said Flaminius.

I groaned. I could well imagine Petrucchio, poor noble, brave Petrucchio, Boots Tarsk-Bit's "Captain," on the bridge. What an absurd, frail, pathetic, splendid figure he mist have cut there, with that silly sword and those fierce mustaches.

"What a preposterous fool," said Flaminius. "Can you imagine that? A mere player, a member of a troupe, daring to cross swords with me?"

"You have done well against one untrained in arms," I said, "one who dared to face you with only courage and a wooden sword. Prepare now to try the skills of another member of the troupe of Boots Tarsk-Bit, but one whose sword is of steel."

"I have no intention of meeting you with steel," said Flaminius. "Do you think I do not know the reputation of Bosk of Port Kar? Do you think I am mad?"

"Kneel, then," I said, "and bare your neck."

"I have your friend, Petrucchio," said Flaminius.

"I have you," I said.

"If I am slain," said Flaminius, "Petrucchio, of course, will die."

"If Petrucchio dies," I said, "you will be slain."

"Surely it is time to have a conversation," said Flaminius.

"Speak," I said.

"Let us step back inside, away from the door," he said.

"Very well," I said.

We withdrew into the room. He closed the door.

"You may kneel, Yanina," he said. "head to the floor."

"Yes, Master," she said.

"Speak," I said.

"Belnar, and other members of the high council," he said, "have been conducting negotiations with individuals in various states, in particular, Cos and Ar. I do not fully understand all that is transpiring, but I have some idea. These negotiations, I gather, are generally in cipher. I would like to guarantee the security of those ciphers. One set of cipher keys, at least, is doubtless somewhere here. If you have found them, turn them over to me. Too, surrender yourself to me, to be bound as a prisoner."

"What if I agree?" I asked.

"You must agree," he smiled. "You have really no choice, at least no honorable alternative."

"You would trap a man by his honor?" I asked.

"Or by his greed, or his ambition, or whatever proves itself useful," said Flaminius.

"I see," I said.

"Comply with my wishes," said Flaminius, "and Petrucchio goes free."

"And what of me?" I asked.

"Your disposition will be determined by others," said Flaminius. "Who knows? You might even be permitted to live, perhaps as a blinded, toungueless slave chained to he bench of a Cosian galley."

"Cosian?" I asked.

"Perhaps," he smiled.

I hesitated.

"Petrucchio bleeds," he said. "I have given orders that his wound not be bound. He does not appear overly strong. It is quite conjectural how long he can survive without care."

"I see," I said.

"Your sword, Captain?" he asked.

I reached to the sword, to surrender it.

There was, however, at that moment, a great, authoritative pounding on the door.

"I gave orders that we were not to be disturbed," said Flaminius, angrily.

"Open in the name of Saphronicus, General of Ar!" I heard. "Open in the name of alliance!"

"A general of Ar, here?" said Flaminius.

I stepped back, my hand on the hilt of my sword.

There was then a repetition of that fierce pounding. It seemed any delay in opening that portal would not be lightly brooked.

Flaminius looked at me. I shrugged. "Perhaps you should open it," I said.

Flaminius hurried to the door and opened it. A tall, broad-shouldered, imposing, caped figure stood there. "I am Saphronicus, general of Ar, envoy from the state of Ar," it said. "I have entered the city only within the Ahn, immediately ordering the city captain to report to me. Here I find slaughtered ubars, chaos and fire! I have assumed command in the city until the high council appoints a new ubar. I was told by the city captain that he received his orders from some fellow named Flaminius, and that he might be here. Who is this Flaminius?"

"I am Flaminius, who was confidant to Belnar," said Flaminius. "I was appointed to deal with the emergency, delegating secondary authority to the city captain, by Belnar. His authority is now done, of course. My sword is at your service."

"The city is in flames," said the fellow.

"They are difficult to control," said Flaminius. "We have been fighting them through the night."

"I heard," said the figure, sternly, "that hundreds of men, who might better have been used in protecting the city, have been spent in fruitless searches for some fugitive!"

"Not fruitless, General!" cried Flaminius. "He is here! That is he! I have captured him!"

"I would not be to sure about that, if I were you," I said. I was curious to see how the arrival of this new fellow might alter matters, if at all.

"He does not appear to be bound," observed the new fellow. "He still carries his sword."

"I have him helpless," General," Flaminius assured him. "I have his friend in my power, whose life is forfeit, does he not surrender."

"That would not be that tall, thin fellow, the one with a wooden sword, would it?" asked the caped figure.

"Yes, General!" said Flaminius.

"I have had my men bring him to the garden," said the caped figure. "He was wounded, and his wound had not been attended to, an astounding evidence of inhumane barbarism. He is now being seen to by my men."

Flaminius turned white. "Where are my men, General?" he asked, uneasily.

"I ordered them to withdraw," said the caped figure. "I put them where they should be at this time, about their proper business, fighting fires in the city."

"Where then are your men?" asked Flaminius, fearfully.

"Do not fear," said the stern figure. "They are just outside."

Flaminius relaxed, visibly.

"One is juggling larmas," said the caped figure. "The other is walking back and forth on the tarn wire strung between two bridges."

"What?" asked Flaminius, aghast.

The caped figure removed his helmet.

"Publius Andronicus!" I cried.

"The Imperious General," said Publius Andronicus, "is one of my best roles."

"You can act!" I cried.

"Of course," he said, "did not Boots Tarsk-Bit tell you that?"

"Yes," I admitted.

"To be sure," said Andronicus, "I choose my roles with care."

I seized Flaminius by the neck and pushed him back against a wall.

"Oh, no, my dear," said Andronicus, seizing the bolting Yanina by an arm and returning her to her knees, trembling, on the floor, "you are not going anywhere, at least not yet."

"Bring Petrucchio in," I said. "We must see to him."

"Alas," cried Petrucchio, "I die!"

"Nonsense," I said. "It is only a scratch."

"Let a great pyre be built of hundreds of logs," cried Petrucchio.

"You are not entitled to such a funeral," said Chino. "You are only a player."

"You will be lucky if people remember to throw you in a garbage dump," said Lecchio.

"I tell you it is only a scratch," I said.

"Oh?" asked Petrucchio.

"Yes," I said, replacing the bandages. "It would scarcely discomfort a neurotic urt."

"Was my sword recovered?" asked Petrucchio.

"Yes," said Chino. "We picked it up."

"There were hundreds of them," Petrucchio assured me. "I fought like a larl. On it, at one time, I spitted eleven men!"

"That is a large number," I admitted.

"The story of how Petrucchio held the bridge will be long remembered," said Petrucchio.

"I am sure it will," I said.

"And of how he fell at last, bloodied beneath the blades of frenzied, hostile brigades!"

"Yes," I said.

Petrucchio suddenly slumped in my arms.

"He is dead!" cried Chino.

"Petrucchio," I said.

"Yes?" he said, opening his eyes.

"Don't do that," I said.

"Did I play it well?" Petrucchio asked Andronicus, his mentor in such matters.

"Splendidly, old friend," said Andronicus.

"It was nice of you to come looking for me," said Petrucchio.

"It was nothing," Andronicus assured him.

"Not that I needed help," said Petrucchio.

"Of course not," said Andronicus.

"If the sheaf of notes on acting hints, those on the detailed deportment of the head and hands, prepared by you by Publius Andronicus, had not somewhat turned the blade of Flaminius, it might have been a different matter," I told Petrucchio.

"Perhaps," he admitted, generously. "I had thought that perhaps such theory might one day prove its value."

"Petrucchio," said Andronicus, warningly.

"You must get him out of here," I told Andronicus. "I think you can mange it in your guise as a visiting general."

"I fear it will be more difficult for you to leave the city," said Andronicus. "IT seems every guardsman in Brundisium is on the lookout for you. Some who can recognize you, slaves, courtiers, and such, will be, I suspect, at every gate."

"I will leave the city as originally planned," I said. "It seems the only practical way."

"Do you still have the device I gave you?" asked Lecchio.

"Yes," I said.

"And where it no longer suffices," he said, "you must make do otherwise."

"I know," I said.

"Remember not to look down at your feet," he said, "for you will not be able to react that quickly, but to look ahead of you, where you are going."

"Yes," I said.

"You must think, too, with your feet and body, with its slightest sensations."

"I remember your training," I said.

"So do I," he said. "Thus I urge you to be careful."

"Of course," I said.

"Do you have the other material, as well?" he asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Perhaps we should be on our way," said Andronicus, "before those of Brundisium begin to gather their wits about themselves."

"Take these papers," I said to Andronicus. "They are important. Give them to Scormus. He will know what to do with them. He has other papers, too, that are pertinent to these matters."

"Where will we meet you?" asked Andronicus.

"At the prearranged place," I said, "if all goes well."

"I wish you well," said Andronicus.

"I wish you well, too, all of you," I said.

In a moment, then, Andronicus had again placed his help over his features. He did so majestically. He straightened his body, regally. He was again a general.

"Come, men," said he, "and bring the prisoner, he who is wanted din Ar."

He was quite impressive.

"Not bad, eh?" asked Andronicus.

"No," I said.

"Do not forget my sword," said Petrucchio.

"We will pick it up on the way out," Lecchio assured him.

"Come, men!" said Andronicus, again the general. He then exited, somewhat grandly, followed by Chino and Lecchio, supporting Petrucchio between them.

"I did not know Petrucchio was wanted in Ar," Lecchio was saying, in character.

"Be quiet!" Chino was cautioning him, grunting, and not altogether amused.

I watched them, to make certain they did not get into any trouble, as least as far as I could follow them, visually. Then I took my way back through the apartments to where we had secured the prisoners. We had tied them, stripped, standing, their back to the bars, their arms lifted and spread, wrists tied back to the bars, ankles, too, to the barred gate, then again dropped, which had originally prevented me from immediately following Belnar. We had used it because it resembled a slaver's grid, to which slaves may be bound at a master's pleasure in an almost infinite variety of attitudes and positions, ranging from quite standard to exquisitely exotic. We had lowered the gate this time from the outside, from the apartment side, by means of a cord which we attached to the drop lever and then passed through the bars. IN this fashion, it could be dropped form the front, rather than the rear. We had then only to fasten our prisoners, in whatever manner we chose, to it.

"Do not kill me!" cried Flaminius, twisting in the cords, seeing me approaching through the apartments, the steel of my sword bared. "Please, no, Master!" cried Yanina, pulling helplessly at the restraints that held her back against the bars. "Please have mercy on a slave! Please do not kill me!" They had both hoped, doubtless, desperately, that we had all taken our leave. But I had come back.

I put the point of the sword to the throat of Flaminius. He began to sweat. "Don't kill me," he whispered. Then I lowered the sword. "No," he said, "please, no."

I then resheathed the blade. I then freed Yanina from the bars and threw her to the tiles before Flaminius, there having her. "Oh, oh," she wept.

I thrust her form me. She lay near me, shuddering, trying to comprehend what had been done to her. Being had as a collared slave is quite different, in all its modalities, and however it id done, to having polite love made to one as a respected free woman. I lay propped on my elbow. I regarded Flaminius. "Your slave is not much good," I said.

"Forgive me, Master," whispered the girl. "I was terrified."

"Terror, mixing in with the other feelings of a female, can be a powerful stimulant to passion," I said.

"yes, Master," she whispered.

"Surely many girls have known terror at the very thought of not being fully pleasing to a master."

"Yes, Master," she said.

"Doubtless men will be coming soon," I said to Flaminius, "to look for you. Thus I should quickly have done with your and be on my way."

"There is no hurry," cried Flaminius. "It may not even be known we are here. Men may not come for Ahn!"

"Oh?" I asked.

"She can do better!" said Flaminius, hastily.

"Master!" protested Yanina.

I took her again into my arms, and looked into her eyes.

"Yes, yes!" said Flaminius. "Use her again! I freely grant her use to you."

"You are generous," I said. She struggled, naked, in my arms.

"Is she not beautiful?" asked Flaminius. "Do you not desire her?"

"She is lusciously soft," I admitted, "and is appealing, held helplessly. Too, she has a lovely face and figure."

"Use her!" urged Flaminius.

"Master!" wept Yanina.

"You dolt!" hissed Flaminius to Yanina. "Beguile him! Please him! Encourage him to dalliance! Buy time! Do you want us both to be killed?"

"What are you saying to her?" I inquired, getting up.

"Nothing," said Flaminius.

"I must be on my way," I said. I put my hand on the hilt of my sword. I noted, not of the corner of my eye, a look of terror transforming the lovely countenance of the slave, Yanina.

"Master," she cried, anxiously, frightened, grasping me about the knees, "do not yet go!"

"I must be on my way," I said.

"Dally," she begged. "Let Yanina please you!"

I looked at Flaminius.

"There is time," he assured me.

"Yanina begs to please Master!" she said. "Yanina will do anything!"

"Anything?" I asked.

"Yes, Master!" she said.

I smiled to myself. Her protestations evidenced her newness to the collar. Did she not yet know that nay slave must do anything, and everything, at the merest suggestion of a master, at his merest word, even at his slightest gesture, or glance? That is something that most girls learn quite quickly.

I looked down at her.

"Yanina begs to please Master!" she whispered.

"Perhaps," I said.

I rose to my feet. It was late in the afternoon. There was only some smoke over Brundisium now, and I gathered that the fires were now mostly under control. No one had come to the apartments. I had not expected them to, or at least not quickly. In this my own anticipations had proved sounder than those of Flaminius. There had been much for them to do elsewhere. Too, I suspected that the city captain had now assumed authority in the city, now that Belnar had been killed. Flaminius' power, I suspected, had largely been a matter of his closeness to the ubar, and his control of special projects, under the direction of the ubar. He was not, as far as I knew, a member of the city administration nor did he hold, as far as I could tell, any official position or rank in the army, or the civic or merchant guard, of Brundisium. He did have, presumably, through Belnar, connections with members of the high council of the city. Members of that council had doubtless been closely associated with Belnar in his various projects. no new ubar, as far as I could tell, had yet been appointed by the council. There had been, at least, no general ringing of bars such as might be expected to announce such an appointment. Had men arrived at the apartments, of course, they would have found them locked. They would then presumably leave. If they chose to enter, they would have had to break through doors. By that time, of course, I would have had time to take my leave, in the manner originally planned.

I glanced down to Yanina. She lay on her stomach, on some furs I had thrown before the barred gate. her hands, palms down, on the soft furs, were at the sides of her head. There was now a chain on her neck. I had found it in the apartments. It was some eight feet in length. It was padlocked about her neck, a heavy lock under her chin, and when I wished, as now, not wanting it for a leash or alternative tether, it was fastened by a similar lock about the bars of the gate, near its foot.

She had served well on it, for Ahn. On it she had, at my direction, assumed slave poses, and had been put various times through intricate slave paces. On it she had even performed placatory slave dances, dances of the sort in which the female tires to convince the male that she might perhaps be worth sparing, if only for the pleasure she might bring him. Too, of course, as it had pleased me, and in a variety of fashions, I had used her. Flaminius, however, it seemed, did not derive the same pleasure from this that I did. I now glanced to Flaminius. He was now sitting on the floor, back against the bars, his wrists spread, where I could see them, tied back against them, at junctures of vertical bars with a flat, supportive crossbar, some six inches from the floor. IN this fashion he could not bet up nor could he effectively use his feet. I had put him in this fashion, thinking it might be more comfortable for the fellow.

Flaminius, my prisoner, looked away, not wanting to meet my eyes.

I went to the side and removed a bowl from its padded, insulating wrap. Its contents were still warm. It was a mash of cooked vulo and rice. Earlier I had taken Yanina to the kitchen. There, under my supervision, on her chain, kneeling, she had cooked it. It was perhaps the first thing she had ever cooked. I had, too, once, later in the afternoon, taken her into a couple of rooms, where I had her tidy them up. I pleased me to see her, once the proud Lady Yanina, helplessly performing these small, domestic tasks. Being a slave is a whole way of life, involving a total modality of existence. There is a great deal more to it than simply serving a master on the furs.

"Eat," I said to Flaminius, spooning some vulo and rice into his mouth. Then, in a bit, I took the bowl, the spoon in it, to where the girl lay. "Kneel," I said to her.

"Yes, Master," she said.

I then took bits of vulo from the bowl and held them out to the girl. I also put some rice in the palm of my hand, from which she took it. I heard Flaminius gasp in anger. "Do you object/" I asked. His slave, before him, was eating from the hand of another man. To be sure, we had all eaten earlier, as well. Then, however, I had had Yanina eat from a pan on the floor.

"No," said Flaminius, hastily.

Yanina looked up at me. She had taken food from my hand.

"Are you sure you do not object?" I asked.

"No, no!" he said, quickly.

I then put the bowl aside. I also picked up my sword sheath, the belt wrapped about it, the blade housed in it.

I looked at Flaminius.

"Do not kill me," he said, suddenly.

"By now," I said, "I believe the papers which I sought, those whose security you had hoped to guarantee, have left the city."

"It does not matter," he said, hastily.

"Once, long ago," I said, "when you sought to consign me to the mercies of urts, I questioned you as to certain matters. You informed me, as I recall, that you did not choose to answer my questions."

He regarded me, frightened.

I drew the blade.

"Perhaps now," I said, "you will choose to answer them."

"I know little about what transpires between Cos and Brundisium," he said. "It has to do with Ar. Too, negotiations have been conducted with secret parties in Ar, parties traitorous to that city."

"Such as yourself?" I asked.

"Perhaps," he said, fearfully. "But what is that to you? Are you of Ar?"

"No," I said. "But I respect the Home Stone of Ar, as that of other cities."

He shrugged.

"Your response," I said, "is unsatisfactory." My blade was at his throat.

"You must have the secret papers," he said. "Otherwise you would not have sought the keys so diligently. Examine them. The answers you seek, or some of them, must be there!"

"An attempt was made on my life, in Port Kar," I said. "Were you responsible for that?"

"No," he said. "We only followed orders, through Belnar."

"What interest would Belnar have had in such a thing?" I asked.

"None, really," he said, wincing, the blade at his throat. "He acted in obedience to the will of another, one more powerful than he."

"What other?" I asked.

"Lurius," he said. "Lurius of Jad, Ubar of Cos!"

"Lurius?" I said.

"Yes!" he cried. "Don't kill me!"

I withdrew the blade from his throat, and he shuddered in his bonds. I had not even thought of gross Lurius, he of Jad, he who was ubar of Cos. Once, long ago, I had sacked a treasure fleet bound from Tyros to Cos, intended for Lurius. Too, at that time, I had taken and chained naked at the prow of my flagship, as a trophy of my victory, the lovely young Vivina, who was being brought to Telnus, the capital of Cos, to be entered into companionship with him, then to be his royal consort. In Port Kar, then, later, I had had her collared, and locked beneath the slaving iron. She was not the preferred slave of Henrius, a captain in Port Kar.

"Why has Lurius acted in this matter only now?" I asked.

"I do not know," said Flaminius, frightened.

It had to do, I was sure, with new movements in the politics of cities. It had to do, I supposed, not only with me, personally, but with Port Kar, as well. To be sure, Lurius had a long memory.

"I am naked and bound," said Flaminius. "You cannot kill me in cold blood!"

"I can," I said.

He regarded me with horror.

"If the semantics of the matter trouble you," I said, "you may regard it as an execution."

"On what grounds!" he cried.

"For treason to Ar," I said.

"I am at your mercy," he said. "Spare me!"

"I may consider doing so," I said.

"Please him!" cried Flaminius to Yanina. "Please him!"

I felt Yanina's tongue, and lips, at my feet. "I desire to do so," she said.

"Slut!" cried Flaminius.

I looked down at the girl rendering her submission at my feet. I sheathed my sword.

I held Yanina in my arms, before Flaminius. I looked down into her eyes.

"You well tricked us," she said. "How you had me thinking myself so clever! What you had out of me, what you made me do! How shameless and wanton I had to be! How you let me think that I was beguiling you, that I in a desperate fashion was buying time for rescuers to appear. Buy you had all, all, and no rescuers appeared!"

"The slaves owes such, and more, to any master who commands her," I said.

"Yes, Master," she said.

"Rescuers might have appeared," I said. "It was merely that I did not expect them to do so."

"What would you have done, if they had arrived?" she asked.

"I would have left," I said.

"So simply?" she said.

"Yes," I said. "Do you question me?"

"No," she said. "Yanina does not question Master."

I took the heavy padlock in my fingers, that under her chin, that which held the chain on her neck. I flipped it, and let it fall back. She could feel its weight drag against the chain. "It holds me well," she said.

I put my head down, and kissed her, and her lips met mine, yielding, in the unmistakable softness, and submission, and gratitude, of the owned slave.

"Slave!" snarled Flaminius.

"I began, Master, this morning," she whispered to me, "pretending, but somewhere, I am not sure where, surely by this afternoon, I realized that I was no longer pretending. I realized more than anything, to love and serve men, and to please them wholly and selflessly, as a slave her masters."

I then, gently, to the fury of Flaminius, took her, as she gasped, and clutched, and thanked me.

"You yield well," I told her.

"Hateful slut!" cried Flaminius. "Despicable slave!"

"I am a girl on a chain," she smiled. "Is it not appropriate that I so yield?"

"It is," I said.

"And if I did not yield well," she asked, "would you whip me, or have your menials do so?"

"Under certain circumstances, and in certain contexts," I said, "of course."

"You have taught me much," she said.

"Perhaps," I said.

"You know you have spoiled me forever for freedom," she said.

"Oh?" I said.

"I know wan my collar," she said. "I love it. I want to serve, and love. It is what I am."

"You re a female," I said.

"yes, Master," she said. "But even did I not desire it, men would see to it that I know served choicelessly, and with perfection, would they not?"

"yes," I said.

"That is what I desire," she said.

"It is late," I said. " mist now take my leave from the city."

She began to tremble in my arms.

"What is wrong?" I asked.

"Not that I have yielded to you, and now that I have learned my slavery, you will not kill me, will you?"

"Perhaps not," I said.

"But you have something else in mind for me, don't you," she asked, "something appropriate for what I now am, a slave?"

"Perhaps," I said.

"But Flaminius you might kill," she said.

"Yes," I said.

"No!" cried Flaminius, sitting naked before the bars, his back to them, his wrists tied back to them of either side of his body.

I rose to my feet and donned my garments, and retrieved the sheath, with the belt and sword. It was now late. The moons were out. I came back and stood before Flaminius.

"No!" he said. "Do not kill me, please!"

I glanced down at the girl. She way lying on her belly, on the furs, the heavy chain padlocked about her neck, over her collar, the other end of it fastening her to the foot of the bars. Moonlight and a tracery of shadows, from the lattice of a window, was on her body.

"I give her to you!" cried Flaminius. "I do not want her! She is only a slut and a slave!"

"Do you do so, freely," I asked, "without obligation on my part, your gift having no pertinence to what now may, or may not, be done to you?"

"Of course!" he said. "Of course!"

"I accept your gift," I said. The girl gasped at my feet. I now owned her.

"Kneel," I said to her, "to hear my will with respect to you."

Swiftly she knelt before me, trembling, straightening her body.

"Hear this, too, Flaminius," I said.

"Yes," he said. "Yes!"

"She is to be delivered to my holding, the holding of Bosk of Port Kar, in Port Kar," I said.

"Yes," he said.

"And she is to be delivered in the following fashion," I said.

"Yes?" he said.

"She is to be drugged with Tassa powder," I said, "and packed in a barrel with parsit fish."

"It will be done as you wish," said Flaminius.

It was in this fashion that she had smuggled me, and several others, out of Port Kar. She would now be returned to the city in the same fashion, only as a slave.

"Do you object, Yanina?" I asked.

"No, Master," she said.

"If this is not done," I said to Flaminius, "I will not be pleased. Think, too, that someday, somewhere, we might meet again. Consider even the possibility that I, displeased, might come to seek you out."

"The matter will be attended to," said Flaminius, "I assure you, exactly according to your instructions."

"You may kiss my feet, slave," I said.

Swiftly Yanina put her head down, and did so.

I then left. "Untie me, Slave!" I heard, behind me. "The knots are too tight, Master," she wept. "I cannot undo them." "Chew through the thongs, then" he said, "Hurry! Hurry!" "Yes, Master!" she wept. "Yes, Master!" I heard the movement of her chain on the tiles. Outside, in the garden, off in the distance, on one of the bridges, I saw some men approaching. They had not yet seen me. I did not even know if they would. I looked at the slender, swaying tarn wire. I took the small, flanged metal wheel, with its protruding axlelike spindle, from my pouch. I also put the thick leather gloves on my hands.