Vagabonds of Gor

28 Labienus

"The camps will be small, scattered, and carefully concealed," I said, "even from the air. They will serve primarily for rest and sleep. There will be no stirring from them during the day, and little or no motion within them. The eyes of men and tarns can detect even a tiny movement within a large visual expanse."

The men looked at one another. Labienus, their captain, whose rank was high captain, and had been commanding officer in the vanguard of the central columns in Ar's entry into the delta, sat upon a rock. Ina knelt in the background, her head down, her hands bound behind her back, fastened to her crossed, bound ankles, in binding her hands I left a yard or so of fiber loose, wrapped about her left wrist, that it might serve, at my discretion, as convenient ankle binding. It was with this length of fiber that her ankles were now secured to her wrists. A cord was about her waist, snugly. It was fastened with a bow knot on her left. The knot, being on the left, was not only convenient for her, reaching across her body, perhaps at a captor's or master's command, but was readily at hand, as well, for the attentions of a right-handed captor or master. In either case, the bow knot, of course, loosens with a casual tug. Over the cord, in front and back, were two narrow slave strips. These, too, of course, may be jerked away at the discretion of a captor or master. The nature and control of a captive's or slave's clothing, and even if she is to be given any, is an additional power of the captor or master. Indeed, some masters seem to think that that is one of the major reasons for permitting a girl clothing, to make possible the exercise of this additional power over her. It may be denied to her, for example, as a discipline. Few girls desire to be sent shopping naked, through busy streets. To be sure, in such a case, they would probably be put in the iron belt. I myself tend to see the disciplinary aspects of clothing as interesting, and not to be overlooked, but minor. More important reasons, in my opinion, are such things as to mark the girl as captive or slave, to enhance her beauty, to heighten her sexuality, and stimulate the master. The major reason I had put Ina in slave strips, of course, was rather different yet. It wished to make it somewhat easier for the men of Ar to control themselves in her presence than it might otherwise have been. It would not do at all, for example, to have to fight off several fellows a few moments after entering the camp. Another reason for permitting a girl clothing, incidentally, is that she may have at least one veil, so to speak, which the captor or master may at his will, and for his pleasure, remove. I had, however, it seems, seriously miscalculated in one matter. The men of Ar, sullen, hungry, defeated, resigned, exhausted, miserable, terrorized, sick, scarcely seemed to notice her. I was much surprised by this. Had Ina been a slave I think she might have been disturbed by this lack of attention to her, and active consideration of her not inconsiderable charms. As a mere free woman, however, she probably did not understand how unusual this was, and, if anything, was more than pleased to be allowed to remain inconspicuously in the background. She knelt with her head down, incidentally, of her own will. I think this was partly because she was frightened, and partly because she had now begun to learn her womanhood and knew herself to be among strong men, thus appropriately submitted.

"We will move at night," I said, "feeding ourselves from what the marsh offers."

"It offers nothing," said a fellow, sullenly.

"This is your choice," I said.

"How shall we see?" asked another man.

"By the stars, the moons," I said. "The difficulties you experience would be experienced as well by any who would seek you, and most such, not even knowing you in the vicinity, will be abed at such times. Too, if attacked, it is easier to scatter and slip away in the darkness."

"There is the sand," said Plenius.

"There is not so much of it," I said, "really, and we may, if you wish, go roped together, and closely enough to one another that even soft cries may be heard, to summon succor."

I cut into the small tharlarion I had killed, its leathery hide already stripped away. I had brought it with me, over my shoulder, when I had announced myself at the camp's periphery, calling Plenius forward to assure my safe entry into the camp. It had been my supposition the men of Ar might be appreciative of food, even of such a nature.

I took a bit of the raw flesh and held it toward the fellow who had expressed his disinclination to believe in the delta's ready provender.

"No," he said.

"You are hungry," I said.

"I cannot eat that," he said.

I ate the bit of meat myself, and cut another.

"It is not even cooked," said another.

"You will make no fires," I said. "A line of smoke can mark a camp. At night the flame of a tharlarion-oil lamp can be seen hundreds of yards away, even the flash of a fire-maker. Such things, spotted from the air, for example, I assure you, will not be neglected by a tam scout."

"Who wishes this viand?" I asked, holding up the next piece of tharlarion meat.

"Not I," said a fellow, warily.

"Nor I," said another.

"It makes me sick to look at it," said another.

"I cannot eat that," said another.

Perhaps if they were hungrier, I thought, they might be less fastidious. Yet I reminded myself that men had tragically starved where abounded food aplenty, perhaps from ignorance, perhaps from fear, perhaps from an irrational reluctance to seize the necessities of survival.

"Do you think you can bring us out of the delta?" asked Labienus, sitting on the rock. He was staring ahead, out over the marsh.

"I think so," I said.

"There are fifteen of us," he said.

"I do not think it will be easy," I said.

"Yet you would give us hope?" asked Labienus, looking out, over our beads.

"Yes," I said.

"There is no hope," said a man.

"Eat," I said, proffering him the morsel I had most recently severed from the tharlarion.

"No," he said, drawing back.

"We are doomed," said another.

"Yes," agreed another.

"Such sentiments," said I, "do not bespeak the spirit that made Ar the glory and menace of Gor."

"Ar," said one, "is no more."

"She perished in the delta," said another.

"I am surprised to hear such sentiments," I said, "from those who must once have held and kissed the Home Stone of Ar." This was a reference to the citizenship ceremony which, following the oath of allegiance to the city, involves an actual touching of the city's Home Stone. This may be the only time in the life of a citizen of the city that they actually touch the Home Stone. In Ar, as in many Gorean cities, citizenship is confirmed in a ceremony of this sort. Nonperformance of this ceremony, upon reaching intellectual majority, can be a cause for expulsion from the city. The rationale seems to be that the community has a right to expect allegiance from its members.

"Ar is not dead," said a man.

"She did not perish in the delta," said another.

"No," said another. "Ar lives on."

"It is not Ar who is dead," said a fellow, wearily. "It is we who are dead."

"You are not dead," I said.

"Ar cannot be Ar without her armies," said a man.

"Without her military might," said a man, "Ar can be little more than a cultural beacon, a recollection of a golden time, something to look back on, a school to others, a lesson to men."

"Perhaps she, in defeat, can culturally conquer her conquerors," said another fellow, gloomily.

"That sort of thing has happened often enough," said a fellow.

"In that way," said a fellow, "the final victory will be hers."

There was something to what these fellows were saying. It is a common occurrence that barbarians sweep down on a softer civilization only to later, in their own turn, be softened, for the encroachments of new barbarians, with new whips and chains. To avoid this fate, of course, some barbarians take care to preserve their barbaric heritage, training their male youth in arms and hardship, and keeping themselves aloof from the subject population, that as befits its sovereign overlords, indeed, keeping the subject population much as herdsmen might keep herds, commanding and controlling them, helping themselves to their riches, taking those of its women who might please them for themselves, and so on.

"With all due respect," I said, "there are a few other cities and towns on this planet, and some of them hold their own culture in higher esteem than that of Ar."

Some of the fellows looked at me, skeptically.

"Ko-ro-ba," I said, "Telnus and Jad, on Cos, Turia, in the south." To be sure, the cultures of the high cities were much the same. To find truly different cultures one might have to travel to Torvaldsland, to the Tahari, to the Barrens, to the Land of the Wagon Peoples, to the interior, east of Schendi, and so on.

"Such places cannot compare with Ar," said a man.

"I beg to differ," I said.

"What do you know," said a man. "You are a Cosian."

"I am not Cosian," I said.

"Why have you come here to torment us in our misery?" asked a man.

"Have some tharlarion," I said, offering him the piece of meat.

He drew back.

"Many folks," I said, "think of Ar not in terms of her musicians, her poets, and such, but in terms of administrators, engineers and soldiers."

"That, too, is Ar," granted a fellow, generously.

"Kill him," suggested a man.

"The Cosians say the laws of Cos march with the spears of Cos," said a fellow.

"So, too, it is with Ar," said a fellow.

"But today it is Cos who marches," said the first man.

"Ar is doomed," said a man.

"No," said another fellow, "it is only we who are doomed."

"You are not doomed," I said.

"Her Home Stone survives," said another.

"We do not know that," observed another.

"Ar lives," insisted another.

"Ar must live!" said another.

"The immediate problem," I suggested, "is not profound historical speculations but survival."

"That problem," said one of the men, "has already been solved for us, by the delta."

"Not at all," I said. "Have a piece of meat."

"No thank you," said he.

"Do you bear us ill will?" asked Labienus, staring toward the marsh.

"Yes," I said, "I bear you considerable ill will."

"Why have you come here then?" he asked. "My reasons, of whatever value they might be, and I think their value may be slight, are my own."

"Are you of the Warriors?" asked Labienus.

"Yes," I said.

"Hear," said Labienus to his men. "He is of the Warriors."

"He says he is," said a fellow, glumly.

"What is the 97th Aphorism in the Codes?" inquired Labienus.

"My scrolls may not be those of Ar," I said. To be sure, the scrolls should be, at least among the high cities, in virtue of conventions held at the Sardar Fairs, particularly the Fair of En'Kara, much in agreement.

"Will you speak?" asked Labienus.

"Remove the female," I said.

"He is a Warrior," said one of the men.

One of the men lifted the bound Ina in his arms, one hand behind the back of her knees, and the other behind her back, and carried her from where we were gathered. In a few moments he returned.

"The female is now out of earshot?" inquired Labienus, staring ahead.

"Yes," said the fellow, "and she will stay where I left her, on her back, as I tied her hair about the base of a stout shrub."

"The 97th Aphorism in the Codes I was taught," I said, "is in the form of a riddle: "What is invisible but more beautiful than diamonds?"

"And the answer?" inquired Labienus.

"That which is silent but deafens thunder."

The men regarded one another.

"And what is that?" asked Labienus.

"The same," said I, "as that which depresses no scale but is weightier than gold."

"And what is that?" asked Labienus.

"Honor," I said.

"He is of the Warriors," said a man. Plenius turned away, stricken.

"But I have, in my time," I said, "betrayed such codes." Plenius turned back, to regard me, a strange expression on his face.

"I think it is easy enough to do," I said.

"Yes," smiled Labienus. "I think that we all, here and there, in our time, have managed that."

"You are very kind," I said.

"Do you think you could bring us out of this place?" asked Labienus.

"I think so," I said. I then, despairing of interesting any of the fellows about in the bit of tharlarion I had cut, put it in my mouth and began to chew it."

"What are you doing?" asked Labienus.

"Eating," I said.

"Give me some," asked Labienus.

I cut a piece and placed it in his hand.

His men watched in awe as he performed the simple act of eating.

"It is not unlike vulo," he said.

"True," I said. I supposed there was an evolutionary explanation for this similarity in tastes.

I cut another piece.

I offered it to Plenius, and he took it. Then the other men, too, began to crowd about. Soon there was little left of the tharlarion but the bones and hide.

"It could have used salt," said a fellow.

"You are now less hungry," I observed.

"Yes," he said.

"You have salt, do you not?" I asked.

"Yes," he said, "but we had nothing to put it on. Then we had something to put it on, and we did not think of it."

"Such is hunger," I said.

"In the future," said he, "we shall recollect it, you may be sure."

"You speak of a future," I observed.

"Yes," he said, thoughtfully. "I spoke of a future."

"That is the first step out of the delta," I said. The men looked at one another.

"The delta," I said, "is rich in the resources of life. Were it not for rencers and Cosians, patrols, and such, you might remain here indefinitely. Indeed, in small groups you might manage it anyway. But you wish, I take it, to withdraw from the delta, and, if possible, return to Ar."

"Glorious Ar," said a fellow, longingly.

"Do you think there is a chance?" asked a man.

"Yes," I said.

"Perhaps you are a spy," said a fellow, licking a tharlarion bone, "sent to lead us into ambush."

"Why would I come among you then, if I had already located you," I said. "Would it not be simpler and less dangerous for me to simply report your position to rencers or Cosians? Shouldn't you have been attacked already?"

"But perhaps they are not yet in position to do so, and you are with us to track us, to mark our location and facilitate their attack."

"Would it not be simpler to leave you here to perish in the delta?" I asked.

"But perhaps you intend to lead us into an ambush at the delta's edge, and deliver us for bounty gold?"

"That is an excellent idea," I said. "I shall have to give it some thought."

"If you decide on that," he said, "I trust that you will let us know."

"You may count on it," I said.

"That is fair," he said.

"Certainly," I said.

"There is much you must teach the men," said Labienus. "At least one man, at all times, is to be vigilant to the sky," I said. "Too, with him, and with scouts and points, and whoever may wish to alert the others, there must be natural signals by means of which to communicate with the others."

"Rencers," said a man, "use such signals."

"So, too, do the savages of the Barrens," I said.

"And so, too, will we," said a fellow.

"You shall learn many things," I said. "One important item is to break the outlines of the human body. This may be done with brush, with coverings, and such. Similarly the face can be irregularly darkened, to reduce reflection, to blend with shadows, to distort its outlines. We shall move rather separately and each shall have contact with at least two others, at all times. If this contact is broken this is to be communicated as quickly as possible to the others. Open spaces, when it is necessary to cross them, will be crossed one at a time, at intervals, when signals of safety are uttered or displayed. Often one will not walk upright, but move in a stoop or crouch. Sometimes one will crawl, on all fours, sometimes on the stomach. One will make use of available cover. One will never cross high ground but use it, circling it, well below its ridge, that one is never seen outlined against the sky."

"There is much to keep in mind," said a fellow.

"There are many small things, too," I said. "Consider, for example, the homely fact that the sound of urination carries well at night. It is important then to soften the sound of such relief, by, say, urinating into sand, by crouching, by using slanting surfaces, such things."

"Garbage, feces, the signs of camps, too, should be considered," said a fellow.

"Yes," I said.

"There is much to remember," said a fellow.

"These things will become second nature," I said.

"It will be almost as though we were not here," said a fellow, wonderingly.

"As soft as the wind, as silent as shadows," I said.

"Aii," said a man.

The men looked at one another. Transformed it seemed they were to me then. I marveled that so much could have been done, with no more than a bit of food, and a morsel of hope. How marvelous are men that they can grow so great upon so little! And yet have not kingdoms risen from the mire, and ubarates from the dust, on no more?

"We will leave with the coming of darkness," said Labienus, looking over our heads.

"Yes, Captain!" said more than one man.

"Let your enthusiasm be guarded," I said. "The journey is long and difficult, the dangers profound and numerous. We must be extremely careful. We must be extremely patient."

"I can be very patient," said Labienus, looking out over the marsh. He smiled. It seemed to me that there had been a strange note in his words, one I did not understand. "Can we not all, lads?" asked he then, in the accents of an officer.

"Yes, Captain!" said the men.

"I think it might now be acceptable for the female to be brought back into our presence," I said.

"Bring back the female," said Labienus.

In a few moments Ina was brought back, carried in the soldier's arms, as before. I indicated that she should be placed on her knees before Labienus.

"She is before you," I informed him.

"A mute rence girl?" he said.

"Yes," I said.

Ina looked wildly about. No longer was she tucked away inconspicuously in the background, a largely ignored, largely unnoticed captive. She was now in the center of us. I considered the fiber on her wrists, its close circles making her helpless, and that extension of it running to her ankles, pulling them up, confining them. Ina looked at me, frightened. Not only was she now in the midst of us, but, more importantly, there was now a different ambiance in the camp. Ina, even though a free woman, could detect the difference in the men now, intuitively, unmistakably. She was now being looked upon quite differently than she had been before. These men had fed, and they now had hope. No longer were they the ragged, defeated stragglers among whom she, even though an attractive female, would have been safe. I wondered if she had now become much more acutely aware of the fact that she was in slave strips, that she was bound, that she was on her knees. I wondered if she had now, suddenly, become much more aware, and perhaps fearfully so, of her own attractions, of the luscious curves of her body, of the excitements of her figure, of the soft perfections of her breasts, so perfectly formed, of her graspable waist, of the flaring of her hips and the sweetness of her love cradle, with its softly rounded belly, like a stove ready for the stoking of slave fires, of her thighs, calves, or her small feet and hands, of those lovely shoulders, and that lovely neck, and the beautiful head and face, now so sensitive, now so softened by her emergent femaleness, and the hair, that might have been the envy of a paga slave, like a sheen of tawny gold, loose about her back and shoulders.

"Is she tall?" asked Labienus.

"No," I said. "She is perhaps a bit less than medium height for a female."

"You call her 'Ina'?" asked Labienus.

"Yes," I said.

"Is she pretty?" he asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Beautiful?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "I would think so."

"What color is her hair," he asked.

"She is a blonde," I said.

"Is she slave desirable?" he asked.

"She is not a slave," I said.

"But if she were a slave?" he asked.

"If she were actually a slave," I said, "I think then, yes, she would be slave desirable."

"So attractive?" he asked.

"Yes," I said.

"And you call her 'Ina'?" he asked, again.

"Yes," I said.

He put forth his hand and I held Ina in place, my hand in her hair, as his fingers lightly touched her face.

He then drew back his hand, and sat upright again, on the rock.

I then, by the hair, flung Ina to her stomach in the sand before Labienus. She lay there then, her ankles up behind her, her wrists, by the fiber linking them to her ankles, pulled back, toward them.

"She bellies to you," I said.

I then, by the back of the neck, moved Ina's head over Labienus' feet. She pressed her lips to them, kissing them.

"Aiii!" cried a fellow.

I then, she wincing, pulled her up, by one arm and her hair.

"She now, again, kneels before you," I said. "Ina," I said, "do you beg to please the captain?" She cast me a wild look.

"One whimper for 'Yes'," I said, "two for 'No'." She turned to the captain, and whimpered once.

"Aiii," cried more than one man.

But Labienus, smiling, waved his hand, dismissing her. I thrust her to her side, to the side, in the sand. She looked back at me, startled. She had been dismissed. She had been rejected.

"I am grateful to you for your generosity with the captive," said Labienus. "It does you honor."

"Her use is yours, whenever you wish," I said.

"My thanks, Warrior," said he.

"It might be well for you to avail yourself of her," I said.

"I think not," he said. "There is another matter more pressing to which I wish to give careful consideration."

"As you wish," I said. I did not understand what this other matter might be but, at the time, supposed it to have to do with our impending journey.

I turned to look at Ina. She lay on her side in the sand, terrified. The men had gathered about her, some crouching, looking down at her. She looked small and luscious, helplessly bound, in the sand. She looked about herself, from face to face, as she dared, then, again and again, looked quickly away. She could not help but note that the eyes of the men were eagerly and unabashedly feasting themselves upon what was apparently to them some vulnerable, delicious object of incredible desire, and that this object was she herself.

"Do not be afraid, rence girl," said Plenius.

She looked over to me, pleadingly, pathetically, the once-rich, once-powerful, once-haughty Lady Ina, of Ar, she who had been of the staff of Saphronicus, she who had been mistress of the purple barge, she who was confidante to, and observer for, Talena, once the daughter of Marlenus of Ar.

Plenius turned to regard me.

Ina looked at me, wildly. She might as well have been a slave girl, tethered to a stake for a squad's pleasure.

"You may untie her ankles," I informed Plenius, "then hand her about."

He turned back to the girl, bending to her ankles. The others, too, then crowded about her.

I heard her gasp, probably as her ankles were jerked apart, preparing her for usage.

She was a highly intelligent woman, was the lovely Lady Ina, and I did not doubt but what she would keep well within the character of a mute rence girl Surely better that than the impaling spear.

I heard her gasp again, startled.

I supposed that when she had entered the delta in the purple barge, she, a high lady of Ar, in her silks and jewels, had not expected to serve common soldiers in one of the familiar modalities of a lowly captive.

I heard her utter a sudden, inarticulate cry.

"Ah!" cried a fellow.

"I, I!" cried another fellow.

I heard her gasp, again, startled, and then, in a moment, utter another cry.

"Ai!" said a fellow.

It had doubtless been weeks since these fellows had had a woman. And the Lady Ina, even though she was not a slave, was yet a juicy pudding.

She began to sob, though whether with sorrow, confusion, protest, passion or excitement, it was difficult to tell.

In another moment or two she was in the arms of another fellow.

"I!" cried another. "I!"

"No, I!" cried another.

I feared they might fight for her, as might ravening sleen over the first piece of meat thrown to them in days.

Ina cried out, again seized, and was thrown back, again, into the sand.

I heard the sound of striking against her body, the subjection of it to the blows of a fellow's mastery and joy.

She was gasping.

I feared they might not be showing her sufficient respect. They did not know, of course, that she was the Lady Ina, but they would know, or believe, presumably, that she was a free woman. She was, for example, not branded. To be sure they would presumably accept her as a simple, lowly rence girl, and much had they suffered at the hands of rencers. There is a tendency, of course, to be stricter and crueler with women of the enemy than with others not so distinguished, making them in a sense stand proxy for the foe. It sometimes takes a new slave weeks, for example, to convince a master that she is no longer really a citizeness of a foreign state but now only an animal who belongs to him, one who solicits his indulgence, one who begs his kindness, and one who hopes to serve and please him, her master, as much or more than any similar animal which might be in his possession.

"She is hot!" said a fellow.

Ina made an inarticulate cry of protest.

"Yes!" said another.

Ina, as I caught sight of her, was shaking her head, negatively.

"Do not lie to us, rence slut!" snarled a man.

I heard her cuffed.

"Look," said a fellow.

Ina uttered a startled, warm, helpless little cry.

"See?" asked the fellow.

"Yes," said the other.

"She is hot all right," said a man.

"She is worthy of the iron," said a man.

"Yes," said another.

Now I heard Ina whimpering, and moaning. Labienus, for whatever reason, had rejected her.

"Aii!" cried a fellow.

I heard Ina handed to yet another fellow.

Then she was moaning again, her head back, her hair about, helpless in this new grasp.

"I am ready again!" said a fellow.

"Wait!" snarled a fellow.

I feared Ina might cry out in words, belying our posture of her muteness, but she did not do so.

"Hurry!" said a man.

Ina made a protesting noise, a begging noise, that he who gripped her take pity upon her and not too soon desist in his attentions.

"Ah!" cried the fellow in whose grasp she lay.

"I am next!" said a man.

"Give her to me!" said another.

Labienus, for whatever reason, had rejected her. To these fellows, however, she was a dream of pleasure.

"Superb!" said a fellow.

"Let us instruct her in how to move," said a man.

"She is not a slave," said a fellow.

"What does it matter?" asked another.

"Next you will want to teach her tongue work," said another.

"An excellent idea," said a man.

"Do you wish to learn tongue work, mute rence slut?" asked a man.

Ina made a frightened noise.

"Yes?" he asked.

Ina, terrified, whimpered once.

"Good," said the fellow.

Ina did not now, it seemed, have to fear dismissal, or rejection.

"Tarl, of Port Kar," said Labienus.

"I am here, Captain," I said.

"Are any others close about?" he asked.

"I do not think so close that they might overhear sort speech," I said.

"Too," smiled Labienus, "I gather they are occupied."

"It would seem so," I said.

Labienus did not look directly at me while he spoke. Rather he looked out over the marsh. He did not see anything, however, as he was blind. This was the result of the work of the sting flies, or, as the men of Ar are wont to call them, the needle flies. In their attacks he had insufficiently defended himself from their depredations which, too often, are toward the eyes, the surfaces of which are moist and reflect light. Most, of course, would shut or cover their eyes, perhaps with cloth or their hands or arms. The rencers use rence mats most commonly, or hoods made of rence, for these, screenlike, permit one to see out but are too small to admit the average sting fly. Had Labienus protected himself, and not tried, at all costs, to maintain his cognizance and command, I do not doubt but what he, like the others, could have prevented the flies, in numbers, from inflicting such injuries on himself. He must have been stung several times in, or about, the eyes. Labienus, in my opinion, was a fine, responsible, trustworthy officer. His faults in command, as I saw them, however, had been several. He had been too inflexible in his adherence to orders; he had had too great a confidence in the wisdom and integrity of his superiors; he had been too slow to detect the possibilities of betrayal and treason; he had not speedily extricated his command from a hopeless situation; and even on the level of squad tactics, by attempting to maintain cognizance and command in a situation in which it was impractical to do so, he had, in the long run, by sustaining grievous personal injury, jeopardized not only himself but the men who depended upon him. To be sure, many of these faults, as I thought of them, might, from another point of view, have been regarded as virtues. I suspected that it had not been an accident that Labienus had been in command of the vanguard. Saphronicus had probably wanted a simple, trusting, reliable, tenacious, indefatigable officer in that post. One who would continue to doggedly carry his command deeper and deeper into the delta, regardless of what might appear to be the hazards or untenabilities of the situation.

"The rence woman you brought into the camp is a mute," he said.

"Yes," I said.

"Surely it is unlikely that a given rence girl, picked up in the marsh, would be a mute," he said.

"Yes," I said. "I would think it extremely unlikely."

"But such a thing could occur," he said.

"Certainly," I said.

"I gather that it was you who prepared the tharlarion for the men," he said.

"Yes," I said.

"Why would the rence girl not do that?" he asked. "Surely she would expect to have to do that."

"I would not wish to place a weapon in her hands," I said. This seemed to me a plausible reply as she, supposedly a recent capture, might not yet be fully aware of the irrationality and uselessness of even token resistance. Similarly in many cities a slave may be slain, or her hands cut off, for so much as touching a weapon.

"Doubtless you would expect her, from time to time," he said, "to handle utensils, to serve, for example, in kitchens."

"She is not yet branded and collared," I said.

"It is surprising to me," he said, "that rencers are not scouring the delta to recover her."

"Perhaps they are," I said.

"Perhaps," he said.

"Perhaps she was fleeing an unwanted mating," I said. She had tried to convince me of that, or something like that, I recalled, when she was pretending to be a rence girl, preposterous though that was, with her accent, when I had first encountered her on the pole, tied there for tharlarion.

"And found herself instead in your ropes?"

"Yes," I said.

"Perhaps she, a mute rence girl, doubtless an outcast, was merely living alone in the marsh when you found her?"

"Perhaps," I said.

"The Lady Ina," he said, "for whom you have named your capture, was also, as I recall, just a bit short of average height for a female."

"Or thereabouts," I said.

"That would make the name more appropriate," he said.

"Of course," I said.

"Your Ina," he said, "is blond, you said."

"Yes," I said.

"So, too," said he, "was the Lady Ina, of Ar."

"Oh?" I said.

"Yes," he said. "I once saw some wisps of her hair, blown from beneath her hood."

"Interesting," I said.

"But that coincidence, too," he said, "merely makes the name more appropriate."

"True," I said.

"It is my understanding that blond rencers are rare," he said.

"But, of course," I said, "there are some such." I had seen some, years ago.

"Undoubtedly," he said.

"Though you are blind," I said, "I think you see some things more clearly than your men."

We listened for a few moments to the soft cries of the captive, in the arms of one of the fellows of Ar.

"Do you believe in justice?" he asked. "Occasionally," I said.

"What of justice for traitresses?" he asked.

"There are many different forms of justice," I said.

"You claim her as your own, by capture?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "She is mine, by capture."

"Entirely yours?"

"Yes," I said, "entirely mine."

"We shall not pursue the matter further," he said.

"I concur," I said.

"You might permit her to speak, if you wish," he said.

"I think not," I said. "Your men might cut her throat."

"True," he said.

He heard Ina gasping and crying out, now totally at the mercy of the esurient males who so masterfully fondled and exploited her.

"She is making too much noise," said a fellow.

"Fold the slave strips," said another.

"Here," said a fellow to Ina, a moment or two later, "bite down on these."

We now heard her muffled whimpers.

"She responds like a slave," smiled Labienus.

"And so, too," I said, "does any woman, properly mastered."

"True," he smiled.

"Perhaps you wish to try her yourself," I said.

"No," he said.

"She is excellent," I said, "and if she were a slave, she might become, in time, truly superb."

"It is an amusing thought, is it not?" he asked.

"Yes," I said, well considering that it was the once-proud Lady Ina of whom we spoke.

"But all women wish to be slaves," he said.

"Yes," I said.

"Because in their hearts they are slaves," he said.

"Yes," I said.

"Fifty thousand men," said he, looking out over the marsh, "entered the delta."

"I had thought perhaps something in that number," I said.

"How many do you think managed to withdraw safely?" he asked.

"Probably many," I said, "particularly before the deployment of the rencers. Not all commanders were as determined as you."

"The rencers were soon in position," he said.

"That is true," I said.

"How many would you think?" he asked.

"I have no idea," I said.

"My information, conjoined with plausible conjectures," he said, "would suggest at least five hundred, and probably no more than five thousand."

"Even if five thousand managed to withdraw," I said, "that would still constitute one of the greatest of military disasters in the history of the planet."

"And of those five thousand, if there were so many, how many do you think could reach Holmesk, or Venna, or Ar safely?"

"I do not know," I said. "Hopefully a goodly number, particularly if Saphronicus fell back on Holmesk."

"That is where he will be," said Labienus.

"Oh?" I said.

"Certainly," he said. "Thence he can march southeast to join the Viktel Aria."

"Cosians will not attempt to interpose themselves?" I asked.

"Not between Holmesk and the Viktel Aria," he said, grimly, "but in a line between the Vosk and Brundisium, between the delta and Holmesk, to close the path to Holmesk."

"I understand," I said.

"Only the most cunning and resourceful will reach Holmesk," he said.

"Ar might be reached by a variety of routes," I said. "I myself would go first actually to Brundisium, and thence to Ar."

"That would be bold, indeed," he said.

"It might not be advisable for you or your men to attempt that route," I said, "with your accents."

"No," he said.

"You do not think the Cosians will attempt to prevent Saphronicus from reaching Ar?"

"No," he said. "Saphronicus will return to Ar, a tragic hero, muchly betrayed, to be celebrated for saving some remnants of his forces. He may be granted a triumph."

"You are bitter," I said.

"I was told by Saphronicus," he said, "that I was one of his finest officers."

"I am sure you are," I said.

"It was for that reason that I was entrusted with the command of the vanguard," he said, "to be the first to make contact with the retreating Cosians."

"I am sure," I said, "you were among the most dedicated, reliable, and loyal of the officers." I had little doubt of this, given what I knew of him.

"And he made public declarations to that effect," said Labienus.

"I see," I said.

"Should I manage to reach Holmesk," he said, "I might be granted signal honors. I might be decorated, as a veteran of the delta."

"Perhaps," I said. I wondered if Labienus was mad. Yet his manner did not suggest this.

"First, I must manage to extricate my men from the delta," he said.

"I will do my best to be of service," I said.

He put out his hand and I took it. He clasped my hand.

"Then," said he, "I have one final duty."

"What is that?" I asked.

"I must make my report to Saphronicus," he said. "I see," I said. I decided that Labienus, after all, was mad.

"There will be no difficulty in obtaining an audience with him, should I reach Holmesk," he said. "It would be politically impossible for it not to be granted. I am a veteran of the delta, leader of the vanguard, one of his finest officers."

"Of course," I said.

The fellows who had clustered about Ina had now muchly finished with her, most of them going to various points in the small camp, to rest before we left. Two of them were still near her, busying themselves with her.

Labienus released my hand. He had a very strong grip.

"You trust me?" I asked.

"Of course," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because of what is invisible and yet more beautiful than diamonds," said Labienus, "because of the silence that deafens thunder, because of that which depresses no scale and is yet weightier than gold."

"You cannot even see," I said.

"There is more than one way to see," he said.

One of the two fellows with Ina rose to his feet and went to one side, where he lay down, near some gear.

"Have one of the men bring me a bowl of water, and salt," said Labienus. "And, too, find me logs, or branches, with bark on them."

"Warrior," said I, to one of the fellows still about. He came over to us.

"Your captain wishes a bowl of water, and salt," I said, "and wood, logs, branches or such, with bark on them."

The fellow looked at me, puzzled, I shrugged.

He then departed, presumably to accomplish this errand.

"I shall need such things regularly," said Labienus, "at east until we leave the delta."

"Of course," I said. The fortunes to which Labienus had succumbed, I told myself, might have felled even stronger men.

"You may now withdraw," he said.

"You will be all right?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

"What will you do?" I asked.

"I shall consider my report," he said.

"I see," I said. I hoped that the madness of Labienus would not jeopardize our attempt to withdraw from the delta.

I could see the fellow who had been sent on the errand looking back at Labienus, and speaking with another of his fellows.

The last fellow who had been with Ina was now finishing up with her.

It would be dark in an Ahn or so.

We must rest.

The fellow was now crouching beside her.

"No," I said to him. "I will attend to that."

He put down the length of binding fiber with which he was preparing to tie her ankles together, that which ran to her bound wrists, that from which she had been freed, to prepare her for usage.

Ina looked up at me, as I now stood near her. Her hands were still bound behind her back. The cord over which the slave strips had been inserted was still snug on her belly. The slave strips themselves, however, had been neatly folded and inserted in her mouth. She looked up at me, over them, her teeth clenched upon them. It was perhaps just as well or she might, considering the vigorous attentions to which she had been subjected, have been tempted to cry out in words. It is unusual for a free female to be gagged or put under a device of speech impedence, of course. Yet when it is done it is often stimulatory to them, underscoring their helplessness, and their subjection to the imperious will to which they are being subjected, that they are not even permitted to speak. It helps to make them more slavelike. There are also certain other considerations involved, such as encouraging her to concentrate on her sensations themselves, in all their incredible particularity, and not on classifying or explaining them. Similarly she may be instructed to whimper and moan, and such, in such a way as to provide a running analogue of her sensations to her ravisher. In this fashion, this being taken together with expressions, bodily movements, and such, he can receive a plethora of information on her vulnerabilities and sensitivities, all of which places her all the more helplessly in his power. The prevention or prohibition of vocalization on the part of a slave, of course, is more common. For example, the master may not, at a given time, wish to hear her speak. Thusly she does not speak at that time. There are many varieties of slave gags, and such. Some are rather cruel. The simplest device for attaining this end is when she is "gagged by her master's will," which simply means that she is prohibited from speaking until given permission to do so. Gags are sometimes used in conjunction with, but need not be, blindfolds, half-hoods and hoods. The modalities of these devices, of course, are different, as is known to slaves who are subjected to them. What these various devices do have in common is a tendency to induce a sense of great helplessness, which increases the slave's consciousness of male dominance, and, accordingly, her responsiveness to this dominance. To be sure, once the slave has learned her condition, or learned her collar, as the Goreans say, she has no doubt whatsoever of this dominance, and her subjection to it. The mere sight of a slave whip is then enough to make her juice. Gags, blindfolds, and such devices, then, may or may not be used, as the master wishes.

I gently pulled the folded cloths from Ina's mouth and, turning her to her side, repositioned them over the belly cord. Naturally, as she was on her side, they fell to the side. I considered her stripped thighs, her bared flanks, the accent of the belly cord at her waist, the lineal excitingness of her rapturously, delectably exposed, from her feet to her head and shoulders.

I saw the soldier bring to Labienus a bowl of water, and a sack of salt. Too, he had found some small branches. Labienus put the water and salt down, beside him. Then, carefully, he began to pick at the bark with his fingers.

I turned Ina to her back. She looked up me. I saw she was desperate to speak. I looked about. I did not think that any would overheard. Labienus was intent upon what he was doing, whatever he might conceive it to be. For the most part the soldiers were now at rest. None were close.

I bent my ear very close to her lips.

"I am a slave," she whispered, frightened. She spoke extremely softly, in an almost inaudible whisper, like a soft breath at my ear, but there was no mistaking the words.

"You are a free woman," I reminded her, softly.

"No," she whispered. "I am a slave. I know I am a slave. My feelings!"

"Labienus knows who you are," I said to her.

"Then," she whispered, "it is the impaling spear for me!"

"No," I said. "He does not officially know who you are. He will not press the matter."

"But why?" she asked.

"He has his own reasons, I am sure," I said. "Too, you are not really his to deal with."

"Whose am I to deal with?" she asked.

"Mine," I said.

"Yours?" she asked.

"Yes," I said. "You are mine, by capture."

"That relationship then," she said, looking up at me, wonderingly, "is fearfully profound."

"Among warriors, and men of honor," I said.

"Then I am truly yours," she said, "to do with as you please."

"In this situation," I said, "in law, as well as in fact."

She nodded.

"But I would watch my step if I were you," I said. "It would not do to have one of his men cut your throat."

She nodded again.

"What are you?" I asked.

"A mute rence girl," she said, softly.

"And an excellent use slut," I said.

"I am not so high as a use slut," she said. "I am only a slave."

I regarded her.

"Lady Ina is a slave," she said.

"You are a free woman," I said.

"Use me then," she said, "as whatever you take me to be."

"Does Lady Ina, the free woman, beg use?" I asked.

"Yes," she said, "Lady Ina, the free woman, begs use, and as what she truly is, a slave."

I lifted aside the slave strip at her belly, and acceded, she moaning, to her request. Her responsiveness, even though she was a free woman, suggested that she might, in time, make an excellent, even a superb, slave.

Once, betwixt my usages of the captive, Ina, I looked back at Labienus. He now had the bowl of water resting upon his knees. I watched him mix salt with it, turning it into a brine. Then he immersed his hands in it. Two of the small branches which had been brought to him were now stripped of bark. It saddened me that his mind had broken.

Ina looked up at me, gratefully, wonderingly.

"You must rest," I told her.

To be sure, I, too, wished to rest. One must be alert for one's trek.

"When do we leave?" she asked.

"In a few Ahn," I said. "I will awaken you a little earlier, to darken your face and body, here and there, with mud from the marsh."

She looked up at me.

"It is a matter of camouflage," I said.

"Do with them what you wish," she said, "they are the face and body of a slave."

I then put her on her side, crossed her ankles, pulled them up, and, with the length of binding fiber descending from her bound wrists, tied them there.

She looked up at me, obviously desperate again, to speak. I bent close to her.

"The slave strips!" she whispered.

"Doubtless, if you struggle about, a bit," I said, "you will discover a way to adjust them."

She looked up at me, over her left shoulder.

I left her.

Labienus had now removed his hands from the brine and was addressing himself once more to removing bark from another of the small branches.

I looked back to Ina and saw that she had now struggled to her knees. In a moment she managed to adjust the slave strips. Then, carefully, she lowered herself back to the sand. The frontal strip was now well in place, lying between her raised knees. She looked at me, rather reproachfully. But why should I have helped her in this? It had to do, after all, not with my concerns, but with her own modesty. Too, one does not wish to set an inconvenient precedent, that one should have to be going about all the time, addressing oneself to such tasks. One might adjust a girl's slave strips for her, of course if one were preparing to present her to friends, or something. Even slaves girls, incidentally, are often concerned about their modesty, for example, as I have suggested, not wishing to be sent shopping naked, and so on, even though they are not entitled to it, and, indeed, by some masters, who hold to the strict interpretation of the saying "Modesty is not permitted to slave girls," it is not even permitted them. Most masters, however, understanding the saying more generously, as referring to strictures which may be imposed upon occasion, at the master's will, rather than strictures which must obtain constantly, regardless of his will, enjoy permitting a slave girl a certain amount of modesty. For example, this gives them more power over her, adding an additional dimension to discipline, and they may, of course, whenever they wish, for their pleasure, deny it to her, or remove it from her, as easily as slave silk may be jerked away. The saying "Modesty is not permitted to slave girls," is a saying then which is usually reserved for particular occasions, as, for example, if a girl might exhibit distress at being stripped for her sale, or, say, be tempted to balk at performing floor movements naked for business acquaintances of her master. This, too, incidentally, is the legal understanding of the saying, as any other interpretation would be inconsistent with the master's absolute ownership of the slave. If he could not permit her modesty, if he wished, for example, according her a slave tunic, his power would not have been absolute. The same power, of course, permits him to keep her naked, if he wishes. In all, and in brief, she is owned, completely.

She pursed her lips, timidly kissing at me.

I blew her a kiss in the Gorean fashion, brushing it to her with my fingers.

She looked at me, gratefully, and then wriggled down in the sand a little, getting comfortable, taking care not to dislodge that fragile, mockery of a shielding, the slave strip. She then looked up at the afternoon sky.

I smiled to myself. When she slept, or changed position, all her work would be undone, and she would be as helplessly and delightfully exposed as before. Women are often slept naked, incidentally, in their kennels. The masters sometimes come by in the night, with a lamp, to see how beautiful they are, the shadows of the bars on their lovely, sleeping bodies.

Before I slept I glanced once more at Labienus. He, now, was once again soaking his hands in the solution of brine.