Vagabonds of Gor

42 We Will Return to Camp

"See," said Marcus, "what slaughter has been wrought in the alley?"

"What are you doing here?" I asked. I had just emerged with Ina, she now again in the brown, sleeveless, calflength garment, the bracelets, the hood and leash, from the rear entrance of the Jeweled Whip. "Wait," I said.

Marcus stood to the side, in the gray light, in the alley.

"Kneel here," I said to Ina, placing her facing, close to, the back wall of the tavern. "Purse your lips," I said. I then put her even closer to the wall. "There is a wall before you," I said. "You are quite close to it. Now lean forward, carefully, and, keeping your lips pursed, press them against the wall." She then knelt with her lips pressing against the inside of the slave hood, and, through the slave hood, against the wall. I then left her there and drew to one side, to confer with Marcus.

"I followed you, of course," said Marcus, "that I might render you assistance, for clearly you hoped to lure those who sought the female into sword trap."

"My friend," I said, "I had hoped not to involve you."

"That I should have been involved," said he, irritably, "seems to me manifest, if, indeed, I be truly your friend."

"I am sorry," I said. "I did not wish to bring you into danger."

"You accompanied me across the Vosk," he said. "You accompanied me in the works of espionage. You risked your life by waiting for me south of the Cosian camp. Had it not been for me you would not have been apprehended by Saphronicus, and taken into the delta. Yet, you would not then permit me, in turn, to assist you in a work of private war, when you stood in severe jeopardy."

"Do not be angry, my friend," I said. "I meant no diminishment either to our trust or your honor. If an honor has been tarnished here, it is surely mine, not yours."

"What did you expect to do?" he asked.

"In the darkness," I said, "one may fight against many, for he knows that he against whom he sets his sword will be a foe, whereas the many, meanwhile, lightening his work, will fight the many."

"And how many did you expect to encounter?" he asked.

"Four, perhaps five," I said, "those fellows who have been skulking about our camp."

"I have, in the light, this morning," said Marcus, "counted twenty-five bodies."

"Ai!" I said.

"And I think it would be well to depart from this area before guardsmen make their rounds," he said.

"You were following me, to aid in the fight?" I asked.

"Certainly," he said, "if an action ensued."

"Did you realize there were so many?" I asked.

"Yes," he said. "I saw them leave camp, like a swarm of needle flies."

"And yet you came ahead?"

"Of course," he said.

"You are indeed a brave man," I said.

"But my sword," said he, "never left my sheath."

"How did these fellows die?" I asked. I could see, here and there, bodies. The closest was a few yards away, the farthest, in view, more than a hundred yards away.

"Silently," said he, "the last man first, then the second to the last man, and so on, their throats cut."

"That explains why there was so little commotion in the alley," I said.

"You speak as if you know something of this," he said.

"I knew something of this sort had occurred," I said, "but not in this manner, nor to this extent."

"It seems you have allies other than a mere officer of Ar's Station," he said.

"As it turned out," I said.

Marcus regarded me.

"I saw someone yesterday on the Brundisium Road," I said. "He wore a wind scarf but I recognized his slave, and later in the retinue, another slave. I was confident I knew this person. Wishing to speak with him was one reason I came to Brundisium."

"And another was to lure the hunters of Ina into ambush?" he said.

"Yes," I said.

"But you said there were three reasons," he reminded me.

"The third," I said, "had to do with Ina herself, directly. I wished to ascertain certain data with respect to her, data which would presumably be important with respect to her disposition."

"And did you ascertain this data?" he asked.

"Yes," I said, "insofar as such things are possible with a free female."

"Tell me of these allies of yours," he said.

"I will not speak in great detail," I said, "but recognitions on the Brundisium Road were not exclusively my own. He whom I thought I recognized recognized me, as well, though he then gave no sign of it. He sent men back to locate me and invite me to his lodgings. They, however, saw me on the road and, it seems, followed me. Too, it became clear to them soon that I was being followed by others as well, doubtless the men you saw leave the camp."

"The road was crowded," said Marcus.

"And they followed in relays, of course," I said, "one fellow taking up where another left off. Indeed, amusingly, it was from some of these fellows, moving about, here and there, being at hand, so to speak, that I made my inquiries, or most of them, pertaining to the lodgings of my friend. In the course of several inquiries, a bit of information given here, another bit there, I finally learned that he, with his immediate staff and guards, was quartering at the Jeweled Whip."

"You did not suspect anything?" asked Marcus.

"I had never seen these particular fellows before," I said.

"Perhaps they had been selected for that very reason," said Marcus.

"I would not doubt it," I said. "Too, their accents even suggested this region."

"You suspected nothing?"

"No," I said. "I took them for fellows of Brundisium."

"Did it not seem unusual to you," he asked, "that you obtained this information so readily?"

"I did not obtain it readily," I said. "Indeed, I was even misdirected once or twice."

"Your friend," said Marcus, "must be a very clever fellow."

"I would think so," I said.

"Still," said Marcus, "it is not as though you were of Ar, or Ar's Station."

"That is true," I said.

"And did you have a good talk with him?" asked Marcus.

"Yes," I said. "We spoke for some time."

"Splendid," said Marcus.

"And what were you doing during that time?" I asked.

"Freezing in the alley," he said.

"You should have come in," I said, "and had a drink."

"You seem in an excellent mood," he said.

I glanced back at Ina. She was kneeling against the wall, her hands braceleted behind her, her lips, through the slave hood, pressed against it.

"I see," he said.

"Do not be out of sorts," I said. "Let us go back to our camp and get some sleep. Then, in the neighborhood of noon, I have something to show you, something in which I think you may be interested."

"What?" he asked.

"You will see," I said.

"Does Ina know of the reward offered for her, the supposedly secret reward of a hundred pieces of gold?"

"No," I said.

"It is doubtless just as well," he said.

"I think so," I said.

"You do seem in a pleasant mood," remarked Marcus, somewhat grouchily.

"I think Ina is now safe," I said.

"Probably," said Marcus. "Your friends, who so efficiently, if somewhat ruthlessly, dealt with those following you in the alley seem to have seen to that."

"I think so," I said. "Besides how many could recognize the face of a free woman of Ar, one of high caste, one of lofty station, as they are customarily veiled?"

"I think you are right," said Marcus. "To be sure, she is still free, and free women, in this area, or at least free women of Ar, or those who speak with such an accent, are rare."

"But women on chains, with such accents, are not," I said.

"True," he said.

"You seem uneasy," I said.

"I think we should leave," said Marcus. "I do not wish to be about if guardsmen should make their rounds here. At the very least they might be interested in learning why we have not seen fit to report the local carnage."

"True," I said. Then I went to Ina and lifted up her leash. I jerked on it, lightly, twice. "Up, female," I said. She then, given this implicit permission, removed her lips from the wall. I then drew twice more, lightly, on the leash, that she would be alerted to the fact that she was to be led, and the direction in which she was to be led. I then, drawing her gently behind me, on her tether, rejoined Marcus.

"She has pretty feet," said Marcus.

"Yes," I said. I did not think that he, before the fall of Ar's Station, and his chagrin with Ar, would have spoken so of the feet of a free woman of Ar, particularly one of education, elevation and refinement. Such things are usually said only of slaves, and such.

I looked down at Ina's feet, so small and white, in the dust of the alley. They were indeed pretty, pretty enough, even, to be those of a slave. I was pleased that I had led her barefoot into Brundisium, and so, too, of course, barefoot, hooded and on her leash, she would be returned to our camp. Such things are instructive to a female, of course, and of great emotional profit.

"Let us go," said Marcus.

"Come along, Ina," I said.