Captive of Gor coc-7

by John Norman

  Ena smiled. "Come with me," she said. She led me through the camp, until we came to a small, low tent. Before it, about a fire, there sat two brawny, magnificent huntsmen.

  "They are from the hunting retinue of Marlenus of Ar," I whispered. I recognized them, both from the streets of Ko-ro-ba and from the merchants' stockade, on the trade route to Ar, where I and Lana had so abused Verna, she then being helplessly caged.

  I noted that these two men were served, each by a slave girl. Inge and Rena were fetching in their work tunics. I could see that they were excited by their proximity to such men.

  They were shameless!

  "Those men," said Ena, "are Raf and Pron, huntsmen of Treve, though they range widely in their huntings, even to the northern forests. By order of Rask of Treve they, by their skill in weapons and their mastery of the techniques and lore of the hunt, and pretending to be of Minus, a village under the hegemony of Ar, made petition and successfully so, to participate in the retinue of the great Ubar." She smiled at me. "Treve," she said, "has spies in many places." "They freed Verna," I said. "Freeing her, they escaped to a preappointed rendezvous, where Rask of Treve, with his men, met them, and brought them, and Verna, here."

  "But why would they wish to free her?" I asked.

  "Verna is well know on Gor, as an outlaw woman," said Ena. "When it became known that Marlenus, in his hunting, for his sport, would seek her, Rask of Treve gave order for Raf and Pron to attempt to join his retinue."

  "But why?" I asked.

  "That," said Ena, "Marlenus, if successful, might be deprived of his prize?" "But why?" I pressed.

  "There would be glory in the capture of such a woman," said Ena, "and, surely, ignominy in her escaping."

  "You mean she has been freed only that Marlenus of Ar might be deprived of his prize?"

  "Of course," said Ena. "Treve and Ar are enemies." Her eyes shone, and I had little doubt where her sympathies lay. "Is it not a superb insult to Marlenus and Ar!" she breathed.

  "Yes," I said, "it is."

  "Too," said Ena, thrilled, "is it not audacious that my master, Rask of Treve, places his war camp, from which he may despoil the fields and caravans of Ar, within the realm of might Ar itself!"

  "Yes," I whispered. I then sensed something of the points of honor and of the nature of insults which scornful men, might warriors, might exchange. I shuddered, momentarily thrilled with the boldness of my master, Rask of Treve. Then I remembered that he had contempt for women, and that I hated him! "What of the other girls, those of Verna's band?" I asked. I particularly feared that the blond girl, she who had held my leash, might be freed. I had much abused her, throwing dirt on her and poking her with a stick in her cage. I was terrified of her. If she was free I did not know what she might do to me. "The others remain caged prizes in the retinue of Marlenus," said Ena. "Oh," I said. I was much relieved. I observed Inge filling the paga goblet of one of the huntsmen. She knelt closer to him than she needed to. Her lips were parted. Her eyes shone. Her hands, slightly, shook on the paga bottle. Rena knelt to one side. She watched her huntsman, gnawing the meat from a great bone. I could see that she was eager to leap up to serve him, should he but speak to her.

  What shameless, wanton slave girls they were!

  "Rask of Treve hates Marlenus of Ar," said Ena.

  I nodded.

  "Have you see the dark-haired girl who sometimes tends his tent?" she asked. "Yes," I said. I had indeed seen her. She was an incredibly beautiful slave female. She was even more beautiful than Ena, who was one of the most beautiful female slaves I had ever seen. Her hair was glossy and black, and her master had had her cut it at the small of her back. her features, and body, were breath-takingly beautiful. She had an exciting mouth and lips. She was a stunningly figured, green-eyed, olive-skinned slave girl. She would bring a high price on the market. Always she wore only the brief garment of scarlet, diaphanous silk. Always, about her left ankle, fastened, were two golden bangles.

  "Do you know who she is?" asked Ena, smiling.

  "No," I said. "Who is she?"

  Ena smiled.

  "El-in-or!" snapped Ute. "Get to the shed!"

  I leaped up and, frightened, angry, fled through the camp to be locked in the shed.

  * * *

  I would soon learn who the beautiful dark-haired girl was.

  Verna had her own tent in the camp of Rask of Treve, though often, when he was in camp, she dined with him. Sometimes, too, she would range beyond the palisade, beyond which other girls were not permitted, to walk and hunt. It was not infrequently that Verna requested that it be I who would tend her tent, and prepare her food, and serve her. I, collared, did so, fearfully. But she was not more cruel to me than to any other female slave assigned such servile duties. I effaced myself as much as possible, serving her as unobtrusively and anonymously as I could. She tended to ignore me, as one would a female work slave. I made certain I pleased her in all respects, for I greatly feared her.

  Then, one night, on a feast night, for Rask had returned with new fair prisoners, Verna feasted in his own tent, and I, to my amazement, was ordered to serve them. Other girls had prepared the repast, which, for the war camp, was sumptuous indeed, containing even oysters from the delta of the Vosk, a portion of the plunder of a tarn caravan of Ar, such delicacies having been intended for the very table of Marlenus, the Ubar of that great city itself. I served the food, and poured the wines, and kept their goblets filled, remaining as much in the background as possible.

  They talked of hunting, and war, and of the northern forests, as though I was not there.

  Sometimes Verna would say, "Drink," and I would pour wine into her goblet, saying, "Yes, Mistress," and sometimes Rask of Treve would command me, saying "Drink," and I would then, similarly, serve him, saying "Yes, Master." Verna sat cross-legged, like a man. I knelt, as a serving slave.

  She threw me one of the oysters.

  "Eat, Slave," she said.

  I ate.

  In so doing this, she, the guest, had signified that I might now feed. It is a not uncommon Gorean courtesy, in such situations, to permit the guest to grant the feeding permission to the slaves present.

  "Thank you, Mistress," I said.

  Rask of Treve then threw me a piece of meat, that I might satisfy my hunger, for I had not been fed.

  With my hands I ate the meat, a collared slave, while the free persons drank, and conversed.

  Rask of Treve snapped his fingers. "Approach me, El-in-or," he said. I bolted down the meat. I approached him, across the low table behind which he sat on the rugs. (Pg. 302) He extended his goblet to me. "Drink," he said, offering me the cup. I looked at the rim of the cup. I shook with terror. "A slave girl dares not touch with her lips the rim of that cup which has been touched with the lips of her master," I whispered.

  "Excellent," said Verna.

  "She was trained in the pens of Ko-ro-ba," said Rask of Treve.

  He then, from his own cup, poured some wine into a small bowl, which he handed to me.

  "Thank You, Master," I breathed.

  With his head back Rask of Treve gestured me to one side, and I went and knelt to one side, as I had before.

  I put back my head and drank the wine. It was Ka-la-na wine. I felt it almost immediately.

  "I have a surprise for you," Rask was telling Verna.

  "Oh?" she asked.

  I put down the wine cup, to one side.

  Rask of Treve looked at me. He was in an expansive mood. He cut a large slice of juicy bosk meat. My mouth watered. He smiled, and then he threw it to me. I caught it, happily, and with two hands, began to feed on it.

  "What is the surprise?" asked Verna.

  Rask clapped his hands once, and four musicians, who had been waiting outside, entered the tent. And took a place to one side. Two had small drums, one a flute, the other a stringed instrument.

  Rask clapped his hands twice, sharply. And the black-haired, green-eyed, olive-skinned slave girl stood befo
re him. "Put her in slave bells," said Rask, to one of the musicians. The musician fastened leather cuffs, mounted each with three rows of bells, on her wrists and ankles.

  "Please, Master," begged the girl, "not before a woman." She referred to Verna. I was only a slave.

  Rask of Treve threw the girl one of the oysters, from a silver plate on the low, wooden table.

  "Eat it," he said. There was a rustle of slave bells. She complied with the dictum of her master.

  "It was destined for the table of Marlenus of Ar," said Rask of Treve. "Yes, Master," said the girl.

  She stood facing him.

  Verna and I watched.

  "Remove your garment," said Rask of Treve.

  "Please, Master," she begged.

  "Remove it," said Rask of Treve.

  The beautiful, olive-skinned girl parted the garment and dropped it to one side. "You may now dance, Talena," said Rask of Treve.

  The girl danced.

  "She is not bad, said Verna.

  "Do you know who she is?" asked Rask of Treve, eating a piece of meat. "No," said Verna. "Who is she?"

  "Talena," said Rask, smiling, "the daughter of Marlenus of Ar."

  Verna looked at him, dumbfounded, and then she laughed a great laugh, and slapped her knee. "Splendid!" she cried. "Splendid!"

  She leaped to her feet and, closely, moving about her, examined the girl as she danced, now slowly, to a barbaric, adagio melody. "Splendid!" cried Verna. "Splendid!"

  Now the melody became more swift, and it burned like flame in the girl's slave body.

  "Give her to me!" cried Verna.

  "Perhaps," said Rask of Treve.

  "I am the enemy of Marlenus of Ar!" cried Verna. "Give her to me!"

  "I, too, am the enemy of Marlenus of Ar," said Rask. He held out his goblet and I, the meat on which I was feeding clenched between my teeth, filled it. "I will well teach her the meaning of slavery in the northern forests!" cried Verna.

  I could see fear in the girl's eyes, as she danced. I continued to eat the piece of meat on which I had been feeding.

  She was beautiful and helpless as she danced, before her enemies. The firelight glinted on her collar, which had been placed on her throat by Rask of Treve. But I did not feel sorry for her. She was no business of mine. She was only another slave.

  "I have taught her something of slavery already," smiled Rask of Treve. The girl's eyes seemed agonized, as she danced.

  "How is she?" asked Verna, who had now again resumed her place, seating herself cross-legged by Rask of Treve's side.

  "Superb," said Rask of Treve.

  Humiliation and shame shone in the eyes of the dancing slave girl.

  "Where did you get her? asked Verna.

  "I acquired her about a year ago," said Rask of Treve, "from a merchant of Tyros, who was traveling by caravan overland to Ar, with the intention of returning her, for a recompense, to Marlenus of Ar."

  "What did she cost you?" asked Verna.

  "I do not buy women," said Rask of Treve.

  I shuddered.

  "It is marvelous!" cried Verna. "Your secret camp lies within the very realm of Ar itself! Splendid! And in this camp you keep the daughter of your worst enemy, the daughter of the Ubar of great Ar itself, as slave! Magnificent!" I watched the girl dancing, the slave.

  Rask clapped his hands again, twice, sharply. The musicians stopped, and the girl stopped dancing. "This is enough, Slave Girl," he said.

  She turned to flee from the tent.

  "Do not forget your garment, Girl," said Verna.

  The slave girl reached down and snatched up the bit of red silk she had dropped aside and, holding it, with a jangle of slave bells, fled from the tent of her master.

  Rask of Treve, and Verna, laughed.

  I had finished my meat.

  They again held out their goblets, and I again filled them.

  "Tonight," said Rask of Treve to me, "because we have brought in new prisoners, there will be feasting and pleasure."

  "Yes, Master," I said.

  "So go to Ute," he said, "and tell her to lock you in the shed."

  "Yes, Master," I said.

  "Why do you not give Talena to me? asked Verna, of Rask of Treve.

  "Perhaps I shall," said Rask of Treve. "I must think about it."

  I left the tent, to find Ute, to tell her to lock me in the shed.

  * * *

  The next day, for the first time, on a leash with another girl, Techne, a girl of Cos, I was permitted beyond the palisade. A guard was with us, and we were charged with filling our leather buckets with ram-berries, a small, reddish fruit with edible seeds, not unlike tiny plums, save for the many small seeds. I had picked such berries before, with Targo's caravan. Indeed, the first fruit on Gor I had eaten had been such berries.

  I was pleased to be outside of the palisade. The day was beautifully warm, and I felt happy.

  I had often begged Ute to be permitted to go beyond the palisade to pick fruit. But, always, she had, for some reason, forbidden me this permission. "I will not escape," I had assured her, irritably. "I know," she had said. What then could have been her objection? At last, she had yielded to my entreaties and permitted me, leashed to Techne, to go beyond the stockade and pick berries. It was glorious to be outside the stockade, even though fastened by a leather neck strap to another girl. Moreover, today, two more female prisoners had been brought in, girls who had been fleeing from unwanted companionships, arranged by their parents. There would be another feast, as there had been last night, and this time Ute had told me that, if the berry picking went well, I need not be locked in the shed early this night. I would be permitted, late, to serve the feasters. I was pleased that the two girls had been captured. "I suppose I must be placed in silk then," I had said to Ute, angrily. "And slave bells," had added Ute.

  How furious I had been!

  "I do not wish to serve men," I had told Ute. "Moreover, I do not wish to serve them clad revealingly in a bit of silk and the bells of a slave girl!" "Well," said Ute, "you may, if you wish, remain in the shed."

  "I suppose it is not fair to the other girls," I had said, "that I should be permitted to remain in the shed while they are forced to serve, so clad and belled."

  "Do you wish to serve or not?" has asked Ute.

  "I will serve," I had said, with an air of defeat.

  "You will then be silked and belled," she said.

  "Very well," I had said, dropping my head with resignation. I found myself looking forward eagerly to the evening.

  I am sure that I would be among the most beautiful of all the girls. I wondered, if in silk and bells, Rask of Treve might notice me. How I hated him! "But," had said Ute, "if a man seizes you, you are not to yield yourself to him, for you are white silk."

  A flash of irritation passed through me. "I am charged with the protection of my market value?" I asked, ironically.

  "Yes," said Ute, matter-of-factly. "Though I, if I were a man, would pay more for a red-silk girl."

  "I must do nothing," I said, "to diminish the investment of Rask of Treve?" "That is correct," said Ute.

  "What if I am simply seized, and my attacker is not prepared to listen to reason? I asked. Ute laughed. It was the first time I had seen her laugh in the camp. I was pleased I had made her laugh.

  "Cry out," said Ute, "and others will take you from him and get him a red-silk girl."

  "All right," I had said.

  Ute had then said to the guard, "Leash her." And I and Techne, leashed together, had been taken from the stockade. "Be careful, El-in-or," Ute had called after me.

  I did not understand her. "All right," I had called back to her.

  I now felt a tug on the neck strap. "Hurry, El-in-or," said Techne. "We must be back soon! Our buckets are not half filled!

  I was irritated with Techne. She was young. She was a lovely slave, though fresh to the collar.

  The sun was warm and its heat went through me, and I stretched happily. When
neither the guard nor Techne were looking I stole berries from her buckets, to put in mine, handfuls. Why should I work as hard as she? Also, when they were not looking, I placed berries in my mouth, taking care that the juices not stain my lips, revealing that I had eaten them. I had done this sort of thing often before, when I had picked berries for Targo's caravan. Ute and the guard had never seen. I had fooled them all. I was too clever for them!

  At last our buckets were all full, and we returned tot he camp of Rask of Treve. The guard handed our buckets to other girls to be taken to the kitchen shed, and he then unleashed us.

  "El-in-or, Techne," said Ute, "follow me."

  We did so.

  She took us to that part of the camp near the horizontal pole, some nine feet high, resting across the two pairs of crossed poles, rather like a pole for hanging meat, or trophies, from. Near that pole, near the iron ring set in the stone, which was buried in the ground, Ute told Techne and I to kneel. To one side there was a brazier filled with white-hot coals. From the brazier there protruded the handles of four irons. The fire was quite hot, and it had apparently been heating for some two or three Ahn, perhaps even from the time we had went forth to pick berries.

  I was apprehensive.

  Two or three guards stood about, and some of my fellow female work slaves. One of the guards who stood nearby was the one who had taken Techne and I beyond the palisade to gather berries.

  Some other men, and girls, from the camp, strolled over to the poles. Ute stood sternly before us.

  Techne looked about, frightened. I was not pleased myself, but I appeared calm. "Techne," said Ute.

  "Yes," said Techne, frightened.

  "Did you steal berries from El-in-or?" demanded Ute.

  "No, no!" she cried.

  "El-in-or," said Ute, "did you, or did you not, steal berries from Techne?" "I did not," I said.

  Ute turned to the guard.

  "The first one," he said, "tells the truth. The second on is lying." "No!" I cried out. "No!"

  Ute looked at me. "It is not hard to tell, El-in-or," she said. "Sometimes the guard sees you, sometimes he sees the shadow, or he hears what you are doing, or he sees the different amounts in the buckets. Sometimes he watches in the reflection of a shield hoop."