by John Norman
She sobbed.
"I find nothing wrong with your lines," I said. "To be sure, if a master wished, he might order them changed, and you might find yourself afflicted then with a sparse, strict diet and a frightening program of exercise. But similarly, if you were being examined on a mat in the Tahari you might find yourself regarded as insufficiently fleshy, and find yourself forced, under the whip, to eat rich creams and such, being thereby fattened for sale like a she-tarsk."
She regarded me, with horror.
"Do not regret, for example," said I, "that your lines may not be as sleek as that of the female racing slave. I assure you that while men may bet eagerly upon her they seldom regard her, personally, as the one most worth catching. Too, the woman who is hardest to catch is not always the one most worth catching. Indeed, some of the most desirable women are the ones most easily caught, for they wish to be caught, and to serve. They may pretend a fuss at first, as they might feel is expected of them, but they are seldom in their collars more than a few Ahn before they are content and joyful."
She looked up at me.
"But then all women belong in collars," I said, "for theirs is the slave sex."
She put down her head.
"And it is only in bondage," I said, "that they can obtain their true fulfillment."
She trembled.
"Doubtless the occupant of the barge," I said, "was a high-born woman, of wealth and station, of sophistication and refinement, used to traveling in the highest and most exalted circles in Ar, a woman perhaps even of some power."
She lifted her head a little.
"Too, I would conjecture that the barge contained many chests and coffers, filled with expensive clothing, and jewelry, and gold. Such a woman would doubtless travel with suitable resources and appointments. It must, too, have contained delicacies of food and drink. Such things are now doubtless spread throughout the delta, a bottle for a rencers' feast here, a veil there to strain water, somewhere else a necklace clinking, wrapped several times about the ankle of a fishing rence girl."
She looked up at me.
"The barge was that of the Lady Ina, of Ar, was it not?" I asked.
She whimpered, once.
"And as you are still a free woman," I said, "you are, in a sense, still that same Lady Ina, are you not, Ina?"
She whimpered, once.
"But now," I said, "you are a captive, kneeling, naked and bound, on a tether."
She whimpered, once.
"It seems, thus," I said, "that your fortunes have changed."
She put down her head, and whimpered once.
I then thrust the large wooden piece, carved in the likeness of the neck and head of a gant, out into the marsh. In time, perhaps a few months, it might even find its way to the Tamber, and, perhaps, in time, to the surgent green washes, the vast rolling swells, of Thassa herself, the sea.
"Come along, Ina," I said. "We must be on our way."
22 Blankets
"Captor!" she said, pleased, as I strode up the sunny sand of the small bar, coming upon our camp. Immediately she knelt, spreading her knees. It was in this fashion that I had trained her to greet me. She might also await me, kneeling, or lying down. I carried two marsh grunts, caught on the other side of the bar. I put the grunts on a rock, to be cleaned and boned. She could attend to this. I snapped my fingers, and beckoned that she might approach me. She rose to her feet and approached me, backwards, as I had taught her. I gave her a slap, and put her to the sand. She squirmed delightfully, making small noises. After a moment or so I got again to my feet. She sobbed, that I was done with her so soon. "Prepare the grunts," I told her.
"Yes," she said. For this purpose she would use a small, sharp stone.
A transformation had come over her in the past few days. She had begun to wish to be useful, and to serve. She now addressed herself eagerly, happily, to small domestic tasks. Sometimes she sang softly to herself, in their performance. She seemed even concerned, oddly enough, as she was not my slave, with my comfort, this evidencing itself in such small matters as preparing my bed in the sand. To be sure, she found herself often enough on her belly on the blankets. This was very different from her early days in my keeping, when she, as a typical free woman of high station had regarded herself as too good for the performance of such homely tasks, addressing herself quickly enough to them only to avoid the imposition of sanctions upon her, attendant on her condition as captive. In the past few days a world of improvement had taken place within her. She responded well to male dominance, kept now in her place in nature. Only in that place, where she belongs, can a woman be truly happy.
I watched her kneeling by the stone, working on the grunts. She might have been a rence girl, and not Ina, the lovely scion of one of Ar's oldest and finest families.
For five days, as I had promised, I had tied her during our sleep periods, when not using her, in the same fashion in which I had been kept by the men of Ar, in effect, staked out, foot and neck, supine and helpless. That had been done as a discipline, and might, of course, if I chose, be promptly reimposed as such. Lately, however, I had given her a much more merciful tie, binding her ankles together with the center of a length of binding fiber, then bringing the two ends up and, still avoiding its ends, tying her hands together before her body, then pulling her hands back, close to her belly, and fastening them there, this accomplished by bringing the two ends of the fiber back about her and knotting them there, behind her back. In this fashion, as the knots were behind her back, fastened opposite her hands, she could not reach them with either her hands or teeth. On the other hand she could roll about and change her position much as she wished. It was not as good as a neck or ankle chain, or a kennel or top-barred slave pit for her, but I did not have such amenities. It was now ten days since I had first put a gag on her for purposes of trekking. She seldom wore it, of course, in our camps. I was considering removing it, even for trekking. As I have suggested, she was coming along very nicely. To be sure, occasionally, as she was still a mere free woman, she required a firm word, or a subtle warning, such as my touching my belt. I was pleased that I had not had to lash her once. That I was fully capable of lashing her, and would do so, if there seemed point in it, or if I wished, seemed more than sufficient for her. It is this way with most female captives, as it is with most female slaves. To be sure, the female slave sometimes relishes a taste of the whip, if only to reassure herself that she is truly subject to discipline, that she is truly a slave. Too, interestingly, sometimes a woman wants to feel a man's whip because she loves him. I am not sure why this is. Perhaps it is because this, in its way, in her mind, proves to her that she is truly his. To be sure, if she is his slave, she is truly his, legally and institutionally, and discipline, and such, have nothing to do with this. The most pampered slave is as much owned by her master as she who is kept under the strictest of disciplines. If she doubts this she may revise her opinions when she finds herself being sold.
I watched her work, She was now cutting pieces of raw fish, laying them on the hot, flat rock.
"May we make a fire, captor?" she asked.
"No," I said.
She did not ask, "Why?" She had learned after a cuffing five or six days ago that the captor's will, like that of the master, is not to be questioned or disputed. If we were to cook the fish, we would presumably do so in wrappings of wet rence, buried in the ashes of a small fire. It seemed to me that making a fire might be dangerous. There was some possibility that it might attract attention. I did not know who or what might be about m the marsh. To be sure, I did not think, objectively, that there was now a great deal of danger. It would presumably be otherwise when one reached the edges of the delta. The delta, on the whole, is sparsely populated. On the other hand, I did not think there was any point in taking unnecessary chances. Cuwignaka, Canka, Hci, and such fellows, presumably would not do so. Sometimes one must be as hard, as cunning, and as patient, as a red savage. I wondered how Ina might fare in the Barrens. The
red savages, with their quirts, and posts and leather, know well how to handle white women.
I watched Ina gather up the scales, bones, and such, the refuse, and carry them to the marsh, where she discarded them. She then wiped her hands on her thighs like a rence girl and returned to kneel by the rock, where she began to separate the pieces of fish into bite-sized pieces.
"You are far from the dining pavilions of Ar," I said.
"As you are from the paga taverns of Port Kar," she said. I regarded her, assessing her. "Perhaps I am not as far from them as you think," I said.
She put her head down, shyly.
"Are you not angry at the comparison?" I asked.
"No," she said, not looking up.
One of the advantages of cooking the fish, of course, would have been the enjoyment of her, while the fish was cooking. One can always find some pleasant way, such a woman at hand, naked and in your power, to while away such moments.
She had now divided the fish into small pieces, separated on the rock.
She now knelt back.
She did not, of course, take any of the food. It was my food and not hers.
"It is ready?" I asked.
"Yes, captor," she said.
Last night I had feared she might require discipline. She had balked at being fitted with the buckled neck collar.
"Do you recall the marsh leech?" I had asked her.
"Yes," she had said, frightened.
"Do you wish to eat one, or more, of them?" I had asked.
"No!" she had said. "No!"
"Perhaps you will be good?" I said.
"Yes," she said.
"Perhaps you will be very good?" I asked.
"Yes," she said. "I will be very good!"
She had then quickly inserted her head into the double loop of the collar and lifted her chin while I buckled it shut, closely, about her throat.
I began to eat.
She said nothing, but kept position.
I supposed that she, as I, must be terribly hungry.
I continued for a time to feed, in a solitary fashion. Then I picked up a piece of the fish and held it out to her. Swiftly then she leaned forward, parting her pretty lips and teeth. She kept her palms down on her thighs. I pulled back the bit of food and she looked up at me. "Does Ina beg food of her captor?" I asked.
"Yes," she said. "Ina begs food of her captor."
I then gave her the bit of food, putting it in her mouth.
She leaned back and ate the food. "Thank you," she said.
"You may feed," I informed her.
"May I use my hands?" she asked.
I considered the matter. "Yes," I said. After all, she was not a new slave being trained, learning her collar, and the totality of her subjection to a master. She was, after all, a free prisoner.
She fell upon the bits of fish eagerly.
"Where are your manners?" I asked. "You are a free woman. You are eating like a starved slave girl."
"Forgive me, my captor," she said.
When she had finished I pointed to the sand and she knelt there, putting her head down, her palms in the sand. "Thank you for feeding me, captor," she said.
"Go to my blankets," I said.
"Yes, captor," she said.
23 Rencers
"Hist!" said I. "Be silent!"
I put my arm about her, holding her down in the sand.
We heard voices.
"Rencers," I whispered.
We did not see them, nor lift our heads. We heard them pass. I do not think they were looking for anyone, but plying their normal pursuits.
"I think they are gone," I said.
We would, in any event, await the coming of darkness before addressing ourselves again to the marsh.
I was pleased that we had concealed the camp as well as we had, and that the raft and pole had been similarly concealed. I think the rencers might actually have landed on the small island and not detected our presence there.
24 I Will Hunt
"Look," I said. "There!"
"Yes," she said.
No longer was she in the gag. Too, her hands were now bound before her, tied at her belly. As she improved in her services, and discipline, I accorded her more privileges. To be sure, the strap was still on her neck, keeping her in place as she waded behind the raft. Also, I had not yet seen fit to accord her the luxury of clothing, such as I might manage, even so much as a cord and slave strip. As a free women she might, unlike a slave, take such things for granted.
"Did you see it before?" I asked.
"Is it the same one?" she asked.
"Yes," I said, "I am sure of it."
"I heard of it in the reports," she said.
"But you have never been inside one?" I said.
"No," she said.
"Are you afraid to enter?" I asked.
"Of course not," she said.
I poled the raft to the side and put it in some rence, on a bar of sand.
"You are untethering me?" she asked.
"Yes," I said. I unbuckled the collar, putting it, with the strap, on the raft.
"You are untying me?" she said.
"Yes," I said. I unknotted the binding fiber behind the small of her back, and then, with the two ends free, untied her hands.
I then started for the abandoned barge. I did look back, in the moonlight, to see if she were following. She stood at the edge of the rence, within which we had concealed the raft.
"Are you coming?" I asked.
She did not respond. She was pale there, in the moonlight, by the rence.
"Are you afraid?" I asked.
"No!" she said, wading toward me.
In a moment I had climbed up, over the stern of the barge. I put my hand down to her, and helped her up.
"Wait here," I said.
I then, carefully, sword drawn, entered. It was dusty, as before, and I did not think anyone had been in it since the investigation of the men of Ar, when I had been in their power. One could see dimly within it, the moonlight, in some places, filtering in through the dilapidated shutters, in other places, streaming in, unimpeded, where the shutters had been broken or removed. I looked about. The benches, and the iron, were still there. I then sheathed the sword and went out onto the deck, where the girl waited.
"What sort of barge is this?" she asked.
"Was it not made clear to you in the reports?" I asked.
"It is a slave barge," she said.
"Yes," I said.
"I do not wish to enter it," she said, suddenly.
"But you are curious," I said.
"I do not wish to enter it," she said.
"Come around to the front," I said, taking her by the arm, "to the forward door."
"Why?" she asked.
"Because that is the usual way girls are entered into it," I said.
I conducted her to the forward door.
"And they are commonly removed from it by the, aft door."
She stopped at the threshold.
"Are you afraid?" I asked.
"Yes," she said.
"Many girls have entered this door," I said.
She stood on the threshold. "I am afraid!" she said.
"Enter," I said.
She entered, her own small bare feet making their way over the dusty threshold, my hand no longer on her arm.
Inside, she gasped.
I entered behind her. "It was this barge," I said, "which was sighted many days ago. It must have been followed for more than a hundred pasangs through the marsh."
She was silent.
"It may have been that Cosians conducted it," I said, "and then deserted it, but I think it more likely it was merely a derelict to begin with, perhaps abandoned months ago, drifting with the currents."
She walked a few feet forward, toward the aisle, with its benches on either side. I saw the print of her small feet in the dust of the floor. She had high arches. That might be helpful, if she were to be trained in dance.
"To b
e sure," I said, "some days having passed, it is presumably now pasangs from the point where the men of Ar caught up to it. On the other hand, it is hard to tell, and it may have been caught on one or more bars for any period from an Ahn to days."
She stopped, a few feet before the first bench, on the right. She stood there, very quietly.
"It is, at any rate," I said, "not at the same point in the delta where it was before. I would otherwise recognize the area, I am sure."
She turned about and looked at me.
"Yes," I said. "This barge was used in the transportation of owned women, female slaves."
She turned about again, to look at the interior of the cabin.
"The shutters," I said, "could be opened only from the outside."
She looked at the windows, to the right.
"When they were new," I said, "not split, not warped and cracked, as now, their closure, I surmise, could plunge the interior into darkness."
She looked back to the benches.
"There are chains about," I said, "but the usual security was in virtue of girl stocks. You can see there, where there are arm rests, and below, for the ankles."
She went slowly toward the bench, almost as though mesmerized. She put out her hand, timidly, to touch the wood.
"Oh!" she said, suddenly becoming aware of my proximity. I had come up behind her.
She jerked her hand back.
"Poor women," I said, "to be the prisoners of such devices."
"No," she said. "They are slaves. It means nothing."
"Sit," I said, "there, between those armrests."
Almost as though in a trance, she turned about and sat on the bench.
"Put your hands on the armrests," I said, "but back, behind the slot in the armrests. I will tell you when to bring them forward. I then slid the lower board of a hinged pair of boards, with matching semicircular openings, into position, in the slots in the armrests. The height of this bottom board came about a hurt above the level of the armrests. "You will now bring your hands forward, placing your wrists in these semicircular openings," I told her. She did so, in an almost unreal, trancelike fashion. I then swung the upper board up, on its hinge, and then down and over the lower board. I then, with the attached clip, using the hasp and staple, locked the two boards together. "You are now in wrist stocks," I told her. I then thrust two clips through matching rings, one set on the stock and armrest to my left, the other on the stock and armrest to my right, securing the stocks in the armrests. "You are now in wrist stocks, held on the bench," I said. "Although the prisoner is unable to reach any of the devices of closure another might be able to do so. Thus, if one wished, these devices could be locked in place."