by John Norman
"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 he
r, 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.
29 We Camp in Secret; We Move in Silence
I held Ina by the upper arms, from behind. She also had rope about her waist, in the grip of a couple of fellows nearby, rather behind us.
"Splash a little more, softly," I said.
She kicked in the water. Where we were was about a yard deep, a few feet from a sand bar. It was early morning. We were tired from the night's trek. Some of the men on the bar were already preparing the camp for the day.
We had been with the men of Ar for some ten days now, moving generally south. Thrice in our trek had we heard the sound of the marsh jard, our agreed upon signal, warning us of danger. Twice it had been a tarnsman, outlined against one of the moons, far above. Once it had been a patrol of Cosians, on narrow flatboats. Each time we had lowered ourselves into the marsh, little but our eyes and mouth above the water. It was fortunate for the patrol of Cosians that they had not detected us, for otherwise they would not have returned to their base. In our camps during the day, we had twice heard the same signal, alerting us to the passage of someone, in both cases, rencers, going about their business, fishing, gathering rence.
On either side of us were two fellows, Plenius and Titus, with spears.
"A little more," I whispered to Ina.
She kicked a little more, softly.
We could see the black dorsal fin of the marsh shark about thirty to forty feet off, in the open water. It moved slowly about out there. Occasionally, too, we saw the tip of its sicklelike tail cut the water, and saw the water stirring about its body.
"It is coming in," said Plenius.
"Hold still," I said to Ina.
She had done this before. She knew what to expect. She remained very still.
I could mark the passage of the large body under the water by the movement of the fin.
I assumed it would test its mark before making a strike, but I did not wish to risk this. Accordingly, it was our practice to remove Ina from the path of such creatures before they could make any physical contact, even an exploratory bumping or brushing. Not all such creatures can be depended upon to behave in the same fashion. Short-legged tharlarion, incidentally, which we also hunted from time to time, similarly, though usually luring them on the sand where we could more easily deal with them, are quite different. They tend to be much less dilatory in launching their strike. I had Ina by the arms so I could remove her quickly from danger and, hopefully, if necessary, stop the attack with a heel to the snout or gills. The rope on her was an additional safeguard. We intended it to be a utility for extracing her from danger. At worst it should serve to keep her within reach of assistance, should she be seized.
"Ready," said Plenius.
Ina tensed in my grip.
The fin moved toward us, smoothly, rapidly. It was coming too rapidly to be a tentative touch. I must have marked Ina's arms, my grip was so tight.
Plenius and Titus made their adjustments.
Both spears thrust forth simultaneously and suddenly the great dark body, some seven feet Gorean in length, reared up, tail thrashing, body twisting, out of the water. The spear of Titus was shaken free of the gills which seemed on his side to explode with foaming blood, but the spear of Plenius held and the beast was back in the water then, being thrust forcibly toward the shore. Ina, whom I had thrown to the side, away from the beast, and I were drenched. Blinking against the water I seized Titus' spear and managed to drive it into the side of the beast. Plenius was pushing and forcing it toward the shore. Then two other fellows, with spears, too, waded into the water. One caught his spear in the gills, with that of Plenius, and, together, they pushed. I, too, thrust toward the shore. Then the shark was in the shallow water, a foot or so deep, at the sand, thrashing about. One of the spears in its body snapped. We had lost a shark once at this point, it thrashing about, twisting, trying to move back to the water. One other we had lost offshore, it freeing itself of the spears and swimming back through the rence, leaving behind it a trail of blood in the water.
We then had it, now at least five spears in its body, other fellows having come to assist, up on the sand. Some others, too, hacked at it with their swords.
"We have it," said a fellow.
Ina clapped her hands with delight.
The fish lay in the sand. Its bloodied gills still pulsated. The powerful tail, which in its sweep might have broken a leg or struck a fellow yards into the water, barely moved.
Ina was a bit offshore, knee deep in the water. The rope on her waist, which had now been released by the fellows who had controlled it, dangled behind her, looping down to, and under, the water. She looked at me, and smiled. Her body was filthy, as were ours, from the discolorations put upon them the night before, at the beginning of our trek.
Two fellows put a rope on the shark's tail, to turn it about and haul it to the camp.
I snapped my fingers and Ina hurried to me. As I had kept the palm of my hand up, she did not kneel. She stood happily before me. I took the wet rope which dangled behind her and wrapped it about her waist, tucking one end in, to keep it in place. The fellow whose rope it was could retrieve it later. I looked down at her. She looked up, happily. She was filthy. I wondered if she would bring much of a price now. Yet, I thought, as I stood there, near her, that it might not require much of an imagination for a fellow to consider what she might look like if she were cleaned up a little, and brushed and combed. And then, I thought, having gone so far, might he not consider what she might be like if she were perfumed, made up and silked, perhaps with a pearl droplet on her forehead and bells on her ankle. Yes, I thought, it might not require a great deal of imagination for a fellow to be willing to pay an excellent price for h
er, that is, if she were not a free woman, but only a slave, merchandise.
"Attend to the tracks, and such," I said.
She whimpered once, in affirmation. Who would expect her to do otherwise, as she was only a mute rence girl.
I then turned about, and went to the camp. She would, as she could, obliterate the tracks and such, which might suggest our landing at this point. Such is a suitable task for a captive female, or slave girl.
In the camp I paid my respects to Labienus. He had a stout branch in his hands, some four inches thick. He was removing the bark from it with his fingers. His hands were now hard, and gray. I thought they must have lost much feeling. He seemed to me to be destroying his hands. I, and others, had urged him to forgo these unusual practices, but he would only smile, and pay us no further attention. To one side there was a bowl of water and salt. From time to time he would soak his hands in this harsh solution. I doubted that he could now use his fingers with any finesse, or precision. He also would have brought to him smaller branches an inch and a half, to two inches in diameter. Sometimes in the trek he would grasp and clutch these, squeezing and twisting them, it seemed for Ahn at a time. Sometimes he would hold his hands no more than two or three inches apart and break the branch. His grip, never weak as far as I knew, judging from my first night in their camp, must be becoming fearful.
The shark lay in the camp, among us, the rope by which it had been dragged to this location still on its tail. It no longer moved. Its gills no longer pulsated.
Ina returned to the camp, shyly.
I spread the first two fingers of my right hand and gestured downward, toward a place nearby in the sand. Immediately she knelt there, her knees widely spread. There are many signals by means of which such behaviors can be commanded. In this particular signal, one of several which, from city to city, might have similar import, the downward movement of the hand indicates that the girl is to kneel, the place where she is to kneel is indicated in effect by pointing, and the spreading of the fingers indicates how she is to kneel, in this case, in effect, in the position of the pleasure slave, the knees spread.