Vagabonds of Gor coc-24

by John Norman

  Those who managed to escape back through the tunnel could then be dealt with at their leisure, as they would then be too few to resist even a modest set of coordinated assaults. Indeed, one might then have expected the fugitives to surrender, throwing themselves upon the mercy of Cos. Wisely, of course, Myron also left many troops about the city, and in special strength near the gates, lest Dietrich attempt to outwit him, by sallying forth and breaking free."

  "Myron is a fine Polemarkos," said a man.

  "Yes," said another.

  I agreed with these estimates. Myron had weaknesses as an officer, and as a man, but he was, in my opinion, an excellent commander. Now, of course, he was dealing with a Dietrich of Tarnburg.

  "What happened then?" asked a man.

  "By morning," said our narrator, "the escaping tarns had been apprehended, but in their saddles, bound and gagged, were Cosian prisoners."

  "What of the forces in the city?" asked a man.

  "Flames were seen coming from Torcadino. Their source was unknown. It was later determined that these were the results of the destruction of the Cosian siege materials, the war engines, the wagons and supplies, which had been captured in Torcadino."

  The seizure of these materials in Torcadino, which had been serving as a Cosian depot for the invasion force, had been the prime objective of Dietrich in taking the city, he hoping then to forestall the Cosian advance and give Ar time to prepare itself for war. As it had turned out, however, Ar had sent her major forces northward, had failed to relieve the siege at Ar's Station, and then, supposedly pursuing the Cosian expeditionary force in the north, which had destroyed Ar's Station, had come to disaster in the delta. These things would not have been possible without treachery in Ar. Indeed, one of the traitors, a lovely traitress, now lay chained in an alcove in this very tavern. Dietrich had hoped to give Ar time to arm, that she might counterbalance the forces of Cos, thus preventing the ascendancy of a single mighty force on the continent, an eventuality which, in his opinion, would have threatened the existence of the free companies, among which was his own, one of the largest and finest.

  "But what of the tunnel?" asked a fellow.

  "What of Dietrich, and his men?" asked another.

  "All night Myron and his men waited," said our narrator, "and the next morning, and the next day, but still the tunnel did not open."

  "Why?" asked a man.

  "For an excellent reason," said our narrator, "it did not exist."

  Men looked at one another.

  "Myron, convinced that the tunnel existed, decided to open it himself, and from among his own engineers brought in miners and sappers. For two days they probed and dug, but, of course, found nothing. Meanwhile the smoke billowed from Torcadino."

  "Doubtless the informant, this Mincon, was boiled in oil," said a man.

  "He had disappeared," said the narrator.

  "Of course," said a fellow.

  "Myron, leaving observers at the supposed site of the tunnel, returned in great anger to his headquarters. He then sent scouts to test the defenses of Torcadino. Small groups of them scaled the walls without meeting resistance. Later, a larger force, entered into the city, opened the gates. Myron entered, and found nothing. Torcadino was deserted."

  "What of Dietrich and his men?" asked a man.

  "Gone," said the narrator.

  "Impossible," said a man.

  "Much was the fear among the men of Myron," said the narrator.

  "I can imagine," said a fellow, uneasily.

  "Some wondered if they had been gone for months, others if they had ever been there. Some speculated that they had drunk mysterious potions, rendering them invisible, others that they had been wafted away by Priest-Kings."

  "But someone must have set the fires in Torcadino," said a man, "on the night the tarns took flight, on the night Myron waited in vain to the north."

  "Of course," said the narrator.

  "Continue," said a man.

  "Days later," said the narrator, "two soldiers with clubs, hunting urts for sport, followed a large urt into a basement where it seemingly disappeared. They discovered a hole and, probing about in it, discovered the concealed opening to a tunnel. It had been caved-in, from the inside. This tunnel led not to the north of Torcadino but to the south. Myron had men follow it and it led for pasangs south, until they found its southern termination, again caved-in and concealed, this time, of course, from the outside. It was dug out and discovered to open in the vicinity of the aqueducts formerly used to bring water north to Torcadino from the Issus."

  "It was by means of those aquaducts that Dietrich originally entered Torcadino!" said a man.

  "Over the very heads of Cosians!" said a man.

  "But their northern terminations had been destroyed by Dietrich himself, to prevent others from availing themselves of the same ingress to the city," said a man.

  "Yet he made use of them later," marveled a fellow.

  "Yes," said the narrator. Using the aquaducts, wading in them, with men and slaves, he moved as though invisibly toward the Issus. There, as investigation revealed, his command had apparently been ordered to scatter. Certainly five thousand men could not be easily concealed from the might of Cos on the continent."

  "They could regroup somewhere," said a fellow.

  "When it might prove safe," said a fellow.

  "The thing was well planned," said the narrator. "For example, arrangements had apparently been made long in advance for supplies, gear, clothing, tharlarion, and such, to be readied at the banks of the Issus."

  "Is it certain that Dietrich took slaves with him from Torcadino?" asked a fellow.

  "Yes," said the narrator. "In the tunnel, mixed in with the prints of the men, in the dust, were the numerous prints of small, bared feet."

  "I see," said the man.

  "The prints of the small feet, however," said the narrator, "were rather deep. What do you make of that?"

  "They were bearing burdens," said the man.

  "Yes," said another, "the loot of Torcadino."

  "Most of them, themselves, would have been a portion of that loot," said a man.

  "Yes," said another. This was undoubtedly true. The female makes superb loot.

  "Where is Dietrich, and his men?" asked a fellow.

  "Scattered to the winds," said the narrator.

  "They could be anywhere," said another.

  "Even in Brundisium," said a fellow.

  "Oh, yes," said another. Brundisium was, of course, as I have indicated, a major stronghold of Cos on the continent. Indeed, it had been the port of entry for the Cosian invasion fleet.

  "He is probably back in Tarnburg by now," said another fellow.

  "Yes," said another.

  "Has Myron been recalled to Telnus in disgrace?" asked a fellow.

  "He is the cousin of Lurius of Jad," said another.

  "Else he might have been boiled in oil," said another.

  "True," said a man.

  "Doubtless he would be somewhat interested in learning the whereabouts of Dietrich and his men," said a man.

  "I would suppose so," said another fellow.

  "Paga!" called a fellow.

  "Paga!" called another.

  Girls hurried forward to serve masters.

  I myself drew apart from the group then and went to the door at the side, that leading to one of the private dining areas. I knocked, lightly.

  The door opened a crack, and then, fully, as I was admitted. "Welcome, Tarl," said Mincon, my friend from the Genesian Road, and Torcadino, "we have been expecting you."

  41 She Will Serve Well

  "May I speak?" she asked.

  "Yes," I said. I had drawn the curtains behind me.

  "You have been gone long," she said.

  "Do you object?" I asked.

  "No!" she said. "I must wait, patiently!"

  I crouched beside her and removed the small chain that ran across her forehead, with the tiny ornament, the pearl droplet, and pu
t it to one side. I then, too, lifted the necklaces from about her neck, putting them, too, to one side.

  "You are stripping me for use?" she asked.

  "To some extent," I said. I did not have, for example, the key to her anklet, on which the slave bells were located. Too, it can be pleasant to leave such things on a female in her use, bells, bracelets and such, whatever one pleases.

  She looked up at me.

  "I am going to remove the slave silk," I said.

  "If I cry out too much," she whispered, "thrust it in my mouth."

  "All right," I said. Sometimes a girl's hair is used for the same, purpose.

  I then drew loose the disrobing loop of the silk, at her left shoulder, and drew aside the silk.

  "Be pleased," she begged. "Be pleased!" "I am pleased," I said.

  "I am ready," she whispered, intensely. I touched her, gently.

  "Ai!" she exclaimed.

  "You are indeed ready, female," I said.

  "Use me," she wept. "Use me now, now!"

  "I think, first," I said, "I will caress you a little."

  "Please do not touch me now," she said. "Every bit of me is alive. I do not think I can stand it."

  "You do not wish to be touched?" I asked.

  "Just use me," she begged. "Just use me!"

  "No," I said, "I am going to caress you a little."

  "Oh!" she said, touched.

  She lay back, in the chains, hot, flushed, tremblingly, piteously.

  "It will be done with you as I please," I said, "not as you please."

  "Yes, my captor," she whimpered. "Oh! Oh!"

  "You leap and squirm well," I said.

  She looked at me, resentfully. "Oh!" she said.

  "See?" I said.

  "Yes, my captor!" she exclaimed.

  I then let her subside a little. One can always bring them back to where one wants them.

  "Aii!" she said. "Please finish with me!"

  "Not until I am pleased to do so," I said.

  "It will apparently be as you wish, my captor," she moaned.

  "Yes," I said.

  "Oh," she said. "Oh!"

  "Are you helpless?" I asked.

  "Yes," she said, "I am helpless, and in bonds, and you are doing with me as you please!"

  "Did you ever suppose you would be chained like this, and responding in a paga tavern, as you are?" I asked.

  "No," she said. "No!"

  "Did you ever dream you could be this helpless, and this hot?" I asked.

  "No," she said. "No! No!"

  I then, deeming that she well understood her position, put her to the first use.

  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 particula
r 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?"