by John Norman
Why had he not done so?
Could it be that he, truly, did not want me, that I was nothing to him, only another slave?
Had he truly pursued me only for pleasure, only for the hunt, as one might pursue any animal, a verr, a tabuk?
I did not think so.
Not at all.
I think he wanted me.
He would not have me. If he scorned me, I would scorn him, by flight, by departing. Next time there would be no sleen.
I would have my revenge. Let him hunger for a slave who was indifferent to him, one he might desire but who did not desire him, one who would be forever beyond his grasp, one whom he would never have, one who loathed him, who despised him, who found him repulsive, who hated him, who scorned him, whose most dreaded fate would be to fall into his hands.
Yes, Master, I thought, want me, dream of me, long to own me, long to have your name on my collar, your bracelets on my wrists, long to fling me as a rightless chattel to your slave ring, but it will not be!
I hate you, I hate you!
I must get back, I thought.
There was a stirring in the camp above, and so I turned about, and, carrying my now-rinsed gruel bowl, climbed up the slope to the camp.
Chapter Forty-Three
“Something is going on,” I said to Axel.
“Yes,” said Axel.
“Let us inquire,” I said.
“Apparently it has to do with the Panther Girls,” he said.
“I think so,” I said.
The Panther Girls had been knelt near the center of the camp. Men were gathered about. We saw Genserich. Even the camp slaves, Tula, Mila, and the other, were present, kneeling to the side.
“Is it true,” I asked, “that you can set a sleen on any quarry?”
“Most sleen,” he said, “with the ‘Kill Command’.”
“Tiomines?” I said.
“Yes,” he said.
“Bring Tiomines,” I suggested.
“Why?” he said.
“He is our only weapon,” I said.
“It is not ours to interfere,” he said.
“Bring him,” I said.
Axel slapped his right thigh, sharply. “With us, fellow,” he said. The sleen immediately sprang up, and, a moment later, rubbed his muzzle against the side of Axel’s leg.
“What are you going to do with us?” begged Darla.
She and the three other prisoners, Tuza, Emerald, and Hiza had been knelt, as noted, near the center of the camp. As before they were stripped, shackled, and on their neck rope. Too, now, though it was well into the morning, their hands were still tied behind their backs.
They were frightened. They had not been fed.
Perhaps, I thought, uneasily, their captors did not wish to waste food.
Genserich stood before them, regarding them, his arms folded across his chest. Most of his men were gathered about, save for one or two on guard. His slave, Donna, was behind him, kneeling, on his left, a common position in which a slave heels her master.
“Welcome,” said Genserich to Axel and myself, acknowledging our presence. “Tal,” we responded.
“We are free women,” said Darla. “Remove from our bodies these hideous impediments, return to us our clothing, feed us, give us our weapons, let us go on our way.”
Clearly, I supposed, they were still free. Certainly she had spoken without permission. A free woman, of course, may speak when, and how, she wishes, as she is not a slave.
“You were carrying gold,” said Genserich, “and doubtless expected to acquire more. You were spying in the forest. You admitted learning of a great ship, its apparent readiness for departure, and your intention to inform others of this, with the expectation that a small force, say, some two hundred men or so, would be soon dispatched to attack and destroy this ship, withdrawing almost immediately.”
“Yes,” said Darla. “We have told you so much. Now let us go.”
“Who is your employer?” inquired Genserich.
“We do not know,” said Darla. “We did not need to know his name. Gold was enough.”
“I am sure that is true, Master,” said Donna.
“And who is your employer?” asked Darla boldly, looking up.
Genserich laughed, and slapped his thigh. “Gold was enough,” he said.
I was puzzled by these things, though I had gathered, long ago, from Tyrtaios, that titanic forces might be involved in these matters, and that one, or more, worlds, in their way, might hang in some delicate balance. Certainly there had been an attack on Tarncamp some weeks ago, when I and others had been on timber duty in the forest. It had been beaten away. Some force, obviously, was interested in the ship, and concerned, for some reason, that it reach the sea, whence it might embark on some mysterious venture, perhaps even seeking, as some feared, the World’s End. Some other force, apparently, wished to destroy the ship, thus precluding its voyage and any possible influence it, and its complement, troops, or such, might eventually bring to bear on certain distant, critical events.
“You may keep the gold,” said Darla. “Free us, that we may make our report.”
“We already have the gold,” said Genserich.
“Free us, then,” she said, ‘that we may make our report.”
“There is some urgency in this?” he said.
“Yes, noble Genserich,” said Darla. “An army is being maintained, at great expense, at the mouth of the Alexandra, to prevent the ship from reaching the sea. If the ship can be located and destroyed before its departure, this force need no longer be maintained in the field.”
“But, I take it,” said Genserich, “funds have already been allotted to maintain this force for some time, if not indefinitely, at the mouth of the Alexandra.”
“One supposes so,” said Darla.
Genserich laughed, and so, too, did the men about him.
“And such funds,” he said, “devoted to, but not expended on, the closure of the Alexandra, might then find their way into diverse wallets.”
“Perhaps,” said Darla.
“I now see the urgency,” said Genserich.
“Free us,” said Darla, “and you might share in the employer’s good fortune.”
“He is a thief,” said Genserich.
“Perhaps not,” said Darla.
“A thief,” said Genserich.
“He may only wish to conserve the funds which have been entrusted to him.”
“For himself,” said Genserich.
“Free us,” said Darla.
“I do not know your employer,” said Genserich, “or who, or what, stands behind him, but I doubt he would happily welcome us into his confidence. Rather, with such intelligence at our disposal, and our possible use of it, I suspect our lives might stand in some jeopardy.”
“Allow us to make our report,” said Darla. “We will be well paid. We will share our gains with you.”
“You are generous,” said Genserich. “What do you think those on whom you have spied would pay for you?”
“Surely not as much!” she said.
“I fear,” said Genserich, “that your employer must continue to maintain, presumably at considerable expense, his men in the field, at the mouth of the Alexandra.”
“Not if we make our report!” she said.
“No,” said Genserich, “not if you make your report.”
“Free us!” demanded Darla, pulling at her bound wrists, fastened behind her.
“But,” said Genserich, “you will not make your report.”
“I do not understand,” said Darla.
“For what do you think we were hired?” asked Genserich.
“I do not know,” said Darla.
“That your report not be made,” he said.
“Free us, free us!” cried Tuza.
“Be silent, girl,” said Genserich. “Another is speaking for the prisoners. Not you.”
Tuza drew back, angrily.
I noted she had not been cuffed. To be sure
, she was free.
“And it was for that purpose,” he said, briefly glancing behind him, and to his left, where Donna knelt, in her scarlet tunic, “that a given slave, a former Panther Girl, indeed, one once of your own band, was obtained, that she might abet our search.”
“I found them for you, Master,” said Donna. “I was sure I could.”
“We found her in a low market, for cheap, inferior slaves,” said Genserich. “She still thought herself a Panther Girl, despite being neck-ringed, and pretended to angry resistance, and defiance. The whip quickly took that out of her, and she understood, trembling and weeping, that she was now a slave. After that, well-worked and, when it amused us, lengthily caressed, she began to learn her collar. Soon enough she was at my knee, whimpering.”
“Disgusting slut!” exclaimed Darla.
“But she was quite pleased when she learned the reason for her purchase, and eagerly led us in our quest to intercept the now-so-called ‘band of Darla’, which had been hired to conduct its secret reconnaissance in the northern forests.
“Slut!” screamed Darla. “You betrayed us!”
“It was I who was betrayed,” she said, “— Mistress.”
“You have had your revenge!” said Darla. “We are now stripped and shackled, kneeling and helpless, bound, in the power of men!”
“We are women,” said Donna. “We should be in the power of men.”
“I hate men!” screamed Darla.
“Because you are not a man,” said Donna.
“I do not understand,” said Darla.
“Be what you are,” said Donna. “You will then know the joys of being the surrendered slave of your master.”
“No, no, no!” screamed Darla.
“Yes,” breathed Emerald, pulling at her bound wrists.
“We put her in the scarlet tunic,” said Genserich. “A former Panther Girl, she well understood how this would mark her out, how conspicuous it would make her, and how it would make clear that although she might be in the forest she was no longer of the forest.”
“A slave’s garment!” said Darla.
“I love it,” said Donna. “In it I am myself, and more free than I ever was!”
“Our mission was secret,” said Darla, angrily. “How did you learn of it?”
“Much is apparently at stake,” said Genserich. “If there are two large and complex forces involved, it is not unlikely that each has spies in the camp of the other, perhaps even highly placed spies.”
I was interested to hear this. I had not thought much of this before. It did not seem unlikely, however. I glanced over at Axel, but his attention was on Genserich.
“You see,” said Genserich, “I cannot release you, for then you would hasten to the Laurius, to deliver your report.”
“Then hold us for a time,” said Darla. “And then release us. I am sure the ship will depart the wharf soon. Once it does so, there would no longer be point, or advantage, to our report.”
“I have not been paid to release you,” said Genserich.
“Not the collar!” cried Darla.
“No, no!” cried Tuza, despite the monition earlier accorded her.
Emerald and Hiza were silent.
I had earlier sensed that something would be done with the prisoners today. The attackers would see no point in remaining here. I supposed it most likely the prisoners would be collared and sold. That is the common fate of a female prisoner, and surely, now, it was clear that the Panther Women were such prisoners. Axel, as I recalled, had been less sure of this.
“You know too much,” said Genserich. “I have been paid to kill you.”
“No, no!” cried Donna, aghast.
I recalled that Axel, earlier, had remarked that we did not know what the gold given to Genserich was intended to buy.
“No!” cried Darla.
“We are women, spare us, spare us!” wept Tuza.
“Now you are women?” said Genserich.
“Please, Master,” wept Donna. “Do not hurt them!”
“Mercy!” wept Emerald.
“Please, please!” said Hiza.
“It will be quick,” said Genserich.
“Prepare to set the sleen on Genserich,” I whispered to Axel.
“Do not be foolish,” he said. “Do you want to die?”
“We are women!” cried Darla.
“But free women,” said Genserich.
“The sleen,” I whispered to Axel.
“No,” he said. “Wait!”
“Now,” I said.
“Wait,” he said.
“Please,” cried Darla, “let it be the collar!”
“You are free,” said Genserich. “Surely you would not accept the indignity of the collar, of being sold?”
“Yes,” said Darla, “yes!”
“Be merciful, Master!” begged Donna.
“Mercy!” cried Tuza.
“Please, Master!” cried Emerald.
“‘Master’?” said Genserich.
“Yes, ‘Master’!” she cried.
“And what of you?” Genserich inquired of Hiza.
“Master!” she wept.
Genserich stepped back, and surveyed the prisoners.
“Pronounce yourself slave,” said Genserich.
“I am a slave!” said Darla.
“I am a slave!” said Tuza.
“I am a slave, Master!” said Emerald.
“I am a slave, Master!” said Hiza.
The women were now, legally, slaves. Such words cannot be unsaid.
“You may beg collars, as the slaves you are,” said Genserich.
“As the slave I am, I beg a collar, Master,” said Darla.
“As the slave I am, I beg a collar, Master,” said Tuza.
“As the slave I am, I beg a collar, Master,” said Emerald.
“As the slave I am, I beg a collar, Master,” said Hiza.
“Are you Panther Girls?” asked Genserich.
“No, we are slaves, Master,” said Darla.
“Thank you, Master!” cried Donna.
“We have been paid to kill them,” said Genserich, thoughtfully.
“Surely, Master,” said Donna, “you were paid to kill free women, not slaves. Free women are gone, slaves remain. Now there are only beasts. Surely one would no more kill a slave than a verr, a tarsk, a kaiila.”
“What think you, Aeson?” asked Genserich.
“If we had not apprehended them,” said Aeson, “we would have been unable to kill them.”
“True,” said Genserich.
“It is similar,” said Aeson. “You failed to cut their throats while you had the chance, while they were free.”
“An oversight,” said Genserich.
I doubted that.
“Now,” said Aeson, “if we kill them, we are merely butchering beasts. We were not paid for that.”
“Genak?” inquired Genserich.
“Please, Master,” said Donna to Genak.
“It seems a shame to waste slaves,” said Genak. “The two on the end,” he said, indicating Emerald and Hiza, “suitably dieted, exercised, and trained, might plausibly be chained to a slave ring. The other two might do as pot girls, kettle-and-mat girls, field slaves, mill girls, that sort of thing.”
“Even they,” said a fellow, eyeing Darla, “might learn their womanhood.”
She looked down, frightened.
“It is within every woman,” said another.
“I need not learn my womanhood, Master,” said Emerald. “I know it well. I have fought it for years.”
“That battle is now over,” said Genak, as he surveyed the kneeling slave.
“Yes, Master,” she said.
“The employer is dangerous,” said Genserich. “He is unlikely to be satisfied.”
“Let us take them back to the Laurius,” said a fellow, “and turn them over to the employer, that he may do with them as he wishes.”
“Good,” said more than one man.
�
��He will kill them!” said Donna.
“Possibly,” said a man.
“Please sell us, Masters,” begged Darla. “There are selling poles on the coast. Bind us to them, and sell us to the crews of passing ships.”
“They watch for such things, as they pass,” said Tuza.
“It was done with me,” said Donna.
“We might claim we failed to find them,” said a man.
“Some lies are justified in honor,” said Genserich, “and some are not.”
“Surely, Master,” said Donna, “honors may war with honors.”
“It is dishonorable to lie,” said a man.
“Not more dishonorable than the slaughter of helpless slaves,” said another.
“The house of honor is large,” said a fellow. “Its turrets are clear, but only a fool would claim to know its every brick and stone.”
“The matter is delicate,” said Genserich.
“No!” said Donna.
“Such lies are perilous,” said a fellow. “They hang by many threads, and if one breaks, it is found out.”
“True,” said another. “The risk is too great.”
Tuza put down her head, and moaned.
“I will do it,” said a fellow whipping out a dagger. He rushed forward, and thrust Genserich to a side. The men about were confused, startled. This, clearly, they had not anticipated. The former Panther Girls, now slaves, Darla, Tuza, Emerald, and Hiza screamed, and tried to pull back. Donna, too, cried out in fear. Tula, Mila, and the other slave, called Vulo here, kneeling to the side, did so, as well. Before Genserich could regain his feet, the fellow’s hand was in Darla’s hair, and his blade was at her throat. I saw a drop of blood at its edge. She dared not make the slightest move or sound.
“The matter is not yet decided, Rorton,” said Genserich, angrily. “Sheathe your dagger, and return to your place.”
“I know weakness when I see it,” he said. “I declare myself first.”
“Mutiny!” said Aeson.
“If you would be first, let us do contest,” said Genserich.
“The employer has placed me amongst you,” he said, “to report independently to him, which I will. Perhaps there are others, as well. I do not know. He has paid his gold, and I will see that it has not been paid in vain. These women must be silenced, free or slave, for the information they bear.”