Swordsmen of Gor cog[oc-29

by John Norman

  I could already see smoke to the east.

  “They have begun to burn the camp,” I said.

  “I must return to the cavalry,” said Tajima.

  “I wish you well,” I said.

  “I, too, wish you well, Tarl Cabot, tarnsman,” he said. He then turned about, and withdrew.

  I watched men ascending the ramp, boarding.

  “Pertinax,” I said, for he had approached. With him were Cecily and his Jane, both protected against the cold. Both were fetching, even jacketed and cloaked as they were. It is interesting how attractive slaves are, even when bundled. Perhaps that is because one knows they are slaves, and not free women. One can then, so to speak, unbundle them. One is well aware of what lies beneath that bundling, a slave, in her collar.

  “Tal,” said he.

  “Tal,” said I.

  To be sure, not even free women are immune from the speculations of virile males. Do they not sometimes understand the eyes of men are upon them, speculatively. One would suppose so. One wonders if they suspect, within all those layerings, scarves, hoods, and veils, what the men are thinking. Would they be uneasy if they knew how they were viewed by strong men, would they tremble, would they be afraid, or would they redden and glow, as though helpless at a master’s feet? Surely they must understand those looks. They must be aware that men are conjecturing their lineaments, curiously, even idly, appraisingly, wondering if, under all that paraphernalia, all those wrappings, there might be something worth putting to its knees, worth collaring, and owning. Are the men conjecturing what they might look like, on a chain, being exhibited to buyers, naked, as women are sold, and such, perhaps groveling on the furs in an alcove, hoping to be found pleasing, perhaps even tunicked, barefoot, being sent to a market, running along, lightly, collared, on their errands.

  The great majority of women on Gor are, of course, free women, of many diverse castes. On the other hand, female slavery is common. One sees them in the streets, in the markets, in the fields, and so on. Few slaves, statistically, are obtained from the slave farms. Most were originally free women, obtained by capture, in raids, by abduction, in war, and such.

  As noted earlier the women of the enemy become the property of the victor. They are booty, as much as vessels, cloths, metals, kaiila, and such. To be sure, they are a particularly desirable form of booty, and men enjoy having it about, as slaves. Most slaves are purchased, of course, in the markets, where their captors put them up for sale. The sales-platform girls are supplemented, to some extent, by captures brought from Earth, but those captures, though quite numerous, abstractly considered, constitute only a small fraction of Gorean female slaves, perhaps one in two or three hundred. They do tend to be popular in the markets, however, perhaps in part due to their charms as barbarians but, too, I suspect, due to their responsiveness to Gorean males, men of a sort for whom their former civilizations and cultures have but ill prepared them. Never had they thought to be at the feet of such men, slaves, to what are to them uncompromising and magnificent beasts. They are, of course, merely the natural male, who is a master by nature.

  It seemed clear, from materials brought on board, shackles, collars, and such, that Lords Nishida and Okimoto might have in mind, were their projects successful, the acquisition of large numbers of women, who might then be distributed, or sold. This is a way, of course, familiar on Gor, of financing further campaigns, further actions, and such.

  Consider such women, now the property of victors.

  Their rich raiment and status will be exchanged for the tunic of a slave, if that, and a collar. No longer do they possess goods but are now themselves goods. And let these goods then kneel and press their soft lips to the boots of conquerors, gratefully, thankful for their lives, spared now, at least for a time. And let them tremble, as well, realizing they are now no longer their own, but belong to masters, in whose grasp they will discover what it is to be a slave. The tiring, complex games of the free woman are now behind them. It is now theirs to serve and please, or die. Surely in their dreams they have considered this sort of thing, and now they discover, on their knees, it has become their reality. And what might it be, they might wonder, which has won them this incredible, welcome reprieve, temporary as it might be, from the ax or torch? Could it be that it is their sex and beauty, their exquisite features and lovely slave curves, to which they may have hitherto given little thought, save for occasionally regarding them in the mirror, perhaps wondering what they might be worth on a sales platform, those and, of course, the lust of men, to which they owe their lives? Perhaps. Had they been hitherto curious, perhaps idly so, as to what they might sell for in an open market, what price they might bring an owner who vends them, with others? They may now learn. Had they considered, hitherto, what it might be to be in the arms of a master? They will now learn.

  “Thank you for bringing her,” I said to Pertinax, indicating Cecily.

  He nodded. We had arranged it so, for I had come early to the wharf, to observe more of the lading.

  I spoke of Cecily as having been brought, for she was a slave. In this sense, she had not accompanied Pertinax, but had been brought by him, as might have been, say, a dog. The same held for his Jane, of course.

  Last night, leaving the slaves chained in the shed, we had boarded our gear.

  Pertinax, no more than I, by the instructions of Lord Nishida, was to be with the cavalry. In its way, this was flattering. It indicated that Lord Nishida now regarded Pertinax as someone with whom to reckon. Too, of course, Pertinax and I shared quarters, could speak a language unfamiliar to most of the Pani, and so on. Pertinax, then, probably primarily because of his relationship with me, was now conceived of as deserving suspicion.

  I supposed this was a compliment, in its way.

  On the other hand, it was one which I, at least, would have been just as pleased to be without.

  I wondered if he realized that his life must now be in greater danger.

  If Lord Nishida decided to do away with me, I would suppose that Pertinax would be included in the instructions.

  On the wharf, their progress arrested, Cecily and Jane knelt, as was appropriate for slaves in the presence of free persons. It would have been the same had a free woman been present.

  Such things might seem unimportant or inconsequential to those unfamiliar with cultural protocol, but they are not. They are quite important and quite consequential. Such things, perhaps seemingly small to an outsider, are rich with significance. They, in their beauty and appropriateness, make perfectly clear relationships and conditions which are momentous. The kajira realizes very clearly why she is on her knees. She is a slave. Such a posture and attitude is quite meaningful to the collar-wearer. What may be more difficult for the outsider to grasp is that she regards this posture and attitude as appropriate for her. She feels comfortable and secure on her knees. As a slave, she knows she belongs on her knees. But, too, mastered, she wants to kneel, and loves doing so.

  “When do we board?” inquired Pertinax.

  “Soon,” I said.

  I was waiting for Lord Nishida. Lord Okimoto had already boarded.

  “Have the slaves been boarded yet?” he asked.

  “Saru was put on board last night,” I said.

  “Oh?” he said.

  “About the twentieth Ahn,” I said. “She is doubtless within somewhere, nicely chained, probably by the neck.”

  “My question was general,” he said. “I have no interest in the slut, Saru.”

  “That is surprising,” I said. “Most men would find her of interest.”

  “She is a slut,” he snarled.

  “Yes,” I said, “and the best sort, a helpless, needful slut, who is a collared slave.”

  “I despise her,” he said.

  “She wants to be at your feet,” I said.

  “I would kick her away,” he said.

  “And she would crawl back, to kiss the boot which kicked her,” I said.

  “She is contemptib
le,” he said.

  “Not at all,” I said. “She is a needful slave.”

  “Contemptible!” he said.

  “Not at all,” I said. “There is nothing contemptible in a slave’s plaintive, desperate need. Most men find such needs unobjectionable, even pleasant.”

  “She is worthless, utterly despicable,” he said.

  “Strange then,” I said, “that she would be thought fit for a shogun.”

  “As a slave!” he said.

  “Of course,” I said. “As what else?”

  “I find her of not the least interest,” he said.

  “Even on Earth,” I said, “you wanted her naked, in your collar.”

  “No!” he said. “No!”

  “And you want her now,” I said.

  “No!” he said.

  “At your feet, yours, helpless, in your collar, your slave,” I said.

  “No!” he cried.

  “No?” I said.

  “Her hair is too short,” he said, angrily.

  “I grant you that,” I said.

  Jane, kneeling near him, took this opportunity to brush back her hood, and arrange her hair more evenly, more attractively, over her shoulders.

  Saru had been put on board at night, singly, several Ahn before Lord Okimoto, this morning, had been borne up the ramp.

  I wondered if he knew of her existence.

  She would doubtless make a lovely gift for a shogun. Perhaps Lord Nishida might purchase high favor by means of such a gift, a favor which might possibly exceed even that of a shogun’s cousin.

  But Lord Okimoto, I was sure, was no fool.

  Lord Nishida might be putting himself at some risk. To be sure, he had a large number of men, swordsmen, glaivesmen, archers, and others, at his disposal. Such cohorts tend to reduce risks, at least in battle. They afford, however, little shelter from the flighted quarrel, the knife cast from the darkness. I had taken it as a foregone conclusion that the unknown assassin of whom Lord Nishida was wary was in the fee of an understood foe, but I supposed that that need not be true. Not all enemies, I recalled, are strangers. In Gorean the saying would literally translate as not all strangers are strangers.

  “My question was innocent, and general,” said Pertinax. “Have the slaves been boarded yet?”

  “Look behind you, to the east,” I said.

  “Ah,” said Pertinax.

  The majority of public slaves, or, perhaps better, the slaves without private masters, camp slaves, kitchen slaves, laundry slaves, girls selected for trading and selling, girls from the slave house, and such, would be soon conducted on board. I could see the column forming now, east of the wharf, on the beach. Private slaves were taken on board, for the most part, with their masters.

  Most of the men, artisans, storesmen, smiths, tarnsters, Pani, mercenaries, and others, marshaled and hastened by Aetius, had now boarded.

  Almost every female slave desires a private master, and, too, hopes to be his only slave.

  The slaves to the east would be bound and coffled.

  I had seen coffles, and sometimes more than one such linkage, after the fall of cities, which contained fifteen hundred to two thousand women. Needless to say this considerably depresses the market, and it is, accordingly, often the case that these coffles must be broken up and widely dispersed, or marched far afield, sometimes better than a thousand pasangs, to more favorable markets. Sometimes too, the women are kept off the market, sometimes for months, while their owners wait, hoping for better prices. During such times they are exercised and trained, which increases their value. Slavers often buy such women in lots, for pittances, on speculation. Considerations of these sorts, of course, as a matter of economics, appertain to any sort of goods, the value of which is likely to fluctuate according to the condition of the market.

  “They are nearly ready,” I said to Pertinax.

  “I see,” he said.

  The column of camp slaves, and others, had now been formed. Pani were now tying their hands behind their backs, and putting them on a long rope, which was strung from neck to neck. It was thus they would ascend the ramp. They did not know to what they were being taken but neither, too, did other animals already boarded, tarsk and verr.

  I heard the sound of chains, heavy chains, strike the ascending ramp, dragging upon it, and looked about. Licinius Lysias of Turmus, who had made the attempt on the life of Lord Nishida during the training exercise, laden with chaining, was being prodded up the ramp by the butt of a Pani glaive. Perhaps unwisely, I had spared him at Tarncamp, that he might have some chance for life. This had doubtless been regarded by Lord Nishida as a woeful indiscretion, if not an act of outright treason. On what grounds, comprehensible to one such as he, might a would-be assassin be freed? Had I been in league with him? I suspected that one of less stature in the camp, one who, say, was not the commander of the cavalry, might have fared rather poorly following such an act. Certainly it gave Lord Nishida excellent grounds for regarding my services with considerable circumspection. And later I had participated in a mysterious interview, on tarnback, over the forest, the nature of which I had been reluctant to disclose. It was not surprising, I supposed, that I was not this morning with the cavalry. In any event, Lord Nishida had sent numerous Pani forth to track and return Licinius to custody. They had discovered him some pasangs from Tarncamp, where, for four or five days, frightened, haggard and starving, he had apparently wandered in circles. He had soon been brought back, back-shackled, on a neck chain. Perhaps I had done Licinius no great favor, considering he seemed ill equipped with forest craft, was seemingly unable to live off the land, hold a direction, elude pursuit, and such. He was presumably less a warrior than a mercenary, and less a mercenary than a brigand. I knew he had sword skills but they would do him little good when, weakened, scarcely able to stand, he would find himself ringed by glaives. Licinius, partway up the ramp, saw me. He stopped for an instant, but did not attempt to address me or communicate in any way. Then he was struck by the butt of the glaive, and thrust rudely upward. Had I turned him over to Lord Nishida he would doubtless have been tortured. The Pani, I gathered, had methods likely to encourage volubility in their informants. Subsequently he was to have been crucified. Now, supposedly in deference to me, he had been spared crucifixion. I did not know if he had been tortured or not. If so, and if Lord Nishida had cared to do away with me, it would have been easy enough for him to extract incriminating testimony from a harried body which would beg to babble whatever might be wished, if only the pain would cease, or the welcomed knife plunged mercifully to the heart. But I had seen nothing in the glance of Licinius which had suggested shame or pleaded for pity and understanding. Accordingly I gathered he had not yet, at any rate, been forced to utter fabrications under duress. I had gathered he was to be chained to a bench, presumably in one of the galleys. Most oarsmen, of course, would be free. Round ships, incidentally, commonly made use of slaves, fastened to the benches, but the long ships, ships of war, commonly relied on free oarsmen, for reasons which, I suppose, are obvious. Many consecutive shifts at the oars, as free oarsmen exchanged positions, would doubtless be imposed on the wearied, aching body of Licinius Lysias of Turmus. I dismissed him from my mind. I had given him, perhaps unwisely, given his treachery and crime, an opportunity for escape and freedom, an opportunity which, as it turned out, he had been unable to turn to his advantage. He was no longer my concern. He was now the prisoner of Lord Nishida. I did not know what his present life might be. Lord Nishida had informed me that many would have preferred crucifixion.

  The camp slaves, and others, were now boarding.

  Last night hundreds of tarn eggs had been brought aboard, to be nestled in padded containers below decks. These were being chemically incubated, to keep the egg viable. Later, responsive to a second chemical, which might not be administered for months, hatching was to occur. Clearly Lord Nishida’s plans involved tarns beyond those of the present cavalry.

  The wind was bitter now, at t
he river’s edge.

  Whistles came from the stern castle of the great ship.

  The structures of the camp were now much aflame, and the flames were whipped by the wind.

  I could see the mighty, towering frame, which had held the ship of Tersites, was now, too, afire.

  “I do not like the direction of the wind,” said Pertinax.

  “No,” I said.

  The men who had fired the camp, and some stragglers, were now hurrying down the wharf, to board.

  “Is Lord Nishida aboard?” asked Pertinax.

  “I do not think so,” I said.

  “What of his contract women?” asked Pertinax.

  “I do not know,” I said.

  Again we heard the whistles from the stern castle.

  “Should we not board?” asked Pertinax.

  “Shortly,” I said.

  “The wharf itself may soon be afire,” said Pertinax.

  “Yes,” I said.

  I could see some mariners, far above, at the railing of the stern castle, reading the flames and their progress.

  “The ship may be in danger,” he said.

  “Eventually,” I said, “not now.”

  To be sure, I expected that mooring ropes would be soon cast off, and the great ship, obedient to rudder and current, would edge into the river.

  Aetius, I was sure, was anxious to depart.

  “Perhaps we should board,” said Pertinax.

  “I would be curious to see the last to board,” I said.

  “Where is Lord Nishida?” asked Pertinax.

  “He may be dead,” I said.

  “You jest,” he said, uneasily.

  “I think it unlikely,” I said. I did not, of course, rule it out. There might be, I thought, frictions or dissensions amongst the Pani. Surely they were human, and not unaware of the attractions of power. Perhaps Lord Nishida had served his purpose, supplying lumber to the shipwrights at the Alexandra camp, arranging for the formation and training of a tarn cavalry, and such. Perhaps he was no longer required by Lord Okimoto, who was, it seemed, a cousin to the shogun, some shogun.

  “They are going to raise the ramp,” said Pertinax.