Kajira of Gor (49 page)

Slave Hunter, I noted, however, was not prt Toward the back of the room, at one

of the lesser t there was a hooded guest, a medium-sized man. I dii know who it

might be. It was much too small to be Has was naked, in slave chains, behind a

beaded curtain. I be produced when Miles of Argentum, my master, wisi Because of

my proximity to the narrow, linear space between the beading, I had little

difficulty in seeing well in hall. The guests, on the other hand, given the

closeness beading and their greater distance from it, could detect presence

there only with difficulty, and, even then, probably, they would be able to tell

little other than the fact the individual there, as might be discerned from the

v~’ detectable form, was a stripped or scantily clad female, I bly a slave.

“It is now time,” said Claudius, the Ubar of Argentum come to the major business

of the evening. Let the sack be brought forth.”

Two soldiers, from a side room, dragged the golden across the floor and put it

before the center table, that table where sat Claudius, the members of the high

council and other significant guests. At this table, too, sat Ligurious, Miles

of Argentum and Drusus Rencitis.

“This feast,” said Claudius, “is one of victory, one of triumph. Months ago the

unprovoked aggression of Corcyrus, seeking the silver of Argentum, was repelled.

Further, to ensure our security, and to prevent a repetition of this form of

aggression, we fought our way to, and through, the gate of Corcyrus itself.

There, abetted by the people of that city, we defeated the forces of the Tatrix

of Corcyrus and overthrew her tyrannous regime.”

There Was Gorean applause at this point; the striking of as the left shoulder

with the palm of the hand. Even Ligurious, I noted, politely joined in the

applause. “The ties of Corcyrus with Cos have now been severed,” said Claudius.

“She, now, like Argentum, is a free ally of glorious Ar.”

Here there was more applause.

“And fortunate is this for her,” said Claudius, “for Ar, as she has

demonstrated, stands by her allies”

Again there was applause.

“As her allies stand by her!” he added. There was more applause.

Ar, of course, had substantial land forces. She had, doubtless, the largest and

best-trained infantry in known Gor is the land forces of Cos, on the other hand,

were probably not it superior to those of a number of Gorean city states, even

)e- much smaller in their populations than the island Ubarate. These balances

tended to be reversed dramatically in sea he power. Cos had one of the most

powerful fleets on Gor. The sea power of Ar, on the

‘The villainess in this matter, the culprit, the instigator of all these

hostilities, was Sheila, the cruel and wicked Tatrix of Corcyrus.”

“Yes, yes!” cried several men.

“She was captured in Corcyrus but, en route to Argentum escaped. A great search

was organized and conducted. A handsome reward was posted. Still, for months she

eluded us Then Hassan, the Slave Hunter, he of Kasra, consented to take up her

trail. Her days of freedom were then numbered. In Ar, not two weeks ago, she

fell to his bracelets.”

There was applause.

“He then saw fit to bring her to us in his own inimitable fashion, in a wagon,

like a common girl, tied naked in a slave sack.”

There was laughter. “This time,” laughed Claudius, “she did not escape!” There

was more laughter. I saw Ligurious smile.

“It is now time,” said Claudius, “to have Sheila, the former Tatrix of Corcyrus,

presented before her conquerors, to await their pleasure!”

There was applause.

“Ligurious,” said Claudius, turning to him.

Ligurious rose, and walked about the table, to stand before it, and near the

sack.

“Many of you know me,” said Ligurious, “if only by reputation, as the former

first minister of Corcyrus: what many of you may not know is that I was also the

secret leader of the resistance in Corcyrus to the rule of Sheila, the Tatrix.

For months within her very government I strove to dissuade her from endeavors

hostile to the great state of Argentum. I attempted to assert a persistent

influence in the directions of harmony and peace. Alas, my efforts were

frustrated, my counsels were ignored. The best that I could hope for was to

prepare the way for the victorious forces of Argentum, which I managed to do.

You may recall the ease with which you took the city, once the great gate was

breached.”

Drusus Rencius was smiling.

“In this time, of course, I was often in close converse with the Tatrix. In my

efforts to convince her of the futility and madness of her policies I was in

almost constant proximity to her. I think it may well be said that there is no

man on Gor better qualified than I to recognize her, or to identify her for you.

“Thank you, noble Ligurious,” said Claudius. “Now,” said he, “let Sheila’s

captor, the noble Hassan, of Kasra, have the honor of presenting her before us,

that she may await our pleasure.” It was quiet. Men looked about. “Where is

Hassan?” asked Claudius.

“He is not here,” said a man.

Ligurious looked down, smiling.

Claudius shrugged. “He is perhaps indisposed:” he said. “Let the sack be

opened!”

Ligurious looked about himself, pleased. He scarcely bothered to note the

opening of the sack, and the drawing forth of its helpless, gagged, bound,

stripped occupant. She was knelt then, bound hand and foot, naked and gagged,

before Claudius and the council.

Ligurious looked about. “Yes,” he said, “I know her well. There is no doubt

about it.” He pointed at the kneeling figure, dramatically, but scarcely looking

at her, directing his attention more to the audience. “Yes,” he said, “that is

she! That is the infamous Tatrix of Corcyrus!”

She uttered wild, tiny, desperate, muted sounds, shaking her head wildly. How

well Goreans gag their prisoners and slaves, I thought.

“Do not attempt to deny it, Sheila,” said he, scarcely noting her. “You have

been perfectly and definitively identified.”

She continued to make tiny, desperate, pleading noises. She continued to shake

her head, wildly.

Tears flowed from her eyes.

Ligurious then, perhaps curious, regarded her closely. Even then, for a time, I

do not think he recognized her. I think this was because of our very close

resemblance, and, too, perhaps, because he found it almost impossible to believe

that I was not the woman who had been drawn forth from the sack, who now knelt

helplessly before Claudius and the council. Then, suddenly, he turned white. “~a

it!” he cried. He crouched down, then, and took the woman’s head in his hands.

Her eyes looked at him wildly, filled with tears. “No!” he cried, suddenly. “No!

This is not she!”

“I thought,” said Claudius, “that you identified her as Sheila, perfectly and

definitively.”

“No, no!” said Ligurious. He was shaking. There was sweat On his forehead. “I

made a mistake! this is not she!”

“Then where is she?” asked Claudius, angrily.

“I do not know!” said Ligurious, looking wildly about. “Hassan, of Kasra!”

called the feast master, from near the door, announcing the arrival of Hassan in

the hall.

“I am sorry I am late,” said Hassan. “I was temporarily retained. I was attacked

by two men. They are now outside my quarters, where I put them, tied back to

back. Their arms and legs are broken.”

“See that the assailants of Hassan are taken into custody and attended to,” said

Claudius.

“Yes, Ubar,” said two soldiers, and swiftly left the room.

I saw Sheila, at the appearance of Hassan in the hall, immediately put her head

down to the tiles. Hassan trained his women perfectly.

“Is this the woman you captured in Ar?” asked Claudius pointing to Sheila.

Hassan walked over to her, pulled her head up by the hair and then, holding her

by the arms, put her to her belly, and then turned her from one side to the

other, examining lici body for tiny marks.

“Yes,” he said, “this is she.”

The Gorean master commonly knows the bodies of his women. They are, after all,

not independent contractual partners, who may simply walk away, but treasured

possessions. They receive, accordingly, careful attention. Many Women, indeed,

are never truly looked at by a man until after they are owned.

He then put Sheila again on her knees before the council.

“Do you believe her to be the Tatrix of Corcyrus?” asked Claudius.

“I believe that she was the Tatrix of Corcyrus,” said Hassan, “yes.”

“He has never seen her!” shouted Ligurious.

“She was identified by sleen,” said Hassan.

“But from false clothing!” cried Ligurious. “She is not the true Tatrix of

Corcyrus! But the true Tatrix of Corcyrus is here, somewhere! I am sure of it!”

“How do you know?” asked Claudius.

Ligurious looked down, confused. He could not very well inform the assemblage of

the exchange he had attempted to effect earlier in the throne ‘room. “I have

seen her here in the palace, somewhere about,” he said quickly. “It was she whom

I thought was to be withdrawn from the ‘sack.”

“My Ubar,” said Miles of Argentum, rising to his feet, “reluctant as I am to

agree with the former first minister of Corcyrus, and doubtless one of the

finest liars on Gor, I think it not impossible that he may have seen Sheila

about in the palace, perhaps on her hands and knees scrubbing tiles in a

corridor, the type of task to which it has amused me to set her.”

Men looked about, wildly, at one another.

“With your permission, my Ubar,” said Miles of Argenturn. Then, suddenly,

sharply, he struck his hands together twice. “Sheila!” he snapped. “Fortit!”

Startled, frightened, I parted the headed curtain with my chained hands and,

with the small, measured, graceful steps of a Woman whose ankles are chained,

hurried to him. I knelt on the tiles before the table, before his place, my head

down

“Lift your head,” he said.

I heard cries of astonishment.

“Go, kneel beside the other woman,” he said.

“Yes, Master,” I said.

“There,” cried Ligurious in triumph, “that is the true Sheila, the true Tatrix

of Corcyrus!”

“Do you not think you should examine her somewhat more closely?” asked Drusus

Ligurious threw him a look of hatred and then came closer to me. He made a

pretense of subjecting me to careful scrutiny. Then he said, “Yes, that is the

true Sheila.”

“Let them be identically chained,” said Claudius.

Miles of Argentum gestured ‘to an officer. He had apparently anticipated this

request.

In moments Sheila, freed of the gag and cords, wore chains. We now knelt naked

and identically chained, side’ by side, before Claudius, the Ubar of Argentum.

Each of us had our wrists separated by some eighteen inches of chain. Each $ of

us, too, had our ankles separated by a similar length of chain, only a little

longer. Another chain, on each of us, ran from the center of our wrist chain to

the center of our ankle chain. This central, or middle, chain was about three,

and a A half feet in length.

“It is a remarkable resemblance,” said Claudius’, wonderingly.

“They could be twins,” said a man.

“You can tell them apart,” said a man. “One has shorter hair.”

“That is not important,” said another.

“There are other differences, too,” said a man, “subtle differences, but real

differences.”

“Yes,” said the man, “I see them now.” That was he who had suggested that we

might be twins.

Had we been twins we, at least, would not have been identical twins. Fraternal

twins, separate egg twins, ‘two boys, two girls, or a boy and a girl, are not

likely to resemble one another any more closely than normal siblings, except, of

course, in age.

“If you did not see them together, however,” said a man, “it would be extremely

difficult to tell them apart.”

“Yes,” said another.

“I submit, my Ubar,” said Miles of Argentum, “that the woman on your left, she

with the shorter hair, is she before whom I appeared in Corcyrus, when I

brought, at your request, the scrolls of protest to that city.”

“Are you certain?” asked Claudius.

“Yes,” said Ligurious. “That is true. She is Sheila, the former Tatrix of

Corcyrus.”

“That is not the one whom the sleen selected,” said Hassan.

“I have witnesses who will identify her,” said Miles. “I my-self am the first

such witness. She is Sheila, the Tatrix of CorCyrus.

“How do you know?” asked ‘Drusus Rencius, rising to his feet.

I was startled. How dared he speak?

“The captain from Ar is out of order,” said Claudius.

A “Please let him speak, noble Claudius,” said Miles.

“Is it your intention to speak on behalf of the shorter-haired slave?” asked

Claudius.

“Yes,” said Drusus Rencius.

There were cries of astonishment in the banquet hall. Even the feast slaves, in

the back, girls such as Claudia, Crystal,

Tupa and Emily, looked wildly at one another. I moved in my chains. I was

thrilled,.

“You may do so,” said Claudius. “My thanks, Ubar,” said Drusus Rencius.

“Is it your intention to jeopardize our friendship, old comrade in arms?”