Witness of Gor

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Witness of Gor Page 79

by John Norman


  "Master," I said.

  "Yes," he said.

  "What is special about the tenth Ahn?"

  He looked at me.

  "Oh, I know, Master," I said, "that curiosity is not becoming in a kajira, but I would know. I would know."

  "Your life is going to change, Janice," he said. "You will have to leave Treve."

  "Master?" I said.

  "You, and the other pit slaves who were in the depths recently. The pit master has made arrangements for you all, and I have made them, unbeknownst to himself, for him. I will see to it that he will be able to take Fina with him."

  "What of you?"

  "I, too, and certain other men, will be leaving."

  I suddenly began to understand what might be the nature of the arrangements, the dispositions, which the pit master had been concerned with recently.

  "You cannot leave the city of your Home Stone!" I said.

  "We have received word," he said, "that a delegation from Cos will arrive in Treve shortly."

  "What will be done with me, and with Fecha, Tira, and the others?" I asked.

  "Other than Fina?"

  "Yes," I said.

  "You are going to be sold," he said.

  "Sold?"

  "Of course, my pretty little property," he said.

  "I do not understand," I said.

  "Surely it is not so difficult to grasp," he said. "You were sold before, you know."

  "Of course, Master," I said, falteringly.

  "It is not just you, Janice," he said. "All the pit slaves who were recently in the depths will be sold, as well. Even Fina, in a sense, will be sold, purchased from the state, but I will see that she comes within the keeping of the depth warden. She will make a lovely gift for him, I would think."

  "And the rest of us?" I said.

  "To be sold in different cities," he said. "You will be scattered, papers will be changed. You will disappear to the eight winds. It will not be possible to trace you."

  "I understand," I said. We had seen too much, or knew too much, and I, doubtless, most of all. Had the black-tunicked men been successful in the depths I suspected we might all have had our throats cut, even the other girls, whose understanding of these things must be even less than mine, which was negligible. The black-tunicked men are trained to kill for a purpose, and to think as little of it as others might of the cutting of wood.

  "None of you will be sold publicly, of course," said the officer of Treve. "We will not risk that. The sales will be discreet, and private. They will be purple-booth sales."

  "That is a great honor, Master," I said.

  "You are all excellent-quality merchandise," he said.

  "Thank you, Master," I said.

  "See that you, in your performance in the booth, do not disappoint the buyer's agent."

  "Yes, Master," I whispered.

  "You may rise," he said.

  I rose to my feet. I held my arms folded about myself, for the air was chilly here, on the surface of the tower, in the early morning. He had gone to stand near the wall, looking out toward the mountains.

  "This all has to do with the prisoner, the peasant, does it not, Master?" I asked.

  "He died out there, in the mountains," said the officer.

  "But you do not know that," I said.

  "No man could survive alone out there," he said.

  "Perhaps some men, Master," I said.

  "Yes," said he, "perhaps some men. And yes, my lovely Earth-woman slave, my lovely Gorean slave girl, it does have to do with the peasant, all of it has to do with the peasant."

  "Are we to return to your compartments?" I asked. "Am I to warm wine for you?"

  "Yes," he said.

  "It will be light soon," I said.

  "I shall miss you," he said.

  "And I shall miss you, Master," I said.

  "There is nothing more to be done here," he said. He then turned about, and I followed him.

  We heard the call of the watch, that all was well in Treve. I did not know, however, if it were true or not. I did know that the surface of this tower, in the coldness of the morning, had, as the tops of certain peaks in the distance by light, been touched by honor.

  41

  I lay on my stomach, on my mat, in the house of my master. My eyes were filled with tears. Aynur had laid the switch to me well. This evening she had had Tima and Tana tie me to the whipping post in the garden. The other women, the flowers of the garden, had been summoned forth to watch. My crime, as it had been announced to the flowers, was that of having approached the wall. The roughness on the bottoms of my feet, no longer bleeding then, had been shown to the other girls.

  "The barbarian is stupid," had said one of the girls.

  "They all are," said another.

  "Why would she go to the wall?" asked another. "She cannot climb it."

  That was true.

  But I had wanted to press my hands against its solidity, knowing there was a world on the other side of the garden, and that I was then a little closer to it. One could hear the noises, the cries, from outside. One knew there was a world there, teeming, busy, with its sights, and sounds, and smells, a turbulent, active world, one different from that of the garden. I wanted to be on the other side of the wall. I wanted to be there, where I might run through the streets in a tunic and collar, where I might drink water from the lower basins, where I might press through crowds, carrying a package or vessel upon my head, unable to defend myself against the touches of men, who might touch me as easily as one might pet a dog. I did not object to such things, for I was less than a dog. I was a slave. Too, such things are flattering. They bespeak one's appeal. They say, you are attractive, you excite them. You are not without interest to masters. They would not mind using you, perhaps even owning you. I wanted to be seen by men, and found desirable. I wanted to see the desire in their eyes, and sense their heat. I wanted them to turn their heads to look after me, as I made my way down the street. I wanted them to wonder what I would look like, naked, in their own collar, on their own furs, at their feet, their property, one who must serve them to the best of her abilities in whatever manner they might please. I wanted to be on the other side of the wall, even if it meant being forced to labor long hours for a harsh master. I did not fear rising before dawn, and taking up a basket, and hurrying through the gray streets to the market. I did not fear the public washing places, the shallow cement tanks where one might launder. I did not fear the needle, the broom, the kettles, the yards, the sheds, the kitchen. I would be grateful at night even for a rush mat. Better to be chained in a hovel, subject to the whip of the least in the city, than a flower in the garden!

  Doubtless the girls had been puzzled as to why I was switched as hard and lengthily as I had been by Aynur, only for going near the wall. They did not know, as did Tima and Tana, and Aynur, about the tall, long-haired man who had come to the garden, who had commanded me, he to whom I had fearfully, but eagerly and gratefully, surrendered, serving him with all the desperate, pleading needs of my body. Had the flowers known that would they not have cried out that I should have been even more grievously punished? How starved we were in the garden. I wondered if there were not many amongst us who would have welcomed being thrown to galley slaves.

  I lay on the mat, chained in its vicinity by the left ankle, to a ring on the floor. If I had been so chained during the rest period this afternoon, I would not have been able to enter the garden, to approach the wall, to encounter the stranger. It would have been better, doubtless, if I had been chained where I was now. I was not clear on how he had gained admittance to the garden. It must be, of course, that he was known in the house, to the master, or the guards. Aynur, for example, had obviously recognized him. Indeed, she had seemed to be very familiar with him. That frightened me. I wondered if he were known to the master, my current rights holder. I had never seen the master, but I supposed that he had seen me. It might have been he behind the screen when I was first stripped and exhibited in th
e house. On the other hand it could have been an agent, or house master. I did not know. I knew very little about the master. I did know his name, and it was clear that he was very rich, which seemed unusual, I gathered, for the current state in the city, which was occupied, I gathered, by foreign troops. He had dealings in slaves it seemed, and had extensive agricultural holdings. He also had something to do with at least certain theaters and theatrical companies in the city. It was said he was welcome, even, in the central cylinder of the city. The name of this city, if I have not mentioned it before, is Ar. It is nominally governed, as I understand it, by a ubara, whose name is Talena. The actual governance is presumably in the hands of a military governor, one named Myron, who bears the title of Polemarkos of Cos, or, more strictly, Polemarkos of Temos, which is the third largest city on the island of Cos. He is said to be cousin to Lurius of Jad, the Ubar of Cos. I had heard of Lurius of Jad in Treve. It was he who had sent the black-tunicked men to that city. My master, interestingly, had shown no interest in me, nor, indeed, as far as I know, in any of the other slaves. We, or most us, did not understand this. Aynur may have understood, but she never spoke to us about it. His name is Appanius, Appanius of Ar.

  "My dear Gail," said Aynur.

  Immediately I tensed with terror, on my belly, on the mat. I feared to be struck again.

  She had approached, barefoot, as are most slaves, softly on the tiles. I had not heard her.

  "I am sorry I displeased you, Mistress," I said. "Please do not strike me again!"

  "You are only a pretty little barbarian slave," she said. "How could you know what you were doing? Here, I have brought some soothing lotion for your back. Lie still."

  "Mistress?" I said.

  "Ah," she said, "is that not better."

  "Yes, Mistress," I said, tensely. The lotion was cool on my striped back.

  "Mistress?" I asked, frightened.

  "You should not have gone on the stones," she said. "You might have injured your feet."

  "Yes, Mistress," I said.

  "Your feet are to be soft and pretty," she said.

  "Yes, Mistress," I said.

  "You are a pleasure-garden girl, you know," she said.

  "Yes, Mistress," I said.

  She continued to apply the lotion.

  "After this," she said, "if you want to go into the garden during the rest period, you should ask me, first."

  "Of course, Mistress," I said. "Forgive me, Mistress."

  "And if, in the future, you should see someone in the garden, someone you suspect may have no right to be there, you should hurry in and inform me."

  "Yes, Mistress," I said. "I am sorry, Mistress, that I pleased him."

  "You are only a little barbarian," she said, gently. "You could not please such a man."

  "Yes, Mistress," I said. I was not truly sorry, of course, that I had pleased the visitor. I had been hungry to do so. Too, I was sure that I could please him at least as well as she. Indeed, some men like barbarians. They put us through our paces quite well. And I had little doubt that I could tell when a man was pleased and when he was not. One does not wear a collar long before one becomes quite adept at such determinations. Indeed, if they are not pleased, we are likely to soon find out about it, at the receiving end of the leather, of a switch, or strap, or whip.

  "That is better, isn't it?" she asked, leaning back, putting the lotion to one side, wiping her hands on a towel.

  "Yes, Mistress," I said, gratefully.

  "I will return in a moment," she said, "with your supper."

  When she returned I sat up, and ate. She had brought some choice viands, perhaps begged from the meals of men. Too, she had a small, shallow bowl of wine.

  "Thank you, Mistress," I said, finishing this repast. "I am terribly sorry I did wrong earlier. I did not wish to annoy you, or displease you. You are very kind."

  "Now," she said, "let us remove this heavy, ugly shackle from your ankle."

  She opened the shackle and put it, on its chain, the chain running to the ring, to one side. She held the keys to such things.

  "Now," she said, "you may come and go as you please, within the quarters, of course."

  "Thank you, Mistress," I said.

  No other girls were now with us in the rest area, not even Tima and Tana, who were her assistants.

  "You are very kind," I said.

  "It is nothing," she said, kissing me lightly on the cheek. She then gathered up the dish and bowl and left.

  I lay back down on the mat.

  I did not understand this change in Aynur's behavior. I was sure she had been outraged at finding me in the arms of the tall, long-haired man. I had little doubt that he came sometimes to see Aynur. Earlier, in the garden, she had seemed almost insanely jealous of his attentions to me. Indeed, she had even been humiliated before me, and her assistants, by being put to her knees by him, and by having to fetch his sandals, sandals which he then, pointedly, had me tie. I would not have thought that such insults would have been easily passed over by a woman such as Aynur. Too, she would have her needs, doubtless as keen and stressful as those of others. In this house, in the garden, there was much pain. Sometimes, to be sure, we entertained, in the house or garden, some singing and playing, others, such as I, fetching food and drink, attending on the guests, then all of us, later, as we might be selected, or allotted, or assigned, serving, as slaves. But it was not enough for us. Could that not be told simply by looking at our necks, and seeing that there were collars there? Did this detail not serve as token, if none other, that slave fires had been lit in our bellies? Had men not seen to it?

  After a time the other girls began to enter the room, one or two at a time. I took little notice of them. Under Aynur's supervision they surrendered their silks and jewelry. Soon, when the house master made his check, with his lamp, we would all be on our mats, even Aynur. I heard a guard close the gate to the garden. I heard the bolts thrown in the locks. In this house we were not to speak after the nineteenth Ahn. I recalled the tall, long-haired man. I wondered what he had been doing in the garden. He was apparently known in the house, but I had not seen him before. How I had leaped to his touch, how I had obeyed him! How I must have amused him, in his arms, I so unable to conceal myself from him. How well he knew me now, as the slave I was! He had frightened me, with his questions. He had wanted to know the location of the pens in which I had been trained, even the accents of my original captors. He had wanted to know if I could read a certain word, which I could not, and if I could recognize a certain sign. The sign, of course, had been the sign, or name, of the city, Ar. I knew that. It is on many seals, and such. And most frighteningly he had wanted to know if I had ever heard of a slave named "Janice," if I had ever been in Treve. I think I was entitled to be afraid. It was not as though I could run, or hide. I had never even been allowed out of this house, save in the garden. Doors were bolted, gates were locked. There were walls, and guards. And even more devastatingly I was a slave. There was no escape for me. I did not control my own destiny. It was in the hands of others, the masters. I was afraid. I was miserable.

  "Extinguish the lamps, my lovely sisters in bondage," said Aynur, pleasantly.

  One by one the lamps were extinguished.

  Aynur seemed in a good mood this evening. I am sure that that anomaly was muchly appreciated by all of us. On the whole, Aynur was quite strict with us. We must, for example, for the inspection of the house master, kneel with our knees in a line, and spread to the appropriate angle. Our backs must be straight. Our chins must be elevated to the proper height, our hands must be placed exactly so on our thighs, and so on. She was quick with her switch. She kept us under excellent discipline.

  I lay there on the mat for a little while in the darkness.

  The room was very quiet.

  I was exhausted, and my back still hurt, despite the soothing lotion.

  I decided that there was no reason to be afraid, really.

  After all, the man had gone away, and
I was safe in the house.

  Too, more importantly, I had denied knowing a "Janice." I had denied ever having been in Treve.

  That should finish the matter.

  I fell asleep. I am sure it was well before the mat check.

  42

  "Shhh," I heard. "Do not make any noise."

  I awakened on the mat. It must have been well after the mat check.

  It was Aynur's voice.

  It was dark in the room. I could hear the breathing of several of the other flowers, asleep nearby on their mats.

  "Mistress?" I asked.

  I was still on my belly, from the switching I had received the preceding evening.

  "Place your wrists, crossed, behind your back," said Aynur. I complied and, in an instant, with a double loop, they were corded together.

  "Do not make any noise," said Aynur.

  "What is it?" I whispered, frightened.

  "You are to be taken to see the master," she whispered. I was startled to hear this. Was this how he had his girls brought to him, in the darkness of the night, secretly? Or, did this have to do with other business, clandestine business perhaps, nocturnal interrogations? Perhaps he was curious to know what had transpired in the garden. Indeed, perhaps the stranger was with him and I must now be brought before them both.

  "Should I not be silked?" I asked.

  "You will go as you are," she said.

  Aynur then reached before me and thrust a wad of cloth into my mouth. This she bound in place with a folded scarf, knotted behind the back of my neck. The original wad of cloth, now held in, as I struggled with it, moving it about in my mouth, expanded to fill my oral cavity. "Be very quiet," said Aynur. "Do not make any noise." It was an effective gag. Even had I dared, I could have done little to make myself heard. "Get up," said Aynur. I rose to my feet. I felt her hand on my back. "Move," she said, "barbarian." I was pressed toward the door. The door was now unlocked. I preceded her, directed by her, down the main corridor, and then into a side passage, past several doors, and then into a small room. It was dark. Aynur closed the door behind us. Surely this was not the compartments of the master!

 

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