by John Norman
“The Lady Bina,” said Desmond, “is free.”
“We will have her marked, collared, and sold in Venna,” said Trachinos.
“You would leave us here, defenseless, with larls and sleen about, and without food?” said Desmond.
“It would not do, to have you return to Venna,” said Trachinos.
“May I inquire the purport of your recent signal to your band?” asked Desmond.
“I told you,” said Trachinos. “We have waited long enough. Too, the band grows restless. That is clear in the signals. They wish to act. These are not fellows of the Scarlet Caste. Discipline is fragile.”
“Do not signal them to act,” said Desmond.
“It is done,” said Trachinos.
“I am sorry,” said Desmond.
“They will be here, within two Ahn,” said Trachinos.
“Lykos may be dangerous,” said Akesinos.
“I do not think he will attack both of us,” said Trachinos.
“He will not,” said Desmond. “I spoke to him of this several days ago.”
“He will be reluctant to be disarmed,” said Trachinos.
“He does not expect to be disarmed,” said Desmond.
“I do not understand,” said Trachinos.
“Let us prepare our noon meal,” said Desmond. “After that we will try to ascertain the fate of your band.”
“What?” said Trachinos.
* * * *
I later regretted accompanying our party higher into the mountains, not that I had any choice. Jane, Eve, and I had been roped together. Master Desmond thought this a wise precaution, given what might be found. Perhaps we might have scattered, or fled back down the slope. When we came over the rise, to a level place, where there were the ashes of an extinguished fire, and the signs of a small camp, I had quickly looked away. I do not think that either Jane or Eve were any more pleased. Trachinos was stunned, and white-faced. Even dark Akesinos had paled. The men examined the bodies, and parts of bodies, of nine men. The Lady Bina joined them. It seemed that she was less distressed than we. I sensed she might be familiar with such sights, from her former world. There had been, as I understood it, a revolution there, perhaps replete with such incidents.
“This is not the work of Grendel,” said the Lady Bina.
“Grendel?” said Lykos.
“My guard,” said she, “come with me from a far place.”
“Kur,” said Astrinax.
“In part,” said the Lady Bina.
“My informant,” explained Astrinax.
“What is Kur?” said Trachinos.
“A higher form of life,” said the Lady Bina, “compared to which we are but weak, disarmed beasts.”
“Surely not,” said Desmond.
“No,” she said, “it is not the work of Grendel.”
“Are you sure, Lady?” said Astrinax.
“There are nine men here,” she said, “and Grendel is but one, and it is daylight. He might kill nine at night, in the darkness. It is not likely he could kill nine in the bright day. Surely some would arm themselves, and manage to slay a single foe, or, at least, cry out, scatter, and escape, perhaps to be hunted down later.”
“He was with another, surely,” said Astrinax to the Lady Bina.
“The other,” she said, “would be left behind. It would be useless here.”
She referred, doubtless, to the blind Kur. Astrinax, I gathered, and perhaps Desmond, as well, did not realize the other Kur was blind. Desmond of Harfax had encountered it only in the darkness of the market of Cestias, long ago.
“This is the work of a larl,” said Trachinos, “a pride of larls.”
“Who did not eat the kill?” said Desmond.
“It must be,” said Trachinos, “heads bitten away, an arm gone, part of a leg.”
“That is not the way a larl kills,” said Lykos. “Commonly it pounces from behind, and bites through the back of the neck, or, approaching frontally, sinks its teeth in the shoulder, and, with its rear legs, disembowels the prey.”
“Kurii can do that,” said the Lady Bina.
“It must have been he whom you call your guard,” said Astrinax.
“You have that in your mind, my dear Astrinax,” said the Lady Bina, “doubtless from your night watches, so much so that you have not looked about you. Note some of the wounds here, the penetration and withdrawal of a single object. There is nothing of larls or Kurii there. Too, at the edge of the camp, and elsewhere, you will see tracks.”
Desmond and Lykos moved about.
“Tharlarion!” said Desmond.
“Tharlarion are not native here,” protested Astrinax.
“You are perceptive, Lady Bina,” said Desmond, admiringly.
I was suddenly jealous of the Lady Bina.
“A quality of perception is not involved here,” said the Lady Bina. “As I recognized it could not be the work of my guard, Grendel, I merely looked further.”
“Bipedalian tharlarion, hunting tharlarion,” said Lykos, “lancers.”
“I think now it is reasonably clear,” said Desmond of Harfax, “from the tracks, the grouping of the bodies, their attitudes. It was a simple closure attack. The lancers appeared there, and the men turned and fled, and encountered the waiting beasts.”
“You are no Metal Worker,” said Trachinos.
“You, and your fellow, good Akesinos,” said Astrinax, “must now decide what you will do.”
Trachinos and Akesinos backed away, a little, drawing their weapons.
Astrinax and Lykos, too, released the birds of steel from their housings.
“The odds,” said Desmond, “are no longer heavily in your favor.”
“We fear only Lykos,” said Trachinos. “And we are two.”
“And Astrinax,” said Desmond, “might engage, delay, or even strike, one of you, while Lykos and the other tested blade luck in the dark game.”
“I do not rely on blade luck,” said Lykos, measuring Trachinos.
“We would have given you your lives,” said Trachinos.
“To perish in the Voltai,” said Desmond.
“Give us your coin, and half the supplies,” said Trachinos.
“Surely you do not think Lykos is going to put down his weapon,” said Desmond.
“And the women,” said Trachinos.
“Take them, if you can,” said Lykos, eagerly.
As women we could be taken. My hands went to the rope about my neck, which held me to Jane and Eve.
“My blade is thirsty,” said Lykos.
“My dear Lykos,” said Desmond, “it would be better if it were to slake its thirst at another time, and from some other fountain. I would suppose we need every blade at our disposal.”
“Attend to Desmond of Harfax,” said the Lady Bina.
“Why should one attend to one who is not armed?” asked Trachinos.
“Look about you,” said the Lady Bina. “These bodies, as I understand it, are all of the band of Trachinos. If that is true it is quite possible that their assailants are not diminished in number. If they managed this carnage, nine men, quite possibly with ease, with little or no cost to themselves, it seems they might do as well with, say, five men. Accordingly, I think it would be wise, at least until we know differently, to regard them as strangers.”
Trachinos returned his blade to the scabbard. Akesinos did so, as well. Then, with a glance at Desmond of Harfax, so, too, did Lykos.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Ho,” said Trachinos, pointing, “is that not the Crag of Kleinias?”
We had come to a high point in the trail, which, with the edge of the mountains, the slopes, and valleys, had numerous ascents and descents.
From here one could see for several pasangs about.
“I have heard it described,” said Astrinax, “described variously,” joining Trachinos, at the front of the column. Shortly thereafter, he was joined by the other men, followed by the Lady Bina, and the slaves.
�
�Might that not be the Crag of Kleinias?” asked Trachinos.
“What think you?” Astrinax asked Desmond of Harfax.
“Perhaps,” said Desmond. “I do not know the Voltai.”
“I see no higher mountain about,” said Lykos.
The mountain, whichever it might be, was very beautiful. Much snow lay sparkling about its heights. As it was early in the month of En’var, there were darknesses about the lower slopes of the mountain, where snow was melting. The higher elevations, as with many mountains in the Voltai, might be bright with snow all the year. Here and there tiny rivulets of water had cut channels in the trail. Some days ago we had evaded a mud slide which might have been released, given the melting of an ice ridge or wall.
The Crag of Kleinias, I had heard, was one of the higher elevations in the Voltai. Supposedly few but prospectors and hunters penetrated this far into the Voltai.
“Is it not like a ship,” asked Trachinos, “sailing through the snow? Can you not see sails, the jutting prow?”
“I would see the head of a tarn,” said Lykos, “with the wings spread behind it.”
“I wager,” said Desmond, “one of Teletus might see it as a ship, and perhaps one familiar with the rage, the size, the terror of tarns, see it as one of those formidable monsters.”
Both Trachinos and Lykos were then silent.
“And what would you see it as?” inquired Astrinax of Desmond of Harfax.
“I do not know,” said Desmond. “If I had heard it described as a ship, I suppose I would see it as a ship; if I had heard it called the Tarn of the Voltai, or such, I would probably see it as a tarn.”
“It is clear, at least,” said Astrinax, “why it might be called the Crag of Kleinias. It clearly involves a mighty crag, and, one supposes, it might have been named after some fellow named Kleinias, perhaps he who first saw it, or, at least, saw fit to speak of it, to call attention to it, or such.”
“I think,” said Desmond of Harfax, “we are near the end of our journey.”
“How so?” asked Trachinos.
“Is that mountain not both prominent and unusually shaped?” asked Desmond.
“Assuredly,” said Astrinax.
“Presumably there are few such mountains in the Voltai.”
“One would suppose so,” said Astrinax.
“It may be the only mountain of its configuration for hundreds of pasangs,” said Desmond.
“Quite possibly,” said Astrinax.
“And much of the Voltai is utter wilderness, much of it trackless,” said Desmond.
“True,” said Astrinax.
“Did Pausanias seem to you a skilled navigator, one who might read charts, lay out courses, determine positions by the stars?”
“I would think not,” said Astrinax.
“His directions, then,” said Desmond, “would be relatively simple. He would require little more than a set of distances, a guiding needle, and a goal, or marker, one which might be difficult to miss.”
“It would be difficult to miss the Crag of Kleinias,” said Astrinax.
“Precisely,” said Desmond of Harfax.
“If you are correct,” said Astrinax, “we may soon turn back to Ar.”
“How so?” asked Desmond.
“I have gathered from my informant,” said Astrinax, “we have been engaged in a mission of honor, or mercy, to return a lost beast to its fellows. Once that is done, our work is finished.”
“I have further interests here,” said Desmond of Harfax.
“I do not,” said Astrinax.
“I have further interests here, as well,” said the Lady Bina.
“I do not understand,” said Astrinax.
“They have to do with politics, and power,” she said.
“You did not speak to me of such things,” said Astrinax.
“One seldom speaks of everything to everyone,” said the Lady Bina.
“My informant did not speak to me of such things,” said Astrinax.
“Your informant is not fully informed,” said the Lady Bina.
“Is he not first in this party?” asked Astrinax.
“He will do as I wish,” said the Lady Bina.
“Is there wealth ahead, Lady?” inquired Trachinos.
“Yes,” she said. “Great wealth.”
“Let us proceed,” said Trachinos. Then he turned to Desmond of Harfax. “I wronged you,” he said, “you are not the fool I thought.”
“I may be a bigger fool than you thought,” said Desmond of Harfax.
“How so?” asked Trachinos.
“I am not interested in wealth,” he said.
“Then you are a fool,” said Trachinos. “What are you interested in?”
“The fate of a world,” he said, “perhaps two.”
“You have been very helpful to me, Desmond,” said the Lady Bina, “I am thinking of giving Allison to you.”
“Lady?” said Desmond of Harfax.
“One often gives female slaves as gifts, does one not?”
“It is done frequently,” said Desmond of Harfax. “They make lovely gifts.”
“Lykos,” asked the Lady Bina, “would you like Eve?”
Eve gasped, and put her hands to her mouth.
“I would find her acceptable,” said Lykos.
Eve knelt and put her head to his thigh.
“And, my dear Astrinax,” said the Lady Bina, “I am thinking of Jane for you. Do you think you would like her?”
“I would think so,” he said.
“You may, of course, sell her,” said the Lady Bina.
“Of course,” said Astrinax.
“This is no time to think of slave girls,” said Desmond of Harfax.
“True,” said the Lady Bina. “They are unimportant.”
“What of Trachinos, and Akesinos?” asked Trachinos.
“With sufficient wealth,” said the Lady Bina, “you may buy several such women.”
“Good,” said Trachinos.
“I gather we are to proceed,” said Astrinax.
“Yes,” said the Lady Bina.
“To the Crag of Kleinias?” said Astrinax.
“Yes,” said the Lady Bina.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Hold. Do not move. Be quiet,” said Desmond of Harfax. “I do not think she sees us.”
Four days later we were much closer to the Crag of Kleinias. The men had speculated we might reach it by noon, tomorrow.
“From here,” said Trachinos, shading his eyes, “she looks like a nice one. I like them camisked.”
I saw her in the distance, stumbling, trying to run.
She frequently turned, and looked behind her.
“I think she is weak,” said Master Desmond. “I think she is tired, and hungry. She may not have eaten in two or three days. She has probably been trying to hide.”
“She should be apprehended, and punished, terribly,” said Trachinos.
“Perhaps for a time she was not missed,” said Astrinax.
“It seems she now fears herself pursued,” said Desmond.
“I think she has been flushed,” said Lykos.
“I think so,” said Astrinax.
“If sleen are on her,” said Lykos, “she is caught.”
“I see no sleen,” said Trachinos.
“Others,” said the Lady Bina, observing the approaching figure, small in the distance, stumbling, seemingly forcing itself to move, “can trail nearly as well as a sleen.”
“She is coming this way,” said Lykos.
“She will run into our arms,” said Trachinos.
“That,” said Master Desmond to me, pointing, “is a runaway slave.”
“Yes, Master,” I said, frightened.
I thought there was little doubt about that. She was closer now. She was alone, distraught, apprehensive.
“She is a fool,” he said.
“Perhaps she is frightened,” I said.
“There is no escape for the female slave,” said Desm
ond of Harfax. “I trust you know that, pretty Allison.”
“Yes, Master,” I said. “That is known to me.”
“What a fool she is,” said Desmond of Harfax, regarding the pathetic, approaching figure.
“Perhaps she was frightened, terribly frightened,” I said.
“She has good legs,” said Trachinos. “Perhaps she will not be killed.”
The slave running toward us had her head muchly down, and turned, frequently, to look behind her. Suddenly, she lifted her head, and saw us, and stopped, and cried out, piteously, half fell, and then turned, and fled to the side.
“Bring her in,” said Astrinax, and Trachinos and Akesinos darted from our side in pursuit of the fair quarry.
In a matter of moments they returned with the slave, one on each side, holding an arm. She struggled weakly, futilely. Her hair was about her face. Then they flung her to her knees before Astrinax.
She looked up.
“You are caught, girl,” said Astrinax.
There was a dark collar on her neck, of a sort with which I was not familiar.
“I know this slave!” I exclaimed.
She shook her head negatively.
“Who is she?” asked Desmond of Harfax.
“I am Mina, Mina!” she cried.
“Who is she?” Desmond of Harfax asked again.
“Mina,” I said.
The slave sobbed, and drew in a deep breath.
“How do you know her?” asked Desmond of Harfax.
“We were sold together, in the same auction, in the Metellan district in Ar,” I said. “Too, I met her in Ar, near the fountain of Aiakos. She is a state slave.”
“State slaves are not camisked,” said Astrinax.
“What is she doing here?” asked Desmond.
“Speak,” said Trachinos.
“I was a state slave, in Ar,” she said. “Each month there is an auction of selected state slaves in Ar. I was purchased, with three others, by Pausanias of Ar, and brought in caravan to the Voltai.”
“For what purpose?” asked Astrinax.
“To serve, to serve!” she said.
“Why are you camisked?” asked Astrinax.
“It is how we are kept,” she said
The common slave garment is a brief tunic, of which there are several sorts. Some masters camisk their slaves. Others give them less, and others nothing.
