heartless, that some are inflexible and cruel. And the coins of such men, of
course, have as much buying power as those of anyone else. In fact, sometimes I
have suspected that slavers enjoy throwing a girl who is still proud, or who has
given them some difficulties, into such clutches. Sometimes after only a week in
the power of such brutes a girl is almost willing to give her life to achieve a
kind word, or a (pg.406) moment of intimacy. She is then ready to be a slave
fully. The slave may be given more or less leash, as seems fitting, but she must
always understand that it can be shortened at a moment’s notice, and that the
whip is always ready.
“How proud I was as a free woman!†she said, shuddering.
“You are no longer a free woman,†I said.
“And even a moment ago,†she said, “I, as a slave, dared to question your usage
of me!â€
“That is more serious,†I said.
“How proud I was!†she exclaimed. “Punish me!â€
“No,†I said.
“I was not pleasing!†she said.
“Do not concern yourself with the matter,†I said. To be sure, had I taken
offense, I would have seen to it that she was much concerned with the matter.
“In the cell, the day you escaped,†she said, smiling, “do you remember how you
lay over me, covering my body with your own.â€
“Yes,†I said.
“I thought you were trying to protect me, like a gentleman,†she laughed.
“I was protecting you,†I said.
“But you used me!†she laughed.
“Yes,†I said.
“For behind!†she said.
“That was natural,†I said, “as we were lying, as I was protecting you.â€
“I was so surprised,†she said.
“You were only a naïve free woman then,†I said.
“But I was a free woman!†she said.
“True,†I said.
“Yet you used me so, in spite of the fact that I was a free woman!â€
“Of course,†I said.
“How could you dare to do so?†she asked.
“It was easy,†I said.
“Undoubtedly,†she said.
“Also you were convenient, in that position,†I said.
“I see,†she said.
I lay back, looking up at the stars. The sail was furled. We were using the
current to proceed downstream.
(pg.407) “I think you used me to relieve your tensions,†she said.
“Oh?†I said.
“Yes,†she said, chidingly, cuddling up to me. “I have heard men talking about
such things. Some use their slave girls, before battle, to relieve their
tensions. I think you used me merely to relax yourself before the door to the
cell was opened.â€
“Merely?†I asked.
“Yes!†she pouted.
“Do not underestimate yourself,†I said.
“Master!†she laughed, kissing me.
“On your stomach,†I said.
She obeyed immediately, unquestionly. “I love being a slave,†she said, “and
serving!â€
We heard a fellow stirring about, on the deck.
“It is my keeper,†she said, clinging to me. “He will put me below, in the
hold!â€
“Yes,†I said.
“Can you not keep me a little longer in your arms?†she asked, anxiously.
“A moment longer,†I said.
“Oh!†she said, softly.
Then I stood up, drawing my tunic about me.
She then half sat, half knelt, the chain depending from her collar, her head
down.
I buckled the sword belt about me.
She looked up at me, reproachfully.
“Do you object?†I asked.
“No, Master,†she said, quickly, kneeling. But her hands were on the chain
depending from her collar. She drew on it a little. It was on her.
“How is she?†asked the fellow, coming up on us.
Immediately, before her keeper, she put her head down to the deck.
“Excellent,†I said.
“Master,†she said, timidly, not daring to raise her head, “may I speak?â€
“Yes,†he said.
“Publia, slave, has told Claudia, slave, that we are to be put at the prow. May
Claudia inquire of master if it be true?â€
“It is true,†he said.
(pg.408) She raised her head a little, timidly. “May Claudia inquire how it is
to be done?â€
“We use a harness of chains and leather,†he said. “The female is absolutely
helpless, but is beautifully displayed.â€
“Does it hurt?†she asked.
“No,†he said.
“I do not know hot to be displayed at the prow,†she said.
“Do you not think the chains and leather will take care of that matter?†he
asked.
“But I mean with respect to my own appearance,†she said.
“You will be naked, of course,†he said.
“Yes, Master,†she said, in misery, teased.
The fellow laughed. “There are many different ways,†he said. “Free captures are
often encouraged to volubly bemoan their fate, to appear tragically sorrowful,
to beg mercy and lenience, to cover their bodies with tears, and so on, as they
are carried helplessly into bondage. This is amusing to the crowds at the piers.
They are then marched through the streets, to the house of one slaver or
another.â€
“Much depends,†she said, “on who has contracted for captures in advance?â€
“Usually,†he said.
“Seasoned slaves, on the other hand,†he said, “usually appear pleased, even
elated and joyful, and, if they do not appear so readily, they usually soon do
so, once again encouraged. Sometimes the woman is required to appear proud, even
contemptuous, for there are then fellows who will, so to speak, lie in wait for
her at her sale, and bid high for her, hoping to bring her within the scope of
their power, to get her, who was proud and contemptuous, into their collar. She
will not remain proud and contemptuous for long. Other women are encouraged to
appear terrified, or fearful. Fear in a woman is stimulating to a male and also
to the female, making her more desperate to please, more eager to feel, more
zealous to yield satisfactorily. These, and various other attitudes, may be
required of women at the prow.â€
“And if they are not properly exhibited, or exhibited to the satisfaction of
masters.†She said, “then the women receive encouragement?â€
(pg.409) “Yes,†he said.
“And may I inquire the nature of this encouragement?†she asked.
“The women at the prow,†he said, “are suspended within reach of a slave whip.â€
“I see,†she said. The chain trembled, moving in the staple welded to the
collar.
Usually, as far as I knew, the placing of women at the prow was not attended by
such considerations. For example, when I had put women at my own prow, from time
to time, I had usually let them behave or appear in any fashion they pleased. It
was enough for me, and, I suppose, for them, that they were at the prow,
displayed and helpless. Still, it was an intriguing idea, instructing them in
the behavior they were to exhibit at the prow. In such a manner one might,
rather as if decorating the ship in a certain way, say, with bunting and
garlands, exercise more control over the impression one created in entering the
harbor.
Too, of course, one might by such a device ready the crowds for bidding on a
certain female, raise up her price, and so on. Certainly it was no secret that
slavers, particularly in the more expensive houses, occasionally planned the
sale of women in great detail, carefully regulating the order, arrangement,
style, pacing and presentation of the goods, sometimes, in effect, even
choreographing or staging the sale. But even without special attentions the
behavior of women at prows varied considerably, from such things as free women
hysterically writhing and screaming in their bonds to saucy slave girls
exchanging quips with the crowd. Sometimes, indeed, a girl would single out a
desirable male in the crowd and signal to him in no uncertain manner that she
begs to wear his collar, and that she wants only the opportunity to become for
him a dream of love and pleasure.
“And may Claudia inquire as to what behaviors may be required of herself and
Publia?†she asked.
“I do not know what the captain will decide,†he said. “I suppose that perhaps,
as you are slaves, but new slaves, it might be required that you adopt an
attitude of apprehensive ambiguity, of informed trepidation, of fearful
uncertainty, as you have some concept of what it is to be a slave, and are being
carried into a new bondage.â€
(pg.410) “Yes, Master,†she said.
I supposed that even the most seasoned of slave girls must have some
apprehension every time she finds herself in a new bondage. After all, what does
she know of her new master? Very little, except that she is completely his, and
that he has total power over her.
“On your stomach, head down, over the ropes,†said the fellow to Claudia. She
turned about, instantly, an obedient slave. He then braceleted her hands behind
her back. He then thrust the heavy key he carried into the lock at the back of
her hinged collar, and dropped it to the side, near the ring, with the coil of
chain, on the deck. He then looked at her, braceleted and helpless. I left them
alone and went to the rail, on the starboard side, amidships. In a few Ihn he
brought her to the hatch, holding her by the arm. She looked at me, and then
lowered her eyes. He knelt her there and unfastened the lock on the hatch. He
opened the hatch, unbraceleted her, and indicated that she should descend into
the hold. She did so, carefully, holding to the sides of the ladderlike stairs.
She looked at me once more. Then she descended and he swung the heavy wooden
grating back in place and padlocked it shut.
After he had left I went and looked down through the grating, into the hold. By
means of the moonlight I could see a reticulated pattern of light and shadows
there, which fell across two girls, one Publia, sleeping, the other, Claudia,
still standing, near the bottom of the ladderlike stairs, who looked up at me.
Seeing my eyes on her, those of a free man, she knelt. I then turned away, and
went toward the prow. There, standing on the tiny bow deck, I looked downriver.
Tomorrow, in the afternoon, we were due to arrive at Port Cos.
24 Port Cos
(pg.411) “There,†said Calliodorus, standing on the bow deck, “is the pharos of
Port Cos.â€
Aemilianus, standing now, but supported by Surilius, was there with us. Others,
too, were about, such as the young warrior, Marcus, who had come days before to
Port Cos, to obtain succor for the besieged of Ar’s Station, and the young
crossbowman and his friend, so young, and yet men by battle.
We looked at the tall, cylindrical structure which lay on a promontory, at the
southwesternmost point of the harbor. It was perhaps one hundred and fifty feet
high. It tapered upward, and was perhaps some twenty feet in diameter at the
top. It was yellow and red, in horizontal sections, the colors of the Builders
and Warriors, the Builders the caste that had supervised its construction and
the Warriors the caste that maintained its facilities. It was as much a keep as
a landmark. At night, in virtue of fires and mirrors, it served as a beacon.
This morning a dispatch ship had been ushered through the advance ships,
bringing news of some sort to Calliodorus. He had shared this with Aemilianus,
it seemed. On the other hand, whatever might have been the contents of the
sealed leather cylinder delivered into this hands with signs and countersigns I
did not know. The dispatch ship had then hurried back, ahead of the flotilla, to
Port Cos.
Two narrow beams, with attachment points for tackle, lay (pg.412) at the sides
of the bow deck. There were mounts in which they could be inserted.
“I had never thought to come in this way to Port Cos,†said Aemilianus.
“Nor had I ever thought to go to Ar’s Station in the capacity as I did,†said
Calliodorus.
Some men began to attach tackle, chains and harness, to the two beams.
I glanced at the face of the young man, Marcus, who had brought the ships of
Port Cos, and, apparently, those of certain other towns, as well, to the aid of
Ar’s Station. His face seemed resolute, and grim. In his way, he was a hero, and
yet, for all he had done, he, and those with him, of Ar’s Station, were coming
to this town, once their greatest rival on the Vosk, as refugees, with little
more than the clothing on their backs. There was little left now of Ar’s
Station, I speculated. There were some men, and some women and children, and a
flag, that and little else. To be sure, the Home Stone, somewhere, supposedly,
survived. At least I hoped it did. That, to Goreans, would be extremely
important. It had apparently been sent southward toward Ar. I suspected that if
its departure from the city had been much delayed, perhaps even for a few days,
it would not have been sent toward Ar. I did not think that those of Ar’s
Station now bore those of Ar much love.
“Out oars!†called the oar master, from his place before the helmsmen, aft.
I heard the great. Counterweighted levers thrust through the thole ports. The
oarsmen of Port Cos were in their best today, their tunics bright, their leather
polished, their brimless, jaunty caps atilt on their heads. They were in high
spirits. They were nearing home. They would cut quite a figure with the lasses
of Port Cos, I was sure. Doubtless there would be crowds on the docks to welcome
them.
Among these, too, I was sure there would be many girls in brief tunics and
collars, waving an
d joyous, and not just girls released for the occasion from
the taverns and brothels either, but from the shops, and the laundries and
kitchens, and homes, for all over the city. Such makes a sailor’s return even
more joyous. Indeed, some of the girls would undoubtedly belong to one or
another of the oarsmen. They would (pg.413) this be eagerly, joyously welcoming,
almost beside themselves, not only returning heroes but their masters.
The slave girl within the city, incidentally, commonly receives a great deal of
freedom. She normally can do much what she wants, and go much where she wishes.
Her mobility and freedom in such respects is often much greater than that
accorded to free women. This freedom and mobility does not matter greatly, of
course, for she is branded and collared. To be sure, she is seldom allowed
outside the walls of a city unless she is in the company of a free person.
Similarly, if an appropriate free person is available, she must request
permission to leave the house. At this time, she will probably also have the Ahn
of her return specified for her. Similarly, if an appropriate free person is
available, she must report in to that person, when she returns. It is better for
her, incidentally, to report in before or at the time that has been specified
for her. It is sometimes amusing to see these girls hurrying to get home in
time. Many houses are strict about such matters. Being late can be a matter for
discipline.
“That is the pharos,†a mother told her child, holding him up to look.
The refugees, save for some of the men, were glad enough, I think, to see the
pharos, to know that the harbor of Port Cos was near. The harbor meant haven and
refuse for them. The nightmare of the siege was over.
There was pleasure in the eyes of the free women. I had seen that even the
briefly tunicked slave girls on deck, kneeling together amidships, properties of
various masters on board, were eager, happy and excited. Among them, with no
special sign of her status, as being the preferred slave of Aemilianus himself,
was Shirley, only one slave among others.
The two beams, by fellows of Port Cos, were put in the mounts, the chains and
harnesses pulled back inside, within the rail. They jutted out, on either side
of the sloping, concave bow.
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