“It must be very important,†I said.
“No,†she said, quickly, moving in the chains, drawing back, “No. No.â€
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“Then its loss will be negligible,†I said.
“The materials will be meaningless to you!†she cried. “They will mean nothing
to you!â€
“Where are they from?†I asked.
“From Brundisium,†she said.
“Who are they from?†I asked.
“From Belnar, my Ubar,†she said. I assumed that was a lie. Presumably there was
no Belnar who was a Ubar in Brundisium. Still, I did recall that she had
referred to a “Belnar†at yesterdays rendezvous with Flaminius.
“And you were to deliver them to Flaminius?†I asked.
“Yes,†she said. “Yes!â€
“And what is he supposed to do with them?†I asked.
“He is to deliver them to the appropriate parties in Ar,†she said.
“In Ar?†I asked.
“Yes,†she said.
That surprised me. I wondered if she knew the true destination of the materials.
I assumed they must actually be transmissions to the Sardar. Presumably it was
merely her intention to mislead me.
“they are state papers,†she said. “They must now fall into the wrong hands!†I
assumed they were not state papers, of course. On the other hand, I was prepared
to believe that they had their origin in Brundisium, and that there was some
fellow named Belnar associated with them. He would be, I supposed, an agent of
Priest-Kings. I was curious. I considered waiting for Flaminius and his men. Yet
I had no special wish to kill them and particularly if they were agents of
Priest-Kings. I had already killed one fellow who, I took it, was an agent of
Priest-Kings, the fellow, Babinius, in Port Kar. I had once served Priest-Kings.
I did not wish now, whatever might be their current attitudes toward me, to make
a practice of dropping their agents. To be sure, I did not know for certain that
this Belnar, and Flaminius, the Lady Yanina, and those associated with them were
agents of Kurii.
“Do you serve Priest-Kings?†I asked the Lady Yanina.
“I do not understand,†she said.
“Do you serve Beasts?†I asked.
“I do not understand,†she said.
“Whom do you serve?†I asked.
“Belnar,†she said, “my ubar, Ubar of Brundisium.â€
“Why should this Belnar, whom I do not know, supposedly the Ubar of Brundisium,
a city with which I have never had
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dealings, find me of such interest? Why should he send a killer against me, or
desire my apprehension?â€
“I do not know,†she said.
I smiled.
“I do not!†she said.
It could be, of course, that she, for all her beauty, was only a lowly counter
in an intricate, complex game beyond her understanding. She might not even know,
ultimately, whether she served Priest-Kings, or Kurii. That was an interesting
thought.
“I am going now,†I said.
“Don’t go!†she cried.
“On the other hand, I recommend that you remain where you are, waiting for
Flaminius.â€
She shook the chains, in helpless frustration.
“He will be along shortly,†I assured her.
“Leave the packet!†she begged.
“Do you beg it, naked, on your knees, chained, as might a slave?†I asked.
“Yes!†she cried. “I beg it on my knees, naked, in chains, as might a slave!â€
“Interesting,†I said.
“Leave it,†she begged.
“No,†I said.
She looked a me, aghast.
“But you did beg prettily,†I said, “and had the matter been otherwise, for
example, had you been begging to serve my pleasure, I would truly have been
tempted to give you a more favorable response.â€
“I am a free woman,†she said. “How can you, a free man, deny me anything I
want?â€
“Easily,†I said.
She looked at me, angrily.
“Many free women believe they can have anything they want, merely by asking for
it, or demanding it,†I said, “but now you see that that is not true, at least
not in a world where there are true men.â€
She shook the chains in frustration. “You make me as helpless and dependent on
you as a slave!†she cried.
“Yes,†I said.
“Wait!†she said.
“Yes,†I said, turning.
“What will they do with me?†she asked.
“I do not know,†I said.
“Belnar will not be pleased,†she said. “In Brundisium we
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do not look lightly on failure. AT the least I shall be considerably reduced in
rank. I will be denied the use of footwear. My pretty clothes will be taken
away. I will be permitted only plain robes, and shortened so that my calves may
be seen by men. I may even be forced to go publicly face-stripped. I may even be
expelled from the palace. It could even mean the collar for me!â€
I wondered if she were truly of the household of the palace. If so, perhaps this
Belnar might be a resident of the palace. Perhaps he was an official or minister
of some sort in the government of Brundisium. It did not seem to me likely that
he would be the Ubar of Brundisium. So important a personage as a Ubar would not
be likely to have much of an interest in a captain of Port Kar. On the other
hand, I supposed it was possible. He might, I supposed, be both a Ubar and an
agent of Priest-Kings, or of Kurii. If he were indeed so prominent then it
seemed to me more likely that he might serve Kurii than Priest-Kings. The
Priest-Kings, at least on the whole, it seemed to me, seldom picked prominent,
conspicuous personages for their agents. Samos had been in their service before
he had become the first captain in the Council of Captains in Port Kar. Perhaps
then Flaminius and the Lady Yanina, and those associated with them, did serve
Kurii.
“I see then,†I said, “that you will have much to think about while awaiting the
arrival of Flaminius.â€
““Flaminius!†she laughed bitterly. “Dear Flaminius! He will shed few tears, I
assure you, over my plight!â€
“That would be my impression,†I said.
“He will find my downfall amusing, relishing it,†she said.
“Perhaps if your punishment is enslavement,†I said, “you might aspire to be one
of his girls.â€
“Perhaps,†she said, bitterly.
“He seems the sort of man who would know how to make a woman crawl beneath his
whip,†I said.
“That, too, is my understanding,†she said. “Wait! Wait!â€
But I had then withdrawn from the inn of Ragnar. Then I was making my way back
to her camp.
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6 I Renew an Acquaintance; I Am Considering Venturing to Brundisium
“Disgusting! Disgusting!†cried the free woman, one veiled and wearing the
robes of the scribes, standing in the audience. “Pull down your skirt, you
slave, you brazen hussy!â€
“Pray, do withdraw, noble sir, for you surprise me unawares, and of necessity I
must improvise some veiling, lest my features be disclosed,†cried the girl upon
the stage, Boots Tarsk-Bit’s current Brigella. I had seen her a few days earlier
in Port Kar.
“Pull down your skirt, slut!†cried the free woman in the audience.
“Be quiet,†said a free man to the woman. “It is only a play.â€
“Be silent yourself!†she cried back at him.
“Would that you were a slave,†he growled. “You would pay richly for your
impertinence.â€
“I am not a slave,†she said.
“Obviously,†he said.
“And I shall never be a slave,†she said.
“Do not be too sure of that,†he said.
“Beast,†she said.
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“I wonder if you would be any good chained in a tent,†he said.
“Monster!†she said.
“Let us observe the drama,†suggested another fellow.
“Though I be impoverished and am clad in rags, in naught but the meanness of
tatters,†said the Brigella to Boots Tarsk-Bit, he on the stage with her, he in
the guise of a pompous, puffing, lecherous merchant, “know, and know well, noble
sir, that I am a free woman!â€
This announcement, predictably, was met with guffaws of laughter from the
audience.
“Take the scarf from about her throat!†hooted a ;man. “See if there is not a
steel collar beneath it!†On Gor, as I have perhaps mentioned, most of the
actresses are slaves. In serious drama or more sophisticated comedy, when women
are permitted roles within it, the female roles usually being played by men, and
the females are salves, their collars are sometimes removed. Before this is
done, however, usually a steel bracelet or anklet, locked, which they cannot
remove, is placed on them. In this way, they continue, helplessly, to wear some
token of bondage. This facilitates, in any possible dispute or uncertainty as to
their status or condition, a clear determination in the matter, by anyone, of
course, but in particular by guardsmen or magistrates, or otherwise duly
authorized authorities.
This custom tends to prevent inconvenience and possible embarrassment, for
example, the binding of the woman and the remanding of her to the attention of
free females, that she may be stripped and her body examined for the presence of
slave marks. In such an event, incidentally, it behooves the girl to swiftly and
openly confess her bondage. Free women despise slaves. They tend to treat them
with great cruelty and viciousness in general, and, in particular, they are not
likely to be pleasant with one who has been so bold as to commit the heinous
crime of impersonating one of them. There is no difficulty in locating or
recognizing the slave mark in a girl’s body. It, though small and tasteful, if
prominent in her flesh. It is easily located, perfectly legible and totally
unmistakable. It serves its identificatory purposes well. It, in effect, is part
of her. It is in her hide.
Normally when a girl plays upon the stage, even if she is nude, the brand is not
covered. Usually, if she is playing the role of a free woman it is simply “not
see,†so to speak, being ignored by the audience, in virtue of a Gorean
theatrical convention. If a great deal is being made of the freedom of the woman
in the play, as is not unusual in many dramas and farces,
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the brand is sometimes covered, as with a small, circular adhesive patch. The
removal of this patch, conjoined perhaps with a collaring, for example, may then
suggest that the female has now been suitably enslaved. The covering of the
brand, thereby suggesting that for the purposes of the play and the role it does
not exist, or does not yet exist, is another Gorean theatrical convention.
There are many such conventions. Carrying a tarn goad and moving about the stage
in a certain manner suggests that one is riding a tarn; a kaiila crop, or kaiila
goad, and a change of gait suggests that one is riding a kaiila; a branch on the
stage can stand for a forest or a bit of a wall for a city; standing on a box or
small table can suggest that the hero is viewing matters from the summit of a
mountain or from battlement; some sprinkled confetti can evoke a snow storm; a
walk about the stage may indicate a long journey, of thousands of pasangs; some
crossed poles and a silken hanging can indicate a throne room or the tent of a
general; a banner carried behind a “general†can indicate that he has a thousand
men at his back; a black cloak indicates the character is invisible, and so on.
“Are you truly free?†inquired Boots Tarsk-Bit, with exaggerated incredulity, in
the guise of the merchant, of his Brigella.
“Yes!†she cried, holding her skirt up about her face, it clenched n her small
fists, to veil herself with it. There was laughter then, doubtless not only at
the preposterousness of the situation but, too, at the incongruity of so obvious
a slave, such a lovely Brigella, enunciating such a line.
“Boots puffed across the stage, as though to obtain a better vantage point.
“Tal, noble sir,†she said.
“Tal, noble lady,†said he.
“Is anything wrong?†she inquired.
“I would say that there is very little wrong, if anything,†he said.
“Have you never seen a free woman before?†she asked.
“This farce is an insult to free women!†cried the free woman in the audience,
she in the blue of the scribes.
“Have you never seen a free woman before?†repeated the Brigella.
“Generally I do not see so much of them,†Boots admitted, as the merchant.
“I see,†said the Brigella.
“Often not half so much,†said Boots.
“Insulting!†cried the free woman.
“But I expect I see more of you than most,†he said.
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“Insulting! Insulting!†cried the free woman.
“Are you dismayed that I do not receive you properly?†asked the Brigella.
“I should be pleased,†Boots assured her, “if it were your intention to receive
me at all, either properly or improperly.â€
“What lady could do otherwise?†she inquired.
“Indeed!†Boots cried enthusiastically.
“I mean, of course,†she said, “that I apologize for having to veil myself so
hastily, making such swift and resourceful use of whatever materials might be at
hand.â€
“I effect nothing critical,†he assured her.
“Then you do not think the less of me?†she asked.
&n
bsp; “No, I admire you. I admire you!†he said, admiring her.
“And thus,†she said, “do we free women show men our modesty.â€
“And you have a very lovely modesty,†affirmed Boots, admiringly.
“Oh!†she cried, suddenly, as though in the most acute embarrassment, and,
crouching down, hastily pulled her skirt down about her ankles.
“I thought you were a free woman,†exclaimed Boots.
“I am!†she cried. “I am!â€
“And you go face-stripped before a strange man?†he inquired.
“Oh!†she cried, miserably, leaping up, once more pulling her skirt up, high
about her face, using it once more to conceal her features.
“Ah!†cried Boots, appreciatively.
“Oh!†she cried in misery, thrusting her skirt down as though in great
embarrassment.
“Face-stripped!†cried Boots, as though scandalized.
Up went the skirt.
“Ah!†cried Boots. “Ah!â€
“What is a poor girl to do!†cried the Brigella. “What is a poor girl to do!â€
The skirt’s hem, clutched in her small hands, she moaning with misery and
frustration, leapt up and down, again and again, in ever-shortening cycles until
she held it, frustratedly, between her bosom and throat. In this fashion, of
course, to the amusement of most of the crowd, it concealed neither her
“modesty,†so to speak, nor her features.
It must be understood, of course, to fully appreciate what was going on, that
the public exposure of the features of a free
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woman, particularly on of high caste, or with some pretense to position or
status, is a socially serious matter in many Gorean localities. Indeed, in some
cities an unveiled free woman is susceptible to being taken into custody by
guardsmen, then to be veiled, by force if necessary, and publicly conducted back
to her home. Indeed, in some cities she is marched back to her home stripped,
except for the face veil which has been put on her. In these cases a crowd
usually follows, to see to what home it is that she is to be returned. Repeated
offenses in such a city usually result in the enslavement of the female. Such
serious measures, of course, are seldom required to protect such familiar Gorean
Norman, John - Gor 20 - Players of Gor.txt Page 17
