there.
Strabo, assistant to Aurelion of Cos, leaped upon him, and was struck back. Clitus Vitellius looked about himself wildly.
'Seize him!' I cried.
Two of the men who worked within the tavern hurried toward the gate. Men leaped up from tables.
Clitus Vitellius turned to the double gate and tore at the bars, but could not fling them hack, for the bolts had slipped into place.
A man leaped on him and he shook him off. He bent to Strabo, to rip the keys from his belt. There were many keys. He cut with the keys, holding their ring, at the face of the second man of the tavern, who fell screaming, bloodied, reeling back. He slashed about him with the keys, long and heavy on their thick ring, some six inches in width. A man leaped at him, low, seizing his legs. Two others leaped bodily upon him. They struggled. Then two others sped to him, and then there was a sword at his chest, where the tunic of the sailor had been torn away. Four men held him, back against the bars of the gate. Aurelion of Cos rushed forward. 'What is going on here?' he demanded.
I pointed to the powerful, bloodied captive.
'He is Clitus Vitellius of Ar,' I cried. 'He is a captain of Ar!'
'A spy!' cried a man.
'Kill the spy!' cried another.
'He says he is Tij Rejar, an oarsman of Tyros, but he is of Ar, of the Warriors! He is Clitus Vitellius! He is of Ar! He is a captain!'
Aurelion looked at me. 'It would not be well for you, Slave,' said he, 'to be mistaken in this matter.'
'I am not mistaken, Master,' I said.
'Who are you?' asked Aurelion.
Suddenly I was frightened, If his identity were sufficiently well established so as to truly appear an oarsman from Tyros it might not go well for me. I might be boiled alive in the oil of tharlarion. I began to sweat.
'I scorn to conceal my identity from those of Cos,' he said. 'I am Clitus Vitellius, a captain of Ar.'
I laughed with pleasure. 'See!' I cried.
'Bring chains,' said Aurelion.
Clitus Vitellius looked at me. I shrank back. Chains were placed upon him.
'He is securely manacled,' said Strabo, whose face was swollen as a consequence of the blow of Clitus Vitellius.
Ankle chains were then placed, too, upon the warrior of Glorious Ar, and a chain ran, too, from his wrists to the chain on his ankles.
A collar, with two guide chains, one on each side, was fastened on his neck.
'Kill the spy,' said a man.
'No,' said Aurelion. 'We will take him to the magistrates.'
The double gate was unlocked by Strabo, who had recovered his keys. Four men made ready to conduct Clitus Vitellius from the tavern.
'It is the heavy galleys for spies,' said one man.
'Better to kill him now,' said a man.
'No,' said Aurelion, 'conduct him to the magistrates. They will have much sport with him before he is chained to a bench.'
The heavy galleys were round ships, large ships, which usually carried bulk goods, such as lumber and stone. It was usually impractical to employ free oarsmen on such ships.
Clitus Vitellius looked once more upon me. I saw that he was securely chained.
I approached him. 'Ho, Clitus Vitellius,' I said. 'It seems you now wear chains like a slave.'
He did not speak tome.
'You will soon be slave in the heavy galleys,' I said. I posed before him, as a slave girl, opening my silk. Men laughed. 'Look well, Master,' I said, 'for there are few girls in the rowing holds.' I turned before him, and again faced him. 'Do not forget Yata, Master,' I said. 'Remember it was she who put you in chains, who puts you upon the bench of the galleys!'
He regarded me, not speaking.
I went to him and, suddenly, with all my might, slapped him. He scarcely moved.
'The vengeance of a girl,' I said, 'is not a light thing.'
'Neither,' said he, looking at me, 'is the vengeance of a warrior.'
I shrank back, frightened.
'Take him away,' said Aurelion.
Clitus Vitellius was conducted from the tavern.
'You did well, Slave Girl,' said Aurelion.
'Thank you, Master,' I said. Then, suddenly, I knelt before him. I had rendered great service to the state of Cos. 'Free me, Master,' I begged.
'Bring a whip,' said Aurelion to Strabo.
'No, please, Master!' I cried.
'Put her at the slave ring,' said Aurelion, 'and give her ten lashes, and then throw her a pastry. She has done well.'
'I shall, Aurelion,' said Strabo.
In moments I knelt at the slave ring, my small wrists crossed and bound to it, the silk pulled away from me, down about my calves. I was struck ten times, and then released. A pastry was thrown to the floor before me. 'You did well, Slave Girl,' said Strabo. 'Thank you, Master,' I whispered. I reached for the pastry. The whip stayed my hand. 'Forgive me, Master,' I said. I took the pastry in my mouth.
'Chain her in the kennels,' said Aurelion.
On my hands and knees, as a punished slave girl, holding the pastry in my mouth, I crawled from the floor to the kennels, followed by Strabo. There, at the concrete wall, on my blankets, I lay down. The chain and collar was fastened on my neck. Strabo left. I took the pastry in my hands, and began to eat it. What a fool I had been to beg my freedom. I had only to look in a mirror to see that I would never be free on Gor. I lay in the darkness of the long kennel, on my blankets, in my place, chained by the neck. I was a Gorean slave girl. Then I cried out with anguish, weeping, and hurled the pastry from me. I pounded at the concrete beneath the blankets. I wept. I had betrayed Clitus Vitellius, my master!
Strabo, accompanied by Narla, approached me. He poked me with a whip. 'Be quiet,' he said. She carried a lamp. She was eating the pastry which I had discarded. Strabo unlocked the collar on my neck. 'There is a sailor here,' said he, 'who is drunk, from the Cords of Tharna, who is calling for you.'
'Yes, Master,' I said.
I recalled the fellow who had had the red-haired girl who had bested me in combat on the wharf. I had said to him that I could please him more than she. He had now, apparently, come to the Chatka and Curla, calling for me.
'Please do not make me serve,' I begged.
'Narla,' said he, 'will help you ready yourself. Be quick.'
'Do you want some pastry?' asked Narla holding a piece out to me.
'No,' I said. I looked up at Strabo. 'I betrayed Clitus Vitellius of Ar,' I wept.
'You did well,' he said. 'Now hurry.'
'Please, Master!' I begged.
He struck down with the lash and I cried out in pain. 'I hurry!' I wept. 'I hurry!'
I fled from the kennel, followed by Narla, to the room of preparation.
I could hear the fellow on the floor calling for me.
21
