stain was then gone. The original reagent was then again tried, to check the erasure. There was no reaction. The chemical brand, marking me for the agents with whom the Lady Elicia, my mistress, was associated, was gone. The physician then, with the second fluid, again cleaned my arm, removing the residue of the second application of the reagent.
The men looked at one another, and smiled.
My left wrist was again locked in its wrist ring.
'Am I free of the pox, Masters?' I asked.
'Yes,' said the physician.
The tall man removed a marking stick from his pouch and, on the interior of the left shoulder, on its softness, of the auburn-haired girl, wrote a word. 'Your name is Narla,' he said. That was the word, I gathered, which he wrote on her shoulder. 'Yes, Master,' she said. Then he turned to me and, with the same marking stick, wrote on the interior of my left shoulder. 'You are the girl, Yata,' he said. 'Yes, Master,' I said. I gathered it was this name which he had written on my body. The stain of the marking stick would last until it was washed off.
The men then rose to their feet and left the room. They met the merchant by the door.
'There are penalties for this sort of thing,' the tall man warned the merchant.
'Please, Masters,' whined the merchant.
'Do you have more gold?' asked the tall man.
'Yes, yes, Masters!' cried the merchant.
Then the door closed and, again, we were left in the darkness. I could still feel the press of the marking stick in my flesh. I gathered that a name had been written there, the name 'Yata.' I was Yata.
'What is your name?' asked the man of the auburn-haired girl.
'Narla,' she said, 'if it pleases Master.'
'It is acceptable,' he said.
'What is your name?' asked the man of me.
'Yata,' I said, 'if it pleases Master.'
'It is acceptable,' he said.
'I had them from the fine slaver, Alexander of Teletus,' said the merchant, 'but their papers were lost in transit.'
'I will take them both,' said the man. He did not much haggle over price. Soon Narla and I, sharing a common neck leash, two collars, with a strap with center grip, stood outside the long, low room, in the corridor. The leash dangled between us, depending from our leather collars. Our hands were braceleted behind our backs.
'Is it a long voyage to Telnus, Master?' I asked.
'You little fool,' he said, 'you are in Telnus.'
'Why have you bought us, Master?' I asked.
'To work in my establishment as paga girls,' he said.
Narla groaned.
I smiled. 'And what is the name of your establishment, Master, if a girl may ask?'
'It is the finest in all Telnus,' he said.
'Yes, Master? I asked.
'It is called the Chatka and Curla,' he said.
'Thank you, Master,' I said.
The hood and cloak was then tossed over Narla. The hood was brought about and fastened under her chin, effectively hooding her. She would thus not know from what establishment she had been taken. The lower portion of the cloak was then snapped under her chin, below the leash. The cloak, which was brief, had four circled oval cutouts. It was a tantalizing garment. There was writing on the cloak. I had little doubt but what it advertised the Chatka and Curla. I, too, was then hooded and cloaked. I could see nothing within the hood. I could feel the cloak brief on my thighs. I could sense the air through the cutouts. Then I began to walk, responding to the leash of the master.
I was in Telnus.
18
The Slave Sack
I moved carefully, the tray over my head, between the tables.
The Chatka and Curla is a large paga tavern. It is built on four levels, a large, open court, wooden floored, an encircling dais, some twenty feet deep, and, over the dais, two encircling balconies, each some ten feet deep.
We were crowded tonight.
The tavern is dimly lit, by wagon lanterns, paneled with red glass, which hang on chains from the ceilings and balconies.
The crowd was boisterous.
I made my way toward the second balcony. I brushed against other girls, and customers, coming and going on the wooden ramps; I managed the tray with care; it is not well to drop a tray; many girls worked at the Chatka and Curla, more than one hundred; I climbed carefully; the ramps have raised, slatted ridges; these are spaced some twenty inches apart, for better footage.
I heard a girl scream in one of the alcoves.
The red cord, or Curla, was knotted about my waist, tightly, the knot, a slip knot which might be loosened with a single tug, over my left hip. Over the Curla in front, slipping under the body and between the legs, and passing over the Curla in the back, was the Chatka, or narrow strip of black leather, some six inches in width, some five feet or so in length; it was drawn tight; when a girl wears the Curla and Chatka, the brand, whether on left or right thigh, is fully visible, for the inspection of masters. I also wore a brief, open, sleeveless vest of black leather, the Kalmak; a patron parted it, holding it open, as I tried to move past him on the ramp; I stood, quietly, stopped helplessly, the tray held over my head; he kissed me twice; 'Little beauty,' he said; 'A girl would rejoice if she were permitted to please you in an alcove,' I said; it was a line taught us, and expected of us, but I uttered it not without some genuine sincerity; he had had me before, several days ago, when first I had been sent out upon the floor of the Chatka and Curla; he well knew how to get much from the helpless beauty of a slave girl; 'Later,' he said, «Slave»; 'Yes, Master,' I whispered; I continued on my way; in addition to the Curla, the Chatka and Kalmak, I was belled and collared, in a black, enameled ankle ring, with five, black, enameled bells, on tiny golden chains, and a black, enameled Turian collar, it, too, with five bells, black and enameled, on five tiny golden chains. My hair had begun to grow out, from having been shaved away for the voyage on the slave ship, but it was still quite short; I wore a broad Koora, which, kerchieflike, covered most of my head. When I had come to the Chatka and Curla I, and Narla, too, had been dipped and scrubbed, to clear us of ship lice and the residues of filth accumulated from the voyage and our consequent captivity; the dip was of water saturated with chemicals toxic to ship lice; we did not open our eyes or mouth when held under by the girls cleaning us; they controlled us by a clamp placed on the right ear lobe; later we were permitted to bathe ourselves; few baths in my life had I appreciated more than that one.
'Paga!' cried a man.
'I shall tell a girl, Master,' I said, passing him on the first balcony, making my way to the second, which was the fourth level of the tavern.
On the ramp to the high balcony I passed Naria, returning from that level.
'The man at Table Six on the first balcony wants paga,' I said, 'Slave.'
'Fetch it yourself,' she said, 'Slave.'
'I am occupied,' I said, 'Slave.'
'Too bad,' she said, 'Slave.'
'He has a whip,' I said, 'Slave.'
