hand, when she had come earlier to the building. He tied this, snugly, on her collar. She looked back at us, frightened. Then she was thrust stumbling though the outside door, and into the street.
I stood up, near the table. 'I shall see you, then, tomorrow evening,' I said.
'Bring with you,' said Shaba, 'the false ring and the notes.'
'And you,' I said, 'do not neglect to bring the genuine ring with you.'
'I shall have it with me,' he averred. I did not doubt it.
Msaliti, to one side, had begun his transformation into the beggar, Kunguni. He had already slipped the padded hump beneath his tunic and adjusted the straps by which it was held in place. He was now, at a mirror, with paste and ocher, attending to the matter of the simulated scar.
'What of this slave?' I asked Msaliti, indicating the blond-haired barbarian.
Msaliti shrugged. 'She Is now worthless to us,' he said.
'What did you pay Uchafu for her?' I asked.
'Five silver tarsks,' he said.
'I will give you six,' I said.
'She is hot,' admitted Msaliti.
'Have you subjected her to rape test? I asked.
'No,' said he. 'Only to the touch of the owner's hands.'
'That is usually a reliable test,' I said.
'I will take six tarsks for her,' said he, 'if you are serious in the matter.'
I gave Msaliti six silver tarsks for the girl. She was then mine. In the situation, as I assessed it, either she should have been given to me, upon my expression of interest, or I should have paid something for her in increments of silver tarsks, something over the price Msaliti had paid. Things turned out much as I had expected. I did not think Msaliti, truly, whom I took to be a shrewd, clever fellow, and one concerned with matters of wealth and power, would wish to give a girl away. Too, since he had paid for her in silver tarsks he would wish to sell her in the same denomination and, presumably, at some profit. My offer of six seemed perfect. It permitted him to satisfy his sense of venality and yet not appear excessively mercenary. Had I tried to obtain her for less than six tarsks or he tried to obtain more for her I think the situation could have become unpleasant.
Msaliti, his scar now affixed, and his disguise intact, bent down and removed the shackles from the blond barbarian's ankles. He then removed the collar from her and, with it, the rope which had tethered her to the wall. He then jerked her to her feet and unbound her hands. He then thrust her stumbling, blindfolded and naked, but otherwise unbound, to me. She stood against me, clutching me, frightened.
'I now own you,' I said.
'Yes, Master,' she said.
She lifted her hands to remove the blindfold.
'Do not remove the blindfold,' I told her.
'Yes, Master,' she said, her lip trembling.
'You may have the blindfold,' smiled Msaliti. 'Keep her in it until she is well away from here.'
'Very well,' I said. He did not wish her, of course, to be able to find her way again to this place.
'You are not to touch the blindfold without permission,' I told her.
'Yes, Master,' she said, standing quietly beside me. So simply, she a slave had been placed in the shackles of my will.
'Until tomorrow night,' said Msaliti, lifting his hand.
'Until tomorrow night,' I said.
He then left.
'We are now alone.' I said to Shaba. The presence of the girl, of course, did not count. She was a slave.
'Yes,' said Shaba, rising from behind the table.
I measured the distance to him.
'Who are you truly?' he asked.
'I think,' I said, 'you have the ring upon you, and would not leave it elsewhere.'
'You are a shrewd man,' said Shaba. He lifted his left hand, on the first finger of which was a fang ring. He folded his left hand into a fist and, with his thumb, pressed a tiny switch on the ring. The fang, of hollow steel, springing up, was then exposed.
'It contains kanda?' I asked.
'Yes,' said he.
'It will do you little good,' I said, 'if you cannot strike me with it.'
'A scratch will be sufficient,' he said.
'One must, upon occasion, take risks,' I said.
'I think I may easily multiply the risks,' said he. He reached into his robes with his right hand. In a moment he had seemed to swirl and then, the light-diversion field activated, had vanished from my view.
'Tomorrow,' I said, 'I shall bring the false ring and. the notes.'
'Excellent,' said Shaba. 'I think that we now understand one another quite well.'
'Yes,' I said.
'It is a pleasure to do business with such an honest fellow,' he said.
'I entertain a similar sentiment toward yourself,' I said.
I then turned about and, taking the slave girl by the arm, left the room.
Soon I was in the street, outside.
13
I Return To The Golden Kailiauk
'Do not fear,' I said to Pembe. 'It was only a passing indisposition.'
His hands shook.
'Look,' I said. 'See. I do not have the plague.'
'Your skin,' said he, 'is truly clear, and, too, your eyes.'
'Of course,' I said.
'You are well?' he asked, uncertainly.
'Of course,' I said.
'Welcome to the Golden Kailiauk,' he said, relieved. 'I shall return to the counter in a moment,' I said. I went to the wall against which I had placed the blond-haired barbarian. I had told her to put her belly and the palms of her hands, lifted, against the wall. She remained, of course, as I had placed her.
'Kneel here,' I said to her. 'Back on your heels,' I said to her.
She did so, by the wall.
'Now grip your ankles in your hands,' I said, 'and put your head down.'
'Yes, Master,' she said.
'And do not break that position.' I said, 'until given permission.'
'Yes, Master,' she said. 'Master!' she said.
'Yes,' I said.
She spoke with her bead down, her ankles gripped.
'Who are you?' she said. 'Who owns me!'
'Be silent,' I said.
'Yes, Master,' she said.
I then returned to the counter. 'Do you have a white-skinned paga slave here,' I asked, 'a barbarian girl?'
'Yes,' he said. 'I obtained one only tonight, for four tarsks. I have not yet even put her on the floor.'
'I threw him a copper tarsk. 'Paga,' I said, 'and the slave.'
