She was, obviously, in complexion, coloration, refinement, figure and beauty,quite different from the other girls he had purchased. Perhaps he was a fellowwith wide divergence in his tastes.
'We have a bid on the slave of six nine,' said the auctioneer. With his foot hemoved her bound hands a bit upward on her back. He then stood with his rightboot on the small of her back. 'Six nine,' he said, looking at the fellow in thebroad-brimmed hat.
'Seven five,' said the fellow.
The auctioneer then removed his boot from the prone body of the slave and, bythe hair, pulled her up to her knees.
'Seven five,' said the fellow.
The auctioneer then, by the hair, pulled the girl to her feet. He then, with hisquirt, indicated that the girl should suck in her gut and lift her head. She didso.
'Very well,' said the fellow in the broad-brimmed hat. 'Seven eight.'
The auctioneer seemed hesitant.
'Seven nine, then,' said the fellow.
This, I took it, was the bid the auctioneer had been waiting for. It was an evensilver tarsk, or an even hundred copper tarsks, of the sort common in Kailiauk,figured in multiples of ten, over the earlier standing bid of six nine.
'Are there any other bids?' called the auctioneer. I sensed there would not beany. Too, I did not think the auctioneer expected any. To be sure, it wasdoubtless his business to inquire explicitly into the matter.
The girl trembled, her chin obediently high.
No more bids were forthcoming. No one, it seemed, cared to bid against thefellow in the broad-brimmed hat. I found this of interest. I had not found thissort of thing before in a Gorean market.
'Deliver her to the holding area,' said the auctioneer, addressing himself to anattendant near the foot of the block. The fellow, then, climbed to the height ofthe block. 'She is yours,' said the auctioneer to the man in the broad-brimmedhat. The attendant seized the girl by the arms. It was only then, I think, thatthe former Millicent Aubrey-Welles, from Pennsylvania, realized that she hadbeen sold. She was conducted from the surface of the block.
'That,' said the auctioneer, 'concludes the final auction of the evening. Permitme to remind you all that the market is not yet closed. It remains open foranother Ahn. Peruse now, if you would, in the time remaining before we close,the lovely morsels, dainties for your delectation, fastened on the slave platesto the sides. In a lesser house any one of them would doubtless be worthy thecentral block. Yet, here, in the house of Ram Seibar, in this house of prizesand bargains, no one of them is likely to cost you more than a silver tarsk!'
I glanced about, at the girls on the side blocks. A few pretended to brazenindifference. Most, however, only too obviously, were terrified. I think therewas not one among them who did not, now, understand that she was a slave. Ithink there was not one among them who did not now realize that she might soon,and totally, belong to a man.
'To the side blocks, please, Noble Sirs, ' invited the auctioneer, with anexpansive gesture of his open hand, 'to the side blocks!'
The men began to drift to the side blocks. Several went toward the block of thegirl with whom Ginger had spoken. She had looked well under the attendant'swhip. Several of the girls whimpered. A woman's first sale, I suspected, isoften the hardest.
'Come with me,' said the fellow in the broad-brimmed hat. He then turned about,and went through a side door.
Puzzled, I followed him.
On the other side of the door we found ourselves in a holding area, a long, shedlike structure ancillary to the main hall. It was wooden-floored and the narrowfloorboards were laid lengthwise. About every five feet a linear set of theseboards was painted yellow, thus, in effect, making long, yellow lines, parallelto the sides of the structure, on the floor. At the head and foot of theselines, also in yellow, were painted numbers.
On one of these lines, number six, there knelt, one behind the other, in tandemfashion, seven girls. They were barbarians, but they had been knelt in theposition of pleasure slaves, back on their heels knees wide, hands on theirthighs, backs straight, heads up.
You handled yourself well in the hall,' said the fellow to me. 'It is mysuspicion that you are no stranger to war.'
'I have fought,' I admitted.
'Are you a mercenary?' he asked.
'Of sorts,' I said.
'Why are you in Kailiauk?' he asked.
'I am here on business,' I said, warily.
'Are your pursuers numerous?' he asked.
'Pursuers?' I asked.
'You are doubtless in flight,' be said. 'Would you give me a hand with thesechains?' He then bent down and, from some things, his, I gathered, near onewall, he had picked up several loops of light chain, with spaced, attachedcollars. He slung these loops over his left shoulder and joined me, near thelast girl kneeling on the line.
He handed me a collar, at the chain's termination. I clasped it about the neckof the last girl on the line. It closed, locking, with a heavy metallic click.
'I am not in flight,' I said.
The girl whimpered, collared and on the chain.
'I see,' grinned the fellow.
'Why should you think I am in flight?' I asked.
'Skills such as yours,' he said, 'do not bring their highest prices in thevicinity of the perimeter.' He handed me another length of chain, with itscollar.
'Oh,' I said. I added the next girl to the chain. The collars had front and backrings, were hinged on the right and locked on the left. This is a familiar formof coffle collar. The lengths of chain between the collars were about three tofour feet long. Some were attached to the collar rings by the links themselves,opened and then reclosed about the rings, and some of them were fastened to thecollar rings by snap rings. Another common form of coffle collar has its hingein the front and closes behind the back of the neck, like the common slavecollar. It has a single collar ring usually on the right, through which,usually, a single chain is strung. Girls are spaced on such a chain, usually, bysnap rings. An advantage of the first sort of coffle arrangement is that thechain may, as girls are added or subtracted, be shortened or lengthened. Achain, which has been borne by fifty girls, would, of course, be impracticablyheavy for five or six. An advantage of the second arrangement is that girls canbe easily spaced on the chain, more or less closely together, and can beconveniently removed from, and added to, the chain. Which chaining arrangementis best for a given set of girls depends, of course, on the particularintentions and purposes of their master. The fellow in the broad-brimmed hat hadopted, of course, for the first arrangement. This suggested to me that heexpected girls, for one reason or another, to be subtracted from the chain.
'If you are not now in flight,' he said, 'I suggest that you consider itsadvisability.'
I looked at him. He handed me another length of chain and a collar.
'You should leave town, and soon,' he said.
I put another girl on the chain.
'Why?' I asked.
'The vanity of the Hobarts, a proud folk,' he said, 'was much stung this night,and before female slaves. They will come with their men, with crossbows andswords. They will want their revenge.'
'I do not fear them,' I said.
'When do you intend to leave Kailiauk?' he asked.
'In the morning,' I said.
'Good,' said he. 'I would not alter my plans.'
'I have no intention of doing so,' I said. Martial dalliance was not germane tomy mission.
'Put her on the chain,' said the fellow, handing me another collar and length ofchain.
I added a blonde to the chain. He then handed me another chain segment andcollar, unlooping it from his
