marks and the inverted' U's' were exploit markings. The inverted 'U's' indicated kaiila stolen from theenemy, the mark itself being a stylized convention whose heritage, I did notdoubt, might be traced back to another animal, and another world and time. Thecircles painted about the eyes and the line of lightning on the left forequarterwere signs in the medicine of war. The medicine use of the circles was to enablethe beast to see clearly and far and that of the line to impart to its motionsomething of the same suddenness, the same swiftness and power, as attends themovement of lightning, that dread natural phenomenon, itself. The opaque circlewith the wavy line descending from it was a wound mark, the location of the markindicating a former wound site, the redness standing for blood, of course, andthe descending line for bleeding. I did not know the meaning of the notched ear,if it had a meaning, or of the other marks on the animal's flanks.
The Fleer moved his kaiila about, on the other side of the coffle, so that hemight look at the girls, one by one. None of them, as Grunt had advised, met hiseyes. They kept their beads high, and looked ahead, knowing themselvesscrutinized as the pretty, meaningless beasts they were.
'Our friend,' said Grunt to me, 'is a member of the Blue-Sky Riders, a warriorsociety of the Fleer.'
'One should be careful of such fellows?' I asked.
'I would think so,' smiled Grunt 'You are gathering this membership from the marks on the kaiila's flanks?' Iasked.
'Yes,' said Grunt, 'the dark line of the earth, the overarching dome of the bluesky.'
'I see,' I said. Most tribes had several warrior societies. These societies hadmuch influence within the tribes and, on an alternating basis, to preclude anyone society from becoming predominant, a good deal of power. Their members wereexpected to set an example in the war and the hunt.
'I do not think he means us harm,' said Grunt. 'He is merely curious.'
Warrior Societies in the tribes have many functions. They are a significantcomponent of tribal existence. Such societies, on an alternating basis, do suchthings as keep order in the camps and on the treks. They function, too, asguards and police. It is part of their function, too, to keep the tribesapprised as to the movements of kailiauk and to organize and police tribalhunts. Such societies, too, it might, be noted, are useful in various socialways. They provide institutions through which merit can be recognized andrewarded, and tribal traditions freshened, maintained and renewed. They preservemedicine bundles, keep ceremonies and teach histories. It is common for them togive feasts and hold dances. Their rivalries provide an outlet for intratribalaggression, and the attendant competitions supply an encouragement for effortand a stimulus to excellence. Within the society itself, of course, the membersprofit from the values of alliance, camaraderie and friendship. Needless to say,each society will have, too, its own medicines and mysteries.
I watched the Fleer, carefully. How intricate, actually, is the structure andgovernance of a tribe.
'The ear of his kaiila is notched,' I said to Grunt. 'Is that an eccentricmutilation or is it deliberate, perhaps meaningful?'
'It is meaningful,' said Grunt. 'It marks the kaiila as a prize animal, oneespecially trained for the hunt and war.'
The girls continued to look ahead. They wisely avoided direct eye contact withthe appraising warrior, thus perhaps precipitating an encounter crisis, inwhich, perhaps because, of misconstrual or misinterpretation, he might feelprompted action. There are various ways in which a woman may look into the eyesof a man. One way, of course, is with a direct and self-assured gaze, as thoughshe might be the equal of the brute who regards her, the way of the free woman.
This is not to be recommended, of course, for a woman who is scantily clad andhas a chain on her neck. Such an insolence, at the least, would be likely to winher beauty a bout the five-stranded Gorean slave lash. Why do some women lookinto the eyes of a man in this fashion? It is an interesting question. Somethink that it is their way, perhaps even half consciously, of challenging him totheir subduing, of challenging him to make them a woman, a slave. It is notunusual for a woman, at any rate, who has looked into the eyes of a man in thatfashion to discover, later, that she is looking into his eyes in quite adifferent fashion, that whereas she once may have regarded him directly, andinsolently, she now, perhaps kneeling stripped at his feet, in a locked collar,bearing his identificatory device, lifts her eyes to his rather differently,doing so now as a mere slave girl to her master.
The Fleer backed his kaiila from Ginger, the animal almost crouching back on itshaunches.
There was blood about the jaws, and lips, of the kaiila, from where, earlier, hehad jerked back on the jaw rope. I saw the muscles within the kaiila's flanksmove beneath the paint.
'Oh!' said the red-haired girl, first in the coffle, startled as the point ofhis lance had scraped the back of the black-iron collar on her neck. Then shewas quiet. He was lifting her sheen of red hair on the point of his lance,moving it in the sun, to see it glisten and reflect the light. He was curious asto such hair. It is extremely rare in the Barrens. Grunt had not permitted herto cut it, or even to trim and shape it. That could be done later. Now he wantedit to grow, and to be, apparently, as long as possible. The Fleer let the hairfall from the lance, and then he laid the side of the metal point of the lanceon the edge of the girl's collar, the metal touching the right side of her neck.
She shuddered, but she did not otherwise move. She, a slave, was under gooddiscipline. I thought that was fortunate for her. Her movement, of course, theshuddering, this responsiveness, was revealing, and would have been to any manfamiliar with female slaves. It did not escape the detection of the Fleer.
Curious he now returned his kaiila to the position of the last girl on thecoffle, whom we were calling Pimples, the Gorean translation of her former name,originally given to her by a Kaiila master, 'Wasnapohdi'. In Dust Leg,incidentally, the expression has the same meaning. I could detect, subtly, now,that Grunt was tense. He wanted the Fleer to be gone by now. I found myself,too, probably because of Grunt, growing more tense. I hoped that our reactionswould not be evident to the Fleer, who was several yards away. One by one, withthe side of the lance, the Fleer, moving along the line, touched the girls.
Pimples cried out, softly, touched on the right thigh. Then, at various places,on the calf, or the thigh, or ankle or neck, unexpectedly, not knowing wherethey would be touched, the other girls, too, were touched, Priscilla, Inez,Lois, Corinne, Evelyn, Ginger and the red-haired girl. Each of the girls couldnot help but respond in her own way to the Fleer's test, that of the unexpectedtouch of a man's weapon to her body.
'I trust he will not want any of them,' said Grunt.
'I hope not,' I said. We did not object to the assessment of the girls, ofcourse, for they were slaves. Their assessment was no different from theassessment of kaiila, except, of course, that somewhat different properties, onthe whole, would be under assessment What we did not want was trouble.
The Fleer backed his kaiila from the red-haired girl. With the side of his lancehe had touched her left thigh, and then, with the point of the lance, he badraised the hem of her skimpy tunic to her waist. Then, riding before her, hehad, with the point of the lance, thrust aside the sides of her tunic. She hadthen been well revealed to him. The exposed slave, the former Miss MillicentAubrey-Welles, the debutante from Pennsylvania, I saw, was quite beautiful. Inthe Barrens she might well be worth five hides of the yellow kailiauk.
We regarded the Fleer, who had now ridden his kaiila again before us.
He did not come so close to us that he could not, easily, drop his lance intothe attack position.
'Do not move,' said Grunt to me, smiling at the Fleer.
The Fleer suddenly smiled broadly. He shifted his lance to his left hand, whichpleased me. He held his right hand near his body, with the palm down and thethumb close to his left breast. Then, with his right arm horizontal, he swepthis hand outward and a bit to the right This meant 'good,' that which is levelwith the heart. Re then pointed to the girls. He moved his fiat right hand in ahorizontal circle, clockwise, as Earth clocks move, not Gorean clocks, in frontof his chest. This meant 'all,' the circle being complete. He then grinnedagain.
Grunt then lifted his right band, the back of it near his right shoulder. Hisindex finger pointed forward and the other fingers were closed, with his thumbresting on his middle finger. He then moved his hand a bit to the left and, atthe same time, touching the thumb with the index finger, made a closed circle.
'Yes,' had said Grunt. He then made the sign for «all» and the sign for 'good,' in that order. 'AU is good,' or 'all right,' he had said. He then extended hisbands in a forward direction, the palms down, and lowered them. 'Thank you,' wasthe meaning of this sign. He then held his hands at the level of his chest, withhis index fingers pointing forward and the other fingers closed. He drew backhis right hand, to the right, some inches, and then he brought it forward again,the index finger still extended, and moved it over his left hand. The firstportion of this sign means 'time,' and the second portion indicates, presumably,the forward movement of time. Literally this sign, in both its portions,indicates 'future,' but it is used also for 'good-bye,' the rationale beingperhaps similar to that in
