I put my head down to his waist and he fastened his left hand in my hair. 'Tal, Citizen,' said Drusus Rencius to the fellow passing us in the Hall. He soon released my hair and I again straightened up. I was following him, generally, a little behind and on his left. It seemed appropriate that I, in my disguise, might seem to heel him, as though I might be a mere slave. It seemed to me that he had held my hair more tightly than be had needed to, when we had passed the stranger. I still wore the slave bracelets. He had declined to remove them when we had left the house of Kliomenes. In his steel, heeling him, occasionally being put into leading position by him, I felt much in his power. 'Did you enjoy the pens?' asked Drusus.
'Please do not make me speak,' I whimpered. I was terribly conscious of the heat in my body, and the absence of a nether closure in my garment. Had Drusus Rencius so much as snapped his fingers I think I might have thrown myself to my back in the alley, begging for his touch.
'This is the house of Kliomenes,' had said Drusus Rencius, climbing the stairs to the narrow, heavy iron portal, recessed some feet back, at the end of a narrow tunnel, in the wall. It was on the street of Milo. Above the entrance to the tunnel, and on its right, in the wall, hanging from an iron projection, was a narrow, blue-and- yellow banner. I followed Drusus Rencius carefully, that I might not fall. 'This is one of the better, and more respectable of the slave houses in Corcyrus,' he said. 'That is one of the reasons that I have selected it for your visit, that your sensibilities, those of a free woman, not be excessively offended.'
'I see,' I said.
'On the other hand, do not expect it to compromise overly much with its women. Such would be a violation of the ethics of the slavers. Its women, you will find, all things considered, are held rather close to the standards of slave perfection.'
'I see,' I said.
He beckoned and I joined him in the narrow tunnel leading to the door. I regarded the iron door, apprehensively.
'There are truly slaves in there?' I asked.
'Of course,' he said. 'If you enter, you will be, probably, the only free woman in the house, unless there is a new girl in there, in chains, awaiting, say, the iron and the collar.'
'Oh,' I said.
'Do you wish to enter?' he asked.
'Yes,' I said.
'You are a woman, and it is the house of a slaver,' he said.
'I will enter,' I said.
He then struck on the iron door. He then thrust me in front of him, so that I, in the tunnel, was between him and the door.
There was a small, rectangular, 'iron observation panel, now shut, in the door. I felt the stone of the tunnel beneath my feet, the steel holding my wrists helplessly behind me.
The observation panel slid back. I saw eyes looking at me, and then, beyond me, at Drusus Rencius.
The panel slid shut with a click.
I wanted to turn and run. I could not do so, of course, because of the walls of the tunnel, and Drusus Rencius behind me.
'They are expecting us,' said Drusus Rencius, sensing my sudden terror. I heard chains and bars behind the door, bolts being freed.
Then the door swung open. 'Enter,' said a pleasant enough looking young man in the threshold. I entered, followed by Drusus. Beside the young man there was a guard, too, within. I heard the door, with its various devices, being refastened behind me. We were in a tiny torchlit room. Only a few feet before us was another door, also iron, similar to the outside door.
'Bracelet check,' said the young man to me, pleasantly.
'Turn your back to him, and lift your wrists,' said Drusus Rencius.
I did this and the young man quickly, expertly, checked the bracelets. They were locked on me. I was helpless.
I then turned again, to face the interior door.
I cried out, startled.
The guard, crouching beside me, had taken my left ankle in his left hand and run his right hand beneath my foot.
'No,' said Drusus Rencius, deterring the guard, 'there is nothing taped to her instep, nor is there anything else of the sort for which you might be searching concealed about or in her body or hair. She is to be exempted from slave search.' I then realized, shuddering, just how thorough slave search might be. The guard looked at the young man, who nodded. The guard then stood up.
The young. man then tapped a complex signal on the inner iron door. In a moment I heard it being freed of its fastenings. It then swung open and we, the young man, Drusus Rencius and myself, were admitted to the corridor beyond.
The guard there refastened the door and then took his place on a stool behind a small table.
'We need a pass and a license,' said the young man to the guard.
I looked at Drusus Rencius.
'The license is only a formality,' he said. 'No free woman, unless a capture, may proceed beyond this point unless she is in the charge of a free man who is responsible for her and has a current license for her. This is a device to control the movements of free women in the house and a precaution against the attempted escape of slave girls pretending to be free women.'
'Here is your pass,' said the young man, handing a small disk to Drusus Rencius. It was not unlike one of the ostraka used as tickets or tokens for admission at the theater or other such events. The guard, meanwhile, was writing something down on a small, rectangular form. I had little doubt what it 'And here,' said the young man, taking the form from s, the guard and handing it to Drusus Rencius. confirming my speculations, 'is your license for the female.' I was a woman.
Accordingly, I had to be licensed in the house of Kliomenes.
How humiliatingl The Goreans have a saying, 'There are only two kinds of women, slaves, and slaves.' I pulled at my wrists. They were well held in the bracelets.
'Is she really free?' asked the young man.
'Yes,' said Drusus Rencius, putting the pass and license in his pouch. 'Interesting,' said the young man.
'Do you find it surprising?' asked Drusus Rencius.
'Yes,' said the young man.
The guard then stood up and came about the table. I backed away a foot or tHe crouched down near me, and then stood up, regarding I blushed, helpless.
'Such curves,' he said, 'should not be wasted on a free woman.'
'I do not think Publius will believe she is free,' laughed the young man. I looked at Drusus Rencius.
'Publius,' said Drusus Rencius, 'is the house master. I know him from Ar.' 'He would like to see you, after your tour,' said the young man, 'to drink a cup of paga.'
'I shall be delighted,' said Drusus Rencius. He did not ask me for my permission to do this, I noted.
'She is truly free?' asked the guard.
'Yes,' averred Drusus Rencius.
'It is a shame,' said the guard. 'Curves like that should be up for sale.' 'From what I have heard of her,' said Drusus Rencius, smiling, 'she is the sort of a woman who has her price.' I wondered what lie meant by that.
'Hermidorus will accompany you in the house,' said the young man, 'if we can tear him away from his scrolls.'
He understands, does he not,' asked Drusus Rencius, 'that the woman is free and, accordingly, certain things are not to be seen.'
'Of course,' smiled the young man. 'Hermidorust' he called, loudly. Swiftly I put down my head again and winced as Drusus fastened his hand in my hair.
Thus again was I led past a stranger in the alleys. As we passed the stranger, be approaching us, be was on our right.
Goreans commonly pass in this fashion, the sword arms of right-handed individuals being thus on the side of
