I did not doubt but what these garments were genuine. The last garment, for example, was undoubtedly really that which had been taken from me in the throne room of Corcyrus, before the very throne itself, before I had been taken naked and In chains outside, into the courtyard, to be placed in a golden cage. These garments, Ligurious had informed me in the throne room of Argentum, before placing me in the golden sack, from which I had been rescued by Drusus Rencius, had been smuggled out of Corcyrus. He had probably paid much to obtain them. The last pieces were all items of intimate feminine apparel, which had been worn next to my body.
I was embarrassed to see them. Now that I was a slave, of course, I would have been grateful to have even so much to wear publicly. But when I had worn them they had been the garments of a free woman. Thus, when I saw them now it was as one who had once been a free woman that I was embarrassed. Few free women care to have their intimate garments exhibited publicly before men.
I then saw the sleen, a different sleen, thrust its snout deeply into the pile of garments. I could hear it snuffling about in them. I saw the keeper, too, take the intimate garments, wadded in his hand, and thrust them beneath the animal's snout. He then held one of the longer, sliplike garments open from the bottom, and, to my horror, I saw the beast, sniffing and growling, thrust its snout deeply into the garment. My scent, from my intimacies, would doubtless be strongest in such a place.
I shrank back, even further. The hands of the soldier be-hind me, on my arms, forbade me further retreat.
In a moment the sleen leaped forward. I closed my eyes and screamed. 'I felt the hot breath of the animal on my breasts. I seemed surrounded by its snarling. I heard the scratching and slipping of its claws on the tiles, the rattle and tightening, and rattle and tightening, again, of the links of the chain leash, in its lunges toward me. I sensed its force, its terribleness, its eagerness. I heard the snapping of its jaws. Could the keeper judge the distances unerringly? Could he hold the animal?
What if the chain broke? I opened my eyes. In that instant the beast was again lunging toward me. In that instant, in a flash, I saw the cavernous maw, the fangs, the long, dark tongue, the blazing eyes, the intentness, the single-mindedness, the power, the eagerness of the beast. I threw back my head and screamed miserably. 'Pity!' I begged. 'I beg mercy, my masters!' I cried, a terrified slave, addressing them all, in my terror, as though they might be my legal masters.
Then the sleen, with a word, was withdrawn, and thrown meat. I trembled. Were it not for the hands of the soldier behind me, on my arms, I might have collapsed. I saw Drusus Rencius looking at me with scorn. I did not care. I was not a warrior. I was a girl, and a slave.
'Thus, you see,' said Ligurious, 'who was the true Tatrix of Corcyrus.' 'Each woman, it would seem,' said Claudius, 'has been identified as such, one in virtue of the articles of Hassan and one in virtue of the articles with which you have furnished us.'
'Examine the seals,' said Ligurious, triumphantly. 'See which bears the true seal of Corcyrus!'
The broken seals were brought to Claudius. He put them on the table before him. Members of the high council crowded about him.
'The seal broken from the package of Ligurious,' he said, 'is the seal of Corcyrus.'
'That cannot be,' said Hassan.
'Perhaps you will be given two Ahn in which to leave Argentum,' said Ligurious. 'I have the letter from Menicius!' said Hassan.
'It, too, doubtless, will bear the same seal as was on the package,' said Ligurious.
'Yes,' said Hassan.
'I, too, have such a letter, but a genuine one,' said Ligurious, 'describing and authenticating the garments I have produced for you. That letter bears the signature of Menicius and is marked with the true seal of Corcyrus.' He reached within his robes and produced a letter, wrapped with a ribbon, the ribbon and the flaps of the letter secured with a melted disk of wax, this wax bearing the imprint of a seal.
The seal was examined.
'It is the seal of. Corcyrus,' said Claudius.
The letter was opened and examined.
'The descriptions tally with the garments brought to us by Ligurious,' said one of the members of the high council.
'Who has signed the letter?' inquired Ligurious.
'Menicius,' said one of the members of the high council, looking up. 'I think not,' said a voice.
All eyes turned to the back of the room. There, the guest who had been hooded rose to his feet.
'Who would dare to gainsay me in this?' inquired Ligurious.
With two hands the guest brushed back his hood.
'I think that I am known to several in this room,' he said. 'Some of you were present at my investiture as Administrator of Corcyrus.'
'Menicius!' cried more than one man.
Ligurious staggered backwards.
'My dear Ligurious,' said Menicius, 'your confederate in Corcyrus is now in custody. He has confessed all. I deemed, accordingly, it might be of interest to venture incognito to Argentum. I did so with the papers of a minor envoy, bearing my own signature.'
How startled I was! I now recognized, and clearly, the hitherto unknown guest. I had known him as Menicius, of the Metal Workers. He was the man whose life I had spared when he had spoken out so forcibly against the Tatrix, on that day, so long ago, when I had been in the palanquin with Ligurious, that day in which, in the glory of a state procession, we had been carried through the streets of Corcyrus Doubtless Drusus Rencius, who had prevented him from reaching the palanquin, remembered him well, for his courage and his opposition to the rule of the Tatrix.
'I was interested to hear that you were the leader of the opposition to the rule of the Tatrix,' said Menicius to Ligurious. 'I, myself, had thought that that honor was mine.' Ligurious looked about himself. He took one or two steps backward.
'I suggest that that man be put in shackles,' said Menicius. 'Do it,' said Claudius. Two guardsmen moved swiftly to Ligurious. In a moment his wrists had been shackled behind him.
'The seals,' said Menicius, 'on the package and letter of tile Hassan were genuine. It is natural, however, that they were unfamiliar to you. They are imprints of the new seal of Corcyrus. It was discovered, after the institution of the new regime in Corcyrus, that the old seal was missing. Presumably it had been taken by Ligurious in his flight from the city That now seems evident. For this reason, and also to commemorate the rise of a new order in Corcyrus, it was changed.'
Ligurious, shackled, looked down at the tiles.
Manicius came about the tables. He stopped before Sheila and myself. We, slaves, put our heads to the tiles. 'Lift your heads, Slaves,' he said. We complied. 'We meet again,' said Menicius to me.
'Yes, Master,' I said. 'Who are you?' he asked.
'My master is Miles of Argentum,' I said. 'He has named me 'Sheila.'' 'You look well in slave chains, Sheila,' he said.
'Thank you, Master,' I said.
He turned to Sheila. 'Who are you?' he asked. 'My master is Hassan, of Kasra,' she said. 'He has named me 'Sheila.''
'You look well in slave chains, Sheila,' he said.
'Thank you, Master,' she said.
He then, from his robe's, removed a package and, opening it, exhibited soft and silken contents.
She drew back, shuddering in her chains.
'These are further garments from Corcyrus,' he said 'They were taken from among the belongings of the Tatrix of Corcyrus, found in her suite of rooms in the palace.' He turned to regard Sheila. 'Perhaps, you recognize them?' he asked. 'Admit nothing!'
'Consider the nature of these garments,' he said. 'They are clearly, in a fashion, slave garments. This may be determined from their lightness, their softness and thinness. On the other hand, there are some anomalies here. For example, note that here there is a nether closure. That would certainly be unusual in a garment permitted by a Gorean master to a female slave.'
