'No, master,' she whispered. 'Forgive me, Master.'
Boots regarded her, sternly.
'But you said I need only ask,' she whispered, frightened.
'I said, 'You need only ask-sometimes, ' said Boots. 'This is not one of those times. You may not now speak.'
'Yes, Master,' she said. 'Forgive me, Master.' She then knelt back on her hells, not permitted to speak, a chastened slave.
'Ah,' siad Boots, seeing me. 'Are you hungry? Come join us.'
'Thank you,' I said, and sat down with them, cross-legged. It was still rather early. Soon I was helpign myself to a heaping serving of vulo eggs, tarsk strips and rolls.
'Perhaps you should feed our captive soon,' siad Boots. He referred to the free woman, the Lady Yanina, shackled and chained by the neck under my wagon.
'Yes,' I said. 'I will take her a plate of food when I am finished here.' One must show concern for her, of course. She was a free woman.
'You are going with us at least as far as Brundisium?' said Boots.
'That is my plan,' I said.
'What takes you to Brundisium?' asked Boots.
'Mainly Petrucchio's wagon, I would suppose,' I said. 'and his tharlarion. He was kind enough to loan them to me. I may walk opart of the way, of course.'
'Seriously,' said Boots.
'I am quite serious,' I said. 'Walking is an excellent exercise.'
'It is quite early in the morning for wit as scintillating as yours,' observed Boots.
'Sorry,' I said.
'Have you ever considered a career upon the stage?' he inquired.
'No,' I said.
'It is probably just as well,' he speculated.
'Perhaps,' I admitted, somewhat grudgingly, not altogether convinced.
'What are you going to do in Brundisium?' asked Boots.
'That will depend, I expect,' I said, 'on what I find in Brundisium.'
'Come now,' said Boots.
'Business,' I informed him.
'I see,' said Boots. 'I am glad that is cleared up.'
I bit on some crisp tarsk strips.
'You are certainly a communicative fellow this morning,' said Boots.
'The tarsk is good,' I said.
'I am glad you like it,' said Boots. 'Brundisium, as I have warned you earlier, may be dangerous. The7 seem quite suspicious of strangers the last year or so.'
'You do not know why, though?' I asked.
'No,' he said.
'You are a good fellow, Boots,' I said. 'I appreciate your concern.'
'I think I know how you intend to use your captive, at least as far as your participation in our show is concerned,' said Boots, 'but beware. If she is of Brundisium, or is known in Brundisium, it could be very dangerous for you there.'
'In the vicinity of Brundisium, or within her walls,' I said, 'I could keep her hooded. If it seemed desirable, too, of course, I could always have her reduce to slavery before nearing, or entering, the city. She would then be of no legal interest to anyone, for whe would then be only a slave, only chattel.'
'Of course,' said Boots.
'It was a good breakfast,' I siad. 'I had better take her some food now.'
'Yes,' said Boots. 'You must not keep her hungry. You must show her consideration. She is a free woman.'
'Of course,' I said.
I slowly, carefully, piled a plate high with rolls, eggs and fried vulo strips. It had probably been a long time since the Lady Yanina had eaten. She had been in the care of the brigands. She was probably quite hungry. I could always watch her feedings later, giving attention to theri possible effect on her figure. That would be if I decided, later, to turn her into a love captive, or, if it pleased me, a thousand times lower, nay, a thousand thousand times lower, nay, even uncountably times lower, nay not even on the same scale, a slave. Boots's slave, Lady Telitsia, eyes the plate hungrily, desperately. I thought I heard her whimper, softly. Certainly there were some piteous noises at any rate which suddenly, unexpectedly, perhaps to her embarrassment, emanated from her pretty belly.'
'Did you say something?' asked Boots.
'No, Master,' she said, hastily. She had been warned to silence.
I rose to my feet.
'May I have the plate a moment?' asked Boots.
'Surely,' I said. I handed it to him.
He held it before Lady Telitsia. 'It smells good, doesn't it?' he asked.
'Yes, Master,' she said. She leaned forward, her eyes closed. She breathed in, deeply, relishing the odor of the fresh-cooked breakfast. She opened her eyes, looking at her master, piteously.
Boots handed the plate to me, and I carreied it between the wagons until I came to my wagon.
There, beneath my wagon, sitting down, her knees drawn up, was the Lady Yanina, once my captor. On her neck was an iron collar. By means of this collar and its chain, the chain fastened about the wagon axle, she was secured in place.
I put down the plate of food. 'Ankles,' I said.
She turned a little and, angrily, lowering her knees slightly, tugging the hem of her garment closely about her lower claves, exteneded her ankles toward me. I checked the gyves. All was in order. There was no sign of the metal having been tampered with, for example, scratched about the lock, or makred on the bands, as though haveing been struck futilely with a stone. Similarly her ankles were not cut or abraided as though she might have tried to slip the iron from her fair limbs. Such an action, of course, would have been ludicriously irrational. The Lady Yanina was not a foolish, panic-stricken Earth girl, new to bondage, its possibility scrcely having earlier entered her ken, frenziedly, absurdly trying to remove fetters from her body, but a Groean woman. She well knew that females locked in Gorean iron do not escape. Its stern, inflexible clasp is not designed to be eluded by she whom it confines and ornaments. Women in such bonds must ehlplessly await the pleasure of their captors. I thrust back her ankles.
'As you can see,' she said, bitterly, 'I continue to be held, perfectly.'
Her ankles looked beautiful, confined in the steel. Too, she had spoken the truth.
I then checked her collar, and the attachment points of the chain, both at the collar and at the double loop where it was fastened about eh axle.
'I am perfectly secured,' she said, angrily.
'I am sorry if chain check distresses you,' I said. 'You comprehend its rationale, of course.'
'Yes,' she sasid, angrily.
'It is procedurally recommended by the caste of slavers,' I said.
'I am not a slave,' she said.
'Chains, I suspect, do not much care whether it is a noble free woman whom they confine or a mere slave.'
'Are you satisfied?' she asked, insolently. 'Do I pass chain check?'
'Yes,' I said. 'You are perfectly secured.'
She looked frightened for a moment, and her tow hands closed on the chain dangling from her collar. She drew on it a moent, almost inadvertently, and felt the tug at the collar ring. Then she removed her hands from the chain and regarded me, again the free woman, again insolent.
'See what you have given me to wear,' she said, angrily lifting the hem of the garment I had fashioned for
