He then reached to the small bell on his desk, and shook it, twice.
'I assume,' I said, 'in the light of the special circumstances of her case, she is not to be treated as a runaway slave.'
'No,' he said. 'Or, certainly not at present, at least.' Then he looked at the girl. 'You do understand, however, do you not, my dear, the typical penalties for a runaway slave?'
She nodded, numbly.
'Excellent,' he said.
'If I may be so bold,' I said, 'I would advocate a certain modest latitude, at least for a day or two, in her initial training. You must understand that she has, for many years, regarded herself as a free woman.'
'Interesting,' he said.
'Too,' I said, 'not only has she regarded herself as a free woman, but she has behaved as one, and has affected the airs of one.'
'That is very serious, my dear,' said the man.
At that moment a lithe, sinewy fellow entered, doubtless in response to the sound of the bell a few moments earlier. He whose office it was gestured toward Boabissia. Her hands were drawn behind her, and braceleted behind her back. 'But she did not understand she was not free, really,' I said.
Boabissia pulled against the bracelets, weakly.
'She came here unveiled,' said the man.
'True,' I said. 'But the Alar women do not veil themselves.'
'She thought she was an Alar?' asked the man. 'She was accustomed to thinking of herself in that way,' I said. 'But she should have known from her body she was not of the Alars,' he said. 'She is not a tall, strapping woman. Look at her. She is short, and luscious, and cuddly, and exquisitely feminine. That is the body of a woman of the cities or towns, and, if I may note the fact, it is a typical slave's body.'
'True,' I said.
'And what was her attitude toward female slaves?' he asked.
'She held herself immeasurably superior to them,' I said. 'She despised them. She hated them, and held them in great contempt.'
'Quite appropriately,' he said. 'And how did she behave toward them.' 'With arrogance,' I said, 'and she enjoyed treating them with great cruelty.' 'I see,' he said. 'You may kneel, my dear.'
Boabissia knelt.
'Did you never suspect, my dear,' he asked, 'that you were a slave?' 'I did not dream I was imbonded,' she whispered.
'But you were,' he said.
'Yes,' she said.
'It is an interesting case,' he said, 'a female who has been a legal slave unwittingly since infancy, and has only now, in the past Ehn, discovered her true condition.'
'Yes,' I said.
'But I fear, my dear,' he said, 'that you have somewhat misinterpreted my question.'
She raised her head, regarding him, puzzled.
'I asked if you had never suspected that you were a slave.'
She put down her head, reddening.
'Answer,' he said.
'Are you speaking of legalities?' she asked, angrily.
'I am speaking of something far deeper and more profound than legalities,' he said. 'I do not wish to answer that question,' she said.
'Speak,' he said.
'Yes,' she said, 'I have suspected it.'
'You have been a slave from the moment of conception,' he said.
She put down her head.
'Split your knees,' he said. 'More widely.'
She complied. But then she looked up, half in defiance, half in tears.
'Yes,' he said, 'from the moment of conception.'
She put down her head again, and sobbed.
'Leash her,' he said.
The fellow who had come in, responding to the summons of the small bell, snapped one end of a long slave leash on Boabissia's throat. The leash is long to permit it being used in a variety of ways, for example, for binding the female or, looped, or loose, for giving her the encouragement of the whistling leather, or, if desired, the administration of more serious lash discipline. She looked up, frightened, knowing herself leashed, and on such a leash. Her eyes met those of the owner of the office.
'You came here,' he said, 'seeking to find out who you were. I trust you now know. Similarly, you came here to find riches, to seek your fortune. I trust you are now satisfied with the riches you have found, slave bracelets and a leash, though, to be sure, they are not yours, and with your fortune, that which so avidly sought, which proves to be total bondage.'
'Please,' she wept, suddenly. 'I did not know!'
'How demanding, how preemptory, and arrogant, and suspicious, you were,' he mused.
'I am sorry,' she said. 'Forgive me, I beg you!'
'How insistent you were,' he said.
'Forgive me,' she said.
'How fearful you were,' he said, 'that you might not receive your dues, your just deserts.'
'Forgive me!' she begged.
'Lift your head,' he said. 'Higher. Higher!' She looked up at him, her head far back, the leash on her throat. 'I think I promised you that you would receive exactly what you deserved, exactly what you had coming.'
'Please,' she said, trembling naked before a master.
'You will receive exactly what you deserve,' he said, 'and then even more. And you will get, my dear, not only exactly what you have coming, but that, I assure you, and then a thousand times more.'
'Mercy, please,' she begged, in her helplessness.
'And then,' he said, 'you will be sold.'
'Please, no,' she wept.
'It is amusing,' he said, 'that you held slaves in such great contempt, and treated them with such cruelty, for such is what you were all the time, and as such, revealed, in your full truth, you will now live.'
She sobbed, helplessly.
'It is interesting,' said the fellow, looking down at the distraught beauty, kneeling before us, almost beside herself with confusion and fear. 'I have not seen this female since she was an infant. I remember tying the slave disk, with her number on it, about her tiny neck, opening her blankets that she might be exposed to me while doing so. Now, look at her, a beautifully developed, superbly desirable female slave.'
'She is indeed beautiful, and desirable,' I said. I had never seen Boabissia look so lovely. To be sure, I had not before seen her truly was what she was, a slave. Slavery, putting a woman in her place in nature, returning her to where she belongs, considerably increases her beauty.
'Who would of thought,' he said, 'that that infant I bought for only three tarsk bits would have grown into something this marvelous. I am sure that I will be able to get at least two silver tarsks for her.'
'Doubtless,' I said.
'An excellent investment,' he said.
'I agree,' I said.
'You need not now keep your head in high-harness position,' he said to the girl. She moved her head. He stepped back a bit. She looked at him, frightened, his. 'It has been a long time, my dear,' he said, 'but you are now home.' She put down her head, sobbing. She had been returned to her master.
'Stand,' he said to her.
She stood.
'You know what to do with her,' he said to the fellow who held her leash. 'Yes,' said the fellow.
