day. She was a very lovely, and very frightened woman. The cloak removed, the collar could be seen on her neck. If he from whom she had intended to purchase tarn passage had not seen the collar, nor, of course, her brand, not her tunic, or such, and, theoretically, at least, did not know she was a slave, he would not be held legally responsible for having sold her passage. Tupita had excellent legs.
'Remove the tunic,' said the leader.
She reached to the disrobing loop, and dropped the tunic to the floor, about her ankles. Tupita was too good a slave, and too wise a slave, to dally before a Gorean male, having received such a command.
'What is the meaning of this?' she said, naked.
Her hands were then drawn behind her, and, in an instant, she was braceleted, as securely as I.
'Perhaps we are in the hire of Hendow, your master,' said the leader of the men. 'No!' cried Tupita. 'No!' she flung herself to her knees before the leader, and the others. 'No, please, Masters!' she cried. 'Take pity on me!' 'But we are not in his hire,' said the leader.
Tupita sobbed with relief.
'Examine her,' said the leader, curtly. I rolled to the right side of the table, and twisted about, a little. Then, frightened, I rolled again to my back. 'She had this,' said one of the men, holding up a small, damp leather sack by its strings.
I turned a little and saw some of the tiny golden coins, such as adorned the dancer' s costumes, spilled into the hand of the leader. I heard Tupita, on the floor, sobbing. It was a good deal more than a silver tarsk that she had thought to garner from her venture this night in Brundisium. No wonder she had been willing to leave, even without the tarsk. Had Mirus still been with the tavern, I do not think she would have been able to secure the tiny coins. He had been careful about such things.
'See if she is vital,' said the leader.
I heard Tupita suddenly cry out and, startled, gasp, and then whimper.
'She is vital,' said a man.
I then saw Tupita pulled to her feet. She seemed half in shock. Her hair was down about her face. A man held her from behind, keeping her from falling, by the upper arms. Her wrists were braceleted behind her. Held as she was, and with her hands braceleted behind her, the beauty of her bared bosom was accentuated. Sometimes slavers present prospective buyers with girls held in this fashion. This time, of course, it was a mere convenience that she was held so. I regarded her. Tupita was quite beautiful. There was no doubt about it.
'I would not mind owning either of them,' said fellow.
'Please!' said Tupita.
'Not in Brundisium, you wouldn' t,' laughed one of the men.
'Yes,' said another. 'They must be sold out of Brundisium.'
'Please!' begged Tupita.
'Be silent,' snapped the leader. 'Apparently you have not felt the whip enough.' Immediately Tupita silent.
'You are not now with soft masters,' he said. 'You are not now in the house of Hendow, where, it would seem, the girls do not know the whip.'
Tupita put her head down, not daring to meet his eyes.
The leader was mistaken, of course. The girls in the house of Hendow knew the whip, and knew it well. Indeed, it was not unusual for them to experience it if they had been even in the least bit displeasing. To be sure, this very understanding, in itself, knowing the discipline under which they served, its consistency and reality, encouraged them to attempt to achieve perfect pleasingness, with the result that the whip was seldom called for, unless perhaps for the amusement of the master.
'We must get these slaves out of Brundisium soon,' said a man, nervously. 'Before light,' said another.
'Before sleen are put on their trail,' said another.
'Yes,' said another.
I thought of Borko, the gray sleen. When it was discovered that we were missing, he, or other such beasts, might be set upon our trail. My blanket, of course, had been left behind in the kennel. That would suffice for any hunting sleen. Borko, of course, did not need so typical a stimulus. He, knowing my name and scent, could be set on my train by a mere verbal command. I shuddered. Through no fault of my own I feared I might be torn to pieces. A similar fate, of course, might befall Tupita. She had been quite anxious, I recalled, to be swiftly out of Brundisium.
'Lift your head,' said the leader to Tupita.
She obeyed.
'You will not even have to pay for your tarn passage out of Brundisium,' he said.
'Yes, Master,' she said.
'Bring tools,' said the leader.
Our collars, which identified us as the girls of Hendow, were to be removed. It is customary to change a girl' s collar shortly after she has been stolen. This makes it harder to trace her.
'Where are you going to take us, Master?' asked Tupita.
The leader went to her and, with the back of his hand, lashed her across the mouth.
'Curiosity,' he said, 'is not becoming in a kajira.'
'Yes, Master,' she said. Her lip was cut.
'Gag her,' he said.
I watched while a gag, not unlike mine, was fastened in Tupita' s mouth. She did not look at me, while it was being put on her. I did not think, however, that the gag was really necessary. Was she really going to cry out, and perhaps then be 'rescued,' only to be subsequently returned to Hendow, for his mercy? I did not think there would be even a tiny sound out of her. She would doubtless go quietly. On the other hand, the choice had not been left to her. Men had decided the matter. The gag was now packed well in her mouth, and secured tightly in place, by three sets of laces, however, rather than three straps, like mine. She looked suddenly at me, wildly, then looked away. She now was no more than me, only another slave, being stolen.
'When their collars are off,' said the leader, 'put the other collars on them, those we prepared for them.'
Tupita looked at the leader. Two collars had been prepared. They had planned, then, from the beginning, to take her along. That was not hard to understand, of course. She was very beautiful.
'Then,' said the leader, 'hood them. Then put them with the others.'
17 The Square of Market of Semris
'Come along,' he said.
I cried out softly, stumbling forward, barefoot on the dirt street, the steel of the collar pulled hard against the back of my neck.
'Hurry,' he said.
'Yes, Master!' I said.
'We must be on the square by the tenth Ahn,' he said.
'Yes, Master,' I said.
I was leashed. The leash was of light chain.
The tenth Ahn was the Gorean noon. The square would be crowded at that time. to be sure, it is crowded in different ways at different times, during the day. In the morning the peasants arrange their baskets of produce. Much shopping is done in the early morning. Later the stalls and shops around the square roll back their screens and shutters and open for business. Later men come for gossiping and the exchange of news. Some visit the temples, paying coins, buying incense and burning it, petitioning Priest-Kings for favors, such things as better crops and success in ventures, such thins as luck for themselves and calamities for their enemies. Gorean petitions to the Priest-Kings seem on the whole to be very specific, and very practical. Most Goreans seem skeptical of an afterlife, or, at least, seem content to wait and see. The only Gorean caste which, as far as I know, officially believes in an afterlife is that of the Initiates, and they believe in it, it seems, only for themselves, and seem to believe it is
