I had, of course, in Gorean generosity, accorded her use to Marcus. And there was little doubt in my mind, given his frequent use of her, that he found her of even considerable interest. To be sure, he was not always gentle with her. She was, after all, a woman of Ar, for which city he now held little love, that city which had abandoned Ar's Station to her fate; too, she was a traitress and such tend, regardless of the side they have betrayed, to be treated with great contempt and severity by Gorean men; thirdly, she had spied for Cos, for which polity he held a profound hatred. Had she actually been of Cos I might have had to protect her from him, lest he kill her. It was little wonder then, these things considered, that the lovely Ina often found herself being rapidly and contemptuously put through her paces by the young warrior, then being used, as it pleased him, with callous, ruthless skill. The usual Gorean taste in women, incidentally, tends to run toward the natural woman, short, well- curved, and such, as opposed, say, to unusually tall, small-breasted women. Ina, for example, short and luscious, was an excellent example of this extremely popular type. On the other hand, Gorean men tend to be fond of large varieties of women. In the markets even the sort of women who fulfill certain unusual commercial stereotypes of beauty on Earth, useful for displaying certain types of clothing, such as certain varieties of high-fashion models, will find their buyers. They, too, look well in chains. On Gor, to speak briefly, beauty is not stereotyped, or, if it is, if one wishes to speak in that fashion, there is a considerable number of such stereotypes, a large number of muchly desired types. Indeed, almost any woman, of any type, would be likely to find herself passionately desired, even fought for, on Gor by many men. But, to be sure, if she is a slave, she would have to serve them well.
'Let us approach the camp of Cos,' I said.
'What are you going to do with me, my captor?' asked Ina, frightened.
'Curiosity is not becoming in a captive,' I said.
'Yes, my captor,' she said. My words, of course, were a play on a common Gorean saying, that curiosity is not becoming in a Kajira.
We then, together, continued on our way, toward Brundisium, in the vicinity of which lay the Cosian camp.
I hoped to arrive by nightfall.
37 Near the Cosian Camp
'Thigh,' I said.
The dark-haired woman turned immediately to her side, exposing her left thigh to me. There was a chain on her neck, run to a stake near the wagon. A small copper bowl was beside her.
'Thigh,' I said, to the other woman, also dark-haired, but smaller. With an exciting, sensuous movement she exhibited her thigh. She was confined as was the other. Beside her, too, on the ground, was a small copper bowl.
'Ephialtes!' I called.
A brunet in a brief, yellow slave tunic looked about the wagon. She saw me and immediately knelt, seemingly frightened, though for what reason I could not guess. 'Master!' she called.
In a moment Ephialtes, the sutler, came about the wagon, from the other side of it, where they were cooking, where they had their small camp.
'Tarl, my friend!' said he. We clasped hands, then embraced.
'It is good to see you, my friend,' I said.
'How have you been?' he asked.
'Very well,' I said, 'and yourself?' 'Excellent,' said he.
'Splendid,' I said. 'How is business?'
'One tries, desperately, to make a living,' he said.
'There is gold thread on your tunic,' I said.
'Yellow thread,' he said. 'Your pouch seems full,' I said. 'Tarsk bits,' he said.
'I think your fortunes have improved,' I said.
'If that is so,' he said, 'I think you have made your contributions to such matters.'
'And the needs of the troops of Cos,' I said.
'Of course,' he said.
'These are excellent times for a sutler,' I said, 'what with the numbers of men about, and the success of Cos.'
'I speculate those with the troops of Ar are doing less well,' he said.
'Some have probably brought their goods to Brundisium,' I suggested.
'It is true.' he whispered.
Wagons, of course, might be painted different colors. Accents could be feigned, and so on. Sutlers were, on the whole, fellows of business, and could scarcely be blamed for seeking favorable markets.
Ephialtes glanced down at the two women on the ground, chained by the neck to stakes on this side of the wagon, the copper bowls near them.
'Amina,' said he, 'Rimice, surely you recognize Tarl, our friend, to whom you owed your redemption from the Crooked Tarn?'
I saw by the fear in their eyes that well did they recognize me.
'Then, obeisance!' snapped Ephialtes.
Immediately, with a rustle of chain, they knelt, the palms of their hands on the ground, their heads to the dirt.
'Normally at the stakes,' he said, 'they are not permitted to rise even to their knees.'
'Of course,' I said.
I glanced at them, in their positions of obeisance.
'They look well, branded,' I said.
'I hope you do not mind,' he said.
'Of course not,' I said. 'It improves a female, considerably.'
'I think so,' he said, glancing at the girl in the yellow tunic, who put her head down, quickly. I did not know what she was frightened of.
'I gave you carte blanche with the women,' I. said. 'You might have sold them, anything.'
'I sold Temione to the proprietor of a movable paga enclosure,' he said.
'Perhaps she is in the vicinity?' I asked.
'Not now,' he said. 'She was purchased by a courier of Artemidorus, a fellow named Borton, and was led away in his chains.'
'I have heard of him,' I said.
'I think that I never saw a slave so grateful as she, and yet one who seemed at the same time so much in terror for her very life,' he said.
'I understand,' I said. I recalled the night in the paga enclosure. Doubtless Borton had a few scores to settle with the lovely Temione. I did not think she would be likely, in his ownership, to forget she was in a collar.
'You yourself, I gather,' he said, 'sold Elene and Klio near Ar's Station.'
'Yes,' I said.
'Liomache,' he said, 'I also sold near Ar's Station, even before Temione, to a Cosian mercenary, whom she had apparently, months before, at the Crooked Tarn, tricked and defrauded.'
'Excellent,' I said. I did not doubt but what Liomache, too, would be in little doubt that her lovely neck was encircled with a slave collar.
'Amina and Rimice,' he said, 'I have been using as rent slaves.'
'I see,' I said.
'Stake position,' said Ephialtes to the two women. Immediately they both lay down, with a sound of chain. It is not unusual to forbid a rent slave, during her use times, when chained at a stake, to rise even to her knees.
'Perhaps we should discuss what is to be done with Amina and Rimice,' I said.
The two lovely women, formerly debtor sluts, now slaves, looked up at us, in fear.
