'Yes, Mistress!'
'Who wants to be a good slave?' asked Liadne.
'Rimice wants to be a good slave!'
'And is Rimice going to be a good slave?' asked Liadne.
'Yes,' wept Rimice, 'Rimice is going to be a good slave!'
Sometimes even extremely hormonally feminine women, fearing the latent slave in themselves, attempt to resist. They will not become whole and perfect, of course, until they become what they are, slaves.
'Perhaps then it will not be necessary to lash you,' mused Liadne.
'No, Mistress!' Rimice assured her.
'Are there Vennans in camp?' I asked.
'How could there be Vennans, here?' asked Ephialtes.
'Sell Amina to one,' I said.
'But she herself was Vennan,' he said.
'It does not matter,' I said. 'She is a slave now, and if she is returned to Venna she will be kept there, and serve there, as what she is, and only that and precisely that, a slave.'
'Of course,' said Ephialtes.
'Accept any reasonable offer,' I said.
'Very well,' he said.
'The fellow who just used Rimice,' I said, 'he who made her yield so well, and in so short a time, was, I think, a Cosian.'
'Yes,' said Ephialtes. 'He has come back to use her almost every evening.'
'Seek him out and see if he will make an offer on her,' I said.
'I have little doubt he will make an offer on her,' said Ephialtes.
'Accept any reasonable offer,' I said.
'She was, of course, before being reduced to animal status, a Cosian,' he said.
'And how do you think the fellow will see her?' I asked.
'Only as what she is, a slave,' said Ephialtes.
'And will treat her, and handle her, accordingly?'
'Of course,' said Ephialtes.
'Excellent,' I said. 'She may then, barefoot in the streets of Telnus, or Jad, or wherever, where once she may have walked in haughty pride, wear her collar, as any other slave.'
Liadne returned to our side, put down the whip, to one side, and knelt near Ephialtes.
'We have been considering business,' said he to Liadne. 'In the morning I will attempt to sell Amina and Rimice. We have buyers in mind, and do not anticipate difficulty.'
Liadne turned white.
'Later in the morning,' he said, 'Phoebe is to be prepared for presentation.'
Liadne began to tremble.
I wondered what was wrong with her.
'Hopefully,' said Ephialtes, addressing Liadne, but not seeming to take notice of her apparent agitation or distress, 'we will clear accounts with my friend, Tarl, by tomorrow evening.'
She swayed, and I was afraid she might swoon.
'What is wrong with Liadne?' I asked.
'What is wrong with you, girl?' inquired Ephialtes.
'Oh, Master!' she wept, suddenly, and threw herself to her belly, putting out her small hand piteously to him.
'What is wrong?' asked Ephialtes.
'What of Liadne!' she wept.
'You are not even a free woman, as Phoebe,' said Ephialtes. 'You are a slave, a property, as Amina and Rimice.'
'I know, Master,' she wept. 'I know!'
Ephialtes looked at her, puzzled.
'Do not sell me!' she wept. 'Do not sell me, Master!'
'I do not understand,' said Ephialtes.
'I love you, Master,' she said. 'I love you!'
'I am not your master,' he said. 'Tarl, of Port Kar, is your master. I have been holding you for him.'
'Do not sell me, Master!' she begged.
'I do not own you,' said Ephialtes. 'You are not mine to sell.'
She began to sob, uncontrollably.
I now understood what had been troubling Liadne. I should have thought of it before.
'Has she been a good first girl?' I asked.
'Yes,' said Ephialtes, 'but an even better camp slave.'
'Do you like her?' I asked.
'I am used to having her about,' he said. 'She is useful, for example, slept at one's feet, to keep them warm on cold nights.'
'I can imagine,' I said. Liadne was a beauty. He shrugged.
'I had thought,' I said, 'you might have taken a fancy to her.'
'She is only a slave,' he said, evasively.
'Perhaps you would care to make an offer on her?'
'I was intending to speak to you about such a matter,' he admitted.
Liadne looked up, startled.
'What do you think she is worth?' I asked.
Liadne, on her belly, looked at us, hanging on every word. 'I am prepared to offer you ten silver tarsks,' he said.
'Oh, Master,' wept Liadne. 'I am not worth so much!'
'I am well aware of that,' said Ephialtes, irritably. Liadne, even though a beauty, in the current markets, in this area, where most women were being wholesaled in lots, would probably not have brought more than a silver tarsk or two. Most women were being sold for copper tarsks, some even for a few tarsk bits.
'It seems you have taken a fancy to her,' I said.
'She is only a slave,' he said. I smiled.
'Fifteen silver tarsks,' he said.
'I doubt that your wagon and goods, and tharlarion are worth so much,' I said.
'Do you accept my offer?' he asked.
'I think you have taken a fancy to her,' I said.
'How could that be,' he said. 'She is only a slave.'
'It seems to me a possibility,' I said.
'Absurd,' said he.
'I see,' said I.
'Do you accept my offer?' he asked. 'No,' I said.
Liadne put her cheek to the dirt, sobbing.
'I do not understand,' he said.
'I cannot sell her,' I said.
'Why?' he asked.
'Because then I could not give her away.'
' 'Give her away'?' he asked.
'Yes,' I said. 'Would you like her?'
'Of course,' he said.
'Then she is yours,' I said.
'Master!' cried Liadne, joyously.
'Subject to one condition,' I said.
