The fellows who had clustered about Ina had now muchly finished with her, most of them going to various points in the small camp, to rest before we left. Two of them were still near her, busying themselves with her.
Labienus released my hand. He had a very strong grip.
'You trust me?' I asked.
'Of course,' he said.
'Why?' I asked.
'Because of what is invisible and yet more beautiful than diamonds,' said Labienus, 'because of the silence that deafens thunder, because of that which depresses no scale and is yet weightier than gold.'
'You cannot even see,' I said.
'There is more than one way to see,' he said.
One of the two fellows with Ina rose to his feet and went to one side, where he lay down, near some gear.
'Have one of the men bring me a bowl of water, and salt,' said Labienus. 'And, too, find me logs, or branches, with bark on them.'
'Warrior,' said I, to one of the fellows still about. He came over to us.
'Your captain wishes a bowl of water, and salt,' I said, 'and wood, logs, branches or such, with bark on them.'
The fellow looked at me, puzzled, I shrugged.
He then departed, presumably to accomplish this errand.
'I shall need such things regularly,' said Labienus, 'at east until we leave the delta.'
'Of course,' I said. The fortunes to which Labienus had succumbed, I told myself, might have felled even stronger men.
'You may now withdraw,' he said.
'You will be all right?' I asked.
'Yes,' he said.
'What will you do?' I asked.
'I shall consider my report,' he said.
'I see,' I said. I hoped that the madness of Labienus would not jeopardize our attempt to withdraw from the delta.
I could see the fellow who had been sent on the errand looking back at Labienus, and speaking with another of his fellows.
The last fellow who had been with Ina was now finishing up with her.
It would be dark in an Ahn or so.
We must rest.
The fellow was now crouching beside her.
'No,' I said to him. 'I will attend to that.'
He put down the length of binding fiber with which he was preparing to tie her ankles together, that which ran to her bound wrists, that from which she had been freed, to prepare her for usage.
Ina looked up at me, as I now stood near her. Her hands were still bound behind her back. The cord over which the slave strips had been inserted was still snug on her belly. The slave strips themselves, however, had been neatly folded and inserted in her mouth. She looked up at me, over them, her teeth clenched upon them. It was perhaps just as well or she might, considering the vigorous attentions to which she had been subjected, have been tempted to cry out in words. It is unusual for a free female to be gagged or put under a device of speech impedence, of course. Yet when it is done it is often stimulatory to them, underscoring their helplessness, and their subjection to the imperious will to which they are being subjected, that they are not even permitted to speak. It helps to make them more slavelike. There are also certain other considerations involved, such as encouraging her to concentrate on her sensations themselves, in all their incredible particularity, and not on classifying or explaining them. Similarly she may be instructed to whimper and moan, and such, in such a way as to provide a running analogue of her sensations to her ravisher. In this fashion, this being taken together with expressions, bodily movements, and such, he can receive a plethora of information on her vulnerabilities and sensitivities, all of which places her all the more helplessly in his power. The prevention or prohibition of vocalization on the part of a slave, of course, is more common. For example, the master may not, at a given time, wish to hear her speak. Thusly she does not speak at that time. There are many varieties of slave gags, and such. Some are rather cruel. The simplest device for attaining this end is when she is 'gagged by her master's will,' which simply means that she is prohibited from speaking until given permission to do so. Gags are sometimes used in conjunction with, but need not be, blindfolds, half-hoods and hoods. The modalities of these devices, of course, are different, as is known to slaves who are subjected to them. What these various devices do have in common is a tendency to induce a sense of great helplessness, which increases the slave's consciousness of male dominance, and, accordingly, her responsiveness to this dominance. To be sure, once the slave has learned her condition, or learned her collar, as the Goreans say, she has no doubt whatsoever of this dominance, and her subjection to it. The mere sight of a slave whip is then enough to make her juice. Gags, blindfolds, and such devices, then, may or may not be used, as the master wishes.
I gently pulled the folded cloths from Ina's mouth and, turning her to her side, repositioned them over the belly cord. Naturally, as she was on her side, they fell to the side. I considered her stripped thighs, her bared flanks, the accent of the belly cord at her waist, the lineal excitingness of her rapturously, delectably exposed, from her feet to her head and shoulders.
I saw the soldier bring to Labienus a bowl of water, and a sack of salt. Too, he had found some small branches. Labienus put the water and salt down, beside him. Then, carefully, he began to pick at the bark with his fingers.
I turned Ina to her back. She looked up me. I saw she was desperate to speak. I looked about. I did not think that any would overheard. Labienus was intent upon what he was doing, whatever he might conceive it to be. For the most part the soldiers were now at rest. None were close.
I bent my ear very close to her lips.
'I am a slave,' she whispered, frightened. She spoke extremely softly, in an almost inaudible whisper, like a soft breath at my ear, but there was no mistaking the words.
'You are a free woman,' I reminded her, softly.
'No,' she whispered. 'I am a slave. I know I am a slave. My feelings!'
'Labienus knows who you are,' I said to her.
'Then,' she whispered, 'it is the impaling spear for me!'
'No,' I said. 'He does not officially know who you are. He will not press the matter.'
'But why?' she asked.
'He has his own reasons, I am sure,' I said. 'Too, you are not really his to deal with.'
'Whose am I to deal with?' she asked.
'Mine,' I said.
'Yours?' she asked.
'Yes,' I said. 'You are mine, by capture.'
'That relationship then,' she said, looking up at me, wonderingly, 'is fearfully profound.'
'Among warriors, and men of honor,' I said.
'Then I am truly yours,' she said, 'to do with as you please.'
'In this situation,' I said, 'in law, as well as in fact.'
She nodded.
'But I would watch my step if I were you,' I said. 'It would not do to have one of his men cut your throat.'
She nodded again.
'What are you?' I asked.
'A mute rence girl,' she said, softly.
'And an excellent use slut,' I said.
'I am not so high as a use slut,' she said. 'I am only a slave.'
