time, among our belongings. They would not have seemed to fit in well with our guise as auxiliary guardsmen. In many cities, of course, including Ar, time tends to be kept publicly. Official clocks are adjusted, of course, according to the announcements of scribes, in virtue of various astronomical measurements, having to do with the movements of the sun and stars. The calendar, and adjustments in it, are also the results of their researches, promulgated by civil authorities. The average Gorean has a variety of simple devices at his disposal for marking the passage of time. Typical among them are marked, or calibrated, candles, sun dials, sand glasses, clepsydras and oil clocks.
She was breathing deeply.
I sat down, cross-legged, opposite her.
'Master, too, seems apprehensive,' she said. 'Forgive me, Master.'
'Catch your breath,' I said.
'Thank you, Master,' she said.
She had not neglected to have her knees in proper position. She was, after all, before a free man.
We must soon to the theater of Pentilicus Tallux, the great theater, which was more than two pasangs away.
'I am frightened,' she said.
'How went it?' I asked.
At this point the eleventh bar rang.
'It is only the eleventh bar,' she said, gratefully.
'Yes,' I said.
She closed her eyes in relief.
'You are frightened, aren't you?' I said.
'Yes,' she whispered.
She was entitled to be frightened, I supposed. She was, after all, only a slave. 'Why are you frightened?' I asked.
'Because of he before whom I must shortly appear, and as only a slave!'
'Ah, yes,' I said. I myself would have thought her terror might more plausibly have been motivated by what had occurred earlier this morning.
'Tell me of what occurred in the Central Cylinder,' I said.
'It was much as you had anticipate,' she said. 'I approached the Central Cylinder. I knelt before the guards, my head down. The capped message tube even touched the stones. I looked up. I made known my errand, that I bore a private message emanating from the house of Appanius for the Ubara. They read my collar. It seemed then surely that I was a girl of Appanius. The guards were skeptical that I would be admitted. However, to their surprise, I was to be permitted to enter the presence of the Ubara.'
'That the message might emanate from a particular person in the house of Appanius, and presumably not Appanius himself, who would not be likely to have any direct business with the Ubara,' I said, 'was what gained your admittance. The Ubara would suspect, and perhaps even hope, from whom the message might come. Too, of course, that the message was considered «private» would tend not only to confirm her suspicions, but to excite and intrigue her.'
'Yes, Master,' said the girl.
She had, of course, reported to the guards at the Central Cylinder back-braceleted, with the message tube about her neck. In this way, she could not have uncapped the tube and read the message. She would presumably be in ignorance as to its contents. Indeed, in a sense she was ignorant of its contents as Marcus and I, with Phoebe's expert assistance, as it turned out, had composed it yesterday evening, while she had been scouting the public boards for us, for any news that might be of interest. It is best for slaves to approach the public boards in the evening or very early morning, when it is less crowded in their vicinity. In that way they are less likely to be beaten. She did know, of course, its general purport, and its role in our plans. The letter itself, of course, had been written by Marcus. I had removed the bracelets from her and the thong, the tube attached, from about her neck, of course, when we had had our rendezvous, after her departure from the Central Cylinder. I had given her the cloak then and we had made our separate ways back to the insula of Torbon.
'Go on,' I said.
'My bracelets were checked,' she said. 'It was found that I was perfectly secured.
'Yes,' I said. Having her back-braceleted, of course, was also a convenience to the guards. That would save them putting her in their own bracelets, before conducting her into the presence of the Ubara.
'Then I was double leashed,' she said.
'A single metal collar,' I said, 'with chain leashes on each side?'
'Yes,' she said.
There are several double leashing arrangements, sometimes with two collars, and sometimes with a single collar, with leash rings on opposite sides. The collars are usually of leather, metal or rope. The leashes, too, are of similar materials. Some collars, stocklike, are of wood. The point of double leashing is security and control. A prisoner is not likely to be able to pull away from two leashes. At least one is likely to restrain him. Similarly, by two leashes, he can easily be immobilized, kept in place, held, say, between two leash masters, unable to reach either of them, or a third person. In the case of females double leashing is primarily aesthetic. Certainly a girl would not be likely, more than once, at any rate, to attempt to attack a leash holder, say, to bite or kick. That is something she would never do again. On the other hand, in Lavinia's case, clearly the guards would not wish to risk her approaching the Ubara too closely, even back-braceleted.
'I was then conducted by five guards within the double gate of the Central Cylinder,' she said. 'The leader went first. Two were with me, one on each side, each holding a leash. Two followed, with spears. Inside the double gate, I was hooded, and then I was led through what seemed to be a maze of passageways, and levels, and turnings. Sometimes I was even spun about. I had no idea where I was in the Central Cylinder. Then I was told to kneel and my leashes seemed to be fastened down, on either side of me. 'Bring me the message from my dear friend, Appanius,' said a woman's voice.
'What was the voice like?' I asked.
'It seemed friendly, even kindly, and charming,' she said, 'but, somehow, underneath, cold, or cruel.'
'Continue,' I said.
'I felt the tube being taken in hand, and uncapped, and heard the message being removed from it. The leader of the guard, I presume, did this, and then delivered it to the woman. For a time I heard nothing. Then she spoke again. 'It is nothing,' she said, 'this little note from my dear friend, Appanius, news of a coming play. But leave us now, alone. And before you go, unhood the slave. I would see her.'
I was unhooded.
'I was kneeling in what appeared to be a private audience chamber. It must have been well within the cylinder. It was lit by lamps. The hangings were scarlet and magnificent. There was a dais a few feet before me, and on this dais, resplendent in robes of concealment, beautifully veiled, on a curule chair, there sat a regal figure. I was speechless.
'We await without,' said the leader of the guard. He then, with his mem, withdrew.
'The hood which had been removed from me lay to one side. The message tube, with its cap, attached by its tiny thong, was still about my neck.
'I looked timidly to the woman on the curule chair. It seemed she did not notice me. She read the letter in her hands over and over, seemingly avidly.
'The chain leashes attached to the leash rings on the metal collar I wore were fastened to rings on each side of me. I was held in place. I could not rise to my feet.'
'The woman on the curule chair looked down upon me. I put my head down to the floor. The message tube then, on its thong, was on the floor as well.
'Is that how you kneel before a free woman?' she asked.
'Forgive me, Mistress!' I wept. 'The guards were about! '
'They are not about now,' she said, 'and even if they were, it is I who am Mistress here, not they.'
'Forgive me, Mistress!' I begged.
'You will kneel before me demurely,' she said.
'Yes, Mistress,' I said. 'You can now well imagine how modestly and humbly, and demurely, I then knelt
