Mercenaries of Gor (23 page)

"I do not know," I said.

"I can hold Cos here for the winter," said the officer. "That is probably all."

"What would you like of me?" I asked.

"Gnieus Lelius," said he, "high councilor, first minister to Ar, is regent in the absence of Marlenus. I have here letters to be delivered to him. They outline the dispositions of the main forces of Cos and the situation in Torcadino. Too, I have letters here for Seremides, high general of Ar. They bear the seal of the silver tarn. I do not think you will have difficulty obtaining an audience with him" I had once known a Seremides in Ar. To be sure, such names are common.

"I understand," I said.

"With these letters, of course," he said, "I shall include letters of safety."

"How shall we pass through the forces of Cos?" I asked. "Such letters may have their weight with those of Ar but would scarcely seem designed to impress Cosians."

"You and your party will seem to be ejected from the city with other civilians," he said, "some thousand or so who will held until tomorrow. I do not think you will attract much attention. Indeed, Cos encourages the dispersion of these refugees, as it has little inclination to care for them."

"I see," I said.

"You were intending to Ar anyway, were you not?" he asked.

"Yes," I admitted.

"You will, of course, be well paid for your trouble," he said. He threw a weighty purse upon the table.

I looked at it.

"It is mostly silver," he said, "and some copper. Gold would provoke suspicion."

(pg. 166) "I would suppose I am not the first you have entrusted with such a mission," I said.

"No," he said. "You are the fifth. I have sent others with such letters, warnings, and such, as long ago as Tarnburg, and as recently as the banks of the Issus."

"Your messages then must have been already received," I said.

"Apparently not," he said. "I have, at any rate, as yet, received no responses."

"This could be dangerous," I speculated.

"I think that is quite possible," he said. "I would exercise great caution, if I were you."

"What if I do not wish to do this?" I asked.

"You need not do it, of course," he said. "Beyond that, for your trouble, and with no hard feelings, I shall give you letters of safety which will conduct you and your party safely through my men."

"That is very generous," I said.

"I place you under no pressure whatsoever," he said.

"I shall do it," I said.

"I knew you would," he said.

"And that is why you place me under no pressure?" I asked.

"Of course," he said.

"I share your general view on these matters," I said.

"I gathered that," he said.

"Do you wish me to take an oath, to pledge my sword?" I asked.

"No," he said, "that will not be necessary."

"I see," I said.

"If you succeed in this matter, of course, I will be grateful," he said.

"Of course," I said.

"Whereas I have a reputation of being merciless to enemies, at least when it suits my purpose," he said, "I, too, have a reputation of being generous to my friends."

"I have heard such," I said.

"Some expression of my gratitude would be in order," he (pg. 167) said. "Perhaps a bag of gold, perhaps a hundred prize Cosian women?"

"No," I said. "I shall do this labor of my own will, and for my own purposes."

"Warrior," said he.

"Warrior," I, in turn saluted him.

I eyed the papers on the desk.

"Sleep this night in the Semnium," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"It will be safer," he said.

"My weapons, and goods," I asked, "and those of my party?"

"Give the receipts, yours and those of your friends, to the officer outside," he said. "They will be delivered in the morning."

"Why will it be safer to sleep in the Semnium?" I asked.

"Who knows whom one can trust?" he asked.

He sat behind the desk. He began to sign various documents. The signature was forward-slanting, ascendant and bold.

"Shall I wait for the letters?" I asked.

"No, Captain," he said.

"Captain?" I asked.

"Surely you have served, in some capacity or another, in one place or another, with that rank or one at least equivalent to it," he said.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"You carry yourself like a captain," he said.

There was no reason for me to receive the letters, of course, until I was ready to leave. I now sensed, however, more than before, the security in which he wished to hold them, and how important they might be. To be sure, developments might occur during the night, events to which pertinent references might be judiciously included.

"It has been my experience," he said, looking up, "that a judgment too hastily entered upon is sometimes, in the light of cooler reflection, regretted."

"Sir?" I asked.

"Consider carefully, tonight," he said, "in repose, and at length, whether or not you wish, truly to carry these letters."

(pg. 168) "I have agreed to do so," I said. I felt sweat about the back of my neck, and on my back, and in my palms. There was apparently more danger in being the bearer of these messages than I had hitherto realized.

"I shall wait upon your considered decision in the morning," he said.

"And if I then do not choose to carry them?" I asked.

"You may keep the coins," he said. "Too, you and your party will still receive letters of safety."

"You are incredibly generous," I said.

"Not really," he said. "What is the cost, really, of some scraps of parchment and a few drops of ink?"

"The coins," I said.

"A contribution from the treasury of Torcadino," he said.

"If I do not accept the commission," I said, "I shall return them to you."

"As you wish," he smiled.

I thrust the coins in my wallet.

They were more than enough, I had gathered, to get myself, and the others, too, if they wished to accompany me, to Ar.

He finished signing the papers before him, and stood up.

He regarded me. "Captain?" he asked.

I found myself reluctant to leave the presence of this man. I stood in awe of him.

"Captain?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said.

He looked down at the free woman, Lady Cara, of Venna, kneeling beside the desk.

"I need contentment," he said.

She straightened herself, with a tiny sound of chain.

"You may leave, Captain," he said.

"Sir," I said.

"Yes?" he said.

"Recently; on the Genesian Road, north of Torcadino, there was an attack on a portion of the Cosian supply trains, a massacre. Were your men responsible for that?"

"No," he said.

"Do you know what party, or parties, were?" I asked.

"No," he said.

(pg. 169) "But it was done by mercenaries," I said.

"Doubtless," he said.

I then turned about and went toward the door. "Oh!" said Lady Cara. I heard the sounds of her chains. At the door, turning, I saw her on her feet, naked, in her chains, being held closely against him, looking up into his eyes. Then he threw her on her belly on the desk, on the papers, and the various documents of state. I then took my leave. (pg. 170)

16
   
A Night in the Semnium

I turned in the blankets, brought by soldiers, on the tiles of the vestibule of the Semnium. There were perhaps two hundred people, many of them civilians, being housed there this night. Near me, a free female, one of those to be counted among the spoils of Torcadino, was chained on one of the client's marble benches, one of several serving on such benches, women who, one after the other, in turn, were replaced by others.

I was troubled. I wished to go to Ar, but I had my own business there. I did not think I needed a mercenary's coins to buy my way there. Too, as an unknown fellow, it seemed I might be able to enter her gates without great difficulty. Letters of safety, aside from the difficulties they might involve me with Cosian sentries or outposts, which might be considerable, would presumably not be needed by everyone entering Ar. To be sure, if I wished to enter the presence of the first minister, or the high general, they might be of some use, but the letters for them, sealed with the sign of the silver tarn, might do as well. Besides, if I chose not to deliver these letters, who would know the difference. Others may have defaulted, for some reason or another, in this, or a similar mission. The officer, at any rate, seemed not, as yet, at least, to have received replies to such missives.

The woman on the bench, groaning and ravished, on her belly on it, clutching it, her legs chained on either side of it, was now alone. She lay on the cool marble, clutching it. "Master, Master!" she had wept. Nearby, to her right, and my right, only feet way, almost at our elbows, some sitting, some lying down, crowded together, chained, huddled, in the (pg. 171) half darkness, illuminated by a tiny lamp on the wall, against one wall of the Semnium, was a large group of choice free women, probably gathered here as the cream of Torcadino's free flesh loot, doubtless to be distributed as gifts in the near future. Most would doubtless go to high officers and agents. Some on the other hand, I supposed, perhaps lesser beauties, might receive a different disposition, being bestowed perhaps on local civilian supporters or given as good-will emoluments to suppliers and contractors.

Nearby, Hurtha and Boabissia were asleep. Mincon, apparently a trusted agent of his captain, had quarters, or business, elsewhere. His Tula he had taken with him. Feiqa was now far to the left, against the far wall, chained there by the ankle with a number of other slaves. They did not wish to mix the slaves and the free females. From her collar there was suspended a small rectangle of cardboard. This was attached to the collar by a small, closed-looped string. This is first put through a hole in the cardboard and drawn through itself, fastening it to the cardboard; it is then passed under or over the collar, the cardboard thrust through it, and then pulled down, snugly, about the collar, the cardboard now dangling from it. On the cardboard there was a number, matching a number on a similar piece of cardboard now in my wallet. By means of this tag I would claim her in the morning.

I wondered why the officer had not, as yet, received any replies to his messages. Perhaps, of course, the message had gotten through. Perhaps it was only that the recipients did not deign to reply, or that their replies, perhaps, had been intercepted.

The woman on the bench moaned, holding it. Elsewhere I saw another woman being removed from a similar bench, and being returned to the common chain.

I wondered if some of these women had been here before, perhaps as clients, or petitioners or even witnesses. I supposed so. It seemed likely.

A new female was brought to the further bench. She was sat upon it, straddling it. Her ankles were chained together beneath it. Her wrists were similarly secured, the length of chain running under the heavy, fixed-position marble bench.

(pg. 172) She was then, by the hair, drawn forward, to lie upon her belly on the cool marble.

All of these women, I suspected, had been in the Semnium before, in one fashion or another, or for one purpose or another, if only to meet friends or to examine and admire the interior appointments and mosaics. It is, after all, one of Torcadino's great buildings. But doubtless none of them had ever before been here in their present capacity, casual love meat set forth for the delectation of passers-by, or even of the idle or curious.

A new woman was being brought to the common chain now, to a place quite near me. She was a dark-haired, sweetly bodied beauty. On her neck was a hempen leash. Her hands were tied behind her back. In a moment she wore a heavy collar, and was on the chain. Her leash was then unknotted, and, with a quick, whiplike motion, as she winced, jerked away from her. Her hands, too, then, were freed. She was now on the chain, and no different from the others.

The woman on the bench near to me whimpered. She moved her body a little on the cool marble, piteously, clutching it with her hands, her legs chained on either side of the smooth, inflexible expanse.

The woman who had just been added to the chain rubbed her wrists. Apparently she had not been tied gently. I wondered if she, a free woman, not yet a slave, had dared to express less than total deference before a man, or if she were important.

"Mother," whispered a voice, from among the other captives, "is it you?"

"Is it you?" whispered the new woman, startled, wildly, turning about.

"Yes," said the other. "Yes!"

"Daughter!" she whispered.

The other, with a movement of chain, crawling, emerged from the other captives. They embraced, on their knees, weeping.