Vagabonds of Gor (19 page)

"Do you know who I am?" she asked.

I saw that she did not raise the hems of her robes more than a hort or two, scarcely enough to lift them from the sand. The soldiers of Ar, regulars, were closely and exactly disciplined. Yet I suspected that she had enough woman's sense not to reveal her ankles among them. They were, of course, men, and Gorean men, and had been long from a woman.

"It seems you have been gagged," she said, looking at the binding, and the sodden wadding, wrapped about my neck-rope.

"Yes," I said.

"Susceptibility to the gag is a liability of prisoners," she said, "enforceable at a moment's notice, at the whim of a captor."

"Of course," I said.

"And I," she said, "have the authority. I assure you, to have it replaced on you, perfectly, immediately."

"I understand," I said.

"I am Ina, Lady of Ar," she said, "of the staff of Saphronicus, general in the north."

"I know," I said.

"I am an observer," she said, "on behalf of Talena, Lady of Ar, daughter of Marlenus."

"Once daughter of Marlenus," I said. "She was sworn from him, disinherited, disowned, fully."

"It seems you are familiar with the politics of Ar," she said.

"It seems to me unusual," I said, "that such a woman, disowned, disinherited, surely once sequestered in the central cylinder, in disgrace, should be able to post an observer in the delta."

"Her fortunes rise," she said. "I gather so," I said.

"You are Tarl, of Port Kar?" she asked. "Perhaps," I said.

"You will answer my questions expeditiously!" she said. I was silent.

"Spread your knees!" she snapped. I did so.

"You are Tarl, of Port Kar," she said.

"I have been known variously," I said, "in various places."

"You are Tarl, of Port Kar!" she said, angrily. "Yes," I said. I was Tarl, of Port Kar, city of the great arsenal, city of many canals, Jewel of Gleaming Thassa.

"You are a handsome fellow, Tarl," she said.

I was silent.

"But there are many marks on your body," she chided. "From various things," I said, "from blows, from ropes, from harness, from the slash of rence, from the bites and stings of insects, from the fastening places of marsh leeches."

She shuddered.

"It is difficult to traverse the delta unscathed," I said, "particularly when one is naked, in the water, harnessed, drawing a raft."

"Such employments are suitable for a spy," she laughed.

"Doubtless," I said.

"You look well, naked, shackled, on your knees before me," she said, "spy of Cos."

"Doubtless your robes of concealment are uncomfortable in the delta, given the moisture, the heat," I said.

She looked at me, angrily.

"Doubtless you would be more comfortable, if they were removed."

"Today," she said, angrily, "we have won a great victory."

"Over Cosians?" I asked.

"In a way," she said, petulantly.

"No," I said, "over rencers."

Her eyes flashed over the veil.

"Men of the right flank stumbled on a village of rencers," I said. "That is all." I had surmised this, from the information coming from the right this afternoon.

"Rencers are allies of those of Cos!" she said.

The influence of Cos was strong in the delta, to be sure, there as it was in the western reaches of the Vosk, but I did not think the rencers would be explicit allies of Cos. They, in their small, scattered communities, tend to be secretive, fiercely independent folk.

"The village was destroyed," she laughed.

"I am sorry to hear it," I said.

"That is because you favor Cos," she said.

"Those of Port Kar," I said, "are at war with Cos." To be sure, this war was largely a matter of skirmishes, almost always at sea, and political formality. There had not been a major engagement since the battle of the 25th of Se'Kara, in the first year of the sovereignty of the Council of Captains in Port Kar, or, to use the chronology of Ar, 10,120 C.A., Contasta Ar, from the Founding of Ar. In that battle the forces of Port Kar had defeated the combined fleets of Cos and Tyros.

"Those of Port Kar doubtless have their traitors, as well as those of other cities," she said.

"I suppose so," I said.

"But you may lament for your allies, the rencers," she laughed.

"It was not only they for whom I was sorry," said I.

"For whom, then?" she asked.

"For those of Ar, as well," said I.

"I do not understand," I said.

"Surely there were warning signals, cloth on wand-like rence stems, white, then later red, raised in the vicinity of the rencers' village."

"Such were mentioned in the reports," she said.

"Yet your scouts proceeded," I said.

"Ar goes where she pleases," said she. "Too, such markers could have been set up by Cosians."

"They serve to warn away strangers," I said. "In the vicinity of such markers Cosians would be no more welcome than those of Ar."

"We of Ar do not fear," she laughed. "Too, it does not matter now. Victory was ours. The village was destroyed."

"Was your barge seen in the vicinity of the village?" I asked.

"I suppose so," she said. "Were there survivors?" I asked. "I do not know," she said. I was silent.

"It was a great victory," she said.

I was silent. I had once known some rencers. To be sure, the groups with which I was familiar were far to the west, indeed, in the vicinity of the tidal marshes themselves.

"Concern yourself with the matter no longer, my helpless, handsome spy," she laughed. "It is over, it is done with. It is finished."

"Perhaps," I said.

"Listen," she said. "I hear Vosk gulls, out in the marsh."

"Perhaps," I said. "What do you mean?" she asked. I was again silent.

"I have men at my beck and command," she warned me.

"For what purpose have you come," I asked, "to torment me?"

"Spread your knees more widely," she snapped. I did so.

She laughed. "As I understand it," she said, "you were, though a prisoner, earlier displeasing in speech."

"Have you the ear of an officer?" I asked, suddenly.

"Present them to officers," I said. "Plead that they be considered!"

"I think not," she said.

"Why?" I asked.

"They are the quaint ravings of a spy," she said.

"You do not believe that," I said.

"No," she said. "Of course not."

"Convey them then to officers," I said, "swiftly, clearly!"

"No," she laughed.

I suddenly knelt back. "You!" I said. "You are the spy! You are with them!"

"Yes," she laughed. "I am with them!"

"It is for that reason you wished to interrogate me," I said, "to see what I might know, or have guessed."

"Of course," she said.

"I have been a fool," I said.

"Like all men," she said.

"But I think," said I, "that I am not the only fool here."

"How is that?" she asked.

"You are in the delta, too," I said.

"My barge will protect me," she said. "It is known. Cosians have orders not to fire upon it, to let it pass."

"I do not think I would care to trust that information," I said.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You know a great deal," I said. "Your life, in my opinion, is not as safe as you seem to think it is."

"I do not care to listen to such nonsense," she said. I shrugged.

"But there is another reason I wanted to interrogate you," she said.

"What is that?" I asked.

"I heard from slaves in Ven, serving slaves, collared sluts, who saw you caged, before we came west, that you were an attractive and powerful beast." She laughed. "It seems the sight of you made them juice."

"They know perhaps what it is to obey a man," I said.

"Perhaps," she laughed.

"And you," I said, "do you juice?"

"Do not be vulgar!" she said.

"But perhaps there is less to fear for your life than I thought," I said. "Perhaps there is another disposition planned for you."

"What?" she asked.

"The collar," I said.

"Sleen!" she hissed.

"If when stripped you proved sufficiently beautiful," I added.

"Sleen, sleen!" she said.

"Let us see your legs," I said. She stiffened in anger.

"The robes of concealment must be bulky, hot, uncomfortable in the delta," I said. "The rence girls go barefoot, commonly, or wear rence sandals, and short tunics."

"It is you who are the prisoner!" she said.

"And their slaves are sometimes not permitted clothing at all."

"Sleen," she said.

"Except perhaps a rope collar," I said.

"It is you who are stripped," she said. "It is you who are shackled, who have a rope on your neck!"

"Perhaps stripped, and in chains, in the shadow of a whip," I said, "you, too, could learn to juice before men."

She trembled with rage. I thought she would hurry forward, to strike me, but then I did not think, even shackled as I was, that she cared to approach within the ambit of my neck rope. Then her body relaxed. "Ah," she laughed, "you are clever, for a man. You seek to make me angry."

I shrugged. "They are simple conjectures," I said.

Again she stiffened in anger, but then, again, relaxed. She looked down at me. "What an impudent fellow you are," she laughed. "I think I shall have you beaten."

I was silent.

"Has it been long since you have had a woman?" she asked.

"Yes," I said. "Perhaps you have one or two serving slaves with you, one of whom, perhaps, as a discipline, you might order to my pleasure?"

"Alas," she laughed. "I have not brought such slaves with me into the delta. They might learn too much. Also, their presence, such scantily clad, collared creatures, might too severely test the discipline of the men."