Vagabonds of Gor (58 page)

"Perhaps they are," I said.

"Perhaps," he said.

"Perhaps she was fleeing an unwanted mating," I said. She had tried to convince me of that, or something like that, I recalled, when she was pretending to be a rence girl, preposterous though that was, with her accent, when I had first encountered her on the pole, tied there for tharlarion.

"And found herself instead in your ropes?"

"Yes," I said.

"Perhaps she, a mute rence girl, doubtless an outcast, was merely living alone in the marsh when you found her?"

"Perhaps," I said.

"The Lady Ina," he said, "for whom you have named your capture, was also, as I recall, just a bit short of average height for a female."

"Or thereabouts," I said.

"That would make the name more appropriate," he said.

"Of course," I said.

"Your Ina," he said, "is blond, you said."

"Yes," I said.

"So, too," said he, "was the Lady Ina, of Ar."

"Oh?" I said.

"Yes," he said. "I once saw some wisps of her hair, blown from beneath her hood."

"Interesting," I said.

"But that coincidence, too," he said, "merely makes the name more appropriate."

"True," I said.

"It is my understanding that blond rencers are rare," he said.

"But, of course," I said, "there are some such." I had seen some, years ago.

"Undoubtedly," he said.

"Though you are blind," I said, "I think you see some things more clearly than your men."

We listened for a few moments to the soft cries of the captive, in the arms of one of the fellows of Ar.

"Do you believe in justice?" he asked. "Occasionally," I said.

"What of justice for traitresses?" he asked.

"There are many different forms of justice," I said.

"You claim her as your own, by capture?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "She is mine, by capture."

"Entirely yours?"

"Yes," I said, "entirely mine."

"We shall not pursue the matter further," he said.

"I concur," I said.

"You might permit her to speak, if you wish," he said.

"I think not," I said. "Your men might cut her throat."

"True," he said.

He heard Ina gasping and crying out, now totally at the mercy of the esurient males who so masterfully fondled and exploited her.

"She is making too much noise," said a fellow.

"Fold the slave strips," said another.

"Here," said a fellow to Ina, a moment or two later, "bite down on these."

We now heard her muffled whimpers.

"She responds like a slave," smiled Labienus.

"And so, too," I said, "does any woman, properly mastered."

"True," he smiled.

"Perhaps you wish to try her yourself," I said.

"No," he said.

"She is excellent," I said, "and if she were a slave, she might become, in time, truly superb."

"It is an amusing thought, is it not?" he asked.

"Yes," I said, well considering that it was the once-proud Lady Ina of whom we spoke.

"But all women wish to be slaves," he said.

"Yes," I said.

"Because in their hearts they are slaves," he said.

"Yes," I said.

"Fifty thousand men," said he, looking out over the marsh, "entered the delta."

"I had thought perhaps something in that number," I said.

"How many do you think managed to withdraw safely?" he asked.

"Probably many," I said, "particularly before the deployment of the rencers. Not all commanders were as determined as you."

"The rencers were soon in position," he said.

"That is true," I said.

"How many would you think?" he asked.

"I have no idea," I said.

"My information, conjoined with plausible conjectures," he said, "would suggest at least five hundred, and probably no more than five thousand."

"Even if five thousand managed to withdraw," I said, "that would still constitute one of the greatest of military disasters in the history of the planet."

"And of those five thousand, if there were so many, how many do you think could reach Holmesk, or Venna, or Ar safely?"

"I do not know," I said. "Hopefully a goodly number, particularly if Saphronicus fell back on Holmesk."

"That is where he will be," said Labienus.

"Oh?" I said.

"Certainly," he said. "Thence he can march southeast to join the Viktel Aria."

"Cosians will not attempt to interpose themselves?" I asked.

"Not between Holmesk and the Viktel Aria," he said, grimly, "but in a line between the Vosk and Brundisium, between the delta and Holmesk, to close the path to Holmesk."

"I understand," I said.

"Only the most cunning and resourceful will reach Holmesk," he said.

"Ar might be reached by a variety of routes," I said. "I myself would go first actually to Brundisium, and thence to Ar."

"That would be bold, indeed," he said.

"It might not be advisable for you or your men to attempt that route," I said, "with your accents."

"No," he said.

"You do not think the Cosians will attempt to prevent Saphronicus from reaching Ar?"

"No," he said. "Saphronicus will return to Ar, a tragic hero, muchly betrayed, to be celebrated for saving some remnants of his forces. He may be granted a triumph."

"You are bitter," I said.

"I was told by Saphronicus," he said, "that I was one of his finest officers."

"I am sure you are," I said.

"It was for that reason that I was entrusted with the command of the vanguard," he said, "to be the first to make contact with the retreating Cosians."

"I am sure," I said, "you were among the most dedicated, reliable, and loyal of the officers." I had little doubt of this, given what I knew of him.

"And he made public declarations to that effect," said Labienus.

"I see," I said.

"Should I manage to reach Holmesk," he said, "I might be granted signal honors. I might be decorated, as a veteran of the delta."

"Perhaps," I said. I wondered if Labienus was mad. Yet his manner did not suggest this.

"First, I must manage to extricate my men from the delta," he said.

"I will do my best to be of service," I said.

He put out his hand and I took it. He clasped my hand.

"Then," said he, "I have one final duty."

"What is that?" I asked.

"I must make my report to Saphronicus," he said. "I see," I said. I decided that Labienus, after all, was mad.

"There will be no difficulty in obtaining an audience with him, should I reach Holmesk," he said. "It would be politically impossible for it not to be granted. I am a veteran of the delta, leader of the vanguard, one of his finest officers."

"Of course," I said.

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 least 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.