Slaver of Gor - Chapter Fifteen

 

 

“What did you do to the army of Argentum?” I realised how foolish that sounded, the moment I spoke the words.

 

“I should perhaps confess that I am a magician from Anango, and not simply the metal worker you presumed me to be,” said Julian. “It was a simple matter of waiting until the stars were in alignment and then working a potent magical charm capable of vanishing an army.”

 

“Is this true?!” I looked shocked. Like everyone, I knew that the shadowy magicians of the island state of Anango wielded immense power. It was said they travelled the skies, riding on clouds, and they could speak every beast, bird and fish language throughout the planet, Gor. They could summon lightning and turn men into beasts and beasts into men. They knew charms that could collapse a city’s walls, and other charms that could part the ocean waves. 

 

“No, of course not.” Julian sighed. “Do you think I would have been your silk slave in the first place if I had magical powers?”

 

That was true, I suppose. I strained at my ankle chain, but it was useless. I could not get anywhere near the mouth of the tent, and even if I did, where was there to go? 

 

The chain of six girls continued to stare at me from where they knelt, sat, and crouched. I had overseen the branding of each of their thighs, and I had personally whipped four of them. The other two had been whipped by a man under my orders. They were slaves. 

 

“I don’t understand any of this,” I cried. “I went to sleep last night and now… now, just a few hours later, the army has vanished! And the slaver encampment, too! How can this be!”

 

Was he toying with me? Was he actually a magician of great power and this was all some sort of subtle game?

 

Julian sighed again. “The less clothes free women wear, the stupider they become. Do free women keep their brains in their robes?”

 

“How dare you!” I stamped my foot angrily. It was the right foot. The one that was not chained. 

 

“Firstly, you have been asleep for more than a day. You didn’t wake up in the morning, like you think you did, and you slept through to the following morning instead. Tassa powder.” He smiled, seeing my reaction. “You will be familiar with it, of course.”

 

“Of course.” It was a useful tool for slavers. I kept a pouch of it with my belongings. Tassa powder is a traceless, harmless, tasteless, swift-acting, reddish drug normally concealed in wine. The effect is not felt for a time, but when it takes effect, it does so swiftly. Members of my caste use it to render the unsuspecting woman who drinks it unconscious. 

 

The length of the unconsciousness is partly determined by the individual involved and partly by the amount of the drug administered. In other words, the weight of the individual involved and the desired length of unconsciousness are used to determine the dosage. The skill comes from knowing the right application for the right body frame. 

 

One normally recovers slowly from the effects of Tassa powder, at least for a few minutes, but after a time, suddenly comprehending, awaken quite suddenly. Tassa powder allegedly has few, if any, lingering aftereffects, with the exception of a ravenous appetite. 

 

The Caste of Slavers primarily uses it to ensnare hapless free women.

 

“We have been dosing you with Tassa powder for quite some time now, because I needed to know how much to use when the time was right for me to escape.”

 

“I’ve been sleeping so soundly…”

 

“The Tassa powder,” said Julian. “We served it to you in your wine. Some nights we used more than we needed, but we gradually learned the correct dose for the measured effect.”

 

“We?” I knew the answer to my question before I voiced it.

 

“Beth and I. I mastered her early on, soon after you bought me.”

 

“I love you, Master,” cried Beth as she kissed his thigh.

 

“Beth! How could you!” This was a complete betrayal! After all I had done for the girl!

 

“The girl is a ripe slut,” said Julian. “She shouldn’t belong to a woman. She needs the touch of a man.”

 

“I do, Master. I do.” She smiled up at him as I watched. 

 

“You drugged me with my own Tassa powder!” I said. 

 

“My original plan was simply to keep you drugged during the day. Beth would make excuses that you were unwell, that you were resting, that you didn’t wish to be disturbed. Women’s problems, perhaps. The men by now had grown used to your long lie ins during the morning. Come night fall, once it was dark, I would make my escape. I had found your keys eventually and could now remove my collar. Beth had volunteered to help with the camp washing. A few tunics had not been returned yet to their owners. I subsequently had two tunics I could use – one from a warrior and one from a slaver. In the dark I could easily pass myself off as one or the other.”

 

“You have been planning this for some time,” I said, bitterly.

 

“I have had plenty of time to do so, chained under your wagon, Lady.”

 

“There is still time for you to abandon this foolishness and beg my mercy,” I said. “I will consider leniency.” 

 

Julian laughed. “Yes, it does seem that free women keep their brains in their robes.”

 

“People will be looking for me,” I cried. 

 

“I think not. As I said, my original plan was simply to slip away under the cover of darkness, taking the lovely Beth with me. As and when you showed signs of waking, I made you drink some more drugged wine, holding your nostrils and mouth closed until you automatically swallowed in your sleep. I placed you in the girl wagon, naked, just in case anyone called on your tent and insisted on looking inside. It wouldn’t do for anyone to find you drugged and senseless. The girl wagon was a perfect hiding place for you. You may recall there are supposed to be seven girls there.”

 

“Six,” I said. “I gave one away.”

 

“Yes, but you have not updated the paperwork. You didn’t want to admit to Tywin what you had done. He would have thought you foolish. He would have been angry with you. So you kept the records as they were for the time being. Seven girls.”

 

I looked down at the number on my breast.

 

“Yes, that is the number of the girl you gave away. So all is right in the girl wagon. Seven girls, one of whom was sleeping soundly.”

 

I clenched my fists angrily. “I still don’t understand where the army is?”

 

“My plans changed when the commander, Gistin, decided to fight that day. The Corcyrian forces had arrayed themselves for battle. The Argentum cohorts and the mercenaries did the same.”

 

“There’s been a battle? While I was drugged?”

 

Julian nodded. “The day you slept through.”

 

“We won?”

 

Julian shook his head.

 

“What? How? What happened?”

 

“The first we knew was when soldiers came running back to the baggage train in panic. It was a disaster. Blucher’s mercenaries turned on us. Argentum had been betrayed from the moment the lines met up. Blucher had been in the pay of Corcyrus all this time. Gistin had arranged his line of battle with the three regular cohorts in the centre of his line and a mercenary free company holding each flank. Those two cohorts turned ninety degrees and attacked the Argentum flanks by surprise. The Corcyrian army of three cohorts then charged our centre.”

 

I think I must have screamed in shock, holding my cupped hands to my mouth.

 

“The fifth, ninth and twelfth cohorts of Argentum are destroyed, the survivors scattered across the region in complete disarray. A few bands here, a few bands there. As soon as we heard the news, the baggage train, and the attached slaver compound, began fleeing before the victorious Corcyrians might arrive. It was utter confusion and panic. Tywin came looking for you. I clubbed him unconscious. I then dismantled your tent and stowed it on the flat bed girl wagon. Dressed as a slaver, and with Beth seated beside me, I simply drove the wagon out, alongside all the other wagons and men fleeing for their lives with whatever valuables they could carry. I had actually forgotten I had hidden you in the girl wagon, but I’m pleased now that I did. So, you see, Lady, no one is looking for you.”

 

“Didn’t Corcyrian tarnsmen and cavalry pursue you?”

 

“They didn’t. Cornelius Piu is a very single-minded and brilliant strategist. He has maintained perfect discipline and ordered his men not to waste time pursuing or looting. He has marched them straight towards the Issus river, instead.”

 

I remembered the military dispositions there. General Marcu Numitor was camped on our side of the river with four cohorts of Argentum soldiers – the second, third, sixth and tenth - facing off against a five cohort Corcyrian force on the other side. His back would be to the fast approaching, presumably now five cohort strong, army commanded by Cornelius Piu.

 

“Marcu Numitor will receive news by tarn of Piu’s approach, but by then he will only have two choices. Stand where he is, to prevent a crossing by the Corcyrian main army, and in doing so, be trapped between two forces, or, if he has time, retreat immediately, presumably back towards Argentum, allowing a Corcyrian crossing. His retreat will then be pursued on two flanks by the Corcyrians. If he chooses retreat, he may have to surrender his baggage train and supplies, as I suspect he will not have time to dismantle camp quickly enough. If he stands and fights, he fights on two fronts against ten cohorts.”

 

“No…” I wailed softly. 

 

“The war has not begun well for Argentum.”

 

I paced about the interior of the tent to the small degree my ankle chain permitted. “And where are we now, Julian?”

 

“A field, near a wooded area, twelve pasangs from the battlefield. I would have driven further if I had seen tarn riders in the air.”

 

“Of course.” The absence of tarnsmen suggested Cornelius was concentrating on his primary objective, which now looked like it was divide and conquer. With the first army defeated and scattered, he could now apply maximum strength against the second, but if he didn’t do so immediately he would lose initiative and Marcu’s own force could manoeuvre and join up with reinforcements. Cornelius, if he had any sense, would press his advantage immediately. That meant we were reasonably safe for the time being.

 

“I suppose congratulations are in order, Julian.”

 

“Oh?” he walked round me, admiring my body. The beast!

 

“I admit you have done well, freeing yourself from bondage. I underestimated you.” I crossed my arms over my naked breasts, my hands at my shoulders, and turned at the same rate that he tried to walk around me.

 

“Thank you, lady,” he said.

 

I shrugged. “I can be magnanimous in defeat. You have gained much. Your freedom, obviously.”

 

“There is that,” he said. “Freedom is always worth savouring.”

 

“I suppose you intend keeping my girl, Beth?”

 

“I think so,” he said.

 

“I will miss her, but the little bitch could never remain with me after she betrayed me like that.”

 

“She is a slave, Lady,” said Julian. “She desires a master. Women generally do, after they have spent some time in a collar.” He ruffled the hair of the beautiful girl kneeling at his feet.

 

“He won’t free you, you know,” I said to her.

 

“I don’t want to be freed. I want to be his slave.” She kissed his thigh again. “Never free me, Master!”

 

“I won’t, luscious kajira.”

 

“Slut!” I said.

 

“Yes, slut,” she replied with a happy smile. “I never wanted you to protect me from men!”

 

“What else have I gained?” asked Julian.

 

“My goods, I suppose.” I glanced at the six girls chained together in ankle coffle. “They have a monetary value. And you have a wagon and draft tharlarion to transport them.”

 

“I have your funds, too,” said Julian.

 

“You stole my money!”

 

“I did. Seven silver tarsks and one hundred and eighty five copper tarsks. I will not want for anything in the short term.”

 

“You have done well,” I said, bitterly. “There’s no denying that.”

 

“The Lady is gracious for saying so,” said Julian. “I feel better for her favourable assessment of the situation.”

 

“And let us not forget the ransom you are likely to receive for my safe return to Argentum,” I remarked. “You can expect to double the money you have taken from my tent.”

 

“Double, you say?”

 

“I feel I am worth it.”

 

Julian paced around me again, regarding my bottom, my hips, my stomach, and of course my breasts. He pulled my arms away from my body so that he could feast his eyes on my breasts. 

 

“What?!” I said. I didn’t like being assessed in this fashion.

 

“I think you do yourself a disservice, Lady. You price yourself at a mere seven silver and one hundred and eighty-five copper? I am astonished. I thought free women are priceless.”

 

“That is simply a common saying. Obviously every woman can be priced. I assure you that is far more than I might fetch on an auction block.” I smiled, knowing money always talks. “I have a lot of experience in such matters.”

 

Money does talk. What separates a free woman from a slave? Ultimately, it is the ransom she can bring if circumstances go against her, which I had to admit, had occurred to me, today. The slave, in her chains, in her collar, with her brand, well, her body was worth more to a man than the ransom she might arrange, otherwise she would still be free. But I could pay for my freedom. I had nothing to fear. 

 

“You have a reasonable idea of your typical block price, then?” said Julian.

 

“Of course. I wouldn’t be a very good slaver if I couldn’t assess myself in a mirror.”

 

“I’m curious. Please enlighten me.”

 

I blushed. “It is not the sort of thing a free woman talks about.”

 

“I suppose so. Perhaps I should spare you the acute embarrassment of such a conversation and instead present you to the first slaver we meet and ask him to quote me a figure instead?”

 

“Eighty-five copper tarsks, if you must know!” I hissed. I blushed again, feeling humiliated by that disclosure.

 

“And how much did you pay for Beth, here?”

 

 “You can’t compare us like that. Beth was a trained slave when I bought her. She had a high level of training as a woman’s maid. She fetched a premium price.”

 

“How much?”

 

“Three silver tarsks,” I said, angrily. 

 

“So she is considerably more valuable then you?”

 

“Yes! And for your information, I find you insufferable!” I stamped my unchained foot. 

 

“I was an expensive slave, Master,” said Beth as she softly kissed his thigh again. “You could buy many clumsy free women for the price of me.”

 

“But none of them would be the hot and very responsive kajira that you are, Beth,” he said, kissing her in front of me. 

 

“I still feel you are under-priced, Lady,” said Julian, when he tired of Beth’s lips. “I mean, these curves of yours…” 

 

I felt his hands on my hips, rising up to my stomach and then my breasts.

 

“Please don’t!” I cried. “Not in front of Beth!”

 

“How can I assess you if I don’t touch you?” he said.

 

“I don’t need to be assessed! It makes no difference to my ransom!”

 

“Ah, yes, the ransom. I feel it is too low. You set too low a value on your freedom. I am insulted on your behalf.”

 

“I might be able to double it,” I said, “given a little time. I have bonds that can be liquidated. It would be ruinous for me, but I can offer you twice the original sum as ransom.”

 

“Now we are getting somewhere,” said Julian as he cupped my chin and kissed my lips softly. I squirmed a little as he did so, because his left hand cupped my bottom, lifting me up onto tip-toes, while his right caressed my flanks. 

 

“Don’t do that! Not while we are negotiating my ransom!”

 

“Is that what we are doing?” he asked, as his hand moved from my flanks to between my legs, touching the soft hairs there. I felt two fingers part my lips down there.

 

“Don’t!”

 

He slid his fingers out and wiped them on my left thigh. 

 

“Take me to Argentum,” I said. “Ransom me.”

 

“Show me display position,” he said.

 

“You will receive a ransom for me!”

 

“Display position. Now.”

 

Angrily I did as he said, with my feet apart, and my hands clasped behind the back of my neck, standing straight and perfectly displayed. The position lifts a girl’s breasts through the positioning of her arms. 

 

“You can always rely on a slaver to know how to adopt a slave position well,” said Julian with a chuckle.

 

“Am I supposed to take that as a compliment?”

 

“Well, it’s not an insult.” He stroked my buttock cheeks and as I squirmed he added, “do not break position.”

 

“I am offering you a great deal of money!” 

 

“Your name, for the time being, will be two-nine-three. That is the only name you will respond to, and the only name you will give to anyone who asks.”

 

“What?!” I almost broke position, but the warning look in Julian’s eyes stopped me in time. 

 

“What is your name?”

 

“This is madness!”

 

“Beth, fetch the whip.”

 

“293! I am 293!” I said, urgently. Beth had made to get up, but as I said that, she relaxed back to her knees again. She smiled wickedly at me. 

 

“Anything else?”

 

“No. My name is 293.”

 

“Beth, we have a seven girl coffle, and yet only six ankle chains are currently occupied. Please correct this oversight and add 293 to the seventh ankle chain.”

APPENDIX: The current dispositions of the Argentum-Corcyrus conflict:

 

 

Commander of Argentum forces: General Marcu Numitor

 

Commander of Corcyrus forces: General Traian Decimus

 

 

(1) The original spearhead Corcyrian force of three cohorts – one regular city troops, and two free companies led by Dominic of Venna, VICTORIOUS against the Argentum army (2). Now reinforced by the two treacherous mercenary free companies of Blucher of Tarnburg. 

 

(2) NOW DESTROYED and survivors scattered across the region in small bands: WAS the Argentum response of five cohorts – three regular, and two free companies led by Blucher of Tarnburg. No longer on the map.

 

(3) A main Corcyrian force camped on the bank of the Issus river: five cohorts – four regular and one free company, commanded by General Traian Decimus. 

 

(4) The Argentum response, camped on the other side of the Issus river. Four regular cohorts. No free companies. Commanded by General Marcu Numitor.

 

(5) One cohort of Argentum infantry, spread out in a number of encampments along the western frontier.

 

(6) Two cohorts of Argentum infantry, spread out in a number of encampments along the northern frontier.

 

(7) Unaccounted for Coryrian forces – unknown strength and size, now moving along the shore of Lake Ias.

 

(8) Argentum Reserve – three cohorts, regular troops, within Argentum itself. Technically ‘on leave’ but now on ‘standby’.

 

(9) Amicia Katares, Julian, and Beth.