It rained solidly for the next two days, which seemed to reflect my dour, gloomy mood as we marched even closer to Torcadino. We were now well in the sphere of control claimed by that city state and with each passing pasang under pour feet there was less chance that foreign enemy forces might penetrate deeply enough to intercept us. The closer we got to the city walls the better the outlying security imposed by that state’s military forces became.
The heavy rain added to our optimism for it meant that our scent would be washed away, making it difficult for tracking sleen to find us. Not that I believed there were any tracking seen following us.
Refugees from Corcyrus became few and far between now that we had put some considerable distance between us and the city walls. In truth, most citizens had chosen to remain in their city, for Corcyrus was said to still be fighting with grim determination, and most citizens will not abandon their Home Stone until all hope is lost. That said, we heard stories that Ar had sent some legions to bolster the armed might of Argentum, and now the struggle was weighted heavily on the side of our enemy. The fog of war meant we couldn’t be sure what was happening at the frontline, nor where the frontline now stood, but Adam confirmed one night that our city’s situation would be very grim indeed if we failed to secure aid from Torcadino.
“We need their armies,” he said. “The warriors of Corcyrus are dying in their hundreds every day to buy us enough time to secure an alliance. We can’t let their deaths be in vain.” His words were meant especially for me. “We don’t have the luxury of self-pity, Roland. I understand you have suffered more than one tragedy, but this is bigger than you or me. Our men, our women, and our children hope with each passing day that Torcadino will come to their aid. That is all that should concern you.”
Rousing words, but the truth wasn’t quite that simple.
“You mean the way you ae focussed only on saving our city, Adam? Or is this still really about you finding your Caitlin Ambrose?”
“I have laid my cards on the table, Roland. You know why I’m doing this, but I gave my word to the Tatrix and I will fulfil my oath of service.”
“What if you had a choice of fulfilling your mission, or finding Caitlin? What if you could only have one outcome? Would you abandon Caitlin for the greater good?”
Adam looked me squarely in the eyes and said, “yes.”
I could never truly read him. It was impossible to know whether the man was telling the truth or not.
“Really? The woman you love? Strangers are more important than her?”
“They are not strangers. Each and every one shares my Home Stone.”
I wanted to believe him, because he was in charge of this group but I knew the truth – I knew why he really wanted to reach. Torcadino.
We now travelled with a reduced coffle of three lovely kajirae. Dana had made considerable progress in healing from her arrow wound, thanks mainly to the miracles of Gorean medicine. I still marvelled that a world which seemed so outwardly primitive in most respects could possibly command such advances in medicine. The injections I gave her on a daily basis from our travel sack eliminated any trace of infection and sped up the healing factor by a rate of five to one.
We walked our slaves in a coffle line, with their ankles locked in Harl rings.
“There should be a First Girl,” Nia had said one day.
“Presumably you?” Nia – the woman who had once been Livinnia Assante - had gradually begun to communicate with me. Her initial reticence and passive aggressiveness had faded as the days wore on, as we grew closer to the great walls of Torcadino, and as it became obvious that Stannis wasn’t going to find us.
That began to weigh heavily on her mind.
Stannis really wasn’t going to find us.
There would be no rescue.
“Yes, presumably me,” said Nia. Her feet were muddy as she walked alongside me in the coffle arrangement. Like the other two slaves she lifted and held the linking chain with her left hand so that the links wouldn’t drag on the ground, possibly snag on something, or act as a trip hazard. Her hair was slick with rain and strands of it stuck to her face.
“Why you?”
“I was in command,” she said.
“That has no bearing in a coffle arrangement. That was your previous life. Livinnia of the Assante no longer exists.”
“I haven’t been enslaved under mercantile law. I am simply a captive.”
“The appropriate legal niceties can be settled when we reach the city.”
“You don’t mean that,” she said. “I’m worth more as a ransom.”
“I have no intention of sending word to your companion and negotiating a ransom. I suspect he might try and pay your ransom with sharp steel.”
“But you yourself have said I will fetch little on the slave block? I am untrained. I am not a natural slave. You would see, perhaps, twenty copper tarsks for me, if that?”
“Perhaps.”
“My ransom would be gold. You would be a rich man, You could live a life of luxury.”
“I would be a dead man if I was stupid enough to meet with Stannis and try to collect a ransom.”
“Stannis is an honourable man,” said Nia.
“I tend to find honour is a convenience that can be applied or discarded depending on the circumstances of the day. I’m not going to stake my life on your companion keeping his word.”
“How close is the city now?” she asked.
“Two days walk. We will reach the outlying villages tomorrow. Your thigh will remain unmarked for a few days yet.”
“And then?”
“Then you will be legally enslaved and branded. I will have your ears pierced, too. Even if Stannis found you, you would be a slave. Only fools free slaves. I should know. I’m a fool, myself.”
“No…” there was genuine concern in her voice. With each pasang that brough us closer to the city, a little more of her smug confidence seemed to evaporate. “You freed Svetlana and Mishka,” she said.
“I did free Svetlana and Mishka.”
“So, free Danata and myself.”
“I probably will free Danata. I seem to have set a precedent, and I bear her no real grudge.”
“But you can’t just free the other girls and keep me as a slave!”
“I think you will find I can, Nia.”
“Dana will not leave without me.”
“The way Svetlana and Mishka didn’t leave without you? I think that when a woman faces a choice between the white hot branding iron on her thigh, or saving herself, an oath of huntress loyalty only goes so far.”
“I’m Livinnia of the Assante!”
“You are Nia and you belong to a slaver. I have to draw the line somewhere, Nia. I’d be a pretty poor slaver if I freed every girl who fell into my chains. I have to keep at least one for the good of my caste reputation.”
That evening as we ate our meal I noticed a mood change amongst my coffle of slaves. Kayra seemed happier now that she could sense that the walls of Torcadino were close. That meant her ordeal in this coffle was soon to be over. Once inside the city walls we would free her from the collar and provide her with garments suitable for her former status. She would be presented to the son of the Ubar and there would be a formal companionship. Her new life would begin and Corcyrus would have its allied armies. She would be hailed as the saviour of her city. Her name would be blessed each day by the white robed Initiates and people would remember her name for generations to come.
She would probably never see her city ever again, of course. Her new life would be confined to certain quarters within the palace of Torcadino, and the palace grounds, except for any occasions when she might be presented in public beside her companion. She would be a political pawn, sealing an alliance of convenience. If she was lucky some spark of love might develop between her and the Ubar’s son, but it couldn’t be guaranteed. He would almost certainly take his routine pleasures with palace owned kajirae, forsaking his companion to a largely sexless life. When and if they would couch together it would be for the purpose of getting Kayra pregnant. That would be her secondary function – to produce children that would continue the Ubar’s dynasty.
As far Dana, she began to sense the mood change in me since I had freed Svetlana and Mishka. That evening before the meal she had spoken to me.
“You will not really enslave me, will you, Roland?”
“I am undecided on the matter,” I said to her, but I said it with a smile.
“You freed Mishka and Svetlana.”
“So I did.”
“I would earn you very little on a slave block. It would hardly be worth the effort when you have so much to do in Torcadino.”
“That is true,” I admitted.
“So you will free me?” There was hope in her eyes. “I promise I will renounce any desire for revenge. I will never come after you. I will swear on the Priest Kings. Please do not enslave me. Please.”
“You beg well, Dana.”
“I will do whatever it takes to earn my freedom.”
“Oh?”
“I know Mishka was your favourite. I know that. Mishka is not here now. You may have me in the furs tonight if you will free me in Torcadino.”
“I can have you anytime I like, Dana. You do know that? Your compliance and willingness is hardly a factor.”
“Then I have nothing to bargain with?” There was a moment of despair in her voice.
“Not really, no.” I stroked her hair and kissed her forehead. “But I bear you no ill will, Dana. The chances are I shall free you inside Torcadino. Your life will be yours again. Perhaps.”
And then there was Nia who began to be even more concerned that her chain sisters now both had a sense of hope as the hours and pasangs brought us closer and closer to the city. Knowing that she alone had no hope – that she alone would feel the white hot kiss of the branding iron made things even more difficult for her. Everyone else would be freed. Everyone else would wear robes of concealment again. She would be a slave for the rest of her life.
“Roland, please, there has to be a way…” she began as I slid a pan of food beside her in the evening. “You could ask any price.”
“I’m not going to take the risk, Nia.”
“You are turning your back on a sack of gold! Why settle for twenty copper tarsks?”
“Eat your food, Nia. All of it, and lick your pan clean afterwards.”
She choked back a sob, but was sure to lick her bowl clean afterwards.
She understood I would use the switch on her if she refused.
We made good speed once the rain stopped. By now the roads were becoming well maintained this close to the city walls. We no longer walked along a mud trail. A rainbow in the sky seemed to offer hope and it was amusing to see how Kayra considered it a vision from the Priest Kings. They all did, in fact, And I had to keep my expression neutral as Felix, Nia, Dana, and Kayra all knelt before the sight of the rainbow and spent a few ehn praying to their distant Gods.
“Leaving aside their advances in medicine, they remain a superstitious people,” I said to Adam.
“You’re the one who thought it was important to put the hilt of a sword in Rolfe’s hand so he could reach Valhalla,” said Adam as we both watched the Goreans bow, raise their arms, and press their foreheads to the ground before the majesty of the rainbow.
“It was important to Rolfe.”
“Have you considered the possibility that the Priest Kings are responsible for the rainbow?’ said Adam after a while.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, they brought this planet into our solar system. They would have had to terraform it afterwards. Can you imagine the state it must have been in being pushed through space for tens of thousands of years? It would have just been a molten ball of rock. Everything you see now was created by the hidden hand. Makes you think, doesn’t it?”
“But they’re not actual Gods, they just have advanced science.”
“When you get to a certain point, is there really any difference, Roland?”
“Gods don’t die?” I suggested.
“Now that’s the most naïve thing I’ve heard you say in ages.”
“I’ve been curious. How does your gun work?”
“You pull the trigger and it goes bang, Roland.”
“Seriously. Why isn’t there a Flame Death when you use it?”
“It’s a legal weapon. An exception to the rule. I’m just not supposed to wave it around all the time. It’s for emergencies. The Priest Kings have a lot of dangerous enemies, and they generally don’t play by the rules.”
“And? Why isn’t there a Flame Death? How does that work?”
“The gun is a bit like a mobile phone. It transmits its location constantly to the central servers in the Sardar. When the orbiting satellites detect a gun being fired, the servers know what the gun is and it overrides the Flame Death.”
“You’re basically relying on a computer programme to keep you safe when you pull the trigger?”
“You can put it that way.”
“And if the gun stopped transmitting?”
“Well, then, I guess we’d all be dead a split second later. Cheer up, Roland. It’ll probably never happen.”
“Are you in contact with the Sardar?”
“No, I’ve never been there.”
“So, the Priest Kings don’t actually know you’re on Gor? You’re not here officially?”
“Something you should know, Roland: the Sardar lost contact with its agents on Earth a long time ago. Our enemies have that planet nailed down tight. There was a Nest War in the 1960s that left the Priest Kings with reduced resources. I guess they’re still recovering. We’ve all been alone since then – isolated cells with few links to the mother planet. I came here on my own volition, using a ring I stole. It’s a long story.”
“You’re not actually supposed to be here? You have no real authority from the Sardar?”
“That’s about it, yes. I’m going to find Caitlin. I’m here to find Caitlin.”
“You must really love her.”
“She’s my kajira. And, yes, I love her.”
“Will you free her when you find her?”
Adam gazed at me. “Now that’s twice you’ve said something naïve today.”
The following day made for pleasant walking. We passed through some beautiful meadows and picked up fresh pastries from some outlying villages. Kayra grew interested as we passed through the settlements, observing for the first time what social communities might look like outside of her limited palace experience. There was a freedom to observe and interact with the Gorean public while she appeared to be a coffle slave. For a few ahn she seemed to forget her fear and dismay at being collared. She was just one of many slaves she encountered in these parts, and when she became used to being nothing more than an anonymous face in a crowd she began to relax. I bought rough spun tunics for my three slaves and had them dress themselves while I watched. All three seemed grateful for the brief garments, even the proud and haughty girl who had been Livinnia of the Assante.
“Thank you,” she said as she adjusted the tunic on her body.
“You are grateful for something as simple as a slave tunic?”
“Yes, yes I am.” She was trying to please me now. Gone was the stiff resistance and refusal to speak to me. She sensed that would only lead directly to a branding rack. Her only hope now was to turn my feelings the way Svetlana had done.
“It suits you,” I said. “Far more so than the hunting leathers you once wore. They were pretentious at best.”
“I’m glad you find me pretty,” she said.
I smiled at that. “Is Nia a vain slave?” I asked.
“I have not been formally enslaved,” she reminded me. “I am your captive.”
“A captive kept under slave discipline. A captive who wears a steel collar and now wears a slave tunic.”
“And I am grateful for that tunic.” Nia smiled at me. She was a good actress when she felt she had to be.
“You have pretty legs,” I said after a while. It wasn’t a lie on my part.
“Thank you. I suppose if the circumstances were different you would have put me to use by now?”
“Perhaps.”
“I think you might have. You look at me in a certain way since Mishka left.”
“Do I?”
She tossed her head proudly. “I know I am attractive to men.”
She was certainly that.
“And I know what the sight of a collar around a girl’s neck does to inflame a man’s desires.”
“Oh?”
“I am not white silk,” she said.
“I know.”
“I am not scared of a man’s touch.”
“Perhaps you should be, for you now wear a collar. It would be very different to the gentle couching you enjoyed in the past.”
“Perhaps,” she said. “But I have seen men with slaves. I have seen what they do with a girl. I do not fear a man’s touch.”
“You do have very pretty legs, Nia.”
She smiled again. “I have long suspected that. But it is good to hear you confirm my suspicions. Free me when we reach Torcadino,” she said. “I will make you rich.”
“No.”
We walked on, and from time to time I found myself gazing at Nia’s supple and very pretty legs. She pretended not to notice, but I could see she was secretly pleased by my subtle attention, or at the very least pretended to be.
And then, shortly after we passed a road stone that declared Torcadino was but 15 pasangs in the distance, we came across a sea of billowing and multi-coloured tents and pavilions bustling with men and women, both slave and free, stretching out across a grass plain, bordered by light woodland.
“Torcadino has a fair,” said Adam as he gazed at the spectacle. “Is it Se’Kara already? I’ve honestly lost track of the days and weeks since all this began.”
“I think it is Se’Kara,” I said. “The nights are drawing in and we’re getting to about that time of the year.”
Felix grinned at this first sight of major civilization since leaving Corcyrus. “There will be hot baths,” he said.
“Good food and drink,” agreed Adam.
“And pleasure slaves,” added Felix. He glanced at his Captain.
“We were going to have to camp one more night, anyway,” said Adam. “It may as well be here. One night at the Fair of Se’Kara, and then tomorrow the gates of Torcadino.” He glanced at the sweet-legged girl who had once been the proud, cruel, and arrogant Livinnia of the Assante. “Cherish your last few hours with an unmarked thigh, Nia. We won’t need you as a hostage after tonight.”
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