Magicians of Gor coc-25, page 18
part #25 of Chronicles of Counter-Earth Series
"Next," called a scribe.
The small wrists of Fulvia, now kneeling near me, her knees about at my chest level, on the platform, were locked in manacles. In another moment she was pulled down the ramp and knelt before me. She seemed numb, in shock.
"Wake up," said a fellow.
"The cut of the whip is excellent for waking them up," said a man.
I added her to the chain with a joining rope.
She looked at the ring, and the chain to which she was now attached.
"And when they awaken they find themselves in their place," said another. "Yes," said another.
"Stand, move," said the auxiliary opposite me.
"I would like to have her," said a fellow.
"She will go to a Cosian," said a fellow, bitterly.
"I wonder if the women of Cos are so desirable," said another.
In my opinion, though I did not speak, not having been addressed, they were. I had, from time to time, used, rented or owned various women of Cos, or former women of Cos. I had found them superb. Phoebe, of course, had been Cosian. What the women of Ar and those of Cos have in common, of course, despite their numerous political, cultural and dialectical differences, is that they are all females. Stripped in a slave market it is hard to tell the difference, one from the other. But this is true of all women. Any woman, properly mastered, makes an excellent slave.
"No," said Talena, again. She had now, in the three or four Ehn which had passed since the selection of the Lady Fulvia, rejected four women. I gather that this may have been to compensate, before the crowd, for the selection of the Lady Fulvia, to indicate that in spite of the Lady Fulvia's concerns and protests, how very few women, actually, all in all, were being selected.
Talena seemed then prepared to dismiss another woman, for she had her hand half lifted, as though, with the customary small gesture, to do so, when one of her counselors, a Cosian, near her, in the uniform of a high captain, bent quickly toward her, his eyes glinting on the female in question, she standing before the Ubara, the robes of the penitent about her ankles. I saw the female stiffen, suddenly, almost in disbelief. At the same time a guardsman seized her from behind by the upper arms. She moved a little bit but found herself helpless in his grasp. Then, as she gasped, her arms were pulled back a little, rather behind her, this accentuating her figure.
"You are chosen," said Talena.
The woman uttered a small noise, as of disbelief or protest, but was quickly conducted to the place of manacling.
In what the Cosian had said to the Ubara I had made out the expression "slave curves'.
Manacles were put on the woman.
I saw the Cosian's eyes still on her as she was manacled. I suspected she would not long remain on the chain, after I had added her to it. When she was before me, having descended the ramp and being knelt in place, I considered her. Yes, she had excellent slave curves. She would doubtless soon learn that those curves were such as would be muchly exploited by masters. Then I had added her to the chain, and she had been ordered to her feet, and moved to the next position. "No," said Talena, again and again.
I began to suspect then that the quotas, whatever they might be, had perhaps been reached for the day. But then another woman was selected, and subsequently manacled and, in due course, added to the coffle.
Several other women were then passed over.
Then a slim woman took her place gracefully before the Ubara.
"Claudia Tentia Hinrabia, Lady of Ar," read the scribe.
A stir, a thrill of recognition, coursed through the crowd. Men pressed more closely about the platform. "Claudia!" said men. "The Hinrabian!" said others. I myself moved closer to the platform, pressing even against it. Claudia Tentia Hinrabia was the daughter of a former Administrator of Ar, Minus Tentius Hinrabius. She had figured as a pawn in the dark games of Cernus of Ar, to bring down the house of Portus, his major economic rival in the city. Later, the machinations of Cernus had brought him even to the throne of the Ubar, which he held until his deposition by Marlenus of Ar. Claudia, at the time of the deposition of Cernus, had been a slave in his house. Marlenus, upon his return to the throne, had freed her, even arranging for her support at state expense. For several years, she had been a resident of the Central Cylinder. She was the last of the Hinrabians.
Claudia, with a toss of her hair, freed her hair of the hood. She had long black hair, swirling and beautiful. It cascaded behind her. I remembered it that way from the house of Cernus, the first time I had seen her. When I had seen her later in the house of Cernus, it had been much shorter, as, in the intervening time, he had had it shaved off, and then, later, it had regrown somewhat. In her freeing herself of the hood she had, too, bared her face. She, as the others, had not been separately veiled. I well remembered the dark eyes of the Hinrabian, and the high cheekbones.
She then, gracefully, slipped the robe of the penitent back from her shoulders, letting it drop behind her.
"Ahhh," said several men.
She was slimly beautiful. She stood very straight before her Ubara, it seemed defiantly, it seemed insolently.
"See her," said a man to others.
Claudia smiled. She knew that she was unusually beautiful, even on a world where beauty is not rare.
Talena seemed displeased.
To be sure, if she were stripped and put beside the Hinrabian, I did not think she would need to fear, or much fear, the comparison.
Claudia looked up at Talena, on the dais.
"You will choose me," she said.
"Perhaps, if you are suitable," said Talena, in fury.
"You have waited long for this day," said Claudia, "to have me, the daughter of Minus Tentius Hinrabius, in your power, your rival."
"I," said Talena, "am the daughter of Marlenus of Ar!"
"You are not!" cried Claudia. "You are disowned. You have no more right to the throne of Ar than a sleek, pretty little she-urt!"
"Treason!" cried men. "Treason!"
"Your father sent men to the Voltai, to seek out and destroy Marlenus of Ar!" cried Talena.
"I do not deny that my father was enemy to Marlenus of Ar," said Claudia. "That is well known, and so, too, at the time, were many in Ar!"
"Cernus!" cried Talena.
"Yes," said Claudia.
"To whom you were a slave!" said Talena, scornfully.
"She-urt!" cried Claudia.
"Turn about, slowly," said Talena.
Men gasped.
Angrily, Claudia complied. Then she again faced Talena. "I stood higher in the Central Cylinder than you," she said. "I was the daughter of a former Administrator of Ar! You were nothing, a disowned disgrace, rescued from the norht. They brought you back in a sheet, with not even a tarsk bit to your name, and dishonored. No longer had you even citizenship! Because of what you once had been, the daughter of Marlenus of Ar, you were permitted to live in the Central Cylinder. But you were kept hidden there, sequestered, that you not bring further embarrassment upon Marlenus of Ar and the city! Do not compare yourself with me. You are nothing! I am the daughter of Minus Tentius Hinrabius!"
"Do not listen to her, beloved Talena!" called a man.
"You are an upstart," said Claudia. "You are a Cosian puppet!"
"I am your Ubara!" cried Talena.
"You are a Cosian puppet!" said Claudia.
"Treason!" cried men.
"You even wear Cosian garments!" cried Claudia.
"In this fashion we may demonstrate our respect for Cos, out gratitude to her, our friendship with her," said Talena.
"Dance on their strings, puppet!" screamed Claudia.
"Perhaps it is you will dance," cried Talena, "and as a slave, before my officers!"
"And I would do so more excitingly than you!" said Claudia.
I rather doubted that. To be sure, Talena was not trained. I supposed that both might look quite well, in a jewel or two, writhing as slaves before strong men. "Slave! Slave!" cried Talena.
"Marlenus of Ar freed me of bondage!" said Claudia.
"I am not Marlenus of Ar!" cried Talena.
"He treated me with honor," she said, "and gave me support and residence!"
"I am not he," said Talena.
"Nor are you, disowned and disgraced, any longer his daughter!" cried Claudia. "Treason!" cried men.
Talena turned to the crowd. "Should this woman's caste, and her lofty birth, and that she was the daughter of an administrator, permit her to shirk her duties to the state?"
"No!" cried men. "No!"
"To the state of Cos?" inquired Claudia.
"Treason!" cried men.
"Do you think you should be shown special privileges?" asked Talena.
This took Claudia aback.
"Hah!" cried a fellow. "Look, she is silent!"
Claudia, of course, was of high caste, and a member of the aristocracy. Gorean society tends to value tradition and is carefully structured. Accordingly, it would never have occurred to her that she was not, in fact, in virtue of her position, entitled to customary privileges. Such privileges, of course, in theory at least, are balanced by duties and demands far beyond those devolving on others. The Cosians, as many conquerors, made a point of enlisting class jealousies in their cause, utilizing them to secure their ends, for example, the replacement of a given aristocracy, or elite, with one of their own, preferably in as covert a fashion as is possible. This had to do with structure in human society, without which such society is not possible.
"Do you think you are better than other women of Ar?" asked Talena.
"I am better than at least one," said Claudia. "Talena, who would be tyraness of Ar, save only that her Cosian masters will not permit her such power!"
"Treason!" cried men. "Kill the Hinrabian! Death to her! Let her be impaled! Weight her ankles!"
"And at night, do you serve your masters in the furs?" inquired Claudia. It seemed that Talena might swoon at the very thought of this. She was supported by two of her aides.
"Death to the Hinrabian!" cried men.
A guardsman behind Claudia had his sword half drawn from its sheath.
"No! No!" cried Talena to the crowd. "Do not cry out so, against a woman of Ar!"
"Merciful Talena!" wept a man.
The guardsman sheathed his sword.
The crowd was then silent.
"I regret that I cannot," said Talena, "despite my love for you, exempt you from your duties to the state."
"Hail Talena!" wept a man.
"Nor in this matter treat you differently from other women of Ar."
"Glory to Talena!" cried a man.
"For I, too, have my duties to perform, for I am Ubara,"
Here the Plaza of Tarns rang with the cheering of men.
"Be done with your farce!" cried Claudia. "Here I am before you, naked and in your power! Have you not waited for his moment? Is my name not first on your list? Relish the triumph! Do with me as you will!"
"My decision will be made," said Talena, "as it would be in the case of any other woman of Ar. You will be treated with absolute fairness."
Talena then seemed to ponder the matter of Claudia, assessing her fittingness to be included among items to be accorded to Cos, in atonement for, and it reparation for, the crimes of Ar.
"Turn about, again, my dear, slowly," said Talena, musingly.
Men laughed.
Once again the Hinrabian turned slowly before her Ubara, as might have an assessed slave.
Talena then seemed to hesitate. She turned to her advisors as though troubled, as though seeking their council. Would the Hinrabian be suitable, did they think, as a conciliatory offering, or a partial reparation payment, to the offended Cosians? Would she be acceptable? Would she be adequate? Or would such an offering insult them, or offend them, in its lack of worth, in its paltriness? I smiled. I did not doubt what their opinion, that of men, would be, in the case of the lovely Hinrabian.
Claudia stood in fury before the dais, her fists clenched.
With no other woman, of all of them, had such consultation been deemed necessary.
Brilliant insult thusly did Talena to the Hinrabian.
Talena then turned again to face her.
"The decision had been made," said Talena.
Claudia drew herself up proudly.
"The matter was an intricate one," said Talena, "and required the weighing of several subtle factors. Against you, as you might imagine, were the defects of your face and figure."
The Hinrabian gasped.
"In virtue of them alone I would have disqualified you. yet there was also the matter of your treachery to Ar, which only now, with reluctance, do I make public."
The Hinrabian looked at her, startled.
"What treachery?" cried men.
"Conspiracy, seditious assertions, betrayal of the Home Stone, support of the wicked regime of Gnieus Lelius, former tyrant of Ar."
"I am innocent!" cried Claudia.
"Did you not support the regime of Gnieus Lelius?" asked Talena.
"I did not oppose him," said Claudia. "Nor did others! He was regent."
"In not opposing such wicked policies, you betrayed the Home Stone of Ar," said Talena.
"No!" wept Claudia.
"But your political ambitions are soon to be at an end," said Talena.
"Citizens, I implore you not to listen to her," cried Claudia.
"You even slept at his slave ring!" cried Talena.
"No!" cried Claudia.
"In the future," said Talena, "perhaps you will grow accustomed to sleeping at such rings."
Claudia seemed about to faint. She was supported by the guardsman behind her, and not gently. Then she was stood again, wavering, on her small feet.
"And, citizens," called Talena to the crowd, "have you not heard her, even here, on this very platform, in my very presence, utter shamelessly seditious discourse!"
"Yes!" cried men.
"Kill her," cried others. "Kill her!"
"But," said Talena to the horrified Hinrabian. "I am prepared, on my own responsibility, and in spite of your crimes, in recollection of our former affection for one another, which I still entertain for you, and in respect of your exalted lineage, and the contributions of your family in Ar, before the accession of your father, the infamous Minus Tentius Hinrabius, to the chair of Administrator, to permit you, instead, to make amends to us all, by permitting you the honor of serving your city."
"I am innocent!" wept Claudia.
"Kill her!" cried men.
"Prepare to hear yourself sentenced," said Talena.
"No!" cried Claudia.
"It is with a heavy heart and tearful eyes that I utter these words," said Talena.
"Marlenus of Ar freed me from bondage!" cried Claudia.
"We have observed you before us," said Talena, "carefully and closely, how you move and such."
"He freed me!" cried Claudia.
"That was a mistake," said Talena.
"Perhaps!" said Claudia.
Men regarded one anotehr.
"Speak," said Talena, amused.
"Twice I have a slave," said Claudia. "I have had my head shaved. I have felt the whip. I have worn the collar. I have served men."
"Doubtless such experiences will put you in good stead," said Talena. "Perhaps they will even save your life."
"In the Central Cylinder," said Claudia. "I have been lonely, more lonely than I ever knew a woman could be. My life was empty. I was unhappy. I was miserable. I was unfulfilled. In those long years I remembered my time in bondage, and that it had been, in spite of its terrors and labors, the most real, and the happiest, of my life. I had learned something in the collar that I was afraid even to tell myself, that I, Claudia Tentia Hinrabia, of the Hinrabians, belonged at the feet of men.
"You will not object then when I return you to your proper place," laughed Talena.
But there was little laughter from about her, for the men attended to the Hinrabian.
"I confess," wept Claudia, "now, publicly, and before men, that I am in my heart and belly a slave!"
"The rejoice as I order you imbonded!" said Talena.
"No!" wept Claudia. "It is one thing to be captured by a man and taken to his tent, and put to his feet and made to serve, or to be sentenced by a magistrate in due course of law to slavery for crimes which I have actually committed, and another to stand here publicly shamed, before my enemy, a woman, in her triumph, to be consigned by her to helpless bondage."
"What difference does it make?" asked a man.
"True," wept Claudia. "What difference does it make!"
"Put the slave to her knees!" cried Talena.
"I am a free woman!" wept Claudia. "I am not yet legally imbonded!"
"Thus," said Talena, "will you learn to kneel before free persons!"
Claudia struggled, but, in a moment, her small strength, that of a mere female, availing her nothing, by two guardsmen, was thrown to her knees.
"You look well there, Hinrabian!" said Talena.
"False Ubara!" screamed Claudia, held to her knees.
Talena made an angry sign and a guardsmen withdrew his blade from its sheath. In a moment Claudia's head was held down and forward by another guardsman.
"She is to be beheaded!" said a man.
I tensed.
Talena made another sign, and the fellow who held Claudia's hair pulled her head up, that she might see Talena.
Talena's eyes flashed with fury, and Claudia's eyes, then, were filled with terror.
"Who is your Ubara?" asked Talena.
"You are my Ubara!" cried Claudia.
"Who?" asked Talena.
"Talena," she cried. "Talena of Ar is my Ubara!"
This response on the part of Claudia seemed to me judicious, and, indeed, suitable. Talena of Ar was her Ubara.
"Do you confess your faults?" inquired Talena.
"Yes, my Ubara," sobbed Claudia.
"And do you beg forgiveness of your Ubara?" asked Talena.
"Yes, yes, my Ubara," sobbed Claudia.
"Who begs forgiveness?" asked Talena.
"I, Claudia Tentia Hinrabia, of the Hinrabians, beg forgiveness of Talena of Ar, my lawful Ubara!" she wept.
"I am prepared to be merciful," said Talena.
The guardsman with the drawn blade resheathed it. The guardsman holding Claudia's hair released it, angrily, pushing her head down. The other two guardsmen, one holding each arm, retained their merciless grip on the Hinrabian. "Talena, Ubara of Ar," announced a scribe, "will now pronounce judgment on the traitress, Claudia Tentia Hinrabia."
