"Enemy of Ar, enemy of the people of Ar, enemy of the Home Stone of Ar, Claudia Tentia Hinrabia," said Talena,you are to be imbonded, and before nightfall." Claudia's body shook with sobs.

  "Send her to the chain," said Talena.

  Claudia was pulled up to the side and rudely manacled. She, on her knees, looked back at Talena.

  "You look well in the chains of men," said Talena.

  "You, too, Talena of Ar, my Ubara," wept the Hinrabian, "would doubtless look well in the chains of men!"

  Men gasped, in fury.

  "Take her away," said Talena.

  "Beware the chains of men!" cried the Hinrabian. Then she was pulled down the ramp and, men jeering her and striking at her, buffeting and bruising her, was thrown to her knees before me, to be added to the chain.

  "As she is poor stuff," said Talena, loudly, "let a silver tarsk be added to the reparations, to compensate, if it can, for her inadequacies of face and figure." There was much laughter.

  The Hinrabian put down her head, and I took her wrist chain and, in a moment, with the joining ring, had attached her to the coffle chain.

  She looked up at me, tears in her eyes. She gasped. My eyes warned her to silence. Doubtless she remembered me from years before. She turned back then, and looked toward the platform. She looked at me then, again, woneringly. "Stand, slut of Ar," said the auxiliary guardsman opposite me. "Move to the first position."

  "Yes, Master," she said, obeying.

  "No, my dear," Talena was saying to another woman on the platform. "You are too young."

  That woman was conducted to the rear of the platform. Earlier in the morning, it might be noted, Talena had consigned woman as young, or younger than that one, to the chain.

  "No, not she," said Talena, as the next woman was presented. "We must keep some beauty in Ar," she explained.

  The woman looked at her, gratefully, and quickly pulled the proferred robe again about herself, and hurried from the platform.

  Men expressed approval of the decision of their Ubara.

  "Master," whispered Claudia to me, standing about a yard behind me, and to my right.

  I went to stand beside her. "Yes," I said, She looked up at me, her cheeks stained with tears. "Am I beautiful?" she asked, frightened.

  "Yes," I said.

  "Thank you, Master," she said.

  "Years ago," I said, "even in your time of power and cruelty, you were beautiful."

  "Such things are behind me now," she said.

  "Yes," I said.

  She smiled.

  "Thank you, Master," she said.

  "Never doubt your beauty," I said.

  "Yes, Master," she said.

  "You are still free," I said. "You need not address me as Master."

  "Surely," she said, "it would be well for me to accustom myself, once again, to the utterance of such appropriate deferences."

  "True," I said.

  "Not she, either," said Talena.

  "How merciful is Talena," marveled a man.

  "Cornelia, Lady of Ar," said the scribe.

  "Do not bare me to men, I beg you," said the woman to Talena, clutching the robe about her.

  Talena consulted a list held by a scribe near her. It was not one of the copies of the master list, so to speak, which contained the full list of names. "Please," begged the woman.

  Talena looked up from the list. "Strip her," she said.

  The woman cried out with anguish as the single garment was removed from her. She put down her head. She blushed, to totally, from the roots of her hair to her toes.

  I did not think the woman would be chosen. Like many free women, she had not taken care of her figure. Perhaps that was why she had not wished to be bared before men. to be sure, if she were imbonded it was likely that masters would remedy her oversights in this area, enforcing upon her exact, even merciless, regimens of diet and exercise. They would see that she was soon brought into prime condition, both with respect to physical health and sexual responsiveness. "It seems," said Talena of the woman, "that two years ago, in the great theater, you were overheard making a remark concerning your future Ubara, one in which you expressed disapproval of her restoration to citizenship." The woman regarded her, aghast.

  "You are chosen," said Talena.

  The woman was dragged to the side, to be knelt and manacled. In a moment or so I had added her to the chain.

  "No," said Talena, "not that one, dismissing the next woman.

  I looked after the woman who had just been added to the chain, who had now been ordered to her feet, and moved to the first scratch mark on the tiles. In three or four months, if not sooner, I suspected she would have become a hot, obedient, excitingly curved slave.

  "No," said Talena, "not this one either."

  Talena was then ready to dismiss another woman but something was called to her attention from the list held by the representative of the High Council, and that woman, too, was consigned to the chain. I gathered that she, or perhaps some relative of hers, had offended some member of the current council. Another woman, similarly, later, whom Talena seemed prepared to dismiss, she reconsidered and selected, apparently at the request or suggestion of one of the Cosians on the dais. As he was not likely to be a party to the internal intrigues in Ar, and such, I supposed it was merely that the woman had appealed to him. Perhaps he regarded her as the sort whom Cosians would enjoy having serve their banquets, moving among the tables, bearing platters of viands, or pouring wine, or such, or perhaps merely lying on their bellies or backs beside their small tables at such banquets, ready, too, to serve.

  "No," said Talena, apropos of the next female, "not she."

  The free, native population of Ar, though there are no certain figures on the matter even in the best of times, and, given the flight of many from the city, conjectures have become even more hazardous, is commonly estimated at between two and three million people. Itinerants, resident aliens and such would add, say, another quarter million to these figures. It is, at any rate, clearly the most populous city of known Gor, exceeding even Turia, in the southern hemisphere. Slaves, incidentally, are not counted in population statistics, any more than sleen, verr, tarsks and such. There were perhaps a quarter million slaves in Ar, the great majority of which were female.

  "Nor she, either," said Talena.

  What was going on on the platform was of great interest to me. As is probably well known, females on Gor, like gold and silver, and domestic animals, and such, commonly count as legitimate loot. Certainly there is no doubt about this in the case of the female slave, who is a property, a domestic animal, to begin with. On the other hand, it should also be understood that the free women of a conquered city, or territory, if spared, are also commonly understood as, and ranked as, in their own minds and in that of the conquerors, as loot. It is one thing, of course, for a fellow in a flaming city to throw a woman against a wall and tear off her clothes and then, if her likes her, keep her, and quite another for the women of a conquered city, levied, and in the name of reparation, atonement, and such, to line up for their assessment. "Yes," said Talena, "she is chosen." Another woman then, a blonde, was manacled, brought down the ramp and, by me, added to the chain.

  The rumor was that Cos had set the first levy on free females from Ar at only ten thousand. If one supposes, as a conservative estimate, that there were now some two million native citizens of Ar, and that half of them, say, are female, then the levy on free females in Ar was thus only about one in every one hundred. To be sure, this was merely the first levy. It was difficult to estimate the numbers of female slaves seized by Cos, just as the number of verr and such. There were apparently levies for such slaves but, as certain forms of looting and taxation, they were not much publicized. Such slaves, like jewelry, Torian rugs, silver plate, verr, and such, tended to be seized largely as a result of house-to-house searches. More than once I had seen a begging, tearful slave town from the arms of a beloved master, to be bound and led away on a Cosian leash. Similarly there were numerous confiscations of slaves.

  "Ludmilla, Lady of Ar," called the scribe. "Ludmilla, Lady of Ar!"

  Guardsmen looked at one another.

  "No," said Talena. "Ludmilla, Lady of Ar, had been excused, because of her contributions to Ar, because of her service to the state."

  The two scribes, holding the copies of the master list, made appropriate notations. The guardsmen relaxed.

  I wondered if the Ludmilla in question was the woman who owned several slave brothels on the street known as The Alley of the Slave Brothels of Ludmilla, the street receiving its name, of course, from the fact that several of its slave brothels were hers. They are, or were, I believe, the Chains of Gold, supposedly the best, or at least the most expensive, and then, all cheap tarsk-bit brothels, the Silken Cords, the Scarlet Whip, the Slave Racks and the Tunnels. I had once patronized the Tunnels. That was where, as I have mentioned, I had met, and improved, the Earth-girl slave, Louise. I had also once resided in the insula of Achiates, which is located on the same street.

  At that point the bar for the fifteenth Ahn sounded from the Central Cylinder, across the city.

  "I am weary," said Talena.

  "Such work is trying," said the representative of the High Council, solicitously.

  The scribes put their marking sticks away. They closed their wood-bound tablets, tying them shut. The women yet to be assessed looked at one another. "Turn about," said a guardsman. "Am I to be selected or not?" asked the second woman in the line, anxiously. "Doubtless, given your position in line," said the guardsmen, "you will learn tomorrow."

  "I must wait?" she asked. "Yes," he said. "Now turn about, do not look back." The assessments, of course, would continue for several days. "Oh!" said she who had been the next to be assessed, then the first in line, now, turned about, at the rear of the long line, stretching still across the platform, down the ramp, and across the Plaza of Tarns. "Oh!" said the woman who had spoken to the guardsman, who had been second in line, and now, turned about, was second to last in the long line. The light cord, little more than twine, but strong enough not to be broken by a woman's strength, had been knotted about her neck, and then carried forward to the woman before her, where it was tied similarly, and thence forward again, being unwound from a long spool. It is common to coffle women from the back of the line forward, to minimize the temptation to bolt. I did not know if the women were to be marched back to the Stadium of Blades or only to a rendezvous with cage wagons, to be thence transported to the stadium's holding areas. I did not think, at any rate, that the Cosians would send cage wagons for them in dull daylight to the Plaza of Tarns, in the view of a crowd. After all, these were free women of Ar, not female slaves. An additional security in which the women were held, aside from the coffling and guardsmen, auxiliary and regular, was the fact that they were barefoot and clad only in the robes of penitents. In this way was their status well marked out. More women, tonight, incidentally, and doubtless for the next few nights, at least, would be reporting to the great theater. Thence I supposed they would be transported to the Stadium of Tarns, as had been the first batch of women, in their turn to be incarcerated, given the robes of penitents and assigned their place in line.

  "Captain," said Talena, "in the room of the Ubar, in the Central Cylinder, we are planning a small supper this evening. I do hope you will honor us with your presence."

  The Cosian regarded her.

  "There will be delicacies from as far away as Bazi and Anango, she said, "and we shall open vessels of Falarian from the private stores of the Ubar."

  "A sumptuous supper, indeed, he commented.

  "Nothing pretentious," she said, "but nice."

  "There is hunger in the city," he said.

  "Unfortunately," said the Ubara, "there is not enough for everyone."

  "I see," said he.

  "Let them suffer for their crimes against Cos," she said.

  "Of course," said he.

  "Shall we expect you?" she asked.

  "Is there to be entertainment?" he asked.

  "Czehar music," she said, "and, later, the recitation of poetry by Milo, the famed actor, to the music of the double flute." The instrument which is played by the flute girls is a double flute, too, but I had little doubt that the player involved would not be a flute girl but someone associated with one or another of the theaters of Ar. Similarly the instrument would undoubtedly be far superior, in both range and tone, to those likely to be at the disposal of flute girls.

  "I was referring," said he, " to entertainment."

  "Whatever, Captain, could you have in mind?" she asked.

  "I have duties," he said.

  "Surely you do not mean "entertainment' in which females might figure?" she said.

  "Is there another sort?" he asked.

  "You have free woman in mind," she asked, "perhaps lute players."

  "No," said he. "Females, female slaves."

  "I see," she said.

  "Dancers," he said.

  "I see," she said.

  "Or perhaps such as might figure as contestants in games, or as prizes, and such."

  "Of course," she said.

  "Perhaps Earth-girl slaves," he suggested.

  "That would not do at all," said Talena. "They are the lowest of the low."

  "Some are rather nice," he said.

  "Perhaps we could find some girls from Turia," she said.

  "Or Ar," he said.

  "Captain!" she exclaimed.

  "Ubara?" he asked.

  "The women of Ar," she said, "are not suitable for such things."

  "What of the women you consigned to the chain?" he asked.

  "Well," she conceded, "such as thosea€”"

  "I assure you," he said, "that the women of Ar, imbonded, grovel and lick and kiss, as well as other women."

  "Undoubtedly," she said.

  "It is necessary only to put them in their place," he said, "the place of females. The woman of Ar, in her place, the place of a female, is as hot and helpless, as eager and obedient, as devoted and dutiful, as any other slave."

  "Undoubtedly," she said, angrily.

  "Forgive me, Ubara," said he, "if I have offended you. I am not a courtier, not a diplomat. I am a soldier, a plain man, and I speak bluntly."

  "I take no offense of course," said Talena, Ubara of Ar.

  "I meant only to suggest," said he, "that there are women in Ar who are marvelously beautiful and exciting."

  "I understand," she said.

  "Ubara?" he said.

  "I was thinking," she said. "What you say is undoubtedly true, that there must be some women of Ar at least, in all Ar, who are not only suitable for the collar, but belong in it."

  "Of course," he said.

  "I can think of some entertainment in which you might be interested," she said. "Ubara?" he asked.

  "By nightfall," she said, "Claudia Tentia Hinrabia, of the Hinrabians, will be a collared slave."

  "Yes," he said.

  "Would you not be curious to see her dance?" she asked.

  "She is not a dancer," he said.

  "Surely she could be put through slave paces, and made to perform under a whip," she said.

  "Of course," he said.

  "And do you men not say that any woman can dance?" she laughed.

  "To one extent or another," he said.

  "And to the extent that her performance is unsatisfactory, she may be whipped," she said.

  "Of course," he said.

  "And perhaps I myself shall reserve the judgment on that matter," she said. "As is your prerogative, Ubara," he said.

  "I think that will be amusing," she said, "to have the Hinrabian brought as an entertainer to my supper party, and have her perform as a slave, before men, in my viewing."

  "Quite amusing," he said.

  "When you return to your headquarters," she said, "please request your polemarkos, Myron, to also honor us with his presence."

  "Your wish," he said, bowing, "is my command."

  "I wish to have her perform as a slave before him, as well," she said.

  "Your vengeance on the Hinrabian is profound indeed, Ubara," he said.

  She laughed.

  "The performance of the Hinrabian will be reserved for late in the evening, I gather?" he said.

  "Yes," she said. "To accompany dessert."

  "That seems fitting," he said.

  "Superbly fitting," she laughed. "But come early. You would not wish to miss the czehar music nor the performance of Milo."

  "You are retaining the czehar player and the actor then," he asked.

  "Yes," she said. "I promised him."

  "I shall come early," he promised, "and I do not doubt but what I shall be accompanied by Myron, my polemarkos."

  "I shall look forward to seeing you both," she said.

  "By the way," said he, "how will the supper be served?"

  "By slave girls, of course," she said.

  "Good," he said.

  "Decorously clad," she said. "In long, white gowns."

  "I see," he said.

  "But their arms will be bared," she said.

  "Oh, excellent," he smiled.

  "Do not fret, Captain," she laughed. "The decorum of their attire will contrast nicely with that of the Hinrabian."

  "Which will consist of a collar and a brand?" he asked.

  "Precisely," she said.

  "Excellent," he said.

  "Let her see the contrast between herself and higher slaves," said Talena. "Superb," he said.

  "After I withdrew for the evening, you may, of course," she said, "do what you wish with the serving slaves, and the Hinrabian."

  "Our thanks, Ubara," said he, "those of myself and my polemarkos, and, too, of course, those of our staff members, guards and accompanying officers."

  "It is nothing," said Talena.

  The captain bowed once again, and then withdrew.

  In a few moments the dais, and then the platform, was cleared. The crowd had long ago drifted away.

 

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