Magicians of Gor (62 page)

appointment with sleen at dinner time. Marcus might not have objected to this,

but I would not personally have approved of it. I bore Milo no ill will, though

he was a rather handsome fellow.

“ ‘Milo presumes outrageously above his station!’ she said to me.”

“ ‘Yes, Mistress.’ I said. But I think she was pleased.”

“He is, after all,” I reminded the slave, “one of the most handsome men in Ar.”

“The most handsome man in Ar!” said Lavinia.

“What?” I asked.

“Surely one of the most handsome men in Ar!” she said.

“Well, perhaps,” I said.

“ ‘What a mad fool he is!’ she exclaimed.

“ ‘Perhaps he finds Mistress irresistible,’ I suggested. ‘Perhaps he cannot help

himself.’

“ ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘It can only be that.’ ”

I myself was wondering if the Ubara could be taught to writhe in chains, or to

move on the floor in such a way, so prettily, that the master would not lash her

for clumsiness.

(pg. 365) “Is Master listening?” asked Lavinia.

“Yes,” I said.

“She then rose up from her chair, and came down to where I knelt,

back-braceleted and fastened to the rings.”

“ ‘Of what are you?’ she asked.

“ ‘Of the house of Appanius, Mistress,’ I said. But surely that would have been

suggested by my collar! Surely she had been apprised of this sort of thing by

the guards, even when I was still on the street outside!”

“Continue,” I said.

“ ‘Kneel straight, and lift your chin,’ she said. ‘Put your head further back!’

she said. She then bent down, and put her hands on the collar, and checked it.

‘RETURN ME TO APPANIUS OF AR’ she read. ‘A suitable legend for a collar,’ she

smiled, straightening up, ‘fitting for an animal.’

“ ‘Yes, Mistress,’ I said.

“ ‘You are an animal, you know,’ she said.

“ ‘Yes, Mistress,’ I said.

“ ‘Incredible,’ she marveled, ‘the difference between one such as I and one such

as you.’

“ ‘Yes, Mistress,’ I said.

“ ‘What are you called?’ she asked.

“ ‘Lavinia,’ I said.

“ ‘That is a pretty name,’ she said.

“ ‘Thank you, Mistress,’ I said.

“ ‘That is a pretty name,’ she said.”

“ ‘Thank you, Mistress,’ I said.”

“ ‘And you are a pretty girl, Lavinia,’ she said.

“ ‘Thank you, Mistress,’ I said.

“ ‘Very pretty,’ she said.

“ ‘Thank you, Mistress,’ I said.

“ ‘Do not dare to bring your head forward!’ she said.

“ ‘No, Mistress!’ I said.

“Then she took my collar in her hands and held it, and looked down, angrily,

into my eyes. ‘Meaningless, collared chit!’ she exclaimed.

“ ‘Yes, Mistress!’ I gasped, frightened. But, Master, if she were in a collar,

do you think she would be so much more than I?”

“No,” I said.

“It would be, as fixed upon her as upon me! She would be as helpless in it as I!

She would be no more able to remove it from her neck than I!”

“No,” I said. “Such collars are not made to be removed by girls.”

“ ‘What are you to Milo?’ she asked, suddenly.

“ ‘Nothing, Mistress!’ I cried. ‘Nothing, Mistress!’

(pg. 366) “ ‘How is it,’ she asked, ‘that you have brought this message? Keep

your head in position!’

“ ‘I have been assigned by my master, Appanius, to Milo, to be a personal

serving slave to him, to clean his quarters, run his errands, and such.’

“ ‘And does he sleep you at his slave ring?’ she asked.

“ ‘No, Mistress,” I gasped, ‘he sleeps me on my mat, in the corner of his room,

and I am not permitted to leave it until morning!’

“ ‘Absurd!’ she said.

“ ‘No, Mistress!’ I said.

“ ‘And has he never touched you, in the way of the man?’ she asked.

“ ‘No, Mistress!’ I said.

“ ‘Do you expect me to believe that?’ she asked.

“ ‘Yes, Mistress!’ I begged.

“She glared down at me.

“ ‘I am to Milo only a meaningless serving slave,’ I said.

“ ‘But you would be more!’ she said.

“ ‘Please do not make me speak!’ I wept.

“She looked down upon me, and laughed. Oh, Master, how that laugh cut me! How

deeply was I would by that sound!

“ ‘Do not presume above your station, silly little slave girl,’ she said.

“ ‘Forgive me, Mistress,” I said. Why was she so cruel to me, only a slave?”

“Continue,” I said.

“ ‘Your hair is too short,” she said to me.

“ ‘Yes, Mistress,” I said. ‘I served in the fields.’

“ ‘You are pretty to have been put in the fields,’ she said.

“ ‘I was punished,’ I said. ‘I served the paga of one of my master’s retainers

at an incorrect temperature.’

“ ‘Stupid slave,’ she said.

“ ‘Yes, Mistress,’ I said.

“ ‘And after your time in the fields you were returned to the house, and

assigned to the quarters of Milo?’

“ ‘Yes, Mistress.’

“ ‘Keep your head in position,’ she said.

“ ‘Yes, Mistress,’ I said.

“ ‘And Milo has never touched you?’ she said.

“ ‘No, Mistress,’ I said.

“ ‘Interesting,’ she said.

“ ‘I fear he has thoughts, and eyes, for only one woman,’ I said.

“ ‘Oh?’ she said.

(pg. 367) “ ‘Yes, Mistress,’ I said. ‘And I fear it is she, and she alone, to

whom his heart belongs.’

“ ‘And who might this woman be?’ she asked.

“ ‘Perhaps Mistress can guess,’ I said.

“ ‘He is a fool to write such a note,’ she suddenly said, touching her robes,

within which she had concealed the note.

“I did not respond, Master, but surely Milo is no fool!”

“I do not know if he is a fool or not,” I said, “but he did not, at any rate,

write the note.”

“True,” she said.

“Continue,” I said.

“ ‘Are we the only ones who know of this note,’ she asked, ‘Milo, I and

yourself?’

“ ‘I think so, Mistress,’ I said.

“ ‘Then,’ she said, ‘perhaps I should have your tongue cut out, and then have

you skinned alive.”

“She would not do that,” I said, “as she would need you as a go-between.”

“I trust Master is correct in his assumption,” said Lavinia.

“I would think so,” I said.

“That would seem to borne out by her subsequent remark, that she herself would

not be so foolish as to have written such a note.”

I nodded. “After a time, she said, ‘You may bring your head forward.’

“ ‘Thank you, Mistress,’ I said.

“ ‘Do you think we should have our mad, rash boy, Milo, burned alive?’ she

asked.

“ ‘I would hope,’ I said, ‘that Mistress would to some extent, in view of her

fabled beauty and the damage that even the thought of it may wreak in the hearts

of poor men, be rather moved to pity, be rather moved to look leniently on this

bold transgression.’

“She smiled.

“ ‘Is morning to be blamed that it should glow in the light of the sun, or the

tides that they are drawn by the moons, or oil that it cannot help but burn at

the touch of fire?’

“ ‘Perhaps not,’ she said, the vain, haughty thing!”

“Continue,” I said.

“ ‘Whereas you must understand that I am not personally in the least interested

in matters such as these,’ she said, ‘there may be a woman of my acquaintance to

whom such attentions may not be entirely unwelcome.’

“ ‘Mistress?’ I asked. She thought I would believe this!

“ ‘I shall have to consult with her,’ she said.

(pg. 368) “ ‘Yes, Mistress,’ I said.

“ ‘Ludmilla, of Ar.’ she said.”

“Ah!” I said.

“This is meaningful to Master?” asked the slave.

“I think so,” I said. “I am not sure. It is something I have long suspected.”

“Master?” asked the slave.

“In any event,” I said, “that is apparently the name she will use for her

intrigue.”

“That I had gathered, Master,” said the slave.

“I do not think, at any rate,” I said, “that it is a mere accident that that

name occurred to her, as on the spur of the moment.”

“Perhaps not, Master,” said the girl, puzzled.

To be sure, there are many Ludmillas in Ar, as there are many Publias, Claudias,

and so on. Indeed, there are doubtless several Talenas.

“ ‘But it is you, Mistress,’ I protested, ‘not some other, for whom the

beautiful Milo pines, as a sickened verr.’

“She laughed. She thought me stupid, doubtless.”

“Continue,” I said.

“ ‘You will speak to him of Ludmilla,’ she said. ‘He will understand.’

“ ‘How shall I know this Ludmilla, or he know her?’ I asked.

“ ‘You will report to me,’ she said. ‘All matters will be arranged through me.’

“ ‘Yes, Mistress.’ I said.

“ ‘And the first thing you will tell him is that Ludmilla scolds him for his

foolishness in sending such a note, and warns him to quake in terror of having

incurred her displeasure for having done so,’ and then she added, thoughtfully,

‘and yet that she is inclined, as is her nature, to be merciful, indeed, that

she is not altogether unmoved by his plight.’

“ ‘But should Mistress not confer with the noble Ludmilla before conveying these

sentiments on her behalf?’ I asked.”

“Beware, Lavinia,” I smiled. “You are treading on dangerous ground.”

“But she is such a haughty slut, Master!” said Lavinia.

“You speak of her as though she might be a slave,” I said.

“I think she is a slave,” said Lavinia, “but in the robes of a Ubara!”

“Perhaps,” I said.

“ ‘I can speak for her,’ she said.

“ ‘Yes, Mistress,’ I said.

“ ‘This will save time,’ she said. ‘I have decided it.’

(pg. 369) “ ‘Yes, Mistress,’ I said.”

“Apparently the Ubara is eager,” I said.

“Yes, Master,” said the slave.

“ ‘Tell him, too,’ said she, ‘that his plaint may not have been altogether ill

received.’

“ ‘Yes, Mistress,’ I said.

“ ‘Put your head to the floor, slave girl,’ she said.

“I obeyed, and sensed the lowering of her veil, the soft sound of rustling

silk.”

“ ‘You may look up.’ she said.

“I looked up, Master,” said the slave. “I gasped. I could not even speak. I was

awed. She was more beautiful than I had imagined! She was more beautiful than I

could have dreamed! She was utterly beautiful!”

“Much was doubtless a function of the context,” I said, “she in the robes and

veils, so colorful and resplendent, and silken, and being Ubara, and you on your

knees before her, merely a slave. The comparison is not really fair to you.”

“She is very beautiful!” said Lavinia.

“She had been said to be the most beautiful woman on Gor,” I said, “but there

are thousands upon thousands of incredibly beautiful women on Gor, perhaps

millions, most of whom are in collars where they belong.”

“But surely she is one of the most beautiful women on Gor!” said Lavinia.

“I would not even be sure of that,” I said.

“Master?” said Lavinia.

“She is pretty,” I said, “and is, or was, the daughter of a Ubar. Such things

tend to increase one’s reputation in such matters.”

“She is surely one of the most beautiful women on Gor!” said Lavinia.

“I am inclined to doubt it,” I said. “Still she is pretty I recall that I once

found her of interest.”

“Master knows the Ubara?” she asked, in awe.

“Once, long ago,” I said.

“Does the Ubara recall Master?” she asked.

“If she were to see me,” I said, “I think it possible she would recall me.”

“She is very beautiful,” said Lavinia, softly.

“That I think is true,” I said. There could be no gainsaying that. On the other

hand, it is one thing to be very beautiful, and another to be one of the most

beautiful women on a planet. I would have surely granted that Talena was very

beautiful, but I would really doubt that she might have counted in among the

(pg. 370) most beautiful women on Gor. this is not to deny that she would bring

a high price in a market, nor that her alcove space on holidays might have been

signed up early in the evening.

“She is so beautiful!” said Lavinia.

“Suppose,” I said, “that she were not free, that she were not Ubara. Suppose,

rather, that she were on slave among others, lovely slaves all, chained to a

wall. Or suppose that she was paraded in a line, with other slaves, excellent

slaves all, on all fours, in neck coffle, the chains going back under the

slaves’ bodies and between their legs, rising to the collar of the next in line,

and so on, before a conqueror’s chair. Would she then seem so outstanding? Or

might not other girls, here and there, more appeal to one man or another?”

“I see what Master is saying,” said Lavinia.

“If she were a captured Ubara,” I said, “and auctioned before Ubars, doubtless

her price would be high, perhaps thousands of tarn disks, but if she were

unknown, and only one slave on a chain with others, and it were she alone, the

girl alone, only herself, so to speak, who was to ascend the block, hurried by

the gesture of the auctioneer’s whip, what would she bring?”

“I do not know, Master,” said Lavinia.

“Perhaps two or three silver tarsks,” I said.

“Surely Master jests,” she said.

“Remember,” I said, “it is only she being sold, not her reputation, not her

political importance, not her symbolic value as an acquisition, not her value as

a trophy, not her possible historical interest as a collector’s item, and such,

but only she, only the girl, only another slave.”

“I see, Master,” she said.

“And I would conjecture,” I said, “for two or there silver tarsks.”