Savages of Gor (51 page)

"Your word is respected in the Barren, is it not?" I asked.

"I think so," said Grunt.

''Then so, too, will be mine," I said.

"Run," said Grunt. "Do not be a fool"

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

"I am going to the main camp of the Kaiila," he said. "I come to this country to trade."

"You have business in this place?" I asked.

"Yes," said Grunt

"I too, have business in this place," I said.

"You are mad," said Grunt.

"Perhaps," I said. But I had not come to the Barrens to back now.

"Get up," said Grunt, kicking Pimples lightly in the side the side of his foot. "We have work to do."

"Yes, Master," she said, rising, and smoothing down the skirt of the tiny slave tunic with the palms of her hands. She was the only one of the girls whose clothing had not been by the red savages. The red-haired girl, Lois, Corinne, Inez, Priscilla, the others, had all been stripped. Canka had permitted her to keep the garment, such as it was, to draw a distinction between her, who could speak Kaiila, and the other who could not.

To be sure, there is a controversy as to whether or not it is humiliating for a woman to be put before masters in garment or merely stark naked, save, perhaps, for a collar. Surely slave tunics leave little to the imagination. Among the girls, of course, there is little disagreement in practice, though some in theory. The girls, only, treasure even the tiniest rag which can afford them some shielding, however pathetic, from the imperious gaze of masters. Too, from the point of view of the masters, the little that might be left to the imagination, small as it is, by such a garment, is often found to be intriguing and stimulating. It encourages them to her stripping. Too, giving a girl a bit of clothing, tends to give one more control over her. For example, will she be told to remove the garment, or will it be taken from her, and if so, publicly or privately? It must be understood, of course, that a slave, having no rights, does not have the right even to clothing. That a girl is wearing even a rag is usually a sign that she has pleased her master, and quite significantly, too. Often the garment of a slave girl does not come easily to her. In private, of course, even rags are often dispensed with. The slave is the property of the master, and, in the privacy of his quarters, she is done with, totally, as he pleases.

'Take care of the things which were mine," I said, "If you would."

"I shall," said Grunt. Slaves, of course, own nothing. It is they who are owned.

"I think it is time to follow Canka," I said to Cuwignaka.

"Ride from here. Escape," said Grunt

"Mount up," I said to Cuwignaka. He stood, unsteadily, clinging to the lance, as though to a staff.

"I will walk," said Cuwignaka.

"You are weak," I said.

"I am Kaiila," said Cuwignaka. "I will walk."

He took two or three faltering steps, supporting himself with the lance. But then, suddenly, his legs buckled. For a moment he held himself up with the lance, but then, heavily, fell to the side. Painfully, with the lance, hand over hand; he pulled himself again to his feet. He took another two or three faltering steps, supporting himself with the lance, after Canka and the others, but then, again, fell heavily in the grass. I moved to go to him, but Grunt's hand on my arm stopped me. "No," he said. "Do not demean him. He is Kaiila."

Pimples, too, I noted, had not moved to aid him. I nodded.

Cuwignaka struggled to a seated position in the grass. He sat there, cross-legged, angrily, the lance beside him.

"I have decided to rest," he said. "I will sit here for a time. Then I will get up, and go."

"Very well," I said.

"He may not be able to walk for days," said Grunt.

"In a day or two," I said.

"Perhaps," said Grunt.

"He is Kaiila," I said.

"That is true," said Grunt, smiling. Then he turned to Pimples. "Busy yourself, Girl," he said. "Pack our stores. A trail awaits."

"Yes, Master," she said.

I lent my assistance to Grunt and Pimples, and, in a few Ehn, we had secured the goods about either on the travois attached to Grunt's pack kaiila or on my own pack beast. Pimples put the discarded coffle chains, and the manacles, which had bound the Hobarts, on the hides of the travois, fastening them about one of the tie ropes.

"I wish you well," I said to Grunt

"I wish you well," said he to me.

I watched Grunt and Pimples, with the three kaiila, his mount, the kaiila drawing the travois and my own pack beast, wending their way away, through the tall grass. They turned and waved, and I waved back. Then, after a time, they were in the distance, following the trail of Canka and his party. I could see the smoke of evening fires in the distance. That was presumably the Kaiila camp. Canka had not tethered Winyela. He had let her run free at the flank of his kaiila. That seemed an unusual courtesy to be extended to a new girl. I smiled to myself. I suspected the young warrior might already care for the red-haired slave. I did not think he would be eager to surrender her to Mahpiyasapa, his chieftain.

"What are you thinking of?" asked Cuwignaka.

"Various things," I said.

"If you are not going to flee," said Cuwignaka; "perhaps you should follow Canka, now."

"I will wait for you," I told him.

"I may sit here for a little while," he said.

I smiled. "I will wait," I said.

"The lot of a slave among the Kaiila, as among our peoples generally," said Cuwignaka, "is not an easy one."

"I do not suppose so," I said.

"At least you are not a female," said Cuwignaka. "The Kaiila, as others of our peoples, do not treat their white beauties with gentleness."

I nodded. I supposed not.

Total pleasingness, at all times and in all ways, and instant, and complete obedience, to the least whim of the master, is standardly required of Gorean female slaves, incidentally, not merely of those who wear the collars of red savages. I had little doubt but what there were many in the cities who could instruct even the red savages in matters pertaining to the utilization, management and control of female slaves. If anything, I suspected that the lot of the female slave in the Barrens might be a bit easier than that of her imbonded sister in the smooth corridors and ornate palaces of the high cities. Each street and each square in such a city is likely to have its tether posts and whipping rings.

"Canka did not even tether Winyela," I said.

"Let her displease him even in the least thing," said Cuwignaka, "and she will quickly discover that she is a slave and that he is her master."

"Doubtless," I said. I thought that this might be good for the former Miss Millicent Aubrey-Welles, the former debutante from Pennsylvania. Such girls thrive best when kept under a strict discipline.

"I was not stripped and tethered," I said.

"No," said Cuwignaka.

"I do not understand that," I said.

"It is not so hard to understand," said Cuwignaka.

"Why were such things not done to me?" I asked. "Why was I not attacked? Why was I permitted an opportunity to attempt escape? Why have I been treated with such lenience?"

"Can you not guess?" asked Cuwignaka.

"No," I said.

"Canka," said Cuwignaka, "is my brother."

"What are you doing?" asked Cuwignaka. I had fetched my kaiila. "What are you doing?" he asked. I lifted him gently to the saddle.

"I can walk," he said.

"No, you cannot" I said.

"In a few moments, I shall be able to do so," he said.

"Ride," I said. I then handed him the lance from the grass. It was metal-bladed, with a long trade point, some nine inches in length. It was riveted in the haft at two places and reinforced with rawhide bindings. The nature of these bindings and the three lateral red marks near the head of the shaft marked it as Kaiila. The binding was traditional; the marks were an explicit convention, signifying the Kaiila, the Cutthroat tribe. Other marks upon it, which might have signified an owner, had been scratched away, probably with the edge of a knife. No feathers were attached to the lance. Never as yet, it seemed, had it touched an enemy.

Cuwignaka swayed in the saddle. I steadied him.

I looked out over the prairie. Somewhere, out there, somewhere, was Zarendargar. I had come to seek him. Others, too, had come to seek him. Kog and Sardak, with some companions, and at least one other Kur, as well, whom I had seen earlier, threatening the Waniyanpi, had survived the recent action. I did not doubt but what they would press ahead in their grisly mission. The Kur is tenacious. These Kurii I did not think would be in great danger from the red savages. Several of them had departed from the scene of battle unharmed. Such beasts were unfamiliar to the red savages. Suspecting that they might be denizens of the Medicine World red savages might be likely to give them, wherever possible, wide berth.

They would have no such reservations, of course, pertaining to a lone white man wandering about in the Barrens. Such might be, I supposed, even hunted down for sport. Alfred, the mercenary captain from Port Olni, I supposed, must now be making his way back to civilization, with his men. I expected that they would be successful in this endeavor. Few tribes, most of which are usually dispersed in scattered bands, would be likely to wish to, or be able to, bring a force against them, some three or four hundred mounted men. Doubtless, too, the soldiers, now, would keep careful watches. The lessons of their foolish arrogance had been harshly learned; those who have survived such mistakes seldom trouble themselves to repeat them. I did not expect to see Alfred, or his men, again.

I glanced back, down into the shallow valley. I could see Pumpkin, and his Waniyanpi, down there, still clearing the field. Behind one of the partially burnt, abandoned wagons would be she who had once been the proud Lady Mira, an agent of Kurii, of the resort city of Venna. She naught but a stripped, luscious, yoked slave, tethered by the ankle to a wagon axle. She had been found with the soldiers. She had, in spite of this, after having been stripped, to determine if there might be any interest in owning her, been given a slim chance to save her life, prostrating herself and performing intimate acts at the feet of a master's kaiila. She had apparently licked and sucked well at the toes and nails of the beast, making clear to all, saving perhaps herself, her aptness, for slavery and the suitability of its collar for her fair throat. Then, after having performed these foul and degrading acts, so fitting for a slave, and, doubtless having been passionately aroused by them, she had not been, as she had doubtless expected to be, ravished at length by imperious masters, but bound and given over to Waniyanpi. What a rich joke was this played on the aroused and tormented woman. How cruel could be the tortures of the red savages! She had been found with soldiers. Stripped, and forced to reveal herself as a slave, and aroused, she had then been given to Waniyanpi. She would be taken to one of their compound. They would respect her. She would be called 'Turnip'.

"I think I am ready now," said Cuwignaka.

"Can you travel now?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

I glanced once more, then, over the prairie. It open. The horizons were broad.

I then, leading the kaiila, on which Cuwignaka rode, slumped forward, with the lance, set my feet in the tracks of those who had preceded me, Canka and his party, and Grunt and Pimples, toward the smoke of the evening fires, toward the camp of the Isbu Kaiila.

In a few moments Cuwignaka straightened his back. I was pleased to see that he now held his head up. He was strong. He was Kaiila.

"A trail awaits," said Cuwignaka.

"Yes," I said.