Plunder of Gor (79 page)

Then another voice called out, from the opposite side. “Guardsmen of Ar,” it called, “prepare to do justice to those who would endanger the great road. And, guards of the caravanserai, unsheathe your thirsty swords, to drink the blood of those who would rob within the protected precincts of the caravanserai of Hogarth!”

Those with Lucilius looked wildly about. Some thrust their torches in the dirt.

“Upon my signal,” cried the first voice, “loose your quarrels.”

“No, no! Wait, wait!” cried a man. “Hold your fire! We are not bandits! We are not bandits!”

Men thrust torch after torch into the dirt, extinguishing them. And, in a moment, the yard was in darkness, save for the light from the fire pit.

“Close the ring,” called the first voice. “None shall escape!”

“This is all a mistake,” called one of Lucilius' fellows from the darkness. “Robbery is not our work!”

“We have no intentions on the goods of Mintar!” cried another.

“We knew not the wagon his!” cried another.

“We are innocent, innocent!” cried another.

“Be silent!” came from the translator of Lucilius, the volume increased well beyond the normal level.

“We are not bandits, we are not robbers!” cried another voice, from the darkness.

“Glory to Mintar!” called another.

“May he prosper!” called another voice.

“We are innocent, innocent!” cried another.

“We are patient,” called the first voice, that which had originally alarmed the intruders. “We can wait until morning, and then, at our leisure, with a thousand quarrels, slay these thieving urts with impunity. In the meantime, keep the circle closed!”

“It will be done, Commander!” answered the second voice, that which had been supposedly associated with road patrols, with guardsmen of Ar, and the supposed guards of the caravanserai itself.

“None will escape!” called the first voice. “The caravanserai will furnish the impaling poles!”

“We are innocent!” cried one of Lucilius' followers from the darkness.

“It is a mistake!” cried another.

“Mercy, mercy!” called several terrified voices.

“Be silent, be silent!” came from Lucilius' translator.

“Hold!” called the Lady Bina, whose voice, despite its diminutive, exquisite housing, carried in it all the majesty of a Gorean free woman. “I am a free woman, and I am speaking, so attend me, and well! I think these fellows were honestly misled. What thief in his right mind would risk the impaling poles of the great Mintar? I am sure they did not know a cargo of Mintar was in question.”

“No, no!” cried several men.

“We did not know,” called others, plaintively.

“Be quiet,” said the Lady Bina. “A free woman is speaking.”

There was, instantly, silence.

“Reluctant as I am to interfere in the activities of men, riddling bodies with quarrels, lopping off arms and heads, stabbing with knives and spears, splashing blood about, and such,” she said, “such activities are, I gather, most enjoyable when properly motivated.”

There was silence.

“I am convinced,” she said, “Sleen-of-Mintar fellows, Guardsmen, guards, and others, whosoever they may be, out there in the darkness, that this evening's business is founded on a misunderstanding. I do not think these fellows had any designs on what did not belong to them, in particular, anything that might belong to Mintar, the merchant, whom we all respect, and of whom we are all fond.”

“That is true!” called one of Lucilius' cohorts.

“Please,” said the Lady Bina, annoyed.

There was, again, silence.

“Accordingly,” said the Lady Bina, “I have a proposal to make. Unless you are bent on pointless, gratuitous slaughter, which is, of course, your business, man business, I suggest, under the circumstances, you spare these fellows, provided they throw down their weapons, and hasten away, into the darkness.”

“Yes, yes!” cried several of Lucilius' men.

“Please, at least, consider the matter,” called the Lady Bina.

There was a lengthy pause, and then the voice that had first called out from the darkness, that which had supposedly been associated with the “Sleen of Mintar,” said, “We will consider it.”

At this point, the Lady Bina resumed her seat. “Now, fellows,” she said, “we will wait, and find out whether you will live or die.”

I heard some weapons being cast to the ground.

Something like a quarter of an Ahn later the first voice called out from the right, in the far darkness, from outside the yard. “We have considered it.”

“And what have you decided?” called the Lady Bina, again rising to her feet.

“We are reluctant—,” said the voice.

“But?” called the Lady Bina.

“We accept your proposal,” said the voice.

“You had better,” said the Lady Bina, “as it is the proposal of a free woman. Otherwise you would certainly hear about this.”

I heard cries of joy, and the sound of weapons being cast to the ground.

“No, no!” came from Lucilius' translator. “Stay! Remain!”

“Open the ring of death!” called the Lady Bina into the darkness.

“It is open,” called the voice from the left, which had supposedly been associated with the guardsmen of Ar, and caravanserai guards.

“Stop, stop!” cried Lucilius, as men rushed about him, in the darkness, hurrying from the yard.

Then he was alone in the yard, save for the Lady Bina, who had resumed her seat.

“You,” snarled Lucilius, the menace clear in Kur, “you unveiled, shameless she-sleen, with one blow of my ax there will be two of you.”

“You have enough difficulty dealing with one,” she said. “What would you do with two?”

Lucilius, with a cry of rage, lifted the ax.

“I would lower my ax, if I were you, fellow,” she said, “for, by now, you might have a quarrel between your eyes.”

Kurik, my master, stepped forth from the shadows, his bow lifted, and aimed.

Lucilius, snarling, lowered the ax, and stepped backward.

“I have a friend,” said the Lady Bina, “who has been looking forward to meeting you.”

“Tal,” said Lord Grendel, appearing out of the darkness, ax in hand. Behind him was Eve. Then Drusus Andronicus appeared from the right.

“You see,” whispered Paula to me, “they did not desert the Lady Bina, they did not leave, they did not flee.”

“No,” I said.

“They are Goreans,” she said, “masters.”

“Yes,” I said, contrite, holding the bars of the cage, half sick, much ashamed of the doubts I had entertained, however plausibly, however naturally. The Lady Bina had been alone. I had not seen the others.

“Would you care to belong to lesser men?” asked Paula.

“No,” I said.

“You will serve your master well, will you not, Phyllis,” she said, “and as the slave you are?”

“Yes,” I said.

“—If he keeps you,” she said.

“—If he keeps me?” I said.

“You have much to atone for,” she said.

“You will not tell him of my doubts,” I begged.

“You will do so,” she said.

“No,” I said.

“Then I will do so,” she said.

“No!” I said.

“It is in your best interest,” said Paula. “Otherwise I would not speak to him.”

“Do not speak to him,” I said. “I will do so.”

“Good,” she said. “A slave is to be completely open to the master. There are to be no secrets between a master and his slave.”

“What will he do with me?” I asked.

“I do not know,” she said. “But he will understand you better, as a weak, shallow barbarian slave, clever and superficial, who doubted her master's honor.”

Standing in the water, naked, clutching the bars, I felt miserable.

“Honor is important to Goreans,” she said.

“I know,” I said. “I know.”

“Tal,” had said Lord Grendel, who had appeared out of the darkness, ax in hand. Behind him had been Eve. And then Drusus Andronicus had appeared from the right.

“Doubtless you are pleased to see Grendel,” said the Lady Bina to Lucilius.

“Of course,” said Lucilius.

“You might say ‘Tal' to him,” said the Lady Bina.

“Tal,” said Lucilius.

“Your bowmen are absent,” observed the Lady Bina.

“There is no wagon of Mintar,” said Lucilius. “You are not in league with him. You carry no cargo for Mintar. The emblem on your wagon, the banner, are fraudulent.”

“Quite so,” said the Lady Bina. “And it would be wise on our part to remove the emblem and banner before we exit the caravanserai.”

“You have perpetrated a hoax,” he said.

“A useful one,” she said, “one that served its purpose.”

“I want blood,” he said.

“Do not interfere,” said Lord Grendel to Kurik, with his leveled bow, he, my master, and to Drusus Andronicus, Paula's master.

“As I recall,” said the Lady Bina, addressing herself to Lucilius, “you wished to meet sweet Grendel, ax to ax.”

“Very much so,” said Lucilius.

“Even without bowmen?” she asked.

“Surely, splendid lady,” said Lucilius.

Eve was trembling in the background.

“But I suggest,” said Lucilius, “if we are to do without bowmen, you might ask that fellow to lower his bow.”

Kurik, of Victoria, lowered his bow.

“And remove the quarrel from the guide,” said Lucilius.

Kurik turned his head, slightly, toward Lord Grendel.

“Do so,” said Lord Grendel.

Kurik then removed the quarrel from the guide.

“Now, if you will, dear lady,” said Lucilius to the Lady Bina, “count to three, slowly, and then we shall engage.”

“Very well,” said the Lady Bina. “—One.”

Lucilius roared with rage and leapt at Lord Grendel, with a mighty stroke of the great ax, but Lord Grendel crouched down and, lifting his own ax, gripped in two hands, or paws, struck upward, bringing the blade of his own ax into play, against the higher end of the shaft of the descending ax, and the head of the shaft, splintered, shattered, spun aside, to the dirt, and Lord Grendel, with the butt of his own ax, struck Lucilius, then unarmed, a heavy blow, against the side of the head, and Lucilius fell to the ground, dazed, hardly aware, I suspect, that Lord Grendel, with his foot, had turned him to his stomach, before him.

“Two,” said the Lady Bina.

Lord Grendel then placed his foot on Lucilius' back, his ax lifted, pressing him to the ground.

“Three,” said the Lady Bina.

“Mercy, mercy!” said Lucilius.

Lord Grendel then removed his foot from Lucilius' back, and stepped back.

Lucilius did not dare to move.

“One blow,” said Lord Grendel, “will take the right foot, a second blow the left foot, a third the right hand, a fourth the left hand.”

“No,” said Lucilius. “Do not! Do not!”

“If you thrust the bleeding stumps, as you can, into the dirt,” said the Lady Bina, “that will slow the loss of blood, and you may live a little longer, to consider matters.”

“Have mercy!” begged Lucilius.

Lord Grendel stepped back, lowering the ax.

“Another wants your blood,” said Lord Grendel, “not I. Indeed, I do not care to stain my ax with your blood, lest the blade be dishonored.”

Lucilius, prone, prostrate, did not move.

“May I go?” he asked.

“But without harnessing,” said Lord Grendel.

“No!” said Lucilius.

Lord Grendel, then, with a grasping paw, or hand, pulling against the leather, lifting it, employing the blade of his ax, cut away the harnessing of Lucilius.

“And now,” said Lord Grendel, “you may hasten, as you are, to Decius Albus and inform him of how your cohorts deserted you and how, despite your vigor and bravery, you were overcome by overwhelming numbers.”

Lucilius, trembling with fear or rage, or both, lay in the dirt, at Lord Grendel's feet.

“Go,” said Lord Grendel.

Lucilius scrambled up, and on feet and knuckles, fled away, into the darkness.

Eve hurried to Lord Grendel. I observed them embrace.

A bit later, Kurik and Drusus Andronicus approached the slave pool. Kurik carried the key to the locks and Drusus Andronicus held a pair of blankets. We kept our heads down, hearing the movement of the keys in the locks, and the rattle of chain. When the gate was opened, we exited the pool and knelt before our masters, our heads down. How helpless we had been, put to the side, while the free had conducted their business.

Each of us was given a blanket, which we accepted gladly.

I saw Paula cast me a sharp, meaningful look.

“Master,” I begged, “may I speak?”

“Yes,” he said.

The blanket partly about me, I went to the first obeisance position, kneeling, head to the ground, the palms of my hands at the sides of my head.

“When in the pool,” I said, “I thought you and the others had fled, abandoning the Lady Bina. I thought ill of you. I thought you were cowards.”

“That is natural that you should think that,” he said. “What else would one such as you, from Earth, with its ethos of selfishness and gain, with its smug contempt of honor, have thought?”

“Paula did not think it,” I said.

“Paula,” he said, “went for a golden tarsk.”

“I am sorry, Master,” I said. “Forgive me. I await my punishment.”

“No punishment,” he said. “Dismiss the matter from your mind. Besides, not all Goreans are brave, or honorable. And sometimes a man may be brave, and at another time not brave; sometimes a man may be honorable, and at another time not honorable. And how could one know about such things?”

“I thought badly of my master,” I said. “I am not worthy of my collar.”