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.The herd of Tancred had not appeared in the north.I wondered if he knew this.I had arranged with Samos to have a ship of supplies sped northward.Then he was gone, lost in the crowd.The slave girl put her head down.I felt her timidly biting at my sleeve.She lifted her eyes to mine.Her eyes were dark, moist, pleading.Slave girls often need the caress of men."I followed you," she said, "in the crowds.""I know," I said.I had known this, for I was of the warriors."I find you very attractive, Master," she whispered.She held my arm, closely, looking up at me.Her breasts, sweet, pendant,white, were lovely in the loose rep-cloth of her tunic."Please, Master," she whispered.Page 28ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"Are you on an errand for your master?" I asked."No, Master," she said."I am not needed until supper."I looked away from her.Her hands, small and piteous, grasped my arm."Please, Master," she said.I looked down into her eyes.There were tears in them."Please, Master," she said, "take pity on me.Take pity on the miserable needsof a girl.""You are not mine," I told her."You are a pretty little thing, but I do notown you.""Please," she said."Your master," I said, "if he chooses, will satisfy your needs.If he doesnot, he will not." For all I knew she might be under the discipline ofdeprivation.If that were so, I had no wish to impair the effectiveness of hermaster's control over her.Besides I did not know him.I did not wish to dohim dishonor, whoever he might be."Does your master know you are begging in the streets?" I asked."No," she said, frightened."Then," said I, "perhaps I should have your hands tied and write that uponyour body.""Oh, no!" she cried."Is this girl bothering you?" asked a merchant, one whose head bore the talmitof the fair's staff.Behind him were two guardsmen, with whips."No," I said.Then I said, "Where are the tables for the gambling on Kaissa?"'They have been arranged but this morning," he said.'They may be found in thevicinity of the public tents near the amphitheater.""My thanks, Officer," said I 'The lines are long," he said."I wish you well,"I said."I wish you well," he said.They left."Thank you, Master," said the girl.At a word from me, she would have beenlashed."Kneel and kiss my feet," I said.She did so.She then looked up."Run now to your master," I said."Crawl to him on your belly, and beg histouch.""Yes, Master," she said.She leaped to her feet, frightened, and sped away.I watched her disappear in the crowds.I laughed.What a meaningless, lovely, delicious little slave she was.Howhelpless she was in herfile:///F|/rah/John%20Norman/12%20-%20Beasts%20Of%20Gor.txt (22 of 224)[1/20/03 3:26:41 AM]file:///F|/rah/John%20Norman/12%20-%20Beasts%20Of%20Gor.txt needs.Another slave girl in the crowd smiled at me.I grinned at her, and turnedaway.It is pleasant to live on a world where there are female slaves.I wouldchoose to live on no other sort of world.Before I left, the fair I would inspect the major market, that beyond thesmithies and chain shops, where the most numerous exhibition platforms wereerected, near the great sales pavillion of blue and yellow silk, the colors ofthe slavers.If I found girls who pleased me I could arrange for their transportation toPort Kar.The shipment and delivery of slaves is cheap.I turned down the street of the dealers in artifacts and curios.I was makingmy way toward the public tents in the vicinity of the amphitheater.It wasthere that the tables for the odds on theKaissa matches might be found.In traversing the street I saw the fellow from the polar basin, he stripped toPage 29ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlthe waist, with fur trousers and boots.He was dealing with a large fellow,corpulent and gross, who managed one of the booths.There was a thin scribepresent as well behind the counter.The fellow in the furs, the rope coiledover his shoulder, apparently spoke little Gorean.He was taking objects fromthe fur sack he had carried with him.The large fellow behind the booth'scounter was examining them.The objects would not stand on the counter, for 'they were rounded, as areshapes in nature.They were intended to be kept in a pouch and, from time totime, taken forth and examined.All details must be perfect, from everyperspective, as in nature.Some collectors file such objects that they may bemore easily displayed on a shelf or in a case.The native of the polar basin,on the other hand, holds them when he looks at them, and they have hisattention as he does so.He is fond of them.He has made them.There werecarvings of sea sleen, and fish, and whales, and birds, and other creatures,large and small, of the north.Other objects, too, other carvings, were in the bag.The carvings were of softbluish stone and ivory, and bone.I continued on my way.In a few minutes I had come to the area of the public tents, and there wasthere no difficulty in determining where the Kaissa lines were to be found.There were dozens of tables, and the lines were long at each.I would stay in one of the public tents tonight.For five copper tarsks onemay rent furs and a place in the tent [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]