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.She was motionless.Idoubted, however, that she was asleep.She would not wish to attract attentionto her present straits.In the morning, with folks bustling about, she wouldprobably be all right.Now, however, she might be plucked as easily as alarma, one overhanging a public path.I had scarcely arranged my blankets andput the pack down for a pillow when I saw an attendant enter the room,carrying a strippedfile:///F|/My%20Shared%20Folder/John%20Norm.%20Gor%2023%20-%20Renegades%20of%20Gor.html (76 of 399) [1/21/03 7:54:42 PM]23 Renegades of Gor female, her hands tied behind her, over his shoulder, herhead to the rear, in slave position.I gestured to him, and, exciting my envysomewhat, he picked his way expertly among the sprawled, slumbering bodies tomy space. I shall return in anAhn, he said.He then sat his burden beside me. You! said the Lady Temione. Shhh, I cautioned her. People are trying to sleep.(pg.92) She tried to struggle to her feet, but I gently placed her on theblanket beside me, on her side. This a terrible mistake, she whispered. You know I am a free woman. Yes, I said.She had been relieved of her shackles, but her wrists were thonged behind herback.About her neck, however, there was now wound, in three close,unslippable loops, a heavy length of chain.Two links of this chain, not theend links, were fastened together in front with a heavy padlock.The two endsof the chain then, below the connected links, hung down in front, in anattractive, tielike, cravatlike, arrangement.There was a practical aspect tothis as well, of course.The same chain, in virtue of the links selected, maybe worn by any woman.Too, attached to this chaining, near the padlock, was aPage 53ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlmetal tag of some sort.I could not see it well in the darkness. Then release me! she whispered. I do not understand, I said. You agreed this was a terrible mistake, she whispered. No, I said. Yes, that you were a free woman. I do not understand what I am doing here, she said,  naked and tied besideyou. Really? I asked. It can not be that! she said. Why not? I asked. I am free! she said. But your bills are not paid, I said.She made an angry noise. It seems that this time you did not manage to inveigle some fellow intopaying them for you. What are you going to do to me? she asked.file:///F|/My%20Shared%20Folder/John%20Norm.%20Gor%2023%20-%20Renegades%20of%20Gor.html (77 of 399) [1/21/03 7:54:42 PM]23 Renegades of Gor What do you think? I asked. Not that, she said. Precisely, I said. I am not an inn girl, she said. I am a free woman! I am not subject toguest use! Were you told you were not subject to guest use? I asked. No, she said, hesitantly. So? I said.(pg.93)  But I assumed, of course, as I was free  Are you a virgin? I asked. That is surely a personal matter, she said. Surely that is my ownbusiness. It would take only a moment for me to make the determination, I said. No, she said, pulling back. I am not a virgin. It would seem then, I said,  that at least once or twice you must have hadto pay off fellows for their assistance. They were not gentlemen, she said. I think you will discover, I said,  that from now on you no longer possessbargaining power in such matters. I do not understand, she said. In the future, I said,  I think you will find that you will no longer havecontrol over the gratifications which might be attendant upon your uses, norover the numbers, times or natures of them. I do not understand, she said, frightened. I am pleased you are not a virgin, I said. Thus our relationship can bemuch simpler. Am I truly available to you? she asked. Yes, I said. I paid for you, for the Ahn. Paid? she asked. Yes, I said. It must have been terribly expensive, she said. The price of an inn girl here, I said,  is three copper tarsks for thequarter of anAhn. That is extremely expensive, is it not? she asked. Terribly so, I agreed.I was not too pleased with the keeper.Surely he wasafile:///F|/My%20Shared%20Folder/John%20Norm.%20Gor%2023%20-%20Renegades%20of%20Gor.html (78 of 399) [1/21/03 7:54:42 PM]Page 54ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html23 Renegades of Gor heinously gouging scoundrel.Other than that, however, heseemed a rather good fellow.Space 97, for example, did have one edge, the topedge, on the wall. If a common inn girl costs so much, she breathed,  how could you even beginto afford someone like me? You must have been devastatingly smitten with mybeauty! You are actually a bit fat, I said,  but I think that could be worked offyou, with a sparing, judicious diet, complex exercises, suitable disciplines,and such. Perhaps I should try to be pleasing to you, she said, impressed.(pg.94)  Why? I asked.She was, after all, a free woman. You must have paid at lest a golden tarn disk, she said,  to have rightsover me, for a whole Ahn. No, I said. Nine silver tarsks? she asked. No, I said. Five? she asked. No, I said. I paid only a tarsk bit. What! she said. Shhh, I cautioned her. Do not awaken the guests. That is absurd! she said. I am a free woman. It is doubtless a great deal more than you are worth, I said. I will see to it, she said,  that I do not give you any pleasure. I think, I said,  you will find it difficult to do anything about that, Ipulled her to me. Beast! she said. Your squirming, I said,  is delightful.She cried out in frustration, and then held herself as still as possible.I smiled to myself.How fortunate for this woman that she was a free female,and not a slave. Yes, she said, angrily, trying to hold herself still, her hands behind her,tied.I felt the tag, attached on the chain, near the padlock. It seems to have theshape of a malformed tarn, I said,  a crooked neck, an enlarged right leg andtalons. It does, she said, angrily. It resembles the sign within the palisade then, I said,  that which isvisible for a pasang or so, down the road, the sign of the  Crooked Tarn.file:///F|/My%20Shared%20Folder/John%20Norm.%20Gor%2023%20-%20Renegades%20of%20Gor.html (79 of 399) [1/21/03 7:54:42 PM]23 Renegades of Gor Of course, she said.I jerked the tag, playfully. And where is this little tag? I asked. It is on me, she said, seething, trying to hold herself still. Does it have writing on it? I asked. Yes, she said.(pg.95) Surely it would. They must have shown it to you before they put it on you. Yes, she said. What does it say? I asked. Debtor, she said. Oh! she said. What else? I asked. My wrists have been thonged! she said [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]