[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.He is helpless and in chains.You displayhim to the crowd!He is your prisoner! He is your prize! You give him then to your Ubar! It isyour moment of triumph! Yes, she cried. Yes! No! I cried. Never! Never! No such triumph for you! No such humiliation forme! I shookChino and Lecchio about, fiercely, throwing them even from their feet, butthey clung, tenaciously, desperately, like sleen, to my arms.Then, in theirgrip, still in place, held now again below her, she in the high saddle of thetharlarion, I looked up at the Lady Yanina.She was smiling. Never! I cried.She did not respond. Do not subject me to such humiliation, I said.She did not respond. How can you even think of such a thing, I asked.She smiled. Please, no, I said. Bring the slave sack, she said.page 29116 What Occurred in the Feasting Hall Here, I said, snapping my fingers.The naked blond slave ran swiftly to meand knelt before me. My fingers are greasy, I said. Yes, Master, she said,and, putting down her head, she began to lick the palms of my hands, as I heldthem out to her, and then about my hands, and then to run her tongue downbetween my fingers and the hands, and then, not touching them with her ownhands of fingers, carefully and delicately, to kiss and suck my fingersindividually.She then extended her head towards me and I dried my hands andfingers on her long blond hair.She looked at me.The collar looked well onher throat.I pulled her across the low table on her stomach, scatteringvessels and plates, and then, turning her, threw her to her back on the tilesbehind the table.Swiftly then I had her.Those near me took no note of this.I stood then over her.She looked up at me, gasping, fearful, one knee raised,the palms her hands facing down.Her fingernails had scratched at the tiles.I kicked her. Return to yourwork, I told her. Yes, Master, she said, hastening to rise, then hurryingaway. More food, I said, returning to my place, and clear this mess! Yes,Master, said a naked brunet. Yes, Master! said a naked redhead.Theyhurried to serve, kneeling.They looked well in their collars.The collaraccentuates the nudity and beauty of a slave, and, too, of course, itproclaims her bondage.I retrieved a large grape, about the size of a smallplum, from the page 292table, before they could clear it away.It lay near an overturned wine goblet,in a wine stain.It had rolled there, across the sparkling cloth, when it hadbeen dislodged from its position in its shallow, golden bowl in the blonde stransit.It was peeled and pitted, doubtless laboriously by female slaves.Itwas a Ta grape.One often associates them with the terraces of Cos, but theyare grown, of course, in many other places, as well.I thrust it in my mouth.Page 189 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlthen I gave my attention to the performance in progress between the tables, ona small, raised platform. Ho, varlets, craven churls, away! cried lanky Petrucchio, drawing his greatwooden sword form the preposterous sheath which dragged behind him.This tooksome time. Away, away! Isay, he kept repeating, and at last had managed, bit by bit, yank by yank, tofree the sword.he now waved it about, menacingly, seemingly almost as thoughit might decapitate anyone within a range of several feet.The three womenseeming to cower behind him, covered from head to toe in robes of concealment,huddled together, ducking its great swings.Before Petrucchio, as though justhaving entered into the same area, the object of his attention, were Chino andLecchio, in the garb of cloth workers, and with packs on their backs. Back,even in your vast numbers, you warriors and foes, cried Petrucchio, grimly, lest I slice you like roast tarsk, lest Ishred you like tur-pah and peel you like suls! Chino and Lecchio, understood as two simple travelers on the road, comeunexpectedly onPetrucchio and his companions, looked at one another, wonderingly. Avaunt, speedily! cried Petrucchio, swinging the great sword again, thegirls behind him ducking once more. But, good sir, called Chino, keeping his distance, we are but two humblecloth workers! Do not seek to deceive Petrucchio, captain of Turia! cried Petrucchio. Tohim your disguises, as brilliantly contrived as they may be to deceive others,are as flimsy and transparent as a veil ofAnango! The Petrucchio character, it might been noted, is commonly, in thenorthern hemisphere, portrayed as a captain from Turia, a city securely faraway, off in the southern hemisphere.In the southern hemisphere, I haveheard, he is usually presented as a captain fromAr.The important thing, apparently, is that he comes from a city which islarge and impressive, and which tends to evoke a certain apprehension, orenvy, and is far away.It is always easier to believe that folks far away arepretentious cowards.One has seldom met them in battle.Another advantage ofchoosing a distant city is that there page 293are not likely to be citizens of that city in the audience, who might takeexception to the performance, though, to be sure, most Goreans understand whatis going on and tend to enjoy the farce immensely, even if the captain issupposed to be one of their own.My own identity, incidentally, at least if one could believe my credentials,which had brought me into the feasting hall, was supposed to be of Turia.These credentials had been loaned to me by a fellow down whose throat I hadstuffed enough Tassa powder to put a kailiauk under for severalAhn.To make sure I had also thrust him, tightly bound and effectively gagged,almost as perfectly as though he might have been a female slave, into acloset.He would presumably be found there tomorrow, or the day after, by acleaning slave.The reference to a veil of Anango, of course, was a reference to the veil in a well-known farce, The Veil ofAnango, performed by many companies.Indeed, it was one of the morefrequently played items in the repertory ofBoots s company.The leading character in it, or the female lead, is played bythe Brigella character.That role now, of course, was played by Boots s slave, Lady Telitsia. It was a reference which would be understood by Goreanaudiences.Too, of course, in this context, it was supposed to convey thatPetrucchio regarded himself as a very clever fellow, certainly not one to beeasily fooled. You see our garb, protested Chino. It is that of the cloth workers. Yes, insisted Lecchio. Hah! cried Petrucchio, skeptically, but he rested the point of the greatPage 190 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlwooden sword on the platform, and, with one hand, beneath that long-nosedhalfmask, he characteristically began to twirl one half of the huge, fearsomemustache. and here are our packs! cried Chino, exhibiting the packs. Doubtless filled with weapons, surmised Petrucchio, twirling the fearsomemustache.The girls in the robes of concealment, cowering behind Petrucchio, cried outin fear. Quiver not in such abject terror, my dears, said Petrucchio, reassuringly. Indeed, it is not even necessary to shudder, unless it should please you todo so.Indeed, you may even breathe calmly, if that should be your wish, foras much as though you were safe in your beds within your stonekeeps, protected each by the vigilance of a thousand valiant guards, you aresafe here, nay, safer, though even on a public road, for here you stand withinthe walls of my steel. page 294 My hero! cried the first girl. My hero! cried the second My hero! cried the third.Chino and Lecchio looked at one another.Petrucchio then, twirling his mustache, turned confidentially to the audience
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]