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.Yet l did not know the city.I could not see how I might enter.I did not knowhow I might even attempt to succeed in so dangerous a task as that which I hadset myself.The afternoon among the wagons was a busy one, for they were preparing tomove.Already the herds had been eased westward, away from Turia towardThassa, the distant sea.There was much grooming of wagon bask, checking of har-ness and wagons, cutting of meat to be dried hanging from the sides of themoving wagons in the sun and wind.In the morning the wagons, in their longlines, would follow the slowly moving herds away from Turia.Meanwhile theOmen ITaking, even with the participation of the Tuchuk haruspexes, ~continued for the haruspexes of the people would remain j behind until eventhe final readings had been completed.Ihad heard, from a master of hunting sleen, that the Omens were developingpredictably, several to one against the choice of a Ubar San.Indeed, thedifficulty of the Tuchuks with theTurians had possibly, I guessed, exerted its influence on an omen or two inpassing.One could hardly blame the Kassars, the Kataii and Paravaci for notwanting to be led by aTuchuk against Turia or for not wanting to acquire theTuchuk troubles by uniting with them in any fashion.TheParavaci were particularly insistent on maintaining the inde-pendence of the peoplesSince the death of Kutaituchik, Kamchak had turned ugly in manner.Now heseldom drank or joked or laughed.Imissed his hitherto frequent proposals of contests, races and wagers.He nowseemed dour, moody, consumed with hatred for Turia and Turians.He seemedparticularly vicious withAphris.She was Turian.When he returned that night from the wagon ofKutaituchik to his own wagon he strode angrily to the sleen cage where he hadconfined Aphris with Eliza-beth during the putative attack.He unlocked the door and ordered the Turianmaiden forth, commanding her to stand before him, head down.Then, withoutspeaking, to her consternation he tore swiftly away the yellow camisk andfastened slave bracelets on her wrists."I should whip you,"he said.The girl trembled."But why, Master?" she asked."Because you are Turian," he said.The girl looked at him with tears in hereyes.Roughly Kamchak took her by the arm and thrust her into the sleen cagebeside the miserableElizabeth Cardwell.He shut the door and locked it."Mas-ter?" questioned Aphris."Silence, Slave," he said.The girl dared not speak."There both of you will wait for the Ironfile:///F|/rah/John%20Norman/Chronicles%20of.ounter-Earth%204%20-%20Nomads%20of%20Gor.txt (127 of 238) [1/20/03 3:28:27 AM]file:///F|/rah/John%20Norman/Chronicles%20of%20Counter-Earth%204%20-%20Nomads%20of%20Gor.txtMaster," he snarled, and turned abruptly, and went to the stairs to the wagon.But the Iron Master did not come that night, or the next, or the next.Inthese days of siege and war there were more important matters to attend tothan the branding and collaring of female slaves."Let him ride with hisHundred," Kamchak said."They will not run away let them wait like she-sleepPage 123ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlin their cage not knowing on which day the iron will come." Also, perhaps forno reason better than his suddenly found hatred for Aphris of Turia, he seemedin no hurry to free the girls from their confinement."Let them crawl out," he snarled, "begging for a brand."Aphris, in particular, seemed utterly distraught by Kamchak's unreasoningcruelty, his callous treatment of herself and Eliza-beth perhaps most by his sudden, seeming indifference to her.I suspected,though the girl would not have dreamed of making the admission, that her heartas well as her body might nova rightfully have been claimed as his by thecruelUbar of the Tuchuks.Elizabeth Cardwell refused to meet my eyes, and would notso much as speak to me."Go away!" she would cry."Leave me!" Kamchak, once aday, at night, the hour in which sleen are fed, would throw the girls bits ofbask meat and fill a pan of water kept in the cage.Iremonstrated with him frequently in private but he was adamant.He would lookat Aphris and then return to the wagon and sit cross-legged, not speaking, forhours, staring at the side of the wagon.Once he pounded the rug on thepolished floor in front of him and cried out angrily, as though to remindhimself of some significant and inalterable fact, "She is Turian! Turian!" Thework of the wagon was done byTuka and another girl, whom Kamchak hired for the pur-pose.When the wagons were to move, Tuka was to walk beside the cart of thesleen cage, drawn by a single bask, and with a bask stick guide the animal.Ionce spoke harshly to her when I saw her cruelly poke Elizabeth Cardwellthrough the bars with the bask stick.Never did she do so again when Iwas nearby.She seemed to leave the distressed, red-eyedAphris of Turia alone, perhaps because she was Turian, perhaps because she hadno grievance against her."Where now is the pelt of the red larl, Slave?" Tukawould tauntElizabeth, threatening her with the bask stick."You will look pretty with aring in your nose!" she would cry."You will like your collar! Wait until youfeel the iron, Slave likeTuka!" Kamchak never reproved Tuka, but I would silence her when I waspresent.Elizabeth endured the insults as though paying no attention, butsometimes at night I could hear her sobbing.I searched among the wagons long before I found, sitting cross-legged beneatha wagon, wrapped in a worn bosk robe, his weapons at hand folded in leathersthe young man whose name was Harold, the blond-haired, blue-eyed fellow whohad been so victimized by Hereena, she of the First Wagon, who had fallenspoils to Turia in the games of Love War.He was eating a piece of bask meat in the Tuchuk fashion, holding He meat inhis left hand and between his teeth, and cutting pieces from it with a quivascarcely a quarter inch from his lips, then chewing the severed bite and thenagain holding the meat in his hand and teeth and cutting again.Without speaking I sat down near him and watched him eat.He eyed me warily,and neither did he speak.After a time I said to him, "How are the bask?"file:///F|/rah/John%20Norman/Chronicles%20of.ounter-Earth%204%20-%20Nomads%20of%20Gor.txt (128 of 238) [1/20/03 3:28:27 AM]file:///F|/rah/John%20Norman/Chronicles%20of%20Counter-Earth%204%20-%20Nomads%20of%20Gor.txt"They are doing as well as night be expected," he said [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]