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. Mark and collar me, so that Imay at last be free to be what I now know I am! Do you wish to feel the lash again, Lady Cara? he asked. No, Master, she said, shuddering.It seemed to me that the woman, obviously, was now ready for enslavement.Tobe sure, whether it was to be granted to her or not was up to her captor.Atany rate, whether she was to be put legally into slavery or not she was nowclearly bond, psychologically, intellectually and emotionally.She would nownever be anything else. This is the Lady Cara.Of Venna, he said. Once she was overheard makingremarks disparaging of Tarnburg.Perhaps I shall take her there one day, andkeep her there as a house slave.The prone woman groaned.Her chains slid a little on the tiles. Or would you prefer, Lady Cara, he asked,  to serve there only as a cleaningprisoner, simply as a confined servant, a mere housekeeper in captivity? No, she sobbed,  as a slave, a full slave. Why, he asked. It is what I am, she said.I regarded her.She looked luscious at our feet, in her chains.Clearly, too,she had been  ruined for freedom. I wondered about Boabissia.I wondered ifshe, too, had been ruined for freedom.To be sure, she still spoke much like aproud free woman.Still, too, she often seemed bitter, selfish, frustrated,haughty and arrogant.Too, she had never been put under slave discipline.IPage 76ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlhad noticed, however, unless it were only my imagination, that she now seemedto move her body somewhat differently under her dress than she had before,before we had prostituted her to replenish our resources. And so, asked the fellow,  what of your free tart? Did her rent uses spoilher for freedom? Perhaps, I said. I do not know.(pg.149)  Well, if so, he said,  you may always sell her and be done withit. True, I said.I thought it might be fun to sell Boabissia.She occasionallygot on one s nerves.Too, as a free woman, she could be something of anuisance.Too, I thought she might make a fine slave.Too, like any otherwoman, she would look lovely in a collar. If you have a holding in Port Kar, he said,  I gather you have no fondnessfor Cos. No, I said. I have no fondness for Cos, I had fought against her, andTyros at sea.Ihad once served on a Cosian galley.Once, in last carnival time in Port Kar,before theWaiting Hand, her Ubar, gross Lurius of Jad, had sent an assassin against me.His dagger Ihad thrust into his own heart. Yet, said he,  you were traveling with a Cosian supply train, using thecover of the train to move southward in troubled times.This is an act ofaudacity, of inventiveness, of courage.I said nothing. I respect such things, he said.I had little doubt he did.I also had little doubt who it must be, he withwhom I spoke.Ihad stood in awe of this man for years.I had studied his campaigns, histactics and strategems.Yet nothing had prepared me for the presence I felt inthis room, a simple room, a bare room, with a large window behind, suitablefor a minor functionary in the bureaucracy ofTorcadino.How odd it seemed that I should meet this man here, in such aplace, rather than in a feast of state, in the corridors of a conference, oron a bloodstained field.The power of this man seemed to radiate forth fromhim.This is a difficult thing to explain, unless one has felt it.Perhaps inanother situation, or in another time I would not have felt this.I do notknow.Certainly it had nothing to do with pretentiousness or any obviousdemonstrations of authority on his part.If anything, he seemed on the surfacelittle more than a simple soldier, perhaps no more than merely anotherunpretentious, candid, efficient officer.It was beneath the surface that Isensed more.This was perhaps a matter of (pg.150) subliminal cues.I hadlittle doubt that when he chose he could be warm and charming.Too, I supposedhe could be hearty and convivial.Perhaps he was fond of jokes.Perhaps onemight enjoy drinking with him.His men would die for him.I thought he must bemuch alone.I suspected it might be death to cross his will. I suspect, he said,  that you were heading toward Ar. I have business in Ar, I said. Do you know the delta of the Vosk? he asked. I once traversed it, I said. Tell me about it, he said. It is treacherous, and trackless, I said. It covers thousands of squarepasangs.It is infested with insects, snakes and tharlarion.Marsh sharks evenswim among its reeds.In it there is little solid ground.Its waters areusually shallow, seldom rising above the chest of a tall man.The footing isunreliable.There is much quicksand.It protects Port Kar from the east.Fewbut rencers can find their way about in it.Too, for most practical purposes,Page 77ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlthey keep it closed to traffic and trade. That, too is my impression. He said. Why do you ask? I asked. Do you understand much of military matters? he asked. A little, I said. Do you know who I am? he asked. I think so, I said. Do you know why I have brought you here? he asked. No, I said. Why do you think Torcadino has been taken? he asked. To stall the invasion, I said. To give Ar time to arm.It is a powerful anddecisive stroke.Torcadino is Cos s major depot for supplies and siegeequipment.You have now seized these things.They are now yours.You mayremain indefinitely in Torcadino with these vast quantities of supplies.Too,though you will be doubtless invested.Cos now lacks the equipment to dislodgeyou.Similarly, because of their new shortage of supplies, they will have towithdraw many of their troops from this area.Presumably they will also haveto be divided, marched into diverse areas to facilitate the (pg.151)acquisition of new supplies.You have thus scattered and disrupted your enemy.Too, I suspect your ejection of the civilian population from Torcadino is notmerely political, to appear to show concern, generosity, and mercy, not merelyexpedient, to remove them from the city, thus conserving supplies and removingpossible Cosian sympathizer from behind your back, but to increase theintensity ofCos s supply problems. Very good, he said. Cos will not dare let these refugees starve, I said,  as they are citizensif a city which had declared for them, which had gone over to them.If theydid not care for them, this would be a dark lesson, and one favoring Ar, toevery wavering or uncommitted village, town and city within a dozen horizons. Quite, he agreed. What was done with the garrison of Torcadino? I asked. Most were surprised in their beds, he said. Their weapons were seized.Resistance was useless.We then expelled them, disarmed, from the city. So that they, too, like the civilians, would aggravate the problems of Cos. Yes, he said. Did you march them beneath a yoke? I asked.This is usually formed of threespears, two upright and the third bound horizontally across the first two [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]