"John Norman - Gor 24 - Vagabonds of Gor" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norman John)

тАЬYes, master,тАЭ she said. тАЬ-were redeemed. We were overjoyed, thinking to be freed, but found to
our dismay that we were put in coffle, to be taken northward on the Vosk Road to the vicinity of
Ar┬┤s Station.тАЭ
тАШтАШI see,┬┤┬┤ I said.
тАЬBut before our redemption our heads were shaved by the keeper, for catapult cordage.тАЭ
тАЬI saw the pelts on a rack, outside the inn,тАЭ I said. Her hair had been a beautiful auburn. That hair
color is popular on Gor. It brings a high price in slave markets.
тАЬA man named Ephialtes, a sutler of Cos, paid our re-demption fees.тАЭ
тАЬIt was he, then, who redeemed you?тАЭ I asked.
тАЬI do not think so, Master,тАЭ she said.
тАЬHe was acting as an agent then?тАЭ I said.
тАЬI think so, Master,тАЭ she said. тАЬThough apparently one with powers to buy and sell as he
pleased.тАЭ
тАЬOn behalf on his principal?тАЭ I asked.
тАЬDoubtless, Master,тАЭ she said.
тАЬYou may kneel back,тАЭ I said.
She straightened up, and then knelt back on her heels, her knees wide, her hands on her thighs. I
had not specified this position, one of the most common for a female pleasure slave but she had
assumed it unquestioningly, appropriately. It had been a test. She had passed. It would not be
necessary to cuff her.
I listened to the sounds of the Vosk River in the background. тАЬThough we were free women, six
of us, as you recall, including myself, we were apparently to be marched naked, chained by the
neck, in coffle behind a sutler┬┤s wagon.тАЭ
тАЬYou objected?тАЭ I inquired.
тАЬI and another, Klio, perhaps you remember her, did.тАЭ
тАЬAnd what happened?тАЭ I asked.
тАЬWe were lashed,тАЭ she said. тАЬIt was done by a terrible person, one named Liadne, put over us as
first girl, though we were free and she a mere slave!тАЭ
I remembered Liadne. She was lovely. I had first met her under her master┬┤s wagon, shivering in
a tarpaulin, in an icy storm. I had used her but had paid her master for her use, leaving a coin in
her mouth. I had had Ephialtes, the sutler, purchase her in the morning. I had thought she would
make an excellent first girl, to introduce her free sisters into some understanding of their
womanhood.
тАЬWe were then obedient,тАЭ said the girl.
I did not doubt but what Liadne would have kept them, arrogant, spoiled free women, under
superb discipline. That had certainly been my impression, at any rate, when I had seen them lined
up, kneeling, naked, coffled, and blind-folded, in the camp of Cos near Ar┬┤s Station.
тАЬWe were taken to the Cosian camp, near Ar┬┤s Station,тАЭ she said. тАЬThere we were kept naked, in
coffle, and under discipline. One morning we were displayed in blindfolds.тАЭ
I had not wanted them to know, or at least to know for certain, that it was I who had redeemed
them, not simply for the pleasure of it, but for my own purposes, as well. This was not that
unusual. Captors do not always reveal their identities immediately to their captives. It is
sometimes amusing to keep women in ignorance as to whose power it is, within which they lie.
Let them consider the matter with anxiety. Let them speculate wildly, frenziedly, tearfully. It is
then time enough to reveal oneself to them, perhaps confirming their worst fears.
тАЬThe next morning,тАЭ she said, тАЬwhen I awakened, two of our girls were gone, Elene and Klio,
and there was a new girl, a slender, very beautiful girl, also free, like the rest of us, on the coffle.тАЭ
тАЬWhat was her name?тАЭ I asked.
тАЬ тАШPhoebe┬┤,тАЭ she said.
тАЬTell me of her,тАЭ I said.