So why then, I asked myself, would these women, those of a particular group, housed in the Venna keeping area, have been hooded?
“Well,” I said to Alcinoe, looking about, “what do you think?”
“Perhaps, Master,” said Alcinoe, “they were not hooded for beauty, but, rather, to conceal their plainness.”
“Master!” protested several of the slaves.
“Beat her, Master!” urged one.
“These are obviously beautiful slaves,” I said, “high-grade merchandise, which would bring good coin off the block, but, as you have suggested, I see no particular reason for their hooding.”
“Surely,” said Alcinoe, “several of the other slaves, of the Venna keeping area, never hooded, are every bit as beautiful.”
“Yes,” I said.
I could remember that from the deck.
“And doubtless some of the Kasra keeping area, as well,” she added.
“Yes,” I said.
I could remember several of them, as well.
Alcinoe, I thought, was fetching in the Kasra tunic, what there was of it.
“Bring the lamp,” I said to Alcinoe.
“Hold position,” I said to the slaves.
“Perhaps we should leave, Master,” said Alcinoe. “I think the men have left the outer area.”
I looked about.
“Follow me,” I said.
In the special area, that devoted to the slaves who would be brought hooded to the upper deck, there were twenty slaves, as I determined, arranged in five rows of four each. I went toward the back of
the special area, on the right.
Each slave was in position.
“Perhaps we should hurry, Master,” said Alcinoe.
“Follow me,” I said.
Alcinoe followed, with the lamp.
“Master?” said Alcinoe.
“I have not well examined this last row of slaves,” I said.
I began with the one farthest to the right, drawing her head back, by the hair, that I might examine her features in the light of the lamp.
“She is nice, is she not?” I said to Alcinoe.
“Perhaps,” said Alcinoe.
I released the girl’s hair, that she might return to position.
I similarly examined the next two girls.
“Lovely,” I said of each.
Of the first Alcinoe suggested that her value might be improved, if she could play the lyre. Of the second, Alcinoe wondered if slavers might be more interested in her, if she could dance.
“Can you dance?” I asked the girl.
“The flower dance of the free maiden,” she said, frightened, her head held back, by the hair.
“Then you do not know the dances of begging slaves,” I said.
“No, Master,” she said. Such dances are often taught to the snapping of a whip.
“After you are in the hands of a master,” I said, “you may beg to learn such dances.”
“Master?” she said.
“To be more pleasing,” I said.
“Yes, Master,” she said.
I wondered if Alcinoe could learn slave dance. I thought so. Such dance is instinctual in a woman. I had little doubt that many lives had been saved, after the fall of a city, by a naked captive’s supplicatory writhings before its conquerors.
We came then to the last slave, on her chain.
Oddly, she cried out in fear, broke position, and bent over, shuddering, covering herself, as she could, with her hands.
“Bring the lamp closer,” I said to Alcinoe.
By the hair, I drew up the head of the slave, and she, interestingly, tried to turn to the side, and, neglecting her body, covered her face with her hands.
To be sure, many women fear face stripping more than body stripping. The face, after all, with its subtleties of expression, is uniquely personal, particularly revelatory, and especially revealing. A woman’s face, exquisite, delicate, and beautiful, commonly so different from that of a man, unveiled, is vulnerable and defenseless, a window into her emotions and thoughts, into her heart and needs, a window that puts her ever the more helplessly in a man’s power. A saying has it, bare the face, bare the woman. Another well-known saying is, remove the veil of a free woman and look upon the face of a slave. So it is no wonder that the free woman is concerned with her veiling. But this was a slave. Slaves are not permitted to conceal their faces. Their faces must be naked, and all are to be free to look upon them. Would it not be absurd to veil a verr, or kaiila? Such an inhibition seldom lasts past a girl’s first switching. And soon a slave, the vain creature that she is, delights as shamelessly in the exhibition of her features as of her form. And perhaps more so. It is the whole of her, after all, marvelous and wondrous, that is collared.
So why would this slave have attempted to conceal her face?
“Position,” I said to her, soothingly.
She then knelt.
“Split your knees,” I said to her gently.
I released her hair, and, with a hand on each knee, widened them.
She still had her hands before her face. She was trembling.
“Lift up the lamp,” I said to Alcinoe.
I then, gently, put a hand on each of her wrists.
“Please, no, please, no,” she said.
“Master?” I asked.
“Please, no, Master,” she begged. “Please, no, Master!”
I then, as she sobbed, pulled her hands away from her face.
“Aii!” cried Alcinoe, softly.
“Position,” I said to the slave, soothingly, and she put her hands down on her thighs, looking straight ahead.
“Collared!” said Alcinoe.
I took the collar in both hands, turned it, examined the lock, and then, a bit roughly, turned it back into place, so that the lock was at the back of the neck.
“Yes,” I said, “and perfectly.”
It was a common ship’s collar.
I then rose up, bade the slaves be as they would, and, followed by Alcinoe, left the special area, and, in a moment, the larger area, as well.
In a bit we had come to the Kasra keeping area, within which its whip slaves had been served similarly to those of the higher area, bound naked, hand and foot, prone, their switches tied between their teeth.
The other slaves of the Kasra area were on their chains, and most were asleep.
“This is your mat?” I asked.
“Yes, Master,” she whispered, that we not disturb the others.
“Master!” she said, suddenly, frightened.
I cautioned her to silence.
“Strip, kajira,” I said to her.
“Strip?” she said.
“Yes,” I said.
She put aside the bit of cloth which had been granted her.
“Now,” I said, “on all fours, on the mat.”
It was a thick, well-plaited mat, narrow. I then picked up the chain, attached to its ring, and snapped it about her ankle, the left ankle.
“Now, turn around,” I said, “and lie down, on your belly.”
I stood up for a few moments, regarding her. Then, suddenly I crouched down beside her, pulled her up, turned her, rudely, and, with a rattle of chain, forced my lips to hers.
I then flung her back on the mat, on her belly, and exited the Kasra keeping area.
I then went to my quarters.
I was much troubled.
I had seen Talena, of Ar.
I recalled, too, we had come to land.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Slaughter!” I heard cry. “Slaughter!”
The alarm bar was ringing, frenziedly.
It was shortly after the first Ahn, and, when I raced up the companionways to the open deck, it was still dark, though there were dozens of torches on the beach. Some small boats were returning to the great ship. Some men were clambering up ropes, drawing themselves over the rail. I heard small boats, below, scraping against the timbers of the ship. Ropes and rope ladders were being cast over the side. Aeacus handed me a glass of the Builders. It was difficult to focus, and there was much movement. I twisted the glass into focus. There seemed madness on the beach, men crowded together toward the shore, trying to board small boats. I saw two founder. Some men were wading into the sea, trying to cling to small boats.