"I was thinking, rather," I said, "of various other wars, or conflicts, such as the second war between Harfax and Besnit, and the war, some years ago; between Port Olni and Ti, before the Salerian Confederation."
"Yes!" she said.
"There," I said, "I think the motivations were solely, or almost solely, the acquisition of slaves."
"Yes!" she said.
The war between Port Olni and Ti had ended in a truce. That between Harfax and Besnit had concluded, however, with a practical victory for Harfax. Besnit, her walls breached, had been forced to surrender her slaves, and a selection of her high-caste daughters, to be made slaves, and trained under the women who had formerly been slaves in their own houses. Besnit and Harfax, now, interestingly enough, years later, were allies. Harfax had desperately needed the assistance of such an ally, but Besnit, understandably, despite the advantages which she stood to reap from such a relationship, given the past, was reluctant to form an alliance. At this point the young high-caste women of Harfax had approached the high council of the city with a bold plan. It had been to permit the men of Besnit to make a selection from among them, in the number of a hundred, the same number which had been that of the high-caste daughters earlier taken by the men of Harfax, this hundred then to be impressed into slavery, trained by slaves in the houses of Besnit, and then to be kept, or sold, or distributed, as their masters chose. Although opposition to this plan was at first fierce the high council agreed at last. Accordingly, the high-caste young women of Harfax were privately stripped and examined. Those deemed the most beautiful were then entered on records and given a locked bracelet to wear. A month later they were taken to Besnit and reduced to bondage. After this they were trained in Besnit by the slaves of men of Besnit. After their training they were sold, some from the city, some within it, these decisions made by lottery. Besnit and Harfax, since that time, have been staunch allies. The proceeds from the first sales of the girls, when they were first put up for auction, whether out of the city or within it, went to the public treasury of Besnit.
She trembled with pleasure.
"We should camp soon," I said.
I saw the fin of a shark several feet to the left, gliding through a stand of rence.
"Look to the left," I said.
"Yes," she said.
"Keep on the raft," I said.
"Yes, my captor," she said. She coiled the strap running to her collar once or twice, shortening her own tether. Then she knelt and came forward a little, near me.
I looked down at her, and she looked up at me, happily.
"Am I pretty on my knees?" she asked.
"Yes," I said.
"What are you going to do with me?" she asked.
"You are still interested in that?" I asked.
"Of course," she said.
"We shall see," I said.
"I am totally at your mercy, you know," she said.
"Yes," I said.
"And you will do with me what you please, will you not?" she asked.
"Of course," I said.
"Good," she said.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing," she said.
I poled the raft to the right. There was, to the right, about a hundred yards away, a likely looking island on which to make a camp.
"You could even sell me, couldn't you?" she asked.
"Yes," I said.
"Is that your intention," she asked, "to sell me?"
"Perhaps," I said.
She looked up at me.
"The thought interests you, doesn't it?" I asked.
"Yes," she whispered.
"And you are curious, are you not," I asked, "as to what it would be to be the most sexual, exciting and desirable of all women, the female slave?"
"A free woman dare not even think of such things," she said.
"Think of them," I said.
"Yes, my captor," she said, frightened.
"And you may think of them," I said, "whenever and however, and as frequently and for as long, as you wish."
"Yes, my captor," she whispered.
She then kissed me, and, putting forth her small, pink tongue, ticked me, delicately, softly, on the leg.
"And if I sell you?" I asked.
"I would endeavor to be worthy of my price," she said.
"And I would endeavor, if I were you, to well please my master."
"Yes," she said, looking up, "I would endeavor to well please my master."
I brought the raft to rest at the island. I had had her stand and was reaching to remove the collar from her throat when we heard, it seemed from far off, a piteous cry.
"It is an animal," she said, frightened. I looked at her.
"An animal, caught in sand!" she said, "No," I said.
We heard the cry again. To be sure, it had a weird, inhuman sound about it.
"Yes," she said.
"No," I said. "It is a man."
I then waded into the marsh and thrust the raft higher on the sand.
We heard the cry again.
I drew the length of binding fiber from her collar and began to tie her hands behind her back.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked.
I saw she still had something of the free woman in her.
"You will be here when I return," I said.
"I will not run away!" she said.
"I am sure you will not," I said.
"Oh!" she said, wincing, as I jerked tight the fiber.
"There," I said, knotting it.
We heard the cry again.
"Do not investigate," she said. "It could be dangerous!"
I spun her about.
She looked at me, frightened.
"What is wrong?" she asked.
"Oh!" she said, cuffed. She turned back, again, to look at me, startled. There was blood at her lip.
"Belly," I said.
" 'Belly'?" she said.
I took her by the hair and threw her angrily to the sand, on her belly.
"Feet," I said.
This time she had enough presence of mind to squirm to my feet and press her lips upon them, kissing them.
I stepped back from her. "Free woman!" I said.
She twisted about then, to her side, and then, there, lying in the sand, on her side, looked up at me, frightened, the blood at her lip, her hands tied behind her back, the strap on her throat.