"Very well," I said. I was beautiful. I would bring a high price indeed I "Even so," " be said, "you have had no previous owners, as I understand it." "That is correct," I said.

"Having been unowned," he said, "it seems natural, then, to assume that you are inexperienced and untrained."

"Yes," I said.

"And there are many beautiful women," he said. "There is no dearth of them in the slave markets."

"And what, then," I asked, "do you think I would bring?"

He looked at me, smiling.

"What?" I asked.

"I would think," be said, "that you would bring somewhere between fifteen and twenty copper tarsks."

"Copper tarsksl" I cried.

"Yes," he said.

"Beastl" I cried. "Beastl"

"But remember," he said, smiling, "it is slaves who are assessed and have prices. Free women are priceless."

"Yes," I said, somewhat mollified,' stepping back. "Yesl" I must remember that I was priceless. I was a free woman.

"Shall we continue on to your quarters?" he asked.

"Yes," I said, and then, turning about, once more preceded him down the corridor toward my quarters.

I had had matters out with Ligurious earlier, about such things as the barring on my door. My door, now, was no longer barred. The guards remained outside but that, of course, was an understandable precaution, one clearly in my own best interests, one pertinent to my personal security. Furthermore I was now free, almost whenever I wished, to go forth from my quarters. The only restriction was that I must be accompanied by my guard, Drusus Rencius.

We stood on the height of the walls of Corcyrus, on a stone riser behind the parapet, which permitted us to look out over the parapet, rather than through its apertures, on the surrounding fields.

"Not all places in Corcyrus," be said, "are safe, particularly at night, and not all are suitable for the sensibilities of a free woman."

There was a breeze blowing toward us, over, the wall. It was welcome. I felt it move my veils back against my features. I reveled in its lightness and freshness.

"You should adjust your hood," said Drusus Rencitis. ff I had thrust it back, a few moments ago, to better revel in the breeze. To be sure, it was now possible to detect the color of my hair.

Angrily I readjusted the hood. Drusus Rencius was so protectivel He looked about, nervously. Why, I wondered, should be seem so tense or uneasy here.

I could smell the tarns, gigantic, crested saddlebirds, on their perches some hundred feet away, to our right. There were five of them.

"Do not approach them too closely," I had been warned by him.

"Do not fear," I had laughed. I had a terror of such things.

But why, then, if he were so wary of them, or fearful for my safety, had he wanted to come to this portion of the wall?

It was he who had suggested that we come this close to those fearful monsters. "I can still see your hair," said Drusus Renclus.

I drew the hood angrily even more closely about my features. Little more now could be seen of me, as is common with the robes of concealment, but a bit of the bridge of my nose and my eyes. It was five days ago that I had suggested we come to the height of the wall, that I might look out. He had originally been reluctant to bring me here, but then, almost too suddenly, it had seemed to me, had finally agreed.

Now, here on the walls, he seemed nervous.

"You are still angry with me," I said, "about the Kaissa matches." "No," he said.

"They were boring," I said.

"Centius of Cos was playing," he said. "He is one of the finest of the players on Gor." The appearance of a player of the stature of Centius of Cos at the matches in a city such as Corcyrus, I gathered, had to do with the alliances between Cos and Corcyrus. Otherwise it did not seem likely to me that he would have graced so small a tournament with his presence. He had won his games easily with the exception of one, with a quite minor player, which he had seemed to prolong indefinitely, as though attempting to bring about some obscure and particular configuration on the board. Then, apparently failing to achieve this, almost as though wearily, he had brought the game to a conclusion in five moves. "You are still angry with me," I said.

"No," he said.

"Yes, you are," I said.

He did not respond.

"They were boring," I said. I had asked to be brought home early.

He did not respond.

The most exciting thing about the matches from my point of view was going in and out of the grounds. There were several slave girls there, just outside the grounds, fastened to various rings and stanchions. They had been chained there, to wait like dogs for the return of their masters.

"After you returned me to my quarters, I wager," I said, you returned to the matches."

"Yes," he said. "I did."

"And did you get to see your precious Centius of Cos finish his final games?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

"Please do not be angry with me, Drusus," I said.

"I am not angry with you," he said.

I wondered why I had spoken as I had. I was a Tatrix. Authority was mine, not his. He was only a guard, a mere guard. Yet I did not want him to be angry with me. There was something in me, something deep, I did not know what, that wanted to be pleasing to him.

I continued to look out over the fields. They were lovely.

In a Gorean city it was not difficult for a woman to travel incognito. By the robes of concealment this is made easy. I wore the robes of a woman of high, caste, today the yellow of the Builders. Drusus Rencius wore a nondescript tunic and a swirling maroon cape. Ile only weaponry he carried, that I could detect, was his sword. He might have been any mercenary or armed servant, in attendance on a lady. I was pleased to travel incognito in the city, in this fashion. Otherwise, had I gone abroad in the robes of the Tatrix, we would have been encumbered by guards and crowds; we would have had to travel in a palanquin; we would have been forced to tolerate the annunciatory drums and trumpets, and put up with all the noisy, ostentatious, dreary panoply of office. To be sure I sometimes found such accouterments stimulating and gratifying but I certainly did not want them every time I wished to put my foot outside the palace gate. I thought I heard a small noise, as of metal, from within the cloak of Drusus Rencius.

He had glanced to our right, to the tarns on their perches.

They were saddled, and their reins were upon them. They were ready for investigatory excursions or, if the randomly selected schedules were appropriate, for routine patrols. The left foot of each tarn, by a spring clasp, which could be opened by band, and a chain, was fastened to the perch. The birds, thus, for most practical purposes, could be brought to flight almost immediately. Their riders, or tarnsmen, were not in the immediate vicinity, but were, as is common, quite close, in this case in a guard station at the foot of the wall. In a matter of Ihn, given a command or the sounding of an alarm bar, they could be in the saddle.

Drusus Rencius looked back from the tarns. I heard again the small sound of metal from within the cloak.

He looked about, uneasily. This nervousness did not seem typical of him. "Have you heard aught of the sleen of Argentum?" I asked. It Mad been several days now since the return of Wes of Argenturn to his city.

"No," said be.

"It is nice of you to bring me here," I said. "It is a lovely view." He said nothing.

"I enjoyed the song drama last night," I said.

"Good," said he.

To be sure it had been difficult for me, at my present level in Gorean, to understand all the singing. Too, the amplificatory masks, sometimes used in the larger of the tiered theaters, somewhat distorted the sound. Some of the characters had seemed unnaturally huge. These, I had been informed, wore special costumes; these costumes had expanded shoulders and had exaggerated hemlines, long enough to cover huge platform-like shoes. These characters, thus, were made to appear larger than life. They represented, generally, important personages, such as Ubars and Ubaras. There had not been a great deal of action in the drama but movement on the stage was supplied in abundance by a chorus whose complex activities and dances served to point up and emotionally respond to, and interpret, exchanges among the principals.