I have a slave who juices quickly, and cuddles well, whose belly pleasantly warms my feet on cold nights.”
Donna, nearby, put down her head, shyly.
“And the girl, Vulo?” I asked.
“We will tie her naked to a selling pole on the coast,” he said, “and see what she will bring.”
“She sold for less than a half tarsk in Brundisium,” I said.
“You know that?” he said.
“Yes,” I said.
“Clearly she is worth more now,” he said.
I noted that three or four men were gathered about Rorton at the edge of the camp.
“I see nothing,” said Axel, “to prevent us from slipping away into the forest.”
“Nothing but a spear in the back,” said Genserich. “Too, I would not care to be you in the forest without weapons. Too, your sleen is a dangerous beast and you will have little with which to feed it. If I were you, I would regard its imminent hunger with apprehension.”
“Too,” said Aeson, “surely you have heard the roar of panthers in the night. It is possible they are curious, and are closing in.”
“Let us go,” said Axel. “We will risk the forest, even unarmed and with Tiomines.”
“There may be enemies about,” said Genserich. “You appeared in the forest. There may be others. You might well be enemies.”
“We are not your enemies,” I said.
“Nor, I wager, our friends,” said Genserich. “We cannot risk your contacting others, and following us.”
“I see,” I said.
“You are an excellent commander,” said Axel.
“I am sorry,” he said.
He and Aeson then turned away.
I looked at Axel. I saw that he would make away, at the first opportunity. Too, I saw that he was fully confident that I would accompany him. And why should I not accompany him, my friend? It was no longer practical for him to return with the quarry, and, in fact, he had not sought the quarry itself, but the Panther Women to which the quarry, luckily, had led us. Nor was it practical to return with the Panther Women either, for they were in the keeping of Genserich and his band. And he did have the assurance that they would be unable to report back to their employer, whoever or whatever he might be, with an intelligence which might prove threatening to the great ship and its projected commission, errand, or charge. That should be enough for Tyrtaios, and Lord Okimoto. And for my part, the hunt had been successful. The quarry had been run to ground and trapped, and that was all that I had been interested in; and that was all that mattered. I had had the sport of the hunt, and I had been concerned with nothing more. It had been a pleasant interlude, a diversion from the routine of Shipcamp. I told myself all this. On the other hand, though it was no more than a sop to my foolish pride, I did not much care to depart without that for which I had come. All I had cared for, of course, was the mere capture of the quarry, which objective had obviously been attained, but, for some reason, the victory seemed, if not empty, at least incomplete. Obviously I had no interest in the slave herself, in the slave as a slave. She was nothing. But might not pride be involved? Would Tyrtaios, or Lord Okimoto, or others, believe I had truly captured the quarry? Why should they believe me? Would they believe me? There was a simple way, of course, to convince them of my veracity.
“Forget her,” said Axel. “Put her from your mind.”
“I was merely looking toward the river,” I said.
“We must watch our opportunity,” he said.
“Of course,” I said.
“There is going to be trouble here,” he said.
“Rorton?” I said.
“Of course,” he said.
“You suspect mutiny?”
“Of course,” he said. “And it would not be well for us to mix in such matters. We could easily be slain by either side. We must take our leave as soon as possible.”
“Genserich must be aware of the danger,” I said.
“He could kill Rorton, but who else?” asked Axel. “And to strike at Rorton might well ignite the mutiny. This would not be wise to do without the advantage of numbers, and the numbers, I gather, are not clear.”
“True,” I said.
“Genserich is clever,” said Axel. “He is breaking camp, and thus reaffirming his authority, while on the outlook for dissent. Too, on the trek, men strung out along the trail, it is difficult to conspire.”