ten to fifteen days.”
“Excellent,” said Axel.
“Why, excellent?” asked the mariner.
“It will give you time to deck train the new slaves,” said Axel, “helping them to understand, and well, the nature of their new lives.”
“That is true,” said the mariner.
Also, of course, within this interval, the great ship would presumably be abroad on Thassa, and any intelligence borne by the slaves would be outdated, irrelevant, and useless, even should they dare to impart it.
“What of the other slaves?” asked the mariner.
“Do not be greedy,” said Axel.
“What of the larl?” asked one of the two trainers. “Some haste is involved in these matters.”
“There are fifteen prisoners here,” said Axel. “Doubtless they should be stripped, if they are to be eaten.”
“Not at all,” said one of the trainers. “Organ meat is of most interest, and clothing may be torn through.”
“Too, removing the garmenture of the prisoners would take time,” I pointed out.
“Let us feed them one at a time to the larl, say, one each day,” said Axel.
“One each day!” said the trainer, in exasperation.
“Who shall be first?” asked Axel.
“What of this fellow?” I said, indicating Rorton.
“Urt!” cried Rorton.
“An excellent choice,” said Axel.
“Matters press,” said one of the trainers. “We have no time for this. They are helpless. Cut their throats, and cast them in the river. I wish you well!” He then, with his fellow, turned about, and uttered something to the larl, which suddenly, even eagerly, bounded away, taking its way east, along the river. The two trainers then followed its track. The larl moves swiftly, and, like the sleen, has excellent night vision. I had no doubt it had received permission to return to its housing. No longer was it slowed by stumbling men, as it had apparently been the preceding night.
“I am pleased the beast is gone,” said the leader of the mariners. “It is a fearful thing to be in its vicinity. I long for the deck of the ship.”
I nodded. So, too, I thought might a tabuk be uneasy in the company of a panther, a verr at the side of a sleen. I had no doubt the larl was well trained, but it had two trainers, not one, surely for some reason, and I knew that the training of such beasts might suddenly snap, unexpectedly vanish, and be as naught. The seemingly most placid, and tame, of such beasts carries within its pelt, and surely not far beneath the fur, the ancient blood and antique heritage of Gor’s most fearsome land predator.
“What is to be done with the prisoners?” inquired the mariner.
Axel whipped out his knife.
“Please, no, Master!” wept Donna, twisting in her bonds.
“Be silent!” said Genserich. “Do not plead! Do not shame me! This is a matter amongst men. You are to the side, as a stone, a beast.”
“Forgive me, Master!” she said.
“There are fifteen,” said the mariner. “Do you wish us to participate?”
“No,” said Axel. “What I have to do will take little time.”
“True,” said the mariner. “Fifteen throats may be cut within a single Ehn.”
“Marshal your men for withdrawal,” said Axel. “Take what you want of their weapons and goods, and cast the rest at the river’s shore.”
The mariners and their five mercenaries rummaged through the packs, and relieved the bound prisoners of their wallets and whatever paraphernalia they deemed worth gathering in.
“Strange,” said the mariners, “the leader’s pouch is the least heavy.”
“That is interesting,” said Axel.
A few javelins, and blades, harnessing, goods, and such, apparently of little interest, were removed from the camp, and, following Axel’s instructions, left by the shore of the river, in the mud, some one hundred paces away.
“I wish you well,” said the leader of the mariners.
“And I, you,” said Axel.
We then watched the leader of the mariners, with his men, and attending mercenaries, and four neck-roped slaves, leave the camp.
We did hear the crack of a strap, and a cry of pain, from the darkness of the forest. We did not know who was struck. On the trip to the coast I supposed, sooner or later, each of the slaves would become familiar with its admonitions. It is helpful in teaching a woman that she is a slave. I was confident that long before they could reach a sales block in Brundisium the matter of the great ship would be resolved in one way or another. An armed force, I had gathered, waited at the mouth of the Alexandra, to prevent the great ship from reaching the sea.
“We must finish our business here,” said Axel, lifting his