| |
I first learned of the Guild shortly after being shipwrecked and captured in Maw Bay. The soldiers of the Bent Ones marched me through the Black Caverns for ten days, to the capital city of Ra on the Abaddon plain, and attached me to the slave company of the chief steward of the city. We were building an arched bridge over a small canal. Of the one hundred slaves in my company, about half were filled with despair or had been driven to madness such that they were all but useless for the work. The despairing slaves were whipped until their backs were raw and bleeding, yet still did their work poorly and lethargically. They did not care if they lived or died. The mad ones cackled and laughed at the whippings. They would sometimes drop stones into the canal instead of bringing them to the scaffold. Then the overseer would kill them. I worked with a will. I met one other “slave” who worked as well as I did. He actually organized the bridge building. That’s when I found out he wasn’t a slave at all, but secretly hired himself out to the overseer from the Guild.
Abaddon Journey by Jandor Longwalker
The next morning, Tandor took Dave to the Disguiser in a booth in the central square and had him dressed in slave’s garb along with a headband that indicated his ownership. Tandor then escorted Dave to a side passage that led to Entrance 21.
“Rokodor,” said Tandor, “although Apple has four entrances, you must always use Entrance 21. The guards will get to know you and will verify your identity. To enter somewhere else could cost you your life.”
Passing through Entrance 21, Tandor and Dave climbed a set of stairs, opened a door and came out into the back of a butcher shop. They were given packages to carry to the front of the shop, allowing them to move about the store unobtrusively and leave by a side entrance when there were no patrons.
Tandor led Dave south—even at this distance, the southern wall was so high Dave could see it.
Eventually, they arrived at the South Gate. Tandor asked for an overseer by name. The overseer attached Dave to a group of slaves that was repairing a portion of the wall that was crumbling. The group wore the same headband that Dave did. Dave watched them, followed what they did, and worked with a will.
Dave out-carried and out-worked the slaves so that he was bringing two stones from the wagon to their one. At the end of the day, when the slaves were being chained up, Dave wondered what was going to happen to him.
The overseer took him aside, checked that no one was watching, and gave Dave two silver pieces. “Come back tomorrow. You worked well. I’ll need you to supervise the stone work tomorrow.”
With that, Dave quietly disappeared and walked back to the Warren. He took one wrong turn, but eventually found the butcher shop. It was empty of customers. Walking to the back of the store, he opened the trapdoor, and descended the stairs to the tunnel. At Entrance 21, one of the guards who had been there that morning was there again, but he still questioned Dave at length and examined the disk on his pendant closely. Finally, the guards opened the inner door.
Dave had no sooner stepped through the entrance than he saw Vixa lounging against the tunnel wall. Seeing him, she straightened up with cat-like grace, blocking his way in the narrow passage. She was wearing a tight dress that revealed too much. She smiled. “What a surprise to meet my neighbor here.”
“What are you doing here Vixa?”
“I was waiting for my brother.” She reached out and stroked Dave’s arm, causing him to flinch. “I’m glad I saw you though.”
Dave found himself blushing furiously, wishing again that he had set his skin color to a darker shade. What is she doing? Why is she doing this?
He could see her smile broaden.
Dave became angry. She’s enjoying my embarrassment.
“Don’t you work? How do you have time to be lounging around Entrance 21?”
“I work at night.” She smiled seductively. Dave didn’t know where to look. “I’m a cat-burglar. I work when the moon has set,” she added.
“I ... I ... I really need to go,” he stammered, taking a step to the right. She mirrored his movement, effectively blocking his way in the narrow tunnel. “Are you blocking me?” he asked.
“Blocking you?” Her eyes widened in mock surprise. “Rokodor! You shock me! And you a married man. How could you think that? There is nothing between us. There can be nothing between us!”
Dave felt alarmed. What’s happening? In desperation and without thinking it through, he put his hands on her waist, picked her up—she seemed light as a feather—and set her to his left side. Continuing through the tunnel at a faster pace, his thoughts raced.
He knew he had to tell Arlana what had happened, yet every time he practiced the conversation in his mind, it came out badly, and he could imagine Arlana misunderstanding. Saying the words without the body language lost so much of the message.
He was still agitated when he came home. Only Arlana was there. She seemed happy and excited to see him and kissed him in welcome. “How was your day?”
“Fine,” said Dave. A polite fiction. He was still engrossed in trying to figure out what to say and how to say it.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Dave wasn’t even paying attention to the conversation.
“I know something’s wrong. What is it?”
Dave realized, in his distraction, that the conversation he had been dreading had already started badly. He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry honey. I’ve been distracted.”
“So, I’ve noticed. What happened?”
Dave took another deep breath. “The day went fine. I completed my work as a pseudo-slave and earned two silver pieces.” He gave the two silver pieces to Arlana.
“When I came home through Entrance 21, Vixa was waiting for me.”
Dave could see concern playing over Arlana’s face.
“Vixa, our neighbor? Why would she be waiting for you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she wasn’t waiting for me. She said she was waiting for her brother.”
“So, what happened?”
Dave recounted the conversation word for word. “And then I picked her up and set her aside and rushed home.”
“You picked her up?”
“She was blocking my way.”
Arlana’s expression was—well Dave couldn’t really define it except to say she looked dangerous. Dave wondered if she was getting angry at him.
Finally, she said, “She’s a beautiful woman, isn’t she?”
Of course, she’s a beautiful woman! On top of that she wears that skimpy dress that she pops out of so that I have no place to look except her eyes. And she knows how to use her eyes! She lethal. She’s pure poison.
All he said was: “I suppose so.”
“You suppose so?”
Dave didn’t know what to say.
“Why was she waiting for you?”
“That’s what I can’t figure out. I mean we only met yesterday.”
The silence grew uncomfortable. Arlana had her face set in concentration. She was thinking about what to say. “Dave, you and I both know that Vixa is a beautiful and alluring woman. She’s also unabashedly flirting with you. In all honesty, she makes me feel inadequate ...”
“Inadequate. Why?”
“Well, I’m just not like her. I don’t think I could flirt like that with you even in private. It’s just not me. I would feel foolish and manipulative. Still, I know you well enough that there is probably something in the flirtation that you like—and I know I can’t give that to you right now.
“I trust you Dave. I trust you to guard our relationship. But as a woman I may know more about the weapons she can bring to bear on you than you do. You’re going to stay away from her, aren’t you?
How can I stay away from her when I have to come in Entrance 21 and she could be waiting for me anytime I come back from work?
“I’ll stay away from her.”
Arlana smiled and kissed Dave on the cheek. “I love you and trust you.” She went back to her work managing the records and funds for their group.