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"Why?" he asked.
"I do not know," she said. "Perhaps that I should think of myself as a man."
"Are you a man?" he asked.
"No," she said.
"Did you try to think of yourself as a man?" he asked.
"Yes," she said.
"What are you?" he asked.
"A woman," she said.
"You are no longer permitted to think of yourself as a man," he said. "You
must now think of yourself as what you are, a woman."
"Yes," she said.
"Yes, what?" he asked.
"Yes, Master
," she said.
"This one," he said to the crowd, "I will decide personally, whether she is to
be kept or not, at least for a time."
There was assent to this.
The officer of the court then, frightened, knelt beside Ellen, both at the
foot of the dais, and a bit to the chieftain's left. She did not even know if
she would be kept, even for a time.
Perhaps she could please him. Perhaps that is what he would want. Certainly he
had looked upon her often enough in a way which suggested that he would not be
displeased to have her at his feet.
She shuddered, considering what it might be, to be at the feet of such a man.
The woman in the pantsuit was then ordered to rise, and to approach the dais.
She did so, slowly, frightened.
The two slaves at the foot of the dais muchly feared for her.
She, too, as the others, was questioned.
"But none will be interested in me!" she wept.
"Stand straight, put your shoulders back," commanded Otto.
There was a coursing through the crowd, of admiration.
"I am a slave, Master," she responded.
"Remove your clothing, completely," she was told.
"Please, no, Master," she said.
"Strip," she was ordered, "utterly."
She began to remove her garments.
"And you will be whipped," he said, "for having dallied in response to an
order."
"No one will want me!" she wept.
"Stand straight," he said.
A man clapped his hands with pleasure.
"Ah!" cried Axel.
Oona had a striking figure.
She seemed surprised, even startled, at the response of the men. It had not
even occurred to her that she might be of interest.
"Shall we keep her, at least for a time?" inquired Otto, laughing.
"Yes, yes!" called men.
Axel stepped forward, towering over Oona. "Are you a good slave?" he asked.
"She does not smell, like the others!" called a man.
"I will try to be the best slave I can, Master," said Oona, frightened.
"I want her!" announced Axel.
"Are there any objections?" asked Otto.
There were none from the Wolfungs.
"Kneel there, my slave," said Axel, indicating a place near the other slaves.
"Yes, my master," said Oona, looking at him with awe, and stirred by feelings
she had thought she might never again feel, save in her thoughts, and in her
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dreams.
"Bring the other!" said Otto.
In a few moments the ensign was brought, moving with short steps, before the
dais. His ankles were shackled. It was the sound of the smith's hammer shaping
these devices to his ankles to which the chieftain had listened, before
emerging from the hut. A cloth, simple and brief, had been twisted about the
loins of the ensign. It was not such that it might conceal a weapon. He stood
before the dais, his arms folded.
"These are slaves," said Otto, indicating the women kneeling to the left of
the dais, as one would look outward from the chieftain's chair.
"At least two are," said the ensign.
"All are," said Axel.
"Is it true?" asked the ensign of the women.
"Yes, Master," said the former salesgirl.
"Yes, Master," said the former officer of a court.
"Yes, Master," said the other woman, the slave who had been put under claim by
Axel, a counselor of the chieftain.
"Are you a slave?" asked the chieftain of the ensign.
"No," said the ensign.
"That is known to me," said the chieftain.
"What do you want of us?" asked the ensign.
"The utility of female slaves is evident," said Otto.
"And what of me?" asked the ensign.
"You will work in the fields," said the chieftain.
The ensign regarded him.
"I think," said the chieftain, "that, in time, you may be worth a ship."
"I am worth a thousand ships," said the ensign.
Men whistled in awe.
"Who is this?" asked Astubux.
"Your name," said the chieftain.
"I am Julian, of the Aurelianii," said the ensign. The men and women about
looked at one another. This name meant little to them. It was, however, much
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