their debts. Lacking such a
“redemption” they might then themselves, sooner or later, sold as slaves. In
this way the inn usually recovers its money and, not unoften, turns a profit.
Particularly beautiful specimens of impecunious guests are sometimes kept by the
inn itself, as inn slaves.
“Please do not refer to us in such a fashion,” said the first woman.
“In what fashion?” I asked.
“As you did,” she said.
“Surely the prices at the inn are posted. Or are available upon inquiry,” I
said.
She was silent.
“Did you not know that you had not enough money?” I asked.
They were silent.
I tightened my grip on the first woman, thrusting her back more tightly against
the logs.
“Yes! Yes!” she gasped. “I knew!”
“We all knew!” said the second woman.
“We are free women!” said the third woman. “We expected men to be gentlemen, to
be understanding, to take care of us!”
“We counted on the kindness of men!” said the fourth woman.
“They will do anything for free women!” said the second woman.
I laughed, and they shuddered in their chains, against the wall. It was still
raining, but the force of the storm had muchly subsided. I released my grip
under the chin of the first woman.
“Do not laugh!” begged the first woman.
(pg.43) “In short,” I said, “you entered the inn, and remained here, in spite of
the fact you had not the wherewithal to meet your obligations, expecting perhaps
you might somehow do so with impunity, that your bills would perhaps be simply
overlooked, or dismissed by the inn in futile anger, or that eager men could be
found to pay them, doubtless vying for the privilege of being of service to
lofty free women.”
“Would you have had us spend the night on the road, like peasants?” demanded the
third woman.
“But these are hard times,” I said, “and not all men are fools.”
The third woman cried out with anger, shaking her shackles. She was well curved,
and diet and exercise could much improve her. I thought she might bring as much
as sixty copper tarsks in a market. If that were so, and the inn sold her for
that much, they would have made then, as I recalled, some twenty-five copper
tarsks on her.
“When you discovered you had not the price of the inn’s services,” I said, “you
might have asked if you might earn your keep for the night.”
“We are not inn girls!” cried the second woman.
“It is interesting that you should think immediately in such terms,” I said. “I
had in mind other sorts of things, such as laundering and cleaning.”
“Such tasks are for slaves!” said the fifth woman.
“Many free women do them,” I said.
“Those tasks are for low free women,” she said, “not for high free women such as
we!”
“Yet you are now at the wall, in shackles,” I said, “and have upon you not so
much as a veil.”
“Nonetheless,” said the second woman, “we are high free women, and women such as
we do not earn our keep.”
“Perhaps women such as you,” I speculated, “will soon, at last, find yourself
doing so.”
“What do you mean?” she cried.
“Are there others like you inside?” I asked the first woman, the Lady Amina of
Venna.
“Only one,” she said, “she who owed the most. She was kept inside. There was not
a shackle ring for her here.”
“Why should she who owed he most be kept inside, and (pg. 44) we, who owe less,
be shamefully chained here, in plain view, and exposed to the elements?” asked
the fifth woman.
“Perhaps she who is inside has already begun to earn her keep,” I said.
The fifth woman shrank back against the logs.
“My arms ache,” said the second woman.
“Have other free women entered the court, since you have been fastened here?” I
asked the first woman, the Lady Amina of Venna.
“Yes,” she said, “and have seen us here. Some of them then, after visiting the
keeper’s desk, doubtless those with insufficient funds,
“redemption” they might then themselves, sooner or later, sold as slaves. In
this way the inn usually recovers its money and, not unoften, turns a profit.
Particularly beautiful specimens of impecunious guests are sometimes kept by the
inn itself, as inn slaves.
“Please do not refer to us in such a fashion,” said the first woman.
“In what fashion?” I asked.
“As you did,” she said.
“Surely the prices at the inn are posted. Or are available upon inquiry,” I
said.
She was silent.
“Did you not know that you had not enough money?” I asked.
They were silent.
I tightened my grip on the first woman, thrusting her back more tightly against
the logs.
“Yes! Yes!” she gasped. “I knew!”
“We all knew!” said the second woman.
“We are free women!” said the third woman. “We expected men to be gentlemen, to
be understanding, to take care of us!”
“We counted on the kindness of men!” said the fourth woman.
“They will do anything for free women!” said the second woman.
I laughed, and they shuddered in their chains, against the wall. It was still
raining, but the force of the storm had muchly subsided. I released my grip
under the chin of the first woman.
“Do not laugh!” begged the first woman.
(pg.43) “In short,” I said, “you entered the inn, and remained here, in spite of
the fact you had not the wherewithal to meet your obligations, expecting perhaps
you might somehow do so with impunity, that your bills would perhaps be simply
overlooked, or dismissed by the inn in futile anger, or that eager men could be
found to pay them, doubtless vying for the privilege of being of service to
lofty free women.”
“Would you have had us spend the night on the road, like peasants?” demanded the
third woman.
“But these are hard times,” I said, “and not all men are fools.”
The third woman cried out with anger, shaking her shackles. She was well curved,
and diet and exercise could much improve her. I thought she might bring as much
as sixty copper tarsks in a market. If that were so, and the inn sold her for
that much, they would have made then, as I recalled, some twenty-five copper
tarsks on her.
“When you discovered you had not the price of the inn’s services,” I said, “you
might have asked if you might earn your keep for the night.”
“We are not inn girls!” cried the second woman.
“It is interesting that you should think immediately in such terms,” I said. “I
had in mind other sorts of things, such as laundering and cleaning.”
“Such tasks are for slaves!” said the fifth woman.
“Many free women do them,” I said.
“Those tasks are for low free women,” she said, “not for high free women such as
we!”
“Yet you are now at the wall, in shackles,” I said, “and have upon you not so
much as a veil.”
“Nonetheless,” said the second woman, “we are high free women, and women such as
we do not earn our keep.”
“Perhaps women such as you,” I speculated, “will soon, at last, find yourself
doing so.”
“What do you mean?” she cried.
“Are there others like you inside?” I asked the first woman, the Lady Amina of
Venna.
“Only one,” she said, “she who owed the most. She was kept inside. There was not
a shackle ring for her here.”
“Why should she who owed he most be kept inside, and (pg. 44) we, who owe less,
be shamefully chained here, in plain view, and exposed to the elements?” asked
the fifth woman.
“Perhaps she who is inside has already begun to earn her keep,” I said.
The fifth woman shrank back against the logs.
“My arms ache,” said the second woman.
“Have other free women entered the court, since you have been fastened here?” I
asked the first woman, the Lady Amina of Venna.
“Yes,” she said, “and have seen us here. Some of them then, after visiting the
keeper’s desk, doubtless those with insufficient funds,
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