"You had an easy time of it this time," I said. "You detected its presence immediately. Sometimes they can attach themselves to your body, and fasten in, without your being aware of it."

She looked at me.

"They may be encouraged to withdraw, of course, by the application of such things as heat and salt.

She looked at me, questioningly.

"Yes," I said. "It is possible that there are others on your body now, that you are unaware of."

She tried to free her hands, futilely.

"You are in no position to conduct an examination," I said. "Do you wish me to do so?"

She nodded vigorously, frightened.

"You beg it?" I asked.

"Yes!" she said.

"Very well," I said.

"Oh!" she said.

"In fishing for such creatures," I said, "one may, of course, use one's own body as bait:"

"How you handle me!" she said.

"You asked to be examined," I reminded her.

"I am not a slave," she said, "her flesh being examined for soundness by a purchaser!"

"You are, however, a captive, are you not?" I asked.

"Yes," she said.

"Accordingly it may be done with you as I please," I said.

"As though I were a slave!" she said.

"Yes," I said.

I had, of course, only examined her for the presence of leeches. She, a free woman, had no real comprehension, at least as yet, of what it might be to be examined as a slave. There seemed to me no point in telling her about such things. If she ever wore the collar, she could learn them.

I stood up.

"Did you detect the presence of further such creatures upon me?" she asked, frightened.

"No," I said.

"Then I am now free of them?" she said.

"Apparently," I said.

She sobbed with relief.

"It may have been an isolated leech," I said.

"But there are others in the marsh!" she said.

"Of course," I said.

"Let me ride on the raft!" she begged.

"No," I said.

"But it is not just leeches," she said. "There are tharlarion, and other dangers."

"Keep a sharp lookout," I said.

"You cuffed me," she said, reproachfully. She ran her tongue about, over her swollen lip.

"You are fortunate that you are not a slave," I said.

"And were I a slave?" she asked.

"You would have been punished," I said.

"In what manner?" she asked, curious.

"Probably being cuffed," I said.

"I was cuffed," she said.

"And later being tied and lashed with my belt," I said.

"But as a captive," she said, "I am subject to your belt, am I not?"

"Yes," I said.

"Are you going to use it on me then, when we camp?" she asked.

"I have no intention of doing so at the moment," I said, "but that could change."

"Perhaps you will touch me instead?" she asked. She moved close to me, pressing herself against me.

"Perhaps," I said.

Then I thrust her back a bit.

I then removed some items from the pack.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"We cannot have you screaming, and crying out, in the delta," I said. "It is dangerous. It might attract rencers, Cosian patrols, even animals."

"I will not so scream out again," she averred.

"I shall assure myself of that," I said.

"No, please," she said.

"Open your mouth," I said.

"But what if tharlarion should approach?" she asked.

"Open your mouth, widely," I said.

I then thrust the wadding in her mouth.

Tears came to her eyes.

" 'Susceptibility to the gag, " I said, " 'is a liability of prisoners, enforceable at a moment's notice, at the whim of a captor. Such I believe, were your words to me once."

She made a small noise. I then wrapped the binding twice about her, twice back, between the teeth. She made another noise. I drew the free ends of the binding back, surely, firmly, considerably narrowing its internal loops, that they would be extremely close on her, that they would be back, deeply, between her teeth, so that she could not hope to dislodge them, so that the heavy, damp obstruction of the racking, or wadding, held in place by them, would remain perfectly, inejectably, in her mouth. Again she made a noise, a small, pleading noise. I jerked tight the binding and knotted it securely behind the back of her neck. I turned her about, so that she faced me.

"Surely you do not object," I said. "Once I wore a gag. Now you do."

There were tears in her eyes.

"One whimper for 'Yes, " I said, "two for 'No. Do you understand?"

She whimpered once.

"If a tharlarion, or such, approaches," I said, "I am sure you will manage some excellent signals. Terrified whimpers will do very nicely. Though you may not be able to be heard more than a few feet away I do not think there will be a problem. You will be kept in place by your tether and I should, accordingly, hear you quite easily from the raft. Is this all clear?"

She whimpered once, angrily.

"Are you humble and obedient?" I asked.

She whimpered once, frightened, and put down her head.

"You whimper well," I said, "and you are pretty in your gag."

She looked up.

"Perhaps women should be more often gagged," I mused. Tears sprang anew to her eyes.

"I think, when we camp," I said, "I shall touch you."

She looked at me startled, eager, gratefully. We had now been together for some five days traveling south. Even in this short time I think she had begun to learn something of her womanhood. And, too, even in this short time she had begun to become its helpless prisoner.

"And when I touch you," I said, "I think I shall leave you in your gag."

She looked at me, startled.

"That should be an interesting experience for you."

She put down her head, excitedly, but submissively.

I had much touched her over the past few days, even though she was a free woman, as much for my relief, such as a free woman could provide, as for her instruction, usually when we had camped, sometimes before we slept, sometimes afterwards, or when I awakened and it pleased me, and sometimes, too, on the rough logs of the raft, I pulling her up, onto them.

"But," I said, "you shall for five days, for five encampments, as a punishment for crying out twice, after having been warned to silence, and for not having responded instantly and perfectly to a command, that connected with opening your mouth for the gag wadding, be tied as I often was in the delta, hand and foot, and bound supine between two objects. In this fashion you may better make the acquaintance of certain nocturnal insects, such as the marsh beetle."

She looked at me, in misery.

"Are you humble and obedient?" I asked.

She whimpered once, and put down her head.

I then regained the surface of the raft, took up the pole, and continued my journey, she following on her tether.

21 Gilded Wood

"Look," I said. "There."

She made a small questioning sound, anything more stopped by her gag.

I poled the barge to the left. Then it grated on the sand. "There," I said.

She made a small noise, one of surprise.

Lying in the sand, in the moonlight, on a small bar to our left, carved from wood, half sunk in the sand, about ten feet in length, was the long, narrow neck and head of a marsh gant.

"You recognize it?" I said. She whimpered once.

She would acknowledge its recognition explicitly. Such things are good for the discipline of a female.

This was all that I saw about of the remains of her barge. It had been purple, and gilded, its bow carved in the likeness of a long-necked, sharp-billed marsh gant. Its stern had been carved to represent feathers. The poles used in propelling it had been gilded, as well. It had been surmounted by an open, golden cabin, covered with a translucent golden mesh. None of this was now visible. The neck and head of the gant was discolored, dark on dark, and partly charred. Most of the gilding was gone, perhaps scraped with knives, or burned away.