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anyone the Rules are quite strict on that."
Joe frowned and looked at Ti, who had actually asked for this to be done prior
to their journey. He didn't like it, not a bit. "You sure about this?"
She nodded. "Master, it is the only way I can gain any real freedom, as odd as
that may sound. It marks me instantly, not only as property, but as your
property. It is the only security I may have."
"She's right," the sorcerer assured him. "If she'd had this, she wouldn't have
had to have been accompanied into town to pick up things for you, tend to
things, that sort of thing. Theft of a registered slave is punishable by
reduction to slavery status yourself almost everywhere, and purchase of a
stolen one the same. Nor can she be transferred to another without the owner's
consent and be bound to serve. You might as well just kidnap and imprison any
lowborn.
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It's not worth the risk when there's so much easier stuff to lift, and she
becomes nearly impossible to market."
"Yeah, that's true here, now, but when we get into Hypboreya, what will they
care?"
"Oh, you'll find that an evil regime is even more a stickler for law and order
than a benign one, as a rule, since they trust no one and are inherently
paranoid. Indeed, there's nothing poor and oppressed people seem to like more
than having slaves about. It's a cruel streak in human nature, but, the fact
is, no matter how poor, how miserable, and how oppressed you are, you can
always point to a slave and say, 'At least I'm not a slave.' That attitude
also serves
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%2...s%204%20-%20Songs%20of%20the%2
0Dancing%20.txt (69 of 202) [1/19/03 4:33:55 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20Jack%20L%20-%20The%20Dancing%20G
ods%204%20-%20Songs%20of%20the%20Dancing%20.txt the ruling regime's interest,
obviously, since no matter how much they lay on the people, there's one lower
rung. No, she'll probably be safer than you, although, my dear, even the
common folk will treat you like dirt."
Joe shrugged. "Okay, then. Go ahead. What do we do?"
Ruddygore removed a small bronze-colored ring from a box. It looked quite
ordinary, and had an opening which, with a bit of flexing, fit into her nose.
"This will sting for just a moment," the sorcerer warned her, grasping the
ring between two fingers. He then shut his eyes a moment, and there was a
surge of energy into the ring that went around it and into her nose. She
flinched, then relaxed. Ruddygore opened his eyes, examined his work, nodded
to himself, and then actually moved the ring around. There was no sign of a
hole or joint, but it wasn't in stiffly. You could turn it, as if she were
born with it and with the proper hole inside her nose.
"Hmmm. . . . Yes, blood from the incision mixed with the ring quite well. A
pretty fair job, if I do say so myself. It actually looks quite . . . exotic
...
on you, my dear. The only problem I know from one of these is head colds. It's
hell to blow your nose with one of them in. But, of course, I've already given
you both enough immunization spells to cover anything I could find in the
books." He turned to Joe. "Final phase. Take the ring like I did. Yes, that's
it." He reached out and put his fingers on Joe's, and the big man braced for a
shock or something, but nothing happened. "That's it," the sorcerer said,
letting go. "You can release the ring now."
"I didn't feel anything," Joe said, thinking something went wrong.
"You lose thousands, maybe millions of cells, every day," Ruddygore told him.
"Only a couple are needed here and the few off your fingertips were plenty.
The ring now has, well, for want of a better word, your genetic code in it.
You alone can alter the record. Anyone touching it with you will know
instantly she's yours. A transfer can only take place if you do what we did
with someone else, your fingers where mine were, and you tell it you want to
transfer title.
It's quite elegant. The same system is used on prized livestock all over the
world. Bigger rings, of course."
"What happens if we're separated? Or if the worst happens and, well, you
know."'
He nodded. "If the worst happens, and you do not get the chance to make a
transfer, the ring's memory will clear. The first person to hold it as you did
will own her, just as you can claim unbranded cattle on the range. On the
other hand, if you're merely separated, no matter by what distance, but your
body still lives, it holds. She'll either be on her own initiative to find
you, within her class limitations, or she'll be taken as a ward of the state
and put to work, pending your location, if any. Since nobody ever looks, then
the initiative's on your shoulders to find her."
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Ruddygore looked at Ti. "You're dying to see what it looks like, I know. Go
ahead. There's a mirror over there."
Joe nodded, and she went over and looked at herself. It didn't look ugly or
disfiguring, as she'd feared. She'd seen some rings in some slaves that were
awful. In fact, it really locked in the exotic dancer image. And she really
did feel much better with it in. She was now defined to the world, and she
felt oddly as if chains that had been holding her were suddenly cast aside. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]