Free The Wizard of Anharitte by Colin Kapp Page A

purchaser and the city administration. Therefore I have no need to detain you, except to remind you of the convention that the title of the bond must be registered at the prefecture within seven hours or the money is forfeit and the bond is returned to the city administration.’
    ‘I understand,’ said Catuul Gras. ‘I assure you the bond will be duly registered within the time.’
    Ren said nothing, not being able to trust himself to speak. Having been tricked into authorizing such an astronomical sum on the acquisition of a single female slave, he knew that the blackest hour of his career was upon him. An error in his judgment had caused this embarrassment to happen. He had been certain above all things that the Imaiz would not allow Zinder to be bought over his head. Now the wizard was standing both pleased and apparently unworried as Zinder was led away by the hands of his sworn enemies. Ren was still not convinced that the Imaiz would allow it to happen, but failed to see how he could prevent it—unless by some ambush or deception Dion managed to stop the bond’s being registered in time.
    Catuul’s mind was apparently working along the same lines. He signaled members of his clan out from the crowd and sent them ahead to see that the roads Zinder and her new owners had to travel were free from possible trouble. With practiced inconspicuousness the little group melted away.
    ‘I think,’ said Catuul, ‘that we had best pick up the director and get the registration over as soon as possible. That is—’ he glanced uneasily at the radiant Zinder—‘assuming that you wish to go through with it.’
    ‘For that sort of money,’ said Ren ruefully, ‘the deal had better be legally complete. Though the devil knows how it’s going to look on the account books.’ Despite the immensity of his blunder the humor of the situation overwhelmed him and he started to chuckle spasmodically at his own discomfort.
    The assembled crowd was beginning to disperse with much laughter and amused speculation. Not a few came to have a closer look at Zinder wearing the customary bondage halter. For a moment Ren felt angered by what he regarded as morbid curiosity. But when he saw the proud and dominant strength in Zinder’s face, he realized that on the end of the halter was a powerful social catalyst. What he was parading through the streets was the anachronistic shame of Anharitte’s slave trade. He and the Pointed Tails were being used to underscore the unfairness and absurdity of the system. While he was agent for the titular master, it was obviously the slave who held command of the situation and the hearts of the onlookers.
    Thinking deeply in this vein, Ren walked ahead. Catuul followed, leading Zinder on the halter as if she were any common beast. Four of the Pointed Tails armsmen acted as a guard detail and also carried the torches, which were just needing to be lit as the purple dusk closed down. Ren found the journey acutely embarrassing. His civilized instincts prompted him to make conversation with Zinder, whose intellectual talents were probably more than equal to his own. But the halter she wore about her neck made such an action seem incongruous and he could think of no topic of conversation that could span the dual standards that had been thrust upon him.
    He therefore stalked ahead of the group, growing increasingly angry at his own inability to resolve the conflict within himself. He sensed in the situation the ingenuity of the Imaiz in attacking the slave problem in this particular way and his respect for the wizard increased considerably. The Imaiz was forming a schism not only in society but also deep in the psyches of individual participants—such as himself. It was a dangerous and powerful game, and Ren knew that if Dion-daizan were not stopped he would ultimately win the battle.
    Magno Vestevaal was waiting in Ren’s chambers. The director had been drinking liberally, presumably celebrating a victory that