The story of Lady Sabayna

Arjun

Last time I ended up being replaced as Head Merchant in Vigo by Jauck Sparrow in the middle of the Salt War in order to take myself out of the firing line of the Southern Trade Alliance (STA), whose displeasure I had incurred. I had dared to mock the Saz decree.

I was actually happy that I was replaced as Head Merchant in Vigo. I was able to devote myself again to my perfumes and design some new creations. Only now and then did I get caught up in politics. Because our administrator Brody sometimes asked me for advice on trading issues.

I once traveled with Brody up the Cartius to negotiate in Kasra. Kasra was also above us on the Cartius, where the upper and lower Fayeen meet. The city was led by a regent, Lady Nasty, and was a member of the opposing trade alliance. That's why we closed the Cartius to merchant ships from Kasra.

The negotiations with the Regent proved to be very positive for all parties. Lady Nasty guaranteed us Kasra's neutrality in the Salt War. In return, we reopened the passage on the Cartius. We also agreed to provide mutual aid in the event that one of our cities was besieged.

ISFAHAN

So we had at least one less enemy in the alliance that was directed against us. The war moved away from our region: The Ubar of Ianda, Ostrakon, also gave up his constant attacks on Turia and now turned against Rarn, that he besieged with his army. This gave us some breathing space and normality returned to life in our city.

The famous Dance School of Vigo was more popular than ever and put on wonderful dance performances. The best dancers that could be found on Gor at the time taught here: Taema, Perle, Wild and Rosa. I also took a dance course for free women and learned a few basics.

More traders came to Vigo again. I made good sales with my perfumes. We took one of the dealers who came to see us into our hearts. His name was Arjun and he was incredibly good looking. He was slim and tall, his complexion was bronze and his thick hair was completely black. He was always friendly to everyone, was witty and humorous when he sat at the Inn in the evenings, and he was very charming with the ladies.

I was very impressed by the fact that Arjun particularly sought to be close to me. He often visited me in my perfumery, had the different varieties demonstrated, gave very knowledgeable and appreciative comments on my scents and occasionally bought something. He awakened a side of me that had been dormant for a long time, because since I lived in Vigo I had never fallen in love with anyone.

Well, I'm not particularly skilled at telling love stories. But suffice it to say, something developed between Arjun and me. Arjun got closer to me, I was by no means averse and eventually we became lovers. It was something completely new for me, the first time I remembered that I was really in love.

However, as a trader, Arjun traveled frequently and it took weeks for him to return. I always felt lonely and waited longingly for him to return. But when he came to Vigo, he brought me something nice. I was always delighted that he thought of me along the way.

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Once, when we were talking about his travels, I suggested that we could travel together. Because I would have to go to markets again soon with my new perfumes. He could offer my perfumes, he replied. I was a little disappointed because I had secretly hoped to get closer to Arjun on the trip and get engaged to him. But soon after, Arjun came with an interesting suggestion.

He reported that gold had been discovered in a village called Asar. You could become very rich if you made the necessary investments there, he said. Arjun suggested we travel there together to have a look around. Maybe we can invest in a gold mine.

I agreed immediately and rejoiced internally. The long journey to Asar in the northern Voltai Mountains couldn't stop me. I got permission from our administrator. Brody just smiled because he had long since noticed what was developing between me and Arjun. And Arjun was very popular in Vigo. “Yes, just go,” he said, “I know you are in good hands with Arjun.

So Arjun and I traveled north for many days. It was lovely to be with Arjun. I enjoyed his charm, his humor and his thoughtfulness. When we were in a hostel at night, we made love. Everyone thought we were companions.

Finally we got to Asar. The village was located west of the city of Ti on the slopes of the Voltai Mountains and consisted of wooden houses. It was already late when we got there. Nobody was to be seen. The residents seemed to have already gone to sleep. Considering that gold was recently discovered here, it was surprisingly quiet. I was expecting a lively gold mining town and wondered whether the news of the gold discovery was actually true.

Arjun reassured me: "It's already late, tomorrow we will meet more people." He led me to one of the wooden houses that he had obviously reserved for us and made a fire. It quickly became comfortably warm. After we had dinner, we took off our clothes as usual and went to bed together.

Happy to have achieved our goal, we loved each other more intensely than ever before. Arjun was particularly tender this time. It was the best night I had spent with him up to that point. Finally, exhausted, I sank into his arms and snuggled up to fall asleep at his side. He caressed me and whispered something in my ear that I didn't immediately understand.

When he repeated it, I couldn't believe what he was saying: "I'm afraid I have to make you my slave." My first thought was that he was teasing me and called him a prankster. Suddenly Arjun became very serious and said that such expressions were not proper for a slave.

I suddenly realized that I had been lured into a trap. I wrenched myself out of his arms, jumped out of bed and rushed to the door, naked as I was. But the door was locked. Arjun ran after me, pulled me away from the door and asked where I was going.

He was right. Where did I want to go, in a strange place and completely without clothes? I was trapped. Arjun tied me with a rope that was ready. I writhed in my bonds and cried. I cried more out of anger at my naivety than out of despair at my capture. And I was outraged at Arjun's betrayal of our love. I blamed him and asked him how he could do that when we loved each other so much.

Arjun calmly listened to my accusations and waited for me to calm down. Then he said very calmly that he had always loved me. But he would have been given the order to remove me from circulation.

Then I understood that this was all planned from the start. Of course I thought of the Salt War and the fact that several cities had put me out on a wanted list. Nobody had managed to catch me yet, neither the Sultan of Tor nor Salzubar. And now a brat who had been pretending to love me for weeks managed to do it.

My worst fears were revealed. “Will you take me to Ianda,” I asked, horrified. I already saw myself as Kajira of Ostrakon, the Ubar of Ianda and Vigo's worst enemy. How would I fare at the feet of this monster, whom his friends call Os, but his enemies call Ost? Or would I be taken to Tor and disappear into the harem of Sultan Frederick, who has long had his eye on me?

"I will not hand you over to anyone," replied Arjun, "You are a slave of Isfahan and will stay with me." Isfahan! The city was a member of the opposing trade alliance in the Salt War. We had never had a dispute with Isfahan, but the ruler there had , Khan Duryodhana, had always been determined to fulfill his alliance duties. I stared at Arjun in horror and asked, “Who are you?”

“I am Arjun,” he said. “The name I told you is the right one. I am Arjun, son of Princess Dove, the youngest daughter of Duryodhana, the exalted Khan of Isfahan. We found out where your weaknesses are, Sabina. And then my grandfather turned me on to you. It was very difficult for me to do this because I really love you. And that is why I will keep you and not hand you over to your enemies.”

I twisted helplessly in my bonds and howled in despair. All of Arjun's vows of love were just to capture me? My mouth became completely dry. “What do you want to do with me?” I asked tonelessly.

“I’m taking you to a place you can’t escape. Nobody will find you there. Nobody will come to save you. Say goodbye to your old life. There is no way back from where we will live together.” Then Arjun gathered my clothes and dragged me up. “We have to leave before it gets light.”

He took me out of the house and led me into a courtyard. I can't believe my eyes, because there is a full-grown tarn, ready to take off with reins, a blanket and bags full of provisions. Arjun must have had helpers who got him the house, got the rope ready and put the tarn down. He laid me across the blanket, untied the tarn and swung himself onto the giant bird behind me. Then we flew off, leaving behind us the sleepy Asar, where gold had never been found.

We flew east into the Voltai Mountains. The mountain peaks were already illuminated by the sun, which rose behind the mountains in the east. It was a wonderful morning atmosphere, but I hardly dared to look. I was terrified, not only of what to expect, but even more so because it was my first time flying a tarn. I was also cold all over because it got colder the higher we got into the mountains.

Arjun noticed me shivering from the cold and landed somewhere on a mountain meadow. Then he untied me and gave me my clothes. I didn't dare run away because the tarn would have caught me again in an instant. I put my clothes on, was laid on the tarn again and the journey continued.

We climbed higher and higher until we flew between the largest peaks of the Voltai and came to the other side of the mountain. There we flew for a long time over a large plain. It was grassland as far as the eye could see, only occasionally interrupted by small forests.

Below us I sometimes saw small villages made of pointed tents. Once we flew over a huge herd grazing on the plain. I had never seen such a large herd of bosks. The animals were larger than ordinary bosks. “Kailiauks” Arjun shouted and pointed down.

During the day the sun was to our left and later behind us. So we flew steadily east. This went on for several days. We landed in the evening, before the sun set behind us. I had to gather wood to make a fire. “For protection from wild animals, there are larls here. If you try to run away, you will die,” Arjun said.

We no longer slept together at night, although I could have warmed my master, who was now Arjun. Arjun respected my grief and understood my situation. Even after he made me his slave, he was considerate towards me and gave me time to come to terms with my situation.

I was too dazed by everything that had happened to me, the capture, the days of flying on the tarn, and the fear of what awaited me, to be capable of tenderness. I mechanically completed all the work required of me and was happy to be able to curl up and sob quietly afterwards. Arjun then left me alone.

After we had flown for a few days, the landscape changed. Rugged rocks rose from the plain, with more tarns circling above them. “Kinyanpi land,” said Arjun, “this is where the Flying Ones live.” I had no idea what he meant by that, but I was soon to find out.

A village with pointed tents appeared below us again. There was a large farm nearby. It was a real farm with a house, stables and fields, with cattle in the pasture and a few round wooden huts. Arjun headed towards this homestead and landed right in front of the residential building. “We arrived,” he said, “this is where you will live.”

I looked around. No one was in sight, it looked deserted. The wind blew over the grain fields, whose grain was almost ripe. There were some Ka-La-Na trees nearby and vulos cackling behind them. In front of us was the house, next to it the huts and behind it a forest through which we went to the tent village that we saw from above.

Two people came out of the house, a man and a woman. They had noticed our arrival and now came to greet us. They had an even deeper bronze complexion than Arjun. This was particularly evident in the man, as his muscular upper body was exposed. He had black hair just like Arjun. In it he wore a colorful ribbon with some Tarn feathers.

The woman looked no less strange. She wore a wide woven skirt with a carpet pattern and a leather shirt over it. She had her black hair tied into pigtails on the left and right sides.

What do they look like,” I growled disgruntledly, “are they Tuchuks or Panis?” Luckily Arjun didn’t hear that because he immediately rushed over to the two of them and hugged them warmly. In turn, he was also greeted by the two of them. Then they looked over at me skeptically. “What did you bring?” they asked Arjun.

“This is Sabina, my Inahan,” Arjun explained to the two and beckoned me over. “Come, Inahan, and greet my grandparents.” Inahan seems to be the word for slave here, so I came closer. These people seemed to have something to say to me here. So I thought, if I have to live with them, then I shouldn't ruin it with them. So I politely knelt in front of them in the tower position and said “Tal Master, tal Mistress.”

I haven't knelt with Arjun yet. He took no offense.  But his grandparents seemed so venerable and so formidable that I couldn't help it. But I was immediately corrected by the man: “You are an Inahan and not a Kajira. Inahans do not kneel. “In addition, here you don’t greet with Tal, but with Ahoa, and you don’t say Master and Mistress, but Itancanka and Kashna.”

Great, I've already made my first mistake. I immediately stood up again and must have looked at the Intancanka and the Kashna quite dismayed. The grandfather made a hand gesture intended to reassure me: “You still have a lot to learn, Inahan. You are here with the Kinyanpis. I am Yavapai Lizhij, the Itancan, and this is my mate, the Wihopawin Ehawee. We are the grandparents of your Watancam Arjun.”

My expression became more and more confused at all these foreign terms. Arjun smirked next to me seeing me so distraught. He whispered to me that his grandfather was the chief, which is called Itancan in the language of this people. But I quickly recovered myself and said to the grandparents: “Yes, Itancanka and Kashna, I will try to understand everything and be a docile Inahan.”

That was much better than my first appearance. The Itancan nodded contentedly: “You will learn, Inahan. Arjun will teach you everything you need.” That was the end of my first encounter with Arjun’s grandparents. Yavapai and Ehawee nodded encouragingly to Arjun and disappeared back into the house.

Arjun pointed to one of the round huts and said, “That’s where we live.” I breathed a sigh of relief. This was the first good news since my capture. At least it's a hut. I was already afraid that I would have to live in one of the pointy tents. I followed my Itancanka into our home.

This is how my arrival to the Kinyanpi went. I had become an Inahan. But what is an Inahan? In any case, an Inahan is different from a Kajira, as was made abundantly clear to me during my first encounter with the chief. When I spent the first night in our cabin, a hundred questions ran through my mind:

Why was I brought here? What is an Inahan? Will I have to learn the language of this foreign people? What do the Kinyanpi have to do with the Isfahani?

Arjun had mentioned that his mother is an Isfahan princess. What is this princess doing here in the barrens? Is she also being held as Inahan?

Questions that I should receive answers to soon. I'll talk about this next time when I report on how my new life as an Inahan of the Kinyanpi has developed.