“ My head would be full with the things women say, did I heed them,” he answered.
“ I told you that you would be paid,” El-Soo went on carefully. “And I told you that I would never be your wife.”
“ But that was before the bill of sale.” Porportuk crackled the paper between his fingers inside the pouch. “I have bought you before all the world. You belong to me. You will not deny that you belong to me.”
“ I belong to you,” El-Soo said steadily.
“ I own you.”
“ You own me.”
Porportuk’s voice rose slightly and triumphantly. “As a dog, I own you.”
“ As a dog you own me,” El-Soo continued calmly. “But, Porportuk, you forget the thing I told you. Had any other man bought me, I should have been that man’s wife. I should have been a good wife to that man. Such was my will. B
