Chapter 5

I shifted my weight a tiny bit. My neck muscles weren’t really feeling tired yet in the neck trainer, but the enforced immobility did get to me after a time, and I was beginning to have difficulty focusing on my reading. Grant, sitting on the bed with his back against the wall, his hand absently rubbing my ankle, looked up. “Am I bothering you?”

I couldn’t shake my head, but I managed a gutteral “Uh-uh,” with a smile. I couldn’t see the clock on the desk, so I pointed toward it.

Grant looked to the clock. “Just over an hour.”

I shrugged slightly and held up ten fingers, so Grant would tell me when another ten minutes had passed.

We were both startled by a knock at the door. A mostly-suppressed laugh on the other side of the door sounded like Larry’s. Grant called out, “Come in.”

The door opened, and Laney leaned in, stopping in the doorway, looking as if she were striving mightily to prevent a huge grin from breaking out on her face.

My eyes suddenly shot wide open. I pointed at Laney, and tried to lever myself upward with one hand. I flailed my arms in confusion for a moment, my body trying to do twenty things at once. At last I gripped the handholds with both hands and pushed myself upward, and was able to gasp out, “You got one!!” I unhooked the trainer with a trembling hand, and at last sat forward. “Right?”

Behind Laney, Larry burst out, “I told you she’d know!” They started laughing delightedly.

Grant was already off the bed, his jaw hanging open. “What, you mean you’re sold already?”

Laney shook her head. “I met with them today and we worked out some details. I said I wanted to think about it tonight, so they’re coming back tomorrow. But I already know it’s what I want!”

I bounced off the bed and threw my arms around Laney. Gripping her tightly, I said excitedly, “This is so cool! Oh, you said ‘They.’ Is some company buying you or something?” I let go of Laney and backed up, wanting to see her face and hear every word.

Laney shook her head again. “A Fraternity, at the university. Delta Rho. The senior boys put on a show every year, and this year they thought up one where they needed a Noosemeister! Several of them just got access to their trust funds, at least that’s what it sounded like, and they pooled enough money together. And they want me!!” Laney was bouncing in place on the floor, her fists pumping.

I hugged Laney again, and kissed her. “So are you the Assassin?”

“No! They wrote their own script. It’s really cute. I’ll show it to you later. They picked me out of the picture book for it.” She giggled, “They told the Dean I looked ‘cute and studious.’”

Grant wrinkled his nose. “ ‘Studious’? They want that for a hanging??”

Laney laughed. “I said I’ll tell you later. But I wanted to ask—would you guys come with me tomorrow when I meet with them again?” She looked back and forth between Grant and me.

I frowned uncertainly. “We can do that?”

Laney nodded emphatically. “Oh, sure! A lot of grads take their roommates to the negotiation, if they’re still alive. And I asked the Dean if you could come too, and he said that’s fine! And I know if I forget to ask something, you’ll remember it for me.” She was looking at me when she said this. I suspected that she wanted me in particular, didn’t want to exclude Grant.

I looked at Grant. He nodded and said, “I was hoping I could go to one soon. You know it’ll help when our own turn comes.”

I turned back to Laney, grinning. “Sure. What time?”

“They’re coming at one. Is that okay? We can have lunch together and then go to the Dean’s office.”

I nodded. “We don’t have anything. It wouldn’t last past three, right? We’ve got a class then.”

Laney spread her arms out to hug both Grant and me. “I’m so glad you can be there!”

Larry said, “Let’s all wear shades. We’ll look scary. That’s the way to negotiate.” We all laughed.

We arranged ourselves in the conference room as the Dean had suggested—Laney alone sitting at the table, along one of the long sides, with Larry, Grant and me in chairs behind her, facing four empty chairs on the other side as we awaited the arrival of the fraternity boys. Dean Porter, waiting at the head of the table, had answered my question, telling me that Larry, Grant and I were allowed to speak, but that we should bear in mind that it was Laney’s hanging being discussed, and that we must defer to her wishes on any point of negotiation. I felt that that went without saying.

My own father had once sat in this same room, across from Miranda, and managed to persuade her to put on a show for Andrew. And, as usual when I was reminded of Miranda, I was awestruck for a few seconds.

Larry sat with his arms folded, showing the Dean a mock pout. “I still think you should let us wear the shades, Sir.”

The Dean gave him a small smile. “Frightening the customer has not been found to be an ideal strategy.” We laughed, stopping suddenly as the intercom buzzed.

The Dean leaned toward it, “Yes, Tina?”

The voice of the Dean’s secretary, issued through the speaker. “Our clients from Delta Rho are here.”

“Show them in, please.”

The four of us stood politely, as did the Dean. Tina ushered four slightly nervous but determined-looking boys into the conference room. I realized suddenly I had lost track of what boys my age were wearing now. Each of the fraternity boys wore a bright-colored long-sleeved shirt in self-stripe, over black or dark-brown slacks. They wore red scarves over their turned up collars, knotted loosely in front. Or maybe that isn’t a universal current style. Yes ... this is how they dress when they’re representing the fraternity.

We were wearing our Academy uniforms, of course. Only Laney had made any special preparations. She had stopped by the hairdresser and asked them to make her look more “cute and studious,” if they could somehow figure out what that entailed. They had succeeded in some way I couldn’t quite define.

The fraternity boys all looked a little surprised at seeing so many students in the room. One of them spoke for the others, saying to the Dean, “I recognize Elaine,” tilting his head in Laney’s direction, “But who are the others?”

The Dean genially gestured the boys to seats, and Laney and the rest of us then sat as well. The Dean introduced the clients. “Shakir, Grover, Henley, Travis...” he gestured from left to right, “Grant, Amy, and Larry are here as Elaine’s guests. They will not be direct participants in the meeting, but I’m permitting them to offer Elaine advice when she feels the need.”

All of the fraternity boys looked miffed in varying degrees. Grover, the one who’d spoken earlier, muttered, “I had no idea buying a slave was so complicated.”

The Dean waved a hand placatingly, “We have no intention to make it complicated, and it needn’t be. I’m sure you understand that we take pride in offering exactly the right Noosemeister for the needs of any customer. We’re very meticulous in ensuring that there is indeed a perfect match between our clients and the slave they purchase.”

I felt Larry stirring next to me, and suspected the Dean had saved Larry from blurting out that the boys were free to shop elsewhere for a Noosemeister. I was sure the boys knew there was no other place they could obtain a hangee of the quality they could find here. It was clear to me, though, that insulting the customer was no better strategy than frightening them.

The Dean indicated several sets of papers in front of him. “I have copies of the sale contract here, in case our meeting is successful. I assume you have read the copies of the contract I gave you yesterday. Do you have any questions about the terms of the conditional slave sale?”

Shakir frowned. “About that. The way it sounds to me, she’s not exactly ... well, really our slave, is she?”

The Dean gave him a brief head shake. “Oh, quite the contrary. By law, Elaine will indeed be your slave. With only a few reasonable limitations, you are free to treat her as your property, obviously including ending her life at a time of your choosing, provided it is within one month of the signing of the contract. You also get most of her thanerone, all but the one quarter share that is to be returned to the Academy. The limitations exist mainly to protect the interests of the Hanging Academy. A representative of the Academy will be on hand to ensure that the terms of the contract are observed.” I choked back a laugh. A really big representative, I thought. “The slave’s death must be by hanging, of course. Obviously, if you had any objection to that requirement, you wouldn’t be here. The slave’s chosen assistant will prepare her on-site for her hanging, including all adjustments of the noose. The hanging must be performed on our equipment, which we will provide at no additional charge. No photographic or video record of the hanging is permitted. And no physical injury which would adversely impact her ability to perform during a hanging will be allowed. Elaine has trained for three years to give you the best hanging show available anywhere, and I am sure you would not wish for that training to go to waste. And the Academy would never want one of its graduates to put on a substandard show. But of course, few slave owners of any kind choose to injure one of their slaves to the point that the slave is unable to perform his duties.