by John Norman
"Look into my eyes, Jason," she commanded.
I lifted my head and met her eyes. She, and those who were masters, held the power of life and death over me. They were all, and I was nothing. I was a slave.
"What are you, Jason?" she asked.
"A slave," I said.
"Do not forget it," she said.
"No, Mistress," I said.
"You may lower your eyes," she said.
"Yes, Mistress," I said. I put my head down.
"It is not necessary to hold him," she said to the two men who held me. They released me. I stood quietly on the platform. I had been well reminded that I must obey, and that I was a slave.
"Pretty Jason," said the Lady Tendite, stepping toward me. She touched the side of my face with the palm of her right hand.
I clenched my fists.
"Be warned, Jason," whispered the Lady Tima.
I opened my hands.
The Lady Tendite handed her whip to one of the attendants.
Gently, solicitously, the Lady Tendite, standing quite near to me, removed my necktie. "Is that not more comfortable, Jason?" she inquired. She then walked to the side of the platform and discarded the tie in the shallow bowl of burning wood. She then returned to me and, attentively, button by button, unbuttoned the shirt I wore, even the buttons on the sleeves. "Do not be upset, Jason," she said, sweetly. "Surely you remember me, Darlene, the little Earth-girl slave?"
"I trusted you," I said, bitterly.
"What a fool you were," she said.
"Yes," I said.
"I did not think I would be so successful in deceiving you," she said.
"Why?" I asked. "Did you fear the inadequacy of your English?"
"My English is excellent," she said.
"That is true," I said. Her English was indeed excellent. It was perhaps a bit formal and precise for a native speaker, a little too correct, perhaps, and it had been occasionally infected with certain oddities of expression and construction which had been surprising, but I had not weighed these factors heavily. I had discounted such matters in virtue of what I had conjectured were consequences of Gorean influence and a lack of practice, over years, in the language. "Why then," I asked, "did you fear you might not be able to deceive me?"
"Is it not obvious?" she asked.
"No," I said.
"Do you think that any real slave girl would even have dared to think of acting as I did?"
I said nothing.
"Do you know the penalties for such a thing?" she asked. "The little sluts know well the meaning of their collars."
"I understand," I said. I shuddered. From her few simple words I now understood more than I had before of the depth and significance of Gorean slavery.
She went behind me and removed my shirt, which she threw in the fire.
She then strode to the front of the platform. "We have a bid of a silver tarsk on this slave," she said. "Do I hear a higher bid?"
The crowd was silent.
"Come now, Ladies," said the Lady Tendite. "This is a superb silk slave. It is true he is somewhat untrained, but which of you is not capable of training a silk slave? He is from the planet Earth. He is fully tame."
But no bids were forthcoming from the crowd.
The Lady Tendite turned to me. "Remove your upper garment," she said, "that which conceals your chest."
I looked at her.
"Quickly," she snapped.
I pulled the garment, short-sleeved, of white cotton, a common T-shirt, over my head, and then held it. There is no specific Gorean word for this type of garment. The English expression for the garment was presumably unknown to the Lady Tendite.
Some of the women in the tiers had laughed, seeing my quickness in obeying the Lady Tendite.
Too, I was conscious of the women in the tiers regarding me with renewed interest, though caution. I stood very straight. I was not displeased to be regarded with interest. Too, I was not displeased to sense that certain of the women regarded me with considerable circumspection. I am large and strong. They were not certain, I conjecture, that I was fully tame.
The feelings of a woman toward a man who may not be fully tame tend to be ambiguous. They are afraid of him, and yet they find him intriguing. They wonder what it would be to lie at his mercy, in his arms. What if, truly, he should not be tame? Then how would they be treated? What would be done to them? Would they not, in effect, be made his slaves, in the way of nature? But, too, I was apprehensive, for, in looking out on the tiers, I realized that one of these women could buy me, and that I would then have to obey her, and would be hers, fully, to do with as she pleased.
I noted, too, that I was looked upon with a frankness, an openness of curiosity and sensual speculation, which I would not have expected from the women of Earth. I was being looked upon candidly as an erotic brute, a possible complement to their own urges and needs. Gorean women, not trained to be ashamed of their instincts, not tutored in the betrayal and suppression of their nature, tend to look upon males whom they find attractive with both honesty and pleasure. The concealment of feelings, particularly where male slaves are concerned, is a deceit not often practiced by Gorean women. Such a deceit tends not only to be rather beneath them, but, beyond this, would be almost meaningless to them. The male slave, you see, is an animal. Accordingly, he should be assessed as such.
The Lady Tendite approached me and held out her hand. I placed the T-shirt I had removed from my body in her hand and she went to the shallow bowl of burning cubes of wood and discarded it. I saw it burn.
She returned to me, speaking to the crowd. "Note," she said, "the breadth of the chest, the width of the shoulders, the narrowness of the waist, the flatness of the belly."
"One five!" called a woman. "I can use him in the stable bouts." I did not understand the reference to stable bouts. The bid, however, I gathered, was one silver tarsk, five copper tarsks.
"Stable bouts?" laughed the Lady Tendite. "Surely you jest?"
"Are you sure he is tame?" asked another woman.
"You saw with what alacrity he removed his garment at my command," said the Lady Tendite. "You see how he stands unheld on the sales platform."
"Lower your head," whispered the Lady Tima tome.
I did so.
"Regard him," said the Lady Tendite, "a fearful slave, awaiting your command."
"One six," called another woman.
The Lady Tendite turned angrily to me. "Take off your shoes and stockings," she said. "Leave them on the platform. Then kneel."
"Yes, Mistress," I said. I knelt down on one knee. I began to unlace my right shoe.
The Lady Tima, with her whip, stood near me.
"This is not a common work slave," said the Lady Tendite to the crowd, "a simple brute, an insensitive lout for your fields or stables. This is a valuable and highly intelligent silk slave. Furthermore, he is a male from Earth. From birth he has been taught to be deferential to the wishes of women, to adopt whatever values they have told him to adopt, and to believe whatever propositions they have told him to believe. Buy him. He has been trained since birth to be the slave of women. Have no fear. He will be sweet, tender, solicitous, understanding, sympathetic and obedient. You need not fear lust and power from him. You need not fear to be alone with him. He is a male of Earth. Bid for him. He will always be to you a lovely and complete slave."
I now knelt on my right knee and unlaced my left shoe.
"Tendite," said the Lady Tima to me, "is not skilled in conducting a sale. I am training her."
I did not respond.
"Is her skill in your language good?" she asked me.
"Yes, Mistress," I said.
The bids, slowly, without enthusiasm, increased to one eight.
"How is it," I asked, "that the Lady Tendite knows English?"
"She learned the language in connection with training Earth-girl slaves," she said, "in the House of Andronicus. At one time, two or three years ago, English was one of the Earth language
s used in that occupation. Now, as you may know, Earth girls are trained substantially in, or entirely in, Gorean."
"Yes, Mistress," I said. I recalled that the Lady Gina had once told me something along these lines. The collared Earth girl would now learn her Gorean, or most of it, as a child learns it, or an animal, not through the medium of another language. According to the Lady Gina the method was efficient. I did not doubt it. Indeed, my own Gorean was largely a function of exactly this approach. The Lady Gina, who knew English, had, however, I must admit, given me occasional assistance. Although she had been strict with me, she had not, on the whole, treated me badly. I was sorry that I had disappointed her, in not becoming a man. But I was only a male of Earth, and a slave.
"Even after this change, of course," said the Lady Tima, "she continued in her employment in the House of Andronicus, continuing to be used particularly in her specialty, that of the training, though now generally brief, of naked, collared Earth sluts."
I swallowed, hard.
"The little Earth beauties learned to fear her whip well," said the Lady Tima.
I imagined it was true.
"I lured her to the House of Tima for higher wages," she said.
"But you are not satisfied with her performance?" I asked.
"Is she not beautiful?" asked the Lady Tima.
"Yes," I said.
"I will obtain the full value of my wages from her," said the Lady Tima, "even untrained as she is now. You will see. And, in time, she will conduct a sale as skillfully as any female slaver."
I now, sitting upon the platform, bent forward, removed my shoes and stockings. I then knelt.
"I will get at least four tarsks for you," said the Lady Tima.
I assumed she meant four tarsks of silver. This was a high price. Lovely women often go for a silver tarsk or two. I did not think she would manage to get four silver tarsks for me. I was now being bid upon rather as might be a work slave, though there was some ambiguity in the bidding.
The least valuable slaves are often female work slaves, purchased for the public kitchens or laundries. The next level of slaves, not generally thought to be of great value, tends to be male work slaves, usually used in cargo galleys, on the wharves, and in the fields or quarries.
The next level of slaves, and the most common form of slave on Gor, is the female who can be used as a pleasure slave. It is my conjecture that some ninety percent of Gorean slaves are female, and that some eighty percent of these fit into the category of slaves who must figure into their duties the serving of the pleasure of men. Indeed, even the miserable females in the fields, or those in the kitchens and laundries, know that upon occasion they will be used, usually chained, to slake the lust of their foremen or masters. The female slave on Gor, knowing herself owned, is usually in little doubt as to what can occur to her in her slavery.
The next level of slaves is that of male silk slaves. These usually bring higher prices, on the whole, than female pleasure slaves. This, it seems to me, is purely a matter of supply and demand. Female pleasure slaves, given slave raids and the sackings of cities, are relatively plentiful on Gor. Male silk slaves are not. The explanation for this, I think, is reasonably clear. Gorean males seldom make good silk slaves.
The explanation for the much smaller number of male as opposed to female slaves on Gor, speaking now generally of male work slaves, is also clear. First, the female tends to be the desirated object of the slaver's seizure. She brings higher prices than male work slaves. Secondly, in battles, often male defenders have been slaughtered or driven off. Their, females thus remain as spoils for the chains of the victors. Too, male captives are often killed. Female captives, on the other hand, particularly if comely, are usually spared for the collars of their conquerors. They learn to yield well to their masters.
The most valuable general category of slaves, however, much to the chagrin of some male silk slaves, is that of the particularly desirable female. These are usually extraordinarily beautiful Gorean girls, once of high caste. Sometimes they are dancers. Commonly they are highly trained. Sometimes they are even passion slaves, girls literally bred for the pleasure of men. The prizes purchased by Ubars and rich men for their pleasure gardens usually belong to the types of girls included in this general category. Girls of political interest, too, it might be mentioned, are usually included in this category. For example, a captured, enslaved Ubara would commonly bring a very handsome price.
These general remarks, of course, if they were to be made more accurate, would require numerous qualifications. For example, the prices of Earth girls have tended to improve in the past few years on Gor. Gorean men tend to enjoy teaching them their slavery. Too, once they have learned the meaning of their collar, they are extraordinarily delicious slave girls. Some authorities believe that Earth girls should be a special category of slave. Others dispute this. I agree with those who dispute it, regarding Earth girls as only being women like other women. To be sure, there is a special spice and flavor in owning them.
I have not mentioned exotics, incidentally, slaves bred or trained for unusual purposes. I have not mentioned, either, slaves with professional competences, such as medicine or law, or fighting slaves, in effect gladiators, men purchased for use as bodyguards or combatants in arranged games. The intricacy of the institution of slavery on Gor is prodigious. These general remarks, dealing only with major and obvious categories, should be understood as no more than a crude orientation to the subject matter as a whole. The utility of generality must not be permitted to blind us to the specificity of reality. There are always market variables, and buyer and slave variables. A girl who seems to most men only a lowgrade kettle-and-mat girl may be to a given man very precious. She may be as valuable to him as a collared Ubara, one who must now, strictly, be taught her duties as a slave.
"I have now a bid of one sixteen," said the Lady Tendite. "Surely, noble buyers, you will bid more realistically for such a splendid property?"
"I will have at least four for you," said the Lady Tima to me.
"Why is the bidding not higher?" I asked.
"They are afraid of you," she said.
"I see," I said.
"But I will teach them they have nothing to fear," she said.
I looked at her, with apprehension.
"Bring on another slave!" called a woman.
"Bring on another slave!" called yet another.
The Lady Tendite, distraught, turned to the Lady Tima. "I shall close the bids," she said. She knew she had not done well. She was disappointed with her performance.
"May I continue?" asked the Lady Tima.
"Certainly," said the Lady Tendite, gratefully.
"Bring on a new slave!" called a woman.
The Lady Tima, suddenly, cracked her whip, the blades, loud, snapping in a staccato burst of leather, almost at my ear, the crowd instantly still, its attention arrested, stunned, alert.
"Stand!" ordered the Lady Tima. "Strip! Kneel! Knees wide!"
Startled, terrified, scarcely knowing what I was doing, I found myself kneeling before the buyers.
"Crawl to the Lady Tendite," ordered the Lady Tima. "Beg to be collared."
I found myself terrified, crawling to the Lady Tendite. The whip snapped again, behind me.
"Please collar me, Mistress," I begged.
"Louder!" said the Lady Tima.
"Please collar me, Mistress!" I begged the Lady Tendite.
"Stay on your hands and knees, head down!" ordered the Lady Tima.
A collar was brought, one which had been lying at hand, with other accouterments, at the rear of the platform. It was identical to that which I had worn in the room of preparation.
I felt it clasped about my neck and locked shut. I shuddered.
I saw the Lady Tima throw what garments I had just torn from my body into the shallow bowl of burning wood.
I was aware of applause, Gorean applause, from the tiers.
The Lady Tima, with her whip, indicated my sh
oes and stockings lying on the platform. "Take them, one by one, in your mouth," she said, "and discard them in the fire."
The whip cracked again.
I began to comply with her request, shattered, terrified, a slave.
I heard bids now from the crowd. "Two tarsks!" I heard. "Three tarsks!" I heard. "Three five!" I heard. "Three six!"
"Three ten!"
"Three twenty!"
The bidding was at four eighteen when I had jerked back my head from the flaming cubes, my right shoe thrown from my teeth into the fire. My knees hurt. I could feel the smooth wood of the platform beneath the palms of my hands. I was stark naked on Gor, save that I wore a steel collar. I saw the last of my clothing burst into flame. I saw fire licking about the shoes, which I had placed in the dish.
The whip snapped again. "Here, Jason!" ordered the Lady Tima, pointing with the whip to a place at her feet.
I crawled to her feet.
"Five tarsks!" I heard.
"Stand, Jason!" ordered the Lady Tima.
I stood.
"Here is the slave," said the Lady Tima. "You have seen him kneel naked to a woman and beg to be collared. Has not your lovely auctioneer, the Lady Tendite, well prepared him for his sale?"
"Six tarsks!" I heard.
There was applause for the Lady Tendite. I was bitter. I realized now only too well that the room of preparation had been for me just that. It had been where the Lady Tendite had prepared me for my sale, even to having me, unwittingly, dress myself as a man of Earth. It was there that she had laid the snares and set the traps, earning my trust, building up my hopes, which had made me so additionally vulnerable to the humiliations and miseries of my sale. She had done her work well. What a fool she had made of me. What a splendid joke for the Gorean women. I had thought to escape. I was now naked, being sold.
"Seven tarsks!" I heard. "Seven five!" I heard.
What a fool I had been not to realize that she was not a true slave girl. A true slave girl, I gathered, would not even have dared to think of behaving as she had. They knew the penalties. Besides the concern of a slave girl is not with male slaves; their concern is with free men, their masters.