Dancer of Gor coc-22

by John Norman

  "No, Master!" I cried, frightened. "No, Master!"

  then I saw him approaching me suddenly, descending the steps, swiftly for so large a man, his arm drawn back.

  "Please, no, Master!" I wept. Then I felt the lash. I stumbled back in agony, turned about, and fell to the carpet. There the leather once more informed me of the displeasure of my master. I screamed, miserable. Then another blow like lightning was on my back and I sobbed at his feet, on my belly on the rug. "Yes, Master!" I wept. "Yes, Master!" I thought such a thing, but I could not help it. I am only human. I am only a female! Do not punish me for what I could not help! I put the thought from me!"

  I lay there on my belly at his feet. I did not care for the whip. I did not want it. I feared it, terribly. It hurt so. It is a quite effective instrument of discipline for females. It is no wonder the masters use it on us. It, and numerous other disciplines and devices, we so helpless, serve to keep us well in line.

  "You have not been struck for that," he said.

  "I do not understand, Master," I sobbed.

  "I have not chosen to beat you for what you cannot help," he said. "It is clear to me that you had thought the better of your girlish vagary."

  "Why, then?" I asked.

  "Do I need a reason?" he asked.

  "No, Master!" I cried. "No, Master!" the girl belongs to the master. He can do what he wishes with her.

  "You do not know why you were struck?" he asked.

  "No, Master," I said.

  "Perhaps you are stupid," he mused.

  "Perhaps, Master," I said.

  "You were struck," he said, "because you lied."

  "Yes, Master," I said. I lay there, startled, terrified now. How perceptive was this man! Earlier, weeks ago, once, and only briefly, I had considered, swiftly in fear putting the thought from me, that I might be able to use his interest in my favor, perhaps manipulating him, or, in virtue of it, somehow improving my lot. He had, it seems, sensed or understood, this transitory, swiftly rejected consideration, probably from some fleeting expression, or movement of my body, one I had scarcely been aware of. He had not chosen to punish me for that, a thing I could hardly help. For that I was grateful. To be sure, had I continued to consider such matters, I supposed he might have instructed me, sooner or later, with the whip or some other means, as to the unacceptability of such considerations. What he had whipped me for was something else, for now, just now, having lied to him.

  He then gave me another blow and I scratched at the carpet in agony.

  "Despicable slut!" he said.

  "Yes, Master!" I wept.

  He then struck me again, and tears burst from my eyes anew. I lay helpless before him, a punished slave.

  "Kneel," he said, "swiftly, facing away from me."

  I obeyed, in terror, almost frenziedly. I now faced the door.

  "To all fours," he commanded.

  I obeyed, trembling.

  Twice more then he struck me, and the second blow, as I cried out with misery, sobbing, flung me again to the carpet on my belly.

  "Kneel as you were before," he said.

  I obeyed.

  "All fours," he said.

  I went again to all fours.

  He then, crouching near me, reaching about me, put the whip to my lips. I kissed it, frightened, again and again.

  "Kneel now, in the following fashion," he said. "Do not waste time." he then had me kneel with my head to the floor, my hands clasped tightly behind the back of my neck, I cried out, grasped, fixedly held, put to his fierce, disciplinary purposes.

  He then drew back from me.

  I was now on my belly on the rug, gasping in disbelief. I understood more of my slavery then than I had before.

  I think he may then have ascended the dais, and perhaps resumed his place in the curule chair. I did not really know. I did not dare look back.

  I lay there, disciplined, punished, half shattered. I had never doubted that he would be strong, but I had never expected such power. I had not understood that he was such a man. I could hardly believe what he had done to me, and the force and peremptoriness with which it had been done.

  "Report to the kitchen," he said.

  "Yes, Master," I sobbed.

  His voice, indeed, had come from above and behind me. He was on the dais then, certainly. I did not know if he were seated or not.

  I reached for the silk beside me.

  "No," he said.

  I drew back my hand.

  "You are denied clothing until further notice," he said.

  "Yes, Master," I said.

  "And have the kitchen master put you at the tubs," he said.

  "Yes, Master," I said.

  I struggled to my feet. I think I understood, then, how it was that girls came back to the slave quarters scarcely able to move.

  "May I speak, Master?" I asked.

  "Yes," he said.

  "Am I to be put in the iron belt?" I asked.

  "No," he said.

  Before, when at the tubs, kneeling there, working beside Ina, our arms immersed to the elbows in the hot water and suds, I had been protected by my virginity. Now, however, I would be as exposed and helpless there as Ina.

  I made my way down the long rug, toward the door.

  I was under no delusion now that I might be in the favor of my master. I was under no delusion now that there might be something special about me, that I might even be a preferred slave or a high slave. I knew now, and knew it well, that I was only another girl, no different from any other in the house. "Slave," he said.

  "Yes, Master?" I said. I, addressed, knelt, but I did not turn about. I did not know whether it would please him or not. If he wanted me to turn about, I would doubtless be informed of that fact.

  "Do you recall one named Mirus?" he asked.

  "Yes, Master," I said.

  "He is no longer in my employ," he said.

  "Yes, Master," I said.

  "You are dismissed," he said.

  "Yes, Master," I said. "Thank you, Master."

  I then rose to my feet, and withdrew from the presence of my master, Hendow, of Brundisium.

  15 The Hood and Leash

  "Hist," I heard, "hist," a tiny soft noise.

  "Who is there?" I asked, frightened. I pulled the blanked up, about me, inside my kennel, in the basement of the tavern of Hendow. It was dark.

  "It is I, first girl, Tupita," I heard, a whisper.

  "Mistress?" I asked. I quickly knelt in the small kennel, in the darkness. It was the voice of Tupita, of that I was certain. I clutched the blanket about me. She struck no light.

  I heard a key fitted into the two locks, one after the other, on the gate of the kennel, and the gate was opened.

  "Mistress?" I asked.

  "We are on secret business for our Master," she said. "You are to come with me." "I do not understand," I whispered.

  "Do you question me?" she asked.

  "No, Mistress," I said.

  "Come out," she said. "Be silent. Few must know of this."

  I crawled from the kennel. The blanket remains behind. I was naked. I had been naked for several days, even since I had been punished in the chamber of my master, for having lied to him. Beyond such things, however, it was not at all unusual that I should be naked. Girls are often kept naked in their kennels. Too, even if not caged or kenneled, they often sleep naked, that they may be the more accessible to the master. At the least they sleep scantily clad or in garments that may be swiftly drawn, aside, revealing them. Some men, to be sure, enjoy having at least a bit of cloth or a slave rag on their girl, so that she will understand, even if she is awakened rudely, that there is some veil which is being removed from her.

  "What is going on?" I asked.

  "You will soon learn," she said. "Kneel."

  I knelt. I felt my hands being drawn behind me. I then felt steel touch my wrists, and heard the tiny sounds of the ratchets and pawls. I was braceleted. "What are we going to do?" I asked.

 
"We are going into the city," she said.

  "I do not understand," I said. Then I was leashed.

  "Do you want to spend longer in the kitchen?" she asked.

  "No," I whispered. "No."

  "You are going to be cloaked, and hooded," she whispered.

  "I am not allowed out of the house," I said.

  "Tonight is different," she said.

  I felt a warm, long cloak put about me. When I stood, It might come even to my ankles. she tied it under my chin.

  "Please tell me what is going on," I said.

  "I am first girl," said Tupita. "Do you question me?"

  "No!" I whispered, swiftly.

  "I told you that we are on the secret business of our master," she said. "Shall I inform him that you are recalcitrant?"

  "No, Mistress!" I said. "Forgive me, Mistress!"

  "I am acting under the orders of Hendow," she said. "Trust me." "Yes, Mistress," I said. How bold she was, I thought, to have used our master" s name in that fashion, speaking it unnecessarily, not referring to him in terms such as "the master" or "our master."

  "Open your mouth," she said.

  I did so, and felt a heavy, rolled-leather wadding thrust back, behind my teeth, over my tongue, so that I could scarcely move my tongue. This device would be secured in place by a broad, mouth-covering strap, with three smaller straps attached to it, across the mouth, pulling it back between the teeth, and one to secure it at the chin. These straps were then pulled back tightly, and fastened, to the top strap above my ears, behind the back of my head, and the two lower straps behind the back of my neck. The roll in my mouth then loosened a little, as I could not help struggling with it, and this, by design, caused it to expand and, secured in place, pack my entire oral orifice.

  "Are you well gagged?" she asked.

  I made a very tiny, pathetic, affirmative whimper. I could do little more. She then pulled the hood of the cloak up and put it about my head, and pulled it down before me, fully over my head, and tied it, as she had the strings, earlier, about my neck. I was now effectively hooded, as well as gagged. "Come along, my dear," she said.

  She then drew me to my feet by the leash, which was now doubtless coiled. She apparently held it only a few inches from my neck. In this fashion she could help me up the stairs.

  16 Thieves

  "Let us see her," said a voice.

  I was on my back on a wooden table. My feet had been tied down, and apart. The cloak, in so far as it continued to conceal me, was thrown back.

  "Excellent," said a man" s voice.

  The strings on the cloak, which were still fastened about my neck, were then undone. I then felt hands working at the second set of strings, those by means of which the cloak" s hood, it still enveloping my entire head was tied about my neck. In a moment they, too, were undone. I felt the hood brushed back. "Superb," said a man.

  I blinked against the torchlight.

  "Common kajira brand," commented a man.

  "Yes," said one of the fellows.

  "It is Doreen, Hendow" s slut, all right," said a man. "I have seen her dance." I half sat up, wildly, startled, but, by a hand in my hair, from behind, was drawn down again to my back. My hands were still braceleted behind me. In the moment I had sat up I had seen there were five men in the room, and Tupita, to one side, smiling, modestly cloaked.

  "You are pleased?" she asked the men.

  "Yes," said a fellow. "We are pleased."

  In the instant, too, I had been up I had seen there had been two rings, at the bottom of the table, one on each side. A single narrow strand of coarse rope ran between these two rings. By means of this single strand of rope, and two simple knots, my left ankle had been tied just inside the left ring and my right ankle just inside the right ring.

  "She is beautiful," said a man.

  "Yes," said a man. "And see those delicious slave curves."

  I squirmed, frightened.

  "Do not be afraid, my lovely, curvy, brunet Kajira," said a fellow, leaning over me.

  "Her ears are pierced, too," said a man.

  "Superb," said another.

  "I wonder if she is vital," said a man.

  "Her ears are pierced," a fellow reminded him.

  "We shall see," said another.

  I writhed, whimpering, squirming. My ankles jerked, burned, in their rope loops. There was a sudden metallic sound as the linkage on the bracelets snapped taut. There was a scraping of metal on the table. My fingers twisted helplessly. My wrists, hurt, pulling against the steel of the bracelets. I was absolutely at their mercy. I was absolutely helpless.

  "She is vital," commented a fellow.

  Tupita laughed.

  "How glorious that there are slaves," said another.

  "Pay me," said Tupita.

  "Your collar will not do, my dear," said one of the fellows, leaning over me. "We shall have to remove it."

  I could not, myself, remove my collar, of course. Gorean slave collars are not made for the girl to remove it. It would have to be done with tools. "But have no fear, my dear," said the man, patting my brand, "this will stay." I looked up at him, wildly, tears in my eyes.

  "Do not fret," he said. "You will not have a naked neck for long. We do not like naked necks on kajirae. It will soon be in another collar."

  Tupita pushed between the men. She stood at my right. She spit in my face. "Now," she said, "I have my vengeance on you! You think you are more beautiful than I, but you are not! You thought you would have an easy life, and be most desired among the girls of Hendow, but you will not be! I have seen to it! You thought to take Mirus from me, too, but soon I could have won him back! it is I whom he loves, not you! Because of you he is no longer in the house of Hendow! Too, it was you who undermined me with the girls and the masters, and it is because of you that Aynur, stupid Aynur, was made first girl this afternoon! I hate you all, except Sita, who alone remained loyal to me! But I will not stay in the house of Hendow without Mirus or as second girl! I have escaped, and, in one stroke, too, taken my vengeance on you."

  I shook my head, no, no, no!

  "You even informed on me when I was so kind as to bring you a pastry," she said, "for which I was beaten!"

  I shook my head wildly, no!

  "But I have made it now so that you no longer have the protection and favor of Hendow, whom you have bewitched," she said.

  I regarded her, startled.

  "Now, you, too, will know the whip when men please!"

  I shuddered.

  "While you remain a slave, Earth slut," she said, "I will be free! And it is you, my pretty enemy, who will have bought me my freedom! Consider it, slut! Such vengeance is sweet!"

  I whimpered, piteously, looking up at Tupita.

  "How easily you were tricked, stupid slave," she laughed.

  Tears sprang to my eyes.

  She then again spit in my face, and then turned away from me.

  "Pay me," she demanded of he who seemed to be the leader of the men. "I must secure tarn passage from Brundisium before morning.

  He looked at her.

  "Pay me," she demanded, putting out her hand. "I have fulfilled my part of the bargain. I have completed my portion of the arrangements. I have delivered the merchandise to you."

  The fellow opened his wallet.

  "No!" she said. "We agreed on five silver tarsks, five!"

  he held a single silver tarsk.

  "Our arrangement was for five," she said, "five!"

  "Do you truly think she is worth five?" asked the fellow.

  Tupita regarded him, angrily. Clearly she did not wish to acknowledge that I might, objectively, be of value, particularly of a value so high as five silver tarsks. She herself, perhaps, might not bring so much. "What she is truly worth, or what I might think she is truly worth," said Tupita, "is of no importance. Perhaps she is not worth even a tarsk bit. How would I know? I am not a man. But we agreed on the price of five silver tarsks, five!"

  "I thought it was one
," grinned a fellow.

  "Perhaps you have it in writing," said another fellow, as though helpfully. Tupita, of course, like many slaves, and like myself, could not read or write. Too, even if she could, she, a highly intelligent woman, and a slave, would never have dared to agree to anything in writing pertaining to such clandestine matters.

  "Yes," she said, suddenly, with a glance at me. "I remember now. It was one." I saw that she wanted to save face, before me. Too, a silver tarsk is, after all, when all is said and done, a coin of considerable value. Although this varies from city to city, it is not unusual for a silver tarsk to be exchangeable for a hundred copper tarsks, each one of which can be wroth anywhere from tent o four tarsks bits, usually eight. The only golden Gorean coins I had even seen were the tiny ones, almost droplets, which had figured in the decorative jewelries of dancers costumes. Brundisium was noted for its golden staters, but I had never seen one.

  Tupita took the silver tarsk from the fellow, and clutched it triumphantly, tightly, in her fist. It would be more than enough to purchase her passage from Brundisium. She then came again to the side of the table. "Thank you, lovely Doreen, she said. "I am very grateful. Not only do I have my vengeance upon you, delivering you to new slaveries and degradations, as it pleased me, but you have also the means of my own escape and freedom." She showed me the silver tarsk. "Pretty, isn" t it?" she asked.

  I pulled weakly against the bracelets. The men laughed.

  "I am only sorry that you are not worth more," she said.

  Tears welled up in my eyes.

  "I will leave you now, slave, roped and braceleted, and in the power of men," she said. She turned away.

  But the door was blocked by a fellow, leaning against it, his arms folded. "Stand aside!" she said, angrily.

  He did not move, nor did he respond to her.

  She spun to face the leader of the men.

  "What do you have there, in your hand?" he asked.

  She clutched the tarsk more tightly.

  "Open your hand," said the leader.

  "What is the meaning of this?" she cried.