by John Norman
“Very interesting,” said the Lady Bina, considering the deck of cards, and turning it about a bit. “Yes,” she said, “very interesting.”
“Mistress?” I said.
“Curiosity is not becoming in a kajira,” she said.
“Please teach me to read, Mistress,” I said.
“Do not forget, Allison,” she said, “that you are in a collar.”
“Yes, Mistress,” I said. “Forgive me, Mistress.”
“My offer,” she said, looking at the cards, “was refused, again refused.”
“What offer?” I asked.
“This is a matter between free persons,” she said.
“Yes, Mistress,” I said. “Forgive me, Mistress.”
“Well,” she said, “I shall respond.”
“Mistress?” I said.
“I shall wipe the edges of this deck clean,” she said. “I will then mix the cards, and inscribe a new message. You will then put the deck in its normal order and deliver it to the wine shop of Amyntas.”
“Must I be back-braceleted?” I asked.
“Of course,” she said.
“I will be helpless,” I said.
“Of course,” she said.
It was now a month and a passage hand after I had been robbed on the way to the shop of Amyntas. I had gathered, though I had not been explicitly told, that the ruse of Lord Grendel and his associates had been successful. A number of men, apparently several, masked and armed, perhaps two hundred, had converged on a given barn outside the city, had broken into it, and found it empty. Attempting to withdraw, they found the building surrounded by a large number of armed men, many armed with crossbows, and some, Peasants, armed with the great bow, the Peasant bow. A torrent of quarrels and arrows apparently made departure unwise. Fires were set about the building to further discourage any projected withdrawal. As negotiations apparently proved inconclusive, the barn was set afire, following which the occupants must weigh a number of options, none welcome, dying in the fire, dying of missile fire, or surrender. The rumors of this I heard in the city universally understood the event as the cornering of a large number of bandits by vengeful Peasants. As Lord Grendel had left the domicile the afternoon of the event with his ax, and returned in the late morning, in high spirits, I am supposing that the affair may have had less to do with bandits and more to do with the hirelings of Kurii and their allies. As far as I know, no Kur was personally involved in the business. Shortly thereafter, as I understand it, the market for male work slaves in Ar was considerably depressed, with the result that several, stripped and coffled, were herded to Torcadino.
Late that afternoon I arrived at the shop of Amyntas, entered, knelt, put my head to the floor, then knelt up, and, at his gesture, rose to my feet. He then checked the signature knot on the small sack tied about my neck, the signature knot of the Lady Bina. On my former world, which may be called Terra, or Earth, we do not use signature knots, or, perhaps better, have not done so for a long time. You secure packages with such knots, boxes, even doors. Satisfied with the knot, he undid it. He would, of course, when he later closed the sack, do so with his own signature knot. He placed the deck of cards on the counter behind him, took me by the hair, and pulled my head down, to a ring set in the floor. He had never done this before. Usually I was tethered, kneeling, by a loop of chain slung about the ring and the linkage of my slave bracelets. But now I was fastened by the neck closely to the floor ring. “You may lie down, if you wish,” he said. “Thank you, Master,” I said. I did not ask the meaning of this departure from his normal procedure. It is done with us as masters please. We are slaves.
Amyntas then summoned an assistant to mind the shop, while he took, I suppose, the cards into the back, to work out the message. Doubtless he had a pertinent card sheet. I lay there for a time. Customers came and went. A chained slave is a common sight on Gor. There are many slave rings in public places, to which a slave might be fastened. This is a convenience to masters. Some of these places are in the shade, and furnished with a pan of water. My head was held close to the floor. I sensed that more than one fellow regarded me. One fellow brushed me twice on the left thigh with the side of his foot. “Not bad,” he said. I pulled a little at the bracelets. I heard two men laugh. One approached me, and put one hand on my right ankle and his other hand on my left leg, just below the knee. I made a tiny, inadvertent noise. “Good,” he said. I was afraid then that he had learned something about me, something of which I might even be unaware.
After a few Ehn I was released from the ring, and stood. The sack was then, with its new signature knot, tied about my neck. “You are Allison, are you not?” he asked. “Yes, if it pleases Master,” I said. This was the first time he had asked my name. “You are pretty,” he said. “Thank you, Master,” I said. I had the sense I was being appraised. “You are a barbarian, are you not?” he asked. “Yes, Master,” I said. I had hardly spoken to him before. “Interesting,” he said. “Master?” I asked. “Hurry home, Allison,” he said. “Yes, Master,” I said. He then gave me a sharp, stinging slap below the small of the back, and I cried out, and stumbled away, before I caught my step. Slaves may be so treated. We are not free women. Men enjoy treating us as they wish. They are men, and our masters. We have nothing to say about such things. I suppose that one might find them humiliating, but we do not do so. We do not object. It reminds us that we are slaves, and, of course, of sexual interest. I did not look back. I hurried away. Several things had been different this time. I did not understand why this might be. Perhaps there was no reason. Too, what kajira is foolish enough to question a master?
Chapter Fifty-One
Fruits and sauces in hand I was ascending the stairs to the domicile.
“Jane! Eve!” I had cried, delighted, for both were at the top of the stairs. Soon, how joyfully, embracing and kissing, did we greet one another!
I now understood the extensive preparations, the mysterious recent behavior of Lord Grendel, the excitement of the Lady Bina, the ka-la-na purchased, the flavorsome herbs, the bosk and tarsk, the early cooking. Entertainment this night was in the domicile. The Lady Delia, companion of Epicrates, had even assisted the Lady Bina with the menu, and the decorations. I had hoped that our guests would be who they were, as I knew both Astrinax and Lykos were in Ar, and, presumably, with them, two slaves.
Jane, Eve, and I busied ourselves with the final cooking, the readying of vegetables and salads, the arrangements of vessels and dishes, the setting of places. Never had I known them so happy, so radiant. As slaves, owned women, belongings, mere properties, it was theirs, choicelessly, to obey and submit, to strive to be pleasing to masters. In this, women, they found their happiness and fulfillment. They were not men. They were preciously, essentially, and perfectly female. How solicitous they were of their masters. How deferent they were, how graceful, how softly spoken, how eager, how warm, how feminine, how pleased to be owned, to belong, to be collared. And, as slaves, they knew themselves to be not only perfectly and helplessly owned, but to be desired as only a female slave can be desired, desired with all the robust, possessive lust of a master, desired categorically, desired without concession, without quarter, without compromise.
“Would,” said Astrinax, lifting his goblet, “that one other were here, one we know well, one with whom we shared many perils and hardships, the noble Desmond of Harfax!”
“Yes,” said Lykos.
“Yes,” said Lord Grendel.
“Yes!” said the Lady Bina.
A round of ka-la-na had been first served, with a wrapper of nuts.
Jane, Eve, and I were kneeling a bit behind and to the side the diners, Jane near Astrinax, Eve near Lykos, and I near the Lady Bina. The men sat cross-legged, before the small table, as is typical, while the Lady Bina knelt demurely, as is common with free women. In larger, richer domiciles, with more sumptuous appointments, there are sometimes supper couches, and the diners eat while reclining.
“May I take this opportun
ity,” said Astrinax, “to render thanks to the noble Lady Bina for the gift of a lovely slave girl.”
“And I,” said Lykos, “for the gift of another.”
Jane and Eve, though in collars, put down their heads and blushed with pleasure.
“It is nothing,” said the Lady Bina. “We all owe one another much, and what is a mere collar girl?”
“Nonetheless,” said Astrinax, “they are pleasant to have on one’s chain.”
“Quite,” said Lykos.
“It might interest you to know,” said the Lady Bina, “that I made a similar offer to Desmond of Harfax, twice.”
“I did not know that,” said Astrinax.
“Yes,” said the Lady Bina, “I offered our pretty Allison twice to Desmond of Harfax, but he would not accept her.”
“Interesting,” said Astrinax.
“What is wrong with her?” asked Lykos.
“I do not know,” said the Lady Bina.
“Perhaps she should have more meat on her,” said Lykos.
“Perhaps her character left something to be desired,” said Astrinax. “Long ago, she confessed to me, and to her then master, Menon, he with the restaurant, that she would steal a candy from another slave, if it might be done with impunity.”
“I would not do so now, Master!” I said.
“Why not?” asked Astrinax.
“I have changed,” I said. “I have been longer in the collar. I have learned much in the collar. A woman learns much in the collar. I am different now.”
“I am sure you are,” said the Lady Bina.
“What, then, is the difficulty,” asked Lykos, “not enough meat?”
“I do not think so,” said the Lady Bina. “I have seen enough fellows turn their head to look upon her.”
I do not think I was all that aware of this, at least at the time, but I was pleased to hear it. I felt warm. A slave likes to know that men look upon her with pleasure. She is, after all, a slave.
“It seems,” said the Lady Bina, “that he simply did not want her.”
Tears sprang to my eyes.
“It is my understanding,” said the Lady Bina, “that she is a likely collar slut.”
“Mistress!” I protested.
“Is it not true?” asked the Lady Bina.
“I cannot help what I have become,” I said. “I am collared!”
“You were always a collar slut, Allison,” said Astrinax. “It is merely that you were not always in a collar.”
“I do not understand why he would not accept her,” said the Lady Bina.
“She is not hard on the eyes,” said Lykos, regarding me. “She has nice legs, and ankles.”
“Perhaps her hair,” said the Lady Bina.
“It is muchly grown out now,” said Lykos, “and there are many slaves whose hair is no longer.”
“And it will grow, of course,” said Astrinax.
“Stripped and shackled she would be block ready,” said Lykos.
“What, then?” asked the Lady Bina.
“Let us hear from Allison,” said Astrinax.
“I may speak?” I asked. I did have a general permission to speak in the domicile, but, under the circumstances, I thought it well to inquire.
“Do so,” said the Lady Bina. “You must have views on the matter.”
“I certainly do!” I cried.
“Speak,” said the Lady Bina.
“Noble Desmond of Harfax” I said, “has never had the least interest in the slave, Allison. His supposed interest in her was feigned, in order to better spy on Lord Grendel, whom he suspected of subversive designs. The slave, Allison, was no more than a means to an end, a possible source of information, a pretext by means of which he might obtain a proximity to Lord Grendel, to which end he joined Lord Grendel’s expedition to the Voltai. It is thus not surprising, given the denouement of the expedition, that he should cease to maintain the deceit of interest in a slave. She was no longer of value to him.”
“You see him, then, as a liar, a fraud, a hypocrite?” asked Astrinax.
“Certainly, Master,” I said. “And what may be less clear is that the slave, Allison, had been long aware of his transparent machinations. He fooled her not at all. She easily saw through his childish programs, and secretly despised him all the while. It thus came as no surprise to her that he would not contact the Lady Bina with respect to the slave, Allison, to bid for her, to accept her even as a gift, even to inquire after her. This is precisely what the slave anticipated.”
“I see,” said Lykos.
“Moreover,” I said, “Desmond of Harfax is despicable, so shameless that he has not even acknowledged his duplicity to his fellows. He is a petty, sly, crass fellow who, without leave, without gratitude, has slipped away somewhere, with no word of thanks, no token of the least gratitude, to those with whom he shared miseries and perils, those without whom he may well have perished unnoted in the Voltai. He has not even had the dignity, and kindness, the courtesy and thoughtfulness, to attend this dinner. I assure you, it is a great joy to me that he would not accept me, even as a gift. Muchly do I rejoice in my good fortune. Let it be known to all that that pleases me. It is my greatest fear that I might be owned by him. I would strive to be the worst possible slave to him! I despise the shameless, ungrateful, hypocrite, and fraud, Desmond of Harfax! I loathe him, I hate him! He is thief of trust, a promoter of pretense. He is conniving, base, and worthless! He is a monster! He is ignoble, and without honor.”
“Thank you, Allison,” said the Lady Bina, glancing briefly toward the door to her sleeping chamber.
“I did not think him such a scoundrel,” said Astrinax.
“Nor I,” said Lykos.
I shrugged, and looked down.
“Let us address ourselves to our feast,” said Astrinax.
Jane and Eve made to rise to their feet, to serve.
“Hold,” said the Lady Bina, smiling. “Allison has recently brought a package from the shop of Amyntas. Let us see what it contains.”
Lord Grendel produced the small sack from a pouch at his harnessing, and the Lady Bina undid the knot. “It is the signature knot of Amyntas,” she said. “Yes,” she said, “it is a deck of cards, all doubtless in proper order.” She placed the sack on the table, beside her plate. Lord Grendel then, also from his pouch, handed her a folded sheet of paper, which the Lady Bina opened. “Allison will help us,” she said. “She is illiterate, of course, but she recognizes cards by the designs, and she is quite adept at arranging them.”
“Should we not eat?” I said.
“Let us first see what we have here,” said the Lady Bina.
She then began to read the list of cards from the card sheet, and, as the deck was in order, the cards easily located, I quickly put the cards in the order called for by the card sheet.
“Good,” said the Lady Bina. “Here is the message.”
Astrinax and Lykos were smiling, which did not make me easy.
Moreover, I remembered the differences attendant on my last visit to the shop of Amyntas, at which visit I had received the sack just opened.
This recollection did little to assuage my lack of ease.
“Oh, look!” said the Lady Bina, brightly. “There is something additional in the sack.” She drew forth from the sack two coins. They were clearly not copper, but silver.
“Two,” said Astrinax.
Lykos looked at me. “That seems about right,” he said.
“Here is the message, Allison,” said the Lady Bina, holding one side of the deck toward me. “It is simple, it is short, it is in clear Gorean. Would you like to try to read it?”
“I cannot read, Mistress,” I said.
“It has to do with you,” she said.
“I cannot read, Mistress,” I said.
“Astrinax?” said the Lady Bina, handing the deck to him.
“‘As agreed,’“ read Astrinax, “‘here are two silver tarsks, for full and clear title to the barbarian slave currently
known as Allison, the property of the Lady Bina of Ar, resident in the house of Epicrates, pottery merchant, of Ar.’“
“Mistress?” I said.
“You have been sold, Allison,” said the Lady Bina.
“To Amyntas, of Ar?” I said.
“Not at all,” she said.
“To whom then, Mistress?” I said.
“It is written there, clearly,” said the Lady Bina.
“To whom, Mistress?” I begged.
The Lady Bina looked to Astrinax.
“To Desmond of Harfax,” he said.
I looked about, wildly, from face to face.
“Sold?” I said.
“He did not want you as a gift,” said the Lady Bina. “He wanted you to know that you were bought and paid for as the animal, the property, you are. He thought that would help you to better understand that you are a slave, that you not only could be bought and paid for, but that you were bought and paid for. Coins have changed hands and now you are his.”
“He has bought me?” I said.
“Yes,” she said.
“I have been purchased?” I said.
“As might be a tarsk,” she said, “or any other form of animal.”
“He now owns me?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Oh, Mistress!” I cried, elated.
“Surely you are plunged into despair,” said Astrinax.
“Oh, please, please, dear Lady, and dear Masters,” I said, suddenly, frightened, plaintively, “do not tell my master how I spoke this evening, do not tell him what I said!”
“We will not say a word to him,” said the Lady Bina.
“Not a word,” said Astrinax.
“Not a word,” said Lykos.
“Thank you, Lady,” I breathed, “thank you, Masters!”
“It will not be necessary,” said the Lady Bina. “He has heard every word.”
I looked toward the door of her sleeping chamber. In the threshold stood Desmond of Harfax.