Conspirators of Gor

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 opportunity,” 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.

“Master!” I cried, and threw myself to my belly before him, crying out in joy. I tried to press my lips, fervently, again and again, those of a slave, his slave, to his boot-like sandals, but I could not do so. He drew back. “Strip,” he said. I knelt up and slipped the tunic over my head, putting it to the side. “Master!” I said. But then he turned me about, and thrust me down, to my belly. My wrists were jerked behind my back, and bound together. In a moment my ankles had been crossed, and lashed, the one to the other, closely. “Please, Master!” I said. “Forgive me! I did not mean what I said! I love you, my Master! In my heart, though muchly resisting, I knew myself your slave, even from the Sul Market, long ago! And did you not look down upon me, kneeling at your feet, and know that I was your slave?”

But then I could speak no more, for the large leather ball, with its inserted, buckled strap, which had been forced into my mouth. Then it was secured in place, the strap pulled back, and buckled shut, tightly, behind the back of my neck. No longer might I utter intelligible sounds. Such were not now permitted to me. I whimpered, but his hand was placed in my hair, and twisted, and I winced, and knew I was to be silent.

He then knelt across my body. I was conscious of a flash of metal before my eyes, and then I felt the placement of a collar about my neck. It fit, closely. There was a clear, decisive snap, and it had been locked on me. I still wore the collar, as well, of the Lady Bina. “Key,” said Desmond of Harfax, extending his hand to the side. The Lady Bina placed the key of her collar into the palm of his hand. In a moment that collar, which remained her property, as I had been, had been removed. Desmond of Harfax then adjusted the new collar, his collar, on the neck of his newly purchased slave, Allison, a barbarian. At no time had she been without a collar, even in the brief moment of a transition between collars.

“What are you going to do with her?” asked Astrinax.

“What I please,” said Desmond of Harfax.

“You heard what she said?” asked Lykos.

“Every word,” said Desmond of Harfax.

“You were badly bespoken,” said Astrinax.

“Had a free man spoken so,” said Lykos, “it would doubtless be daggers on the high bridges.”

“Axes outside the great gate, swords at dawn, on the Plaza of Tarns,” suggested Astrinax.

“A free woman, however,” said the Lady Bina, “might utter such calumnies with impunity.”

“Yes,” said Lykos, “unless she were seized, stripped, and collared.”

“But this is a slave,” said Astrinax.

“She was insufficiently deferent,” said Lykos, “and she spoke ill of a free man.”

“Feed her alive to sleen,” said Astrinax.

“Too quick,” said Lykos.

“Throw her into a pit of osts,” suggested Astrinax.

“Too quick,” said Lykos.

“A pool of eels?” said Astrinax.

“Better,” said Lykos.

“There are many excellent possibilities,” said Astrinax. “A dark cell filled with hungry urts, a garden of leech plants, smearing her with honey and staking her out for insects, ants, jards, or such.”

I whimpered, on the floor, on my belly, nude, gagged, bound hand and foot. I squirmed, utterly helpless. I had no hope of freeing myself. I had been bound by a Gorean male. My fate was wholly in the hands of others. How could I sue for mercy? How could I perform the desperate placatory behaviors which I had learned in the house of Tenalion, behaviors which might mean the difference of life or death for a slave?

“She cannot plead for mercy, Mistress and Masters,” said Jane. “Permit us to plead for her! Show her mercy!”

“I am sure she did not mean what she said,” said Eve. “She spoke in misery and unhappiness. She was distraught. She thought herself rejected, and scorned!”

“She is a slave,” said Astrinax. “It is perfectly acceptable for slaves to be rejected and scorned.”

“Let them learn that they are slaves,” said Lykos.

“Show her mercy!” begged Jane.

“Please, please, Mistress and Masters, be merciful!” said Eve.

“She has not been fully pleasing,” said Astrinax sternly.

Jane and Eve regarded him, frightened. Eve regarded Lykos. She touched her collar. Her fingers trembled.

“Now be silent,” said Astrinax.

“Yes, Master,” said Jane.

“Yes, Master,” whispered Eve.

“Now, Jane and Eve,” said the Lady Bina, “let us be up, and about, and serve. Fetch fruit and salads. Warm the main dishes. Bring more ka-la-na.”

“Yes, Mistress,” said Jane and Eve.

“And later,” said the Lady Bina, “remove your tunics and serve the ka-la-na to your masters, as befits female slaves. I understand that that is a beautiful ceremony, and afterwards, on mats I will provide, you may serve your masters the ka-la-na of beauty, of which I have heard.”

“Here, Mistress?” asked Jane.

“Yes,” she said.

“Yes, Mistress,” said Jane and Eve.

“Let us feast,” said Astrinax.

“By all means,” said Lykos.

Desmond of Harfax reached down, took my bound, right ankle, and dragged me into the sleeping chamber of the Lady Bina. There he shackled my left ankle to a floor ring, and returned to the main room to join the feasters. For Ahn, until dawn, I listened to the conversation, the recollections, the pleasantries, the merriment, in the next room. Then it was quiet outside the room, and, after a bit, after struggling a little, futilely, and hearing the light sound of the chain on the floor, which held me to the ring, I fell asleep. I did not know what would be done with me. Knowing that Desmond of Harfax was a decent and honorable man, though he might be a fearsome and demanding master, I was not afraid that I would be fed to sleen, cast to leech plants, or such. I was afraid that I might not be kept, that I might be given away, or sold. I knew I had not been pleasing, and it is a frightening and terrible thing for a slave not to be pleasing to her master. I did not awaken for several Ahn, because it was late morning, or early afternoon, when I stirred, and, as my consciousness and remembrance returned, found myself as I had been before, a bound slave. I think that Astrinax and Lykos, and their slaves, had departed. I sensed that Lord Grendel was outside, on the roof, where he commonly slept. The Lady Bina was in the room, on her couch, asleep.

Turning a little, I saw Master Desmond in the threshold.

I struggled to a kneeling position, and put my head down to the floor.

He pulled my head up, by the hair, not hurting me, but as a master might do such a thing. He then unbuckled the gag, and pulled the leather ball from my mouth. I was afraid to speak, and so remained silent. He unbound my ankles, and thrust a wastes bucket to me, and then exited the room. Gratefully I relieved myself. I then edged the bucket away, and remained kneeling, but up, as he had left me, my hands tied behind my back, my left ankle chained to the ring. I kept my knees closely together. When he reentered, I lowered my head. He was bearing a goblet of water, and he helped me drink from it. He then left the room again and, when he returned, he had some meat and bread, which he fed to me by hand. I looked up at him, grateful for his kindness. I wondered if he could read the gratitude, the hope, and tenderness, and the fear, in the eyes of a slave. I still did not dare to speak.

“Stand,” he said, coldly.

Frightened, I stood. He then put my wrists in slave bracelets, and then untied the binding fiber with which I had been hitherto secured. I gathered we were going into the streets. Binding fiber can be cut with a knife. It, and that which had bound my ankles, he returned to his pouch. Then, from the pouch he produced a leash and collar. I would then be leashed and collared in the streets. I saw nothing of a tunic or camisk, or ta-teera, or slave strip, and so I understood I was to be marched naked through the streets on a leash, as a low slave or punished slave. How amused would be other slaves, to see me so. To be sure, I was a barbarian.

Lastly, as I was now braceleted and leashed, he freed me of the shackle on my left ankle.

“Precede me,” he said.

“Yes, Master,” I said.