Kajira of Gor

5 Miles of Argentum; Drusus Rencius Speculates on What I Might Ring as a Slave; I Have Obtained Greater Freedoms

"The arrogant knave now approaching the throne," said Ligurious, whispering in my ear, "is Miles, an ambassador, and general, from Argentum."

The fellow, approaching, coming up the long aisle toward "But do you not accept them for yourself, as well?" inquired Ligurious. "Had I my will," he said, "I would have come to the walls of Corcyrus not with the scrolls of protest but the engines of war."

"Beware the quickness of your tongue," said Ligurious, "for you rant now not in one of Argentum's taverns but in Corcyrus, and before the throne of her Tatrix." "Forgive me, noble Ligurious," said Miles. "I forgot myself. It was a natural mistake. In the taverns of Argenturn we of Argcnturn are indeed accustomed to speaking freely before women such as your Tatrix. They are paga slaves." There were cries of rage about me.

"Indeed," said he, "I have bad many women far superior to your Tatrix in just such taverns. They served, well in their chains, naked, in the pleasure alcoves."

More than one blade about me slipped swiftly, menacingly, from its sheath. Miles did not budge, nor flinch, at the foot of the throne. He had a great shock of black hair. His piercing gray eyes rested upon me. I wished that I was veiled. I did not think he would ever forget what I looked like.

"Your scrolls have been examined," said Ligurious. "I, the Tatrix, and those of the high councils, have scrutinized them with more care than they deserved. Their evidences are false, their arguments specious, their claims fraudulent." "Such a dismissal of their contents I expected," said Miles. "I myself would not have transmitted them. Better to have sent you the defiance of Argenturn and a spear of war."

I myself had examined the scrolls only in a sense. Excerpts had been read to me, with criticism, by Ligurious. His analysis of their contents, I did not doubt, was sound. He was a highly intelligent man, and familiar, clearly, with the geographical and political features of the problems. The issues had to do primarily with our silver mines, which, unfortunately, lay near Argenturn. Force, it seemed, was required to protect them. These mines were said to be almost as rich as those of Tharna, far to the north and east of Corcyrus. Ue claim of Argenturn, course, was that the silver mines were theirs. My education, so full and exacting in many ways, was incomplete in at least one obvious and glaring detail. I had not been taught to read Gorean. I was illiterate in Gorean.

"It is fortunate for Corcyrus, and for peace," said Ligurious, "that he with whom we truly have to deal is not Miles, general of Argentum, but with Claudius, her Ubar. He, I trust, is far less hotheaded. He, I trust, is more rational. He, I trust, may be expected to see reason and acknowledge, however reluctantly, the justice of our cause."

"Corcyrus is not feared by Argentum," said Miles.

"Yet," smiled Ligurious, "it seems that men with you have brought chests, bound with bands of iron, and intricately wrought coffers, to the foot of our throne." "That is true," said Miles. These chests and coffers were behind him, on the floor.

"If the gifts are suitable," said Ligurious, "our Tatrix,-after the cession of the mines, may be moved to deal somewhat less harshly with the miscreants of Argentum."

"I am sure that Claudius, my Ubar, would be relieved to bear that," said Miles. Ligurious inclined big head, acknowledging these words graciously. There was some laughter about me. I heard blades being returned to sheaths.

"I see," said Ligurious, lightly, "that you bring With you no male silk slaves, in chains, to be presented to the Tatrix."

"It is well known," said Miles, "that the Tatrix of Corcyrus is not interested in men, but only in gold and power."

"'Beware," said Ligurious.

I did not understand, truly, the remark of Miles of Argentum. I was not interested in men, of course, I reassured myself, as a woman of Earth, but, on the other hand, I did not think that I was unusually greedy either. Such things, at any rate, were generally not uppermost in my mind. There was a difference sometimes, I supposed, between the true and reputed characters of public figures. How odd, sometimes, are fame and rumors. That I might conceivably be presented with male silk slaves took me aback for a moment but then I realized that, as a female ruler, it was not out of the question that I might be presented with such gifts.

Typical gifts for a male ruler, I knew, might include beautiful female slaves, additional riches for his pleasure gardens.

"You may now open the chests and coffers," said Ligurious, eyeing them with interest.

"How is it," inquired Miles, "that the Tatrix of Corcyrus. goes unveiled?" "It is custom," said Ligurious.

"From our former messengers and envoys," said Miles, gather that the custom is a new one."

"Every custom has its beginning," said Ligurious. I was interested to hear this. I had not realized that the custom was a recent one. Here are many justifications for initiating such a custom. Foremost among them, doubtless, is that it is now possible for her subjects to gaze upon her with awe and reverence.

"I should think, rather," said Miles, smiling, "that you might fear that her subjects would gaze upon her not with awe and reverence, but interest." "Interest?" asked Ligurions.

"Yes, said Miles, "wondering, perhaps, what she might look like in a collar." "I think it is time," said Ligurious, "that you should improve your service to your Ubar. Let us see what gifts he proffers to- Corcyrus, petitioning for our mercy and favor."

"Take no offense, Lady," said Miles to me, "for it is high commendation I extend to you. Though I have had many women far superior to you, and even in the alcoves of taverns, I am not insensitive to your beauty. It is not inconsiderable. Indeed, I have no doubt that in the middle price ranges you would prove to be a desirable buy."

I clenched my fists on the arms of the throne. How insolent he was! How I hated him! I wondered, too, if some men, indeed, might find me a desirable buy. "Open the chests and coffers," said Ligurious, menacingly.

"Surely Corcyrus needs no more riches," said Miles. "Consider the lavishness of the appointments of this hall, the richness of the regalia of those here convened."

"Let us see what Claudius has sent us," said Ligurious.

"I see rich cloths here," be said, indicating the cloths spread tastefully about the steps of the dais. "I see that there is gold in Corcyrus," he said, indicating the coins in their plentitudes, seemingly casually spilled about the steps. "I see, too," he said, "that there are beautiful slaves in Corcyrus." His eyes rested then, fully, upon Susan, kneeling, chained by the neck to the side of my throne. This was not the first time that he had seen her, of course. Indeed, I had seen him picking her out more than once. I think he found her of interest. At any rate, clearly, she was not now being noticed in passing, as a mere component in a display, but was being attended to, observed, scrutinized, even studied, as a specific, individual slave, on her chain. She drew back, fearfully, with a small sound of the chain. She did not dare to meet his eyes. She clenched her thighs closely together. She was trembling her breathing was rapid; doubtless her heart was pounding; doubtless she was aware of it in her small rib cage. Yet I had seen her looking at him. She had hardly been able to keep her eyes from him. I supposed it was difficult for mere female slaves, in their scanty garments, and in their lowly station, not to be excited by rich, powerful, handsome, resplendent free men, so far above themselves.-It was much easier for one like myself, a free woman, and richly robed, to control, resist and fight femininity. In the case of the slave, on the other hand, femininity is actually required of her.

Indeed, if she is insufficiently feminine she will be beaten. It is no wonder female slaves are so helpless with men. I noted the eyes of Miles of Argenturn on Susan. She trembled, being appraised. I felt sudden danger, and jealousy. He had not looked at me like thatl To be sure, she was a slave, and I was free. It would certainly be improper for anyone to look on me, a free woman, in that candid, basic wayl Too, Susan had me at a disadvantage. Would not any woman look attractive if she were half naked and put on a chain? flow could I compete with that? Let us both be stripped and chained, I thought, and then let men decide, examining us, which was most beautiful But then I realized that Susan was, doubtless, far more beautiful than I. She was exquisite. It had been, no mistake on the part of slavers that she had been brought to Gor. I then thought that tonight I might whip Susan. She could not resist. She was a slave. I could have her take off her clothes and then tie her to a ring. I could then whip her. That would teach her to be more beautiful than I! Then I thought how absurd that was. It was not Susan's fault if she were more beautiful than I, or my fault if I might not be, objectively, as beautiful as she. I felt ashamed of my hostility, my jealousy. But Susan's beauty, I realized, then, was not a matter merely of features and figure, exquisite though these might be. Her beauty had to do more intimately and basically I thought, somehow, with matters which were more psychological and emotional; it had to do, somehow, in its softness and femininity, with the slavery of her. I wondered if I might become more beautiful than I was. I wondered if I might become as beautiful, someday, as the women cited by Miles of Argentum as being so superior to me. I wondered if I might one day be so beautiful that he might see nothing to choose from, between me and them. I wondered if I might not, one day, even be their superior! But then I put such thoughts from my mind. Where was my pride and freedoml "Let us see," insisted Ligurious, "what Claudius has sent us Of course," said Miles of Argentum. He handed his helmet to one of the men about him. With a great key be unlocked the largest chest.

The other chests and coffers, too, by others, were then unlocked.

Ligurious, and I, and the others, leaned forward, to i.h glimpse the contents of these chests and coffers.

"In. suit for the favor of Corcyrus, in deference and tribute to Corcyrus, Claudius, Ubar of Argentum," said Miles of Argenturn, "sends this!" He flung open the great chest, and turned it to its side. The other chests and coffers, by his fellows, were similarly treated.

"Nothing!" cried Ligurious. "There is nothing in them!"

"And that," said Miles of Argenturn, "is what Claudius, Ubar of Argenturn, sends to Corcyrusl"

"Insolence!" cried Ligurious. "Insolence!"

Cries of rage broke out from those about me.

Miles put out his hand and his helmet was returned to him. He put it again in the crook of his left arm. His great furred cape, by one of the men behind him, was adjusted on him.

"I now leave Corcyrus," he said. "When I return, I shall have an army at my back."

"You have insulted our Tatrix," said Ligurious.

"Your Tatrix," said Miles, "belongs in a cage, a golden cage."

There were further cries of rage from those about me. I did not understand, clearly, the nature of this insult, or the meaning of the reference to a golden cage.

Here," said Miles, reaching into a pocket on his belt, "if you of Corcyrus are so eager for the silver of Argenturn, I will give you some." He held tip the coin. "This is a silver tarsk of Argentum," be said. He flung it to the foot of the dais. "I give it to you," he said. "It is about the worth of your Tatrix, I think, in so far as I am now able to assess her. It is, I think, about what she would bring in a slave market."

Blades flashed forth from sheaths. I saw Drusus Rencius restrain one man from rushing upon Miles of Argentum. In the small retinue of Miles blades, too, had leapt from sheaths.

"Strip him, and chain him to the slave ring of the Tatrixt" cried a man. I shuddered. I would be terrified to have such a man chained at my couch. It would be like having a lion there.

Too, I thought, surely it would be more fitting for women, in their softness and beauty, with their dispositions to submit and love, irreservedly and wholly, as king nothing, giving all, holding nothing back from the dominant male, their master, to be chained to a slave ring. This, in its way, is a beautiful symbol of her nature and needs. On the other hand, symbolic considerations aside, it must be noted that the chain is quite real. She is truly chained there.

Miles turned about and, followed by his retinue, left the great hall.

Those about the throne, most bf them, began to take their leave.

"Do you think there will be trouble?" I asked Ligurious.

"No," he said. "Argentum, upon reflection, will think the better of her rash decision. Even Claudius knows that behind' us stands the might and weight of Cos."

The ambassador, he, Miles, the general of Argentum," I said, "seemed very, firm."

"He is a hothead," said Ligurious. "In time, have no fear, when there is a more objective assessment of realities, cooler wisdoms will prevail."

"I would not like for there to be trouble," I said.

"Do not worry about it in the least," said Ligurious. "Put all such matters from your mind. I assure you that there will be no trouble whatsoever. You have my word on it."

"You relieve my mind," I said. "I take great comfort in your words." "What did you think of Miles of Argentum?" asked Ligurious.

"I thought he seemed very strong, and handsome," I said.

"I see," smiled Ligurious. "Incidentally," he said, "would you like for me to have Susan whipped for you?" ords of Ligurious there was a "Why?" I asked. At the small sound from the chain of Susan. She shrank back, cowering beside the throne.

"Surely you saw her," said Ligurious, "when she knew herself to be under the gaze of the sleen from Argentum. She was dripping to the tiles before him. Forgive me. I did not I mean to offend your sensibilities."

"She is only a slave," I said, lightly. Surely I could not admit to Ligurious that I, too, had been made uneasy by the presence of the ambassador from Argenturn.

"True," laughed Ligurious. "I must take my leave now. Drusus Rencius will see you to your quarters."

I nodded, permitting Ligurious to take his leave.

"Thank you, Mistress," said Susan to me, kneeling beside the throne, "for not having me whipped."

Is it true," I asked her, "that you might possibly have experienced feelings of a sexuW nature before Miles of Argentum?"

"I cannot help myself, Mistress," she said. "Before such a man I begin to secrete the oils of submission."

"The oils of submission" I said.

"Yes, Mistress," she said.

"I have never heard them called that," I said.

"It is what they are," she said, "at least in a slave."

"Oh," I said.

"Does Lady Sheila wish to return to her quarters now?" inquired Drusus Rencius. "What of the treasures here," I asked, "and Susan, and the other slaves chained here?"

"Scribes from the treasure rooms will be along shortly," he said, "to gather in and account for the cloths and coins. The palace slave master will be along later, too, to release the girls and put them back about their more customary duties."

I then began to precede Drusus Rencius to my quarters.

"Miles of Argentum is an arrogant knave, isn't he?"; I asked Drusus. "So it would seem, Lady," said Drusus.

I remembered the sight of the silver tarsk from Argenturn, in the hand of Miles of Argenturn, and the way it had looked, on the soft carpeting of the dais, on one of the broad steps leading tip to the throne.

"Do you think," I asked, lightly, "that I might bring a silver tarsk in a slave market?"

"It would be difficult to say, without assessing Lady Sheila naked," he said. "Oh," I said.

"Does Lady Sheila wish me to assess her naked in her quarters?" he asked. "No," I said. "No, of course notl"

We continued to walk along the carpeted, ornamented corridors toward my quarters.

"But, from what you know of me," I said, "do you think that I might bring a silver tarsk?"

"As a Tatrix," he asked, "or only as another woman in the market, another mere female, up for vending, one about whom there is nothing politically or socially special, one who, like most others, will be priced and sold only on her own merits?"

"Like that," I said, "one whose price is determined merely by what she is, and nothing else."

"Are you serious?" he asked.

"Yes," I said, "as one whose value is determined only by herself." "I would think, then," he said, "the price would be too high."

"Oh?" I said, angrily. "And what do you think I would go for?"

"Lady Sheila must remember," said Drusus Rencius, "that even if she might prove to be quite lovely, she is still untrained."

"Untrained!" I cried.

"Yes," he said.

"You speak as if slaves were mere animalsl" I said.

"they are," he said.

I turned to face him, angrily. "And if I were such an animal, and for sale, what do you think I would bring?" I asked.

"May I speak with impunity?" he inquired, smiling.

"Yes," I said, "of coursel"

"My remarks," he said, "will be based on the hypothesis that Lady Sheila's figure is acceptable, that her curvatures fall within suitable slave tolerances."

I looked at him.

"Am I entitled to assume this?" he asked.

"I suppose so," I said. I had no idea what these tolerances might be. I did regard myself as being rather pretty.

"We shall further assume," be said, "that Lady Sheila's figure is not merely acceptable, but quite lovely. This, I think, from what I know of her, would be a fair assumption. In any event, it will enhance the speculation."

"Very well," I said.

"Your face, for example," he said, "is quite delicate and lovely. If your body matches it, I think you would clearly have the makings of a superb slave." "Proceed," I said. It pleased me to have received this compliment from Drusus Rencius. Too, I had little doubt but what my body, which is slender and lovely, and not overly developed, well matched -my face. Surely I would bring a high price.' "Let us, further assume," he-said, "that your beauty had been enhanced considerably, by being, branded and collared."

"Very well," I said. I was beautiful. I would bring a high price indeed I "Even so," " be said, "you have had no previous owners, as I understand it." "That is correct," I said.

"Having been unowned," he said, "it seems natural, then, to assume that you are inexperienced and untrained."

"Yes," I said.

"And there are many beautiful women," he said. "There is no dearth of them in the slave markets."

"And what, then," I asked, "do you think I would bring?"

He looked at me, smiling.

"What?" I asked.

"I would think," be said, "that you would bring somewhere between fifteen and twenty copper tarsks."

"Copper tarsksl" I cried.

"Yes," he said.

"Beastl" I cried. "Beastl"

"But remember," he said, smiling, "it is slaves who are assessed and have prices. Free women are priceless."

"Yes," I said, somewhat mollified,' stepping back. "Yesl" I must remember that I was priceless. I was a free woman.

"Shall we continue on to your quarters?" he asked.

"Yes," I said, and then, turning about, once more preceded him down the corridor toward my quarters.

I had had matters out with Ligurious earlier, about such things as the barring on my door. My door, now, was no longer barred. The guards remained outside but that, of course, was an understandable precaution, one clearly in my own best interests, one pertinent to my personal security. Furthermore I was now free, almost whenever I wished, to go forth from my quarters. The only restriction was that I must be accompanied by my guard, Drusus Rencius.

We stood on the height of the walls of Corcyrus, on a stone riser behind the parapet, which permitted us to look out over the parapet, rather than through its apertures, on the surrounding fields.

"Not all places in Corcyrus," be said, "are safe, particularly at night, and not all are suitable for the sensibilities of a free woman."

There was a breeze blowing toward us, over, the wall. It was welcome. I felt it move my veils back against my features. I reveled in its lightness and freshness.

"You should adjust your hood," said Drusus Rencitis. ff I had thrust it back, a few moments ago, to better revel in the breeze. To be sure, it was now possible to detect the color of my hair.

Angrily I readjusted the hood. Drusus Rencius was so protectivel He looked about, nervously. Why, I wondered, should be seem so tense or uneasy here.

I could smell the tarns, gigantic, crested saddlebirds, on their perches some hundred feet away, to our right. There were five of them.

"Do not approach them too closely," I had been warned by him.

"Do not fear," I had laughed. I had a terror of such things.

But why, then, if he were so wary of them, or fearful for my safety, had he wanted to come to this portion of the wall?

It was he who had suggested that we come this close to those fearful monsters. "I can still see your hair," said Drusus Renclus.

I drew the hood angrily even more closely about my features. Little more now could be seen of me, as is common with the robes of concealment, but a bit of the bridge of my nose and my eyes. It was five days ago that I had suggested we come to the height of the wall, that I might look out. He had originally been reluctant to bring me here, but then, almost too suddenly, it had seemed to me, had finally agreed.

Now, here on the walls, he seemed nervous.

"You are still angry with me," I said, "about the Kaissa matches." "No," he said.

"They were boring," I said.

"Centius of Cos was playing," he said. "He is one of the finest of the players on Gor." The appearance of a player of the stature of Centius of Cos at the matches in a city such as Corcyrus, I gathered, had to do with the alliances between Cos and Corcyrus. Otherwise it did not seem likely to me that he would have graced so small a tournament with his presence. He had won his games easily with the exception of one, with a quite minor player, which he had seemed to prolong indefinitely, as though attempting to bring about some obscure and particular configuration on the board. Then, apparently failing to achieve this, almost as though wearily, he had brought the game to a conclusion in five moves. "You are still angry with me," I said.

"No," he said.

"Yes, you are," I said.

He did not respond.

"They were boring," I said. I had asked to be brought home early.

He did not respond.

The most exciting thing about the matches from my point of view was going in and out of the grounds. There were several slave girls there, just outside the grounds, fastened to various rings and stanchions. They had been chained there, to wait like dogs for the return of their masters.

"After you returned me to my quarters, I wager," I said, you returned to the matches."

"Yes," he said. "I did."

"And did you get to see your precious Centius of Cos finish his final games?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

"Please do not be angry with me, Drusus," I said.

"I am not angry with you," he said.

I wondered why I had spoken as I had. I was a Tatrix. Authority was mine, not his. He was only a guard, a mere guard. Yet I did not want him to be angry with me. There was something in me, something deep, I did not know what, that wanted to be pleasing to him.

I continued to look out over the fields. They were lovely.

In a Gorean city it was not difficult for a woman to travel incognito. By the robes of concealment this is made easy. I wore the robes of a woman of high, caste, today the yellow of the Builders. Drusus Rencius wore a nondescript tunic and a swirling maroon cape. Ile only weaponry he carried, that I could detect, was his sword. He might have been any mercenary or armed servant, in attendance on a lady. I was pleased to travel incognito in the city, in this fashion. Otherwise, had I gone abroad in the robes of the Tatrix, we would have been encumbered by guards and crowds; we would have had to travel in a palanquin; we would have been forced to tolerate the annunciatory drums and trumpets, and put up with all the noisy, ostentatious, dreary panoply of office. To be sure I sometimes found such accouterments stimulating and gratifying but I certainly did not want them every time I wished to put my foot outside the palace gate. I thought I heard a small noise, as of metal, from within the cloak of Drusus Rencius.

He had glanced to our right, to the tarns on their perches.

They were saddled, and their reins were upon them. They were ready for investigatory excursions or, if the randomly selected schedules were appropriate, for routine patrols. The left foot of each tarn, by a spring clasp, which could be opened by band, and a chain, was fastened to the perch. The birds, thus, for most practical purposes, could be brought to flight almost immediately. Their riders, or tarnsmen, were not in the immediate vicinity, but were, as is common, quite close, in this case in a guard station at the foot of the wall. In a matter of Ihn, given a command or the sounding of an alarm bar, they could be in the saddle.

Drusus Rencius looked back from the tarns. I heard again the small sound of metal from within the cloak.

He looked about, uneasily. This nervousness did not seem typical of him. "Have you heard aught of the sleen of Argentum?" I asked. It Mad been several days now since the return of Wes of Argenturn to his city.

"No," said be.

"It is nice of you to bring me here," I said. "It is a lovely view." He said nothing.

"I enjoyed the song drama last night," I said.

"Good," said he.

To be sure it had been difficult for me, at my present level in Gorean, to understand all the singing. Too, the amplificatory masks, sometimes used in the larger of the tiered theaters, somewhat distorted the sound. Some of the characters had seemed unnaturally huge. These, I had been informed, wore special costumes; these costumes had expanded shoulders and had exaggerated hemlines, long enough to cover huge platform-like shoes. These characters, thus, were made to appear larger than life. They represented, generally, important personages, such as Ubars and Ubaras. There had not been a great deal of action in the drama but movement on the stage was supplied in abundance by a chorus whose complex activities and dances served to point up and emotionally respond to, and interpret, exchanges among the principals.

The chorus, too, sometimes singing and sometimes speaking in unison, took roles in the drama, such as first the citizens of one city and then of another, and then of another, and so on.

It also was not above commenting on the activities and speeches of the principals, chiding them, calling certain omissions to their minds, offering them constructive criticism, commending them, encouraging them, and so on. Indeed, it.was not unusual for the chorus and a principal to engage with one another in discourse. What I saw was clearly drama but it was not a form of drama with which I was familiar.

The chorus, according to Drusus Rencius, in its various sections and roles, was the original cast of the drama. The emergence of principals from the chorus, of particular actors playing isolated, specific roles, was a later development. Some purists, according to Drusus Rencius, still criticize this innovation. It is likely to remain, however, in his opinion, as it increases the potentialities of the form, its flexibility and power.

Such dramas, incidentally, are normally performed not by professional companies but by groups of citizens from the communities themselves, or nearby communities. Sometimes they are supported by rich citizens; sometimes they are supported by caste organizations; sometimes, even, they are sponsored by merchants or businesses, as a matter of goodwill and promotion; sometimes, too, they are subsidized by grants from a public treasury. Art in a Gorean city is taken seriously; it is regarded as an enhancement of the civic life. It is so: not regarded as the prerogative of an elite, nor is its fate left exclusively to the mercies of private patrons. The story in the so g drama, in itself, apart from its complex embellishments, was a simple one. It dealt with a psychological crisis in the life of a Ubar. He is tempted, in the pursuit of his own schemes, motivated by greed, to betray his people. In the end he is convinced by his own reflections, and those of others, of the propriety of keeping the honor of his own Home Stone.

"What did you think of the drama?" Drusus Rencius had asked me last night. "The story of it," I had told him, seeking to impress him with my intelligence, "aside from the impressiveness of it, and the loveliness of its setting and presentation, is surely an unrealistic, silly one."

"Oh?" he had asked.

"Yes," I had said, "no true ruler would act like that. Only a fool would be motivated by considerations of honor." "Perhaps," had said Drusus Rencius, dryly. I had looked at him, and then I had looked away, quickly. I had felt like I might be nothing. He was -regarding me with total contempt.

"I did enjoy the drama," I insisted to Drusus Rencius, standing on the riser, looking over the parapet, "really."

"Splendid," he said.

"I still think my comments were true, of course," I said lightly. Surely it would not do to retreat on such a matter.

Besides, for most practical purposes, I did regard them as true. Who, in these days, in a real world, could take anything like honor seriously?

"Perhaps," granted Drusus Rencius.

"You are a hopeless romantic, Drusus," I said to him, turning about, laughing. "Perhaps," be said. He turned away from me. Again I heard the small sound in the cloak. He looked at the tarns.

I turned away from him, hurt. I did not want him to be disappointed with me. "The view here," I said, lightly, "is lovely. We should have come here before." Perhaps," he said.

I had seen much of Corcyrus in the past few days. Drusus Rencius, for the most part, had been an attentive and accommodating escort. I loved the markets and bazaars, the ells, the colors, the crowds, the. quantities and varieties foods, the tiny shops, the stalls, the places of business which e times were so small as a tiny rug on the stones, on ich a peddler displayed his wares. Drusus Rencius had a€” permitted me, with coins, helping me, to bargain. I had a€” very excited to come back to the palace with my small imphs. I loved shopping, and looking, even when I was buy-nothing. Trailing me about, while I satisfied my curiosity as curious nooks and crannies, must have been tiresome for Drusus, but he had not complained. I had begun to fall in c with the Gorean city. It was so vital and alive. In particular I was excited by the female slaves I saw, barefoot, in ir tunics and collars, not exciting much attention, simply ing taken for granted, in the crowds. Such women were an accepted part of Gorean life. Sometimes, too, I would see a ked slave in the crowd, one sent forth from her house only I her collar. These women, too, did not attract that much attention. Their sight was not that uncommon in Gorean cets. One such woman, in particular, startled and excited She wore not only her collar. She also wore an iron belt is belt consisted of two major pieces; one was a rounded, ed, curved barlike waistband, flattened at the ends; one d of this band, that on the right, standing behind the man and looking forward, had a heavy semicircular ring, staple, welded onto it; the other flattened end of the waist- nd, looking forward, had a slot in it which fitted over the ple; the other major portion of this belt consisted of a- rved band of flat, shaped iron; one end of this flat band s curved about, and closed about, the barlike waistband in front; this produces a hinge; the flat, U-shaped strap of iron swings on this hinge; on the other end of this flat band iron is a slot; it fits over the same staple as the slot in the ttened end of the left side of the barlike waistband. The It is then put on the woman in this fashion. The waistband closed about her, the left side, its slot penetrated by the iple, over the right side; the flat U-shaped band of iron, ntoured to female intimacies, is then swung up on its hinge, tween her thighs, where the slot on its end is penetrated by staple, this keeping the parts of the belt in place. The whole apparatus is then locked on her, the tongue of a thrust through the staple, the lock then snapped shut. almost fainted when I first saw this thing. She actually wore it. It was on her! It was locked on herl The insolent mastery

it bespoke made me almost giddy, the very thought that a woman might be subjected to such domination. She did not even control her own intimacies. They were controlled by him who owned her, and them.

"You seem interested in the iron belt," had said Drusus Rencius. "No," I had said. "No!" "There are many varieties of such belts," said Drusus. "You see a rather plain one. the placement of the padlock, at the small of her back. regard that arrangement as more aesthetic; others prefer for the lock to be in front, where it may dangle before her, constantly reminding her of its presence. I personally prefer the lock in the back. Its placement there, on the whole, makes a woman feel more helpless. Too, of course, its placement there makes it almost impossible for her to pick." "I see," I had said. How irritated I had been then with Drusus. He had discussed the thing as though it might have been a mere, inconsequential piece of functional hardware. Could be, not see what it really was, what it meant, what it must teach the girl, how it must make her feel?

"There are wagons," I said, pointing over the parapet.

There were some five wagons approaching the city, in a line.

Each -was being drawn by two strings of harnessed male slaves, about twenty slaves in each string.

"Those are Sa-Tarna wagons," said Drusus, "bringing grain to the city." "What is that other wagon," I asked, "the smaller one,- there near the side of the road, which has pulled aside to let the grain wagons pass?" I had been watching it approach. I thought I knew well what sort of wagon it was. It was the sort of wagon whose contents are of so little value that it must yield the road in either direction to any vehicle that to pass it. It was a squarish wagon. It was drawn might care by a single tharlarion, a broad tharlarion, one of Gor's quadrupedal draft lizards. It was covered by a canopy, mounted on a high, squarish frame, of blue-and-yellow silk.

"Lady Sheila is much too innocent, and her sensibilities are far too delicate," said he, "to inquire as to what sort of His wagon that is."

"No," I said, "what?" I would pretend to an innocent ignorance.

"It is a slaver s wagon," he said, "a girl wagon."

"Oh," I said, as though surprised. After a time, I said, "I wonder if there are any girls in it."

"Probably," said Drusus. "Its canopy is up, and it is approaching the city." "Are girls fastened in such wagons?" I asked.

"Usually," be said.

"How?" I asked.

"The most usual arrangement," be said, "involves a metal bar and girls who are independently shackled. The bar runs parallel to the length of the wagon bed. It is a liftable bar. It has a binge at the end of the wagon bed near the wagon box. The bar is lifted, by means of the hinge, and the girls, by means of their ankle chains, are threaded upon it. It is then lowered and locked into a socket at the end of the wagon bed, near the gate."

"They are then well held in place," I said.

"Yes," be said.

"Are they clothed in such a wagon?" I asked.

"Sometimes they are, sometimes they are not," he said.

"I see," I said. I wondered what it might feel like to wear shackles, to have my ankles chained in proximity to one another, to have the chain looped about such a bar, so that I might not, even if I wished, be able to pull my ankles more than a few inches from it. I wondered what it might feel like, to know myself so helplessly and perfectly confined. My breath began to come more quickly. "Lady Sheila seems much interested in-the small details in the lives of female slaves," he said. Perhaps he had noticed the quickening of my breath, in the inward movements of the veil.

"Do not become presumptuous," I said.

"Forgive me," He said.

"I was merely curious," I said, irritably.

"Of course, Lady Sheila," he said. He need not know that I often, for no reason I clearly understood, in the loneliness of my quarters, slept at the lower end of the great couch, near the slave ring, and sometimes, seemingly almost unable to belp myself, had knelt beside it in the darkness, and kissed it.

"The wagon is moving now," I said. The grain wagons had passed it. It was now, again, pulling toward the center of the road, the high iron-rimmed wheels trundling on the stone, seeking the long, shallow, shiny, saucerlike ruts, polished in the stone by the earlier passage of countless vehicles. I had "It is natural for slavers to wish to get the highest possible prices for their girls," he said.

"Of course," I said.

I could not see the wagon now. It was somewhere below the wall.

I straightened myself on the riser, behind the parapet. drew a deep breath. flow pletsed I was that I was freel How dreadful, how horrifying, it would be to be merely a lowly slave!

"You seem nervous today, Drusus," I said.

"Forgive me, Lady Sheila," he said.

"Is there anything wrong?" I asked.

"No," he said.

"What is that sound from within your cloak," I asked, "as of metal?" "Nothing," said he.

One of the tarns moved on the perch, several feet to our right. I did not wish to approach too closely to such things. I wondered why Drusus had brought me to this particular place on the wall. The proximity of the tarns made it less pleasant than it might otherwise have been. the view, however, as I had remarked, was lovely.

"You do not think much of me, do you, Drusus?" I asked.

"I do not understand," he said, startled.

"You think that I am petty and ignoble, don't you?"

"I receive my fees for guarding Lady Sheila," he said, "not for forming opinions as to her character."

"Do you like me?" I asked.

"Having suggested that I might think little of you, and might regard you as pretty and ignoble, now you inquire if I might like you?" lie smiled.

"It is not impossible," I said.

He smiled.

"Do you?" I asked.

"Does it matter?" he asked.

"No," I said, angrily. "Of course notl"

"Then," he smiled, "there is no point in answering."

"Do you?" I asked, angrily.

"I am paid to guard you," he said, "not to consider any personal feelings, one way or another, which I might have towards you."

"One way or another?" I asked, angrily.

"Yes," he said.

"You despise and hate me!" I said.

"I could find it easy to despise you," he said, "and, at one time, from all that I had heard of the Tatrix of Corcyrus, and know of her governance of the city, I would have thought it would also be easy to hate you, but now, now that I have met you, I could not honestly say that I hate you."

"How flatteringl" I remarked.

"Your official self and your personal self, or your public and private selves, seem quite different," he said.

"Perhaps," I said, irritably.

"It is doubtless that way with many people," he said.

"Doubtless," I said.

He looked from one side to the other, along the walk behind the parapet. For most practical purposes we were alone on the wall. The nearest people, a couple, were better than a hundred yards away, to our left. He looked again then to the tarns. Then he looked at me. Then, angrily, he looked out, over the parapet. His fists were clenched.

I, too, looked out, over the parapet. I could feel tears in my eyes. I wanted to please Drusus Rencius. I wanted, desperately, for- him to like me. Yet everything I did or said seemed to be wrong. Then I was very angry with myself. It did not matter. I was not a slave at his feet, half naked in a collar, fearful of his whip, piteously suing for the least sign of his favor. I was a Tatrix. He was only a guard, nothing! I wondered, shuddering, what it would be to be the slave of such a man. I did not think he would be weak with me. I thought that he would, like any typical Gorean master, keep me under perfect discipline.

"I enjoyed the czehar concert," I said, lightly.

"Good," he said.

The czehar is a long, low, rectangular instrument. It is played, held across the lap. It has eight strings, plucked with a horn pick. It had been played by Lysander of Aspericbe.

The concert had taken place two nights ago in the small theater of Kleitos, off the square of Perimines.

"The ostraka were quite expensive, weren't they?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

It was quite commonly the case, I had learned, that for a concert by Lysander one could not buy admission at the gate, but must present ostraka purchased earlier in one of the market places or squares. These were apparently originally shells or pieces, shards, of pottery, but now were generally small clay disks, with a hole for a string near one edge. These were fired in a kiln, and glazed on one side. The glazing's colorations and patterns are difficult to duplicate and serve in their way as an authentication for the disk, the glazings differing for different performances or events. The unglazed back of the disk bears the date of the event or performance and a sign indicating the identity of the original vendor, the agent authorized to sell them to the public. Some of these disks, also, on the back, include a seat location. Most seating, however, in Gorean theaters, except for certain privileged sections, usually reserved for high officials or the extremely wealthy, is on a first-come-first-served basis. These ostraka, on their strings, about the necks of their owners, make attractive pendants. Some are worn even long after the performance or event in question, perhaps to let people know that one was fortunate enough to have been the witness of a particular event or performance, or perhaps merely because of their intrinsic aesthetic value. Some people keep them as souvenirs.

Others collect them, and buy and sell them, and trade them.

If the event or performance is an important one, and the ostraka are limited, their number being governed by the seating capacity of the structure or area in question, it is unlikely that they will be publicly displayed until after the event or performance. It is too easy to snatch them from about the neck in the market place. Too, sometimes rich men have been known to set ruffians on people to obtain them.

Needless to say some profiteering occasionally takes place in connection with the ostraka, a fellow buying a few for a given price and then trying to sell them for higher prices later outside, say, the stadium or theater.

"How much did they cost?" I asked.

"Together," he said, "a silver tarsk."

"That is more, I recall," I said, "than you thought I might go for if I were sold for myself alone, as a slave."

"Yes," he said.

I stiffened, somewhat angrily.

"Lady Sheila must remember that she is not trained in the intimate and delicious arts of the female slave."

"Arts?" I inquired.

"Yes," said he, "the complex, subtle and sensuous arts of being pleasing, fully, to a man."

"I see," I said.

"It is natural," be said, "that some women will bring much higher prices than others.

"Of course," I said, irritably.

"Some women," he said, "do not even know the floor movements of an aroused, pleading slave."

"They must indeed be stupid," I said. I had no idea, of course, what they might be.

"I do not think they are necessarily stupid," he said, "merely ignorant, perhaps because untrained, or perhaps merely because they have not yet been awakened sexually, have not yet been forced to feel the slave fires in their belly, have not yet, by strong men, been made the helpless victims of their own now-enkindled needs "I thought Lysander played well," I said.

"He is regarded as one of the finest czehar players on all Gor," said Drusus Rencius, dryly.

"Oh," I said. I felt so stupid. It seemed I could do nothing right with Drusus Rencius.

I looked out, again, over the fields.

"Is Lady Sheila all right?" inquired Drusus Rencius.

"Yes," I said.

The last few days had been full - ones. Aside from the markets and bazaars, and the theaters in the evening, I had seen much else of Corcyrus as well. It had been pleasant to walk through the cool halls of the libraries, with their thousands of scrolls organized and cataloged, and through the galleries on the avenue of lphicrates. The fountains in the squares, too, were impressive. It was almost hard for me to remember that they were not merely ornaments to the city but that they also, in the Gorean manner, served a very utilitarian purpose. To them most people must come, bearing vessels, for their water. Some of the smaller fountains were worn down on the right side of their rim. That was where right-handed people would rest their hand, leaning over to drink. I particularly enjoyed the public gardens. Given the plantings flowers in them, of one sort or another, are in bloom almost all of the year. Here, too, are many winding and almost secluded paths. In them, combined, one finds color, beauty and, in many sections, if one wishes it, privacy.

I knew few of the flowers and trees. Drusus Rencius, to my surprise, whenever I was in doubt, could supply me with the name. Goreans, it seemed, paid attention to their environment. It means something to them. They live in it. How few children of Earth, I thought, are taught the names and kinds of the trees and shrubs, the plants, the insects and birds, which surround them constantly. I was also surprised to find that Drusus Rencius seemed genuinely fond of flowers. I would not have expected, given my Earth background, that a man of his obvious power and competence could care for anything, and so deeply, as innocent, delicate and soft as a flower. At one secluded point in one of the gardens I bad paused and, pretending to adjust my veil, had stood quite close to Drusus Rencius, but he bad stepped back, and looked away. tic had not kissed me. I had then, angrily, refastened my veil. I wondered why he had not kissed me. Was it because I was a Tatrix? I wondered what it would be like to be kissed by him. I wondered if he might, touching my lips, I in his arms, helplessly held there, suddenly rape my lips with his kiss, and then, unable to help himself, hurl me to his feet, crouching over me then ferociously, to remove my robes and force me to his service.

I felt the wind, over the parapet, move my veil.

I bad enjoyed these days with Drusus Rencius but, at night, returned to my quarters, I would often be restless and lonely. At such times, though I did not confess this to Drusus, nor even to Susan, I would feel helpless, weak and needful. I had formed the habit, for no reason I clearly understood, of sleeping near the foot of the couch or near the ring. I would sometimes lie there miserably, twisting and turning, almost sobbing, afflicted with helpless feelings and strange, troubling emotions that I could scarcely begin to understand. I did not know what was wrong with me. I knew only that I felt empty, miserable and unfulfilled.

Drusus Rencius occasionally took me to see various portions of local games. These involved such things as races, javelin hurling and stone throwing. I would usually stay for an event or two and then leave. On the whole I found such games boring. When I wished to leave, or change my location, to see something different, he always deferred to my wishes. I was, after all, the Tatrix and he was, after all, only my guard. From one set of contests, however, I could not, to his surprise, be budged. I bad sat on the tiers, close to the fenced enclosure, thrilled. These were contests of sheathed swords, the sheaths chalked with red, so that hits might be noted. The contestants were sturdy men, stripped to the waist, in half tunics, bronzed and handsome, with rippling muscles. As they thrust at one another and fended blows, moving with great speed and skill, in their swift passages, under the watchful eye of the referee, backed by two independent scorers, I could scarcely conjecture what would be involved in actual swordplay, with steel unencumbered with sheaths. I was terrified to consider it. And women, I thought, must abide its outcome. On a cement disk, about "a foot high and five feet in diameter, on the opposite side of the enclosure, as though in symbolism of this, a young, naked woman was chained. The chain was on her neck and ran to, a ring anchored in the center of the disk. It was long enough to permit her to stand comfortably which, sometimes, she did. Most of the time, however, she sat or lay, almost catlike, on the disk, watching the fighting. Her body was slim and well formed. Her hair was brightly red and, when she stood, it fell almost to her knees. When the contests had begun she had not seemed particularly interested in them, but, as they had proceeded, she bad become more and more attentive. She was now watching them with great closeness. She was the prize. She would be given to the victor. "Do you wish to leave now?" Drusus Rencius had asked once, during an interval between passages.

"No!" I had said. He bad regarded me, puzzled. "I want to see who wins her," I said, angrily. He looked over to the woman. She was then standing, the chain on her neck dangling down to the ring. She had one hand at her bosom. She was frightened. "She is only a slave," he had said. But he had sat down, patiently, beside me, content, it seemed, to wait until I was ready to leave. How angry I was with him them.

Could he not conjecture the feelings, the trepidation, of the poor girl? She had a chain on her neck. She was a prize. She did not know to whom she would be awarded. She did not know who it would be whom she would have to serve, who it would be to whom she would belong! The poor, soft, helpless chained thing! How callous and stupid are men! Too, I like she, as fortunes shifted in the matches, as points were won and-lost, was torn back and forth in my conjectures and anticipations. Doubtless the men in the audience were intent on the bouts, observing the styles and skills of the contestants, tallying points, and assessing the play. Surely they seemed to have little mind for the chained prize. Surely they seemed eager to applaud, striking their left shoulders, particularly fine a thrusts or particularly tight, fierce passages. I, on the other hand, I am sure, tended to see the bouts rather differently. self at him like a tart, and had been rejectedl How could I have done that? Was I only a little tart, or was I a desperate, needful woman, one who had dared to be true to her needs?

How I hated him! I was a Tatrix, a Tatrix! He was only a soldier, a mere guard! I had power. I could have my vengeance on himl I could tell Liguribus that he bad become fresh with me, that he had dared to try to kiss me. Surely he might be broken in rank for that, or whipped, or even slain! I wondered why he had not kissed me. Was il because I was a Tatrix? But I did not think that that thought, momentous though it might be, would have deterred a man such as Drusus Rencius. Was it then because I was not sufficiently attractive? Perhaps. But on Earth I bad been thought to be very pretty. Too, Miles of Argenturn had speculated that I might bring as much as even a silver tarsk in a market. Was it then because I was free? Were Gorean men spoiled for free women by those collared, curvacious little sluts they had crawling about their feet, desperately eager to please them?

Given such luscious alternatives it was natural enough, I supposed, that men would see little point in subjecting them-selves to the inconvenience, frustration and pain of relating to a free woman, with her demands, inhibitions and rigidities.

Perhaps they could not be blamed for not choosing to reduce the quality of their lives in this fashion. To be sure, if slaves were not available, then it was understandable how men might relate to free women. Sexually starved, and driven by their needs, they would then be forced to make do with whatever might be available, the best in such a case perhaps being the free woman. But on Gor alternatives, real alternatives, slaves, were available. It was no wonder free women as I had beard, so bated slaves. How could they even begin to compete with a slave, those dreams come true for men? Perhaps that is it, I thought, perhaps that is why he did not kiss me.

Perhaps fie did not kiss me because I was free, or, I added, in my thinking, not truly understanding the qualification, because he thought I was free. I lay there in the darkness, in the heat of the silks. I wondered why I had made that qualification in my thinking-"because he thought I was free."

Could he have been wrong, I asked myself. Could he have been mistaken? How absurd, I thought. What could you possibly mean, I asked myself. The meaning is perfectly clear, I told myself, irritably. Are you stupid? I am a Tatrix, I cried out to myself. I am freel Of course, I am freel "Go now to the slave ring," a voice seemed to say to me. I got up and, almost as though in a trance, scarcely understanding what I was doing, went to the slave ring, that at the foot of the couch. I knelt there. "Are you positioned at the ring," the voice seemed to say. "Yes," I whimpered, to myself. "Take it in your hands, Tiffany," it said, "and kiss it." I took the heavy ring in uny hands, lifted it, and kissed it. I then put it back gently, lovingly, against the couch. I then felt it would be permissible for me to return to the couch. I crawled again upon it, to its center. "Get where you belong," said the voice, a bit impatiently. I crawled then to the bottom of the couch and lay there, near its foot, by the slave ring. I wondered if Drusus Rencius would have refused to kiss me if I had not been a free woman, but a slave. If I had been a slave, say, perhaps, a fifteen-copper-tarsk girl, that amount for which be had once suggested a slaver might let me go, I think I might have received a somewhat different treatment at his bands.

"It is fortunate for you," said the voice within me, "that Drusus does not know that you are a slave." "I am not a slave," I said, aloud. "I am not a slave!" "Remain where you are, at the foot of the couch, until morning," said the voice within me. "I will," I said, frightened. I had then fallen asleep. To my embarrassment I was still there in the morning when I awakened, Susan having entered the room. "I must have moved about in my sleep," I said to Susan. "Yes, Mistress," she had said, her head down, smiling. I had considered whipping her, but I had not done so. "What is it like, being owned, and having a master," I had later asked Susan, while being served breakfast, as though merely curious. "Consider yourself as having a master, and being owned," said Susan, "that you are totally his, and that he may do with you, fully, whatever he wants." I shuddered. "it is like that," she said, "only it is real." "I see," I had whispered.

I stood on the riser, behind the parapet.

"I hear it again," I said, "that sound, as of metal, from within your cloak. What is it?"

"Nothing," he said.

On Gor my entire mind and body, in the fullness of its femininity, had come alive, but yet, in spite of my new vitality and health, I was in many ways keenly miserable and unfulfilled. On Earth, in its pollutions, surrounded by its crippled males and frustrated women, exposed to its antibiological education and conditionings, subjected to the perversions of unisex, denying their sexuality in its fullness to both sexes, the nature of the emptiness in my life, and its causes, had been, in effect, concealed from me. I had not even been given categories in terms of which I might understand it.

Where I bad needed reality and truth I had, been given only lies, propaganda and false values. Here on Gor, on the other hand, I*was becoming deeply in touch with "my femininity. as keenly and deeply, never on Never on Earth had I felt it Earth had I been so deeply sensitive to it, so much aware of its needs, delicacy and depth. But here on Gor I was clearly aware of my lack of fulfillment, instead of, as on Earth, usually only vaguely or obscurely aware of it. What had been an almost unlocalizable malaise on Earth, except at certain times when, to my horror, I had understood it more clearly, on Gor had become a reasonably clearly focused problem. On Earth it had been as though I was miserable and uncomfortable without, often, really knowing why, whereas on Gor I, bad suddenly become aware that I was terribly hungry. Moreover, on Gor, for the first time, so to speak, I had discovered the nature of food, that food for which I so sorely hungered, and the exact conditions, the exclusive conditions, perhaps so humiliating and degrading to me, yet exalting, under which it might be obtained. Such thoughts I usually thrust quickly from my mind.

"You are right, Drusus," I said, suddenly. "Slaves are unimportant. They are nothing."

"Of course," be said. "But what has brought this to mind?"

"A conversation I had this morning with that little chit of a slave, Susan." "Ob," be said.

"It is unimportant," I said.

He nodded.

"Do you know her?" I asked.

"I have seen her, yes, several times," be said.

"What do you think she would bring?" I asked.

"She is a curvaceous little property," be said, "and seems to understand herself well, and the fittingness of the collar on her beck."

"Yes?" I said.

"Three tarsks, perhaps," he said.

"So little?" I asked, pleased.

"Three silver tarsks, of course," said he.

"Oh," I said, angrily.

"There is little doubt what she would look like at the slave ring," he said, "and, too, she has doubtless received some training."

I did not doubt but what Susan, the little slut, had received sonic training. There was not a detail about her which did not seem, in its way, a perfection. This morning she had again, in entering my quarters, discovered me near the foot of the couch. Usually, early in the morning, before she entered, I would try to be elsewhere.

"I do not know what is wrong with me," I confessed to her, desperately needing someone to talk to, as she served my breakfast. "I sometimes feel so empty, so miserable, so uncomfortable, so meaningless, so restless."

"Yes, Mistress," she had said, deferentially.

"I just do not know what is wrong with me," I had lamented.

"No, Mistress," she had said.

"You," I said, "on the other hand, seem contrastingly content and serene, even fulfilled and happy."

"Perhaps, Mistress," she smiled.

"What is wrong with me?" I asked.

"Your symptoms are clear, Mistress," she said.

"Oh?" I said.

"I have seen them in many women," she said.

"And just what is wrong with me?" I asked, irritably.

"I would prefer not to speak," she said.

"Speak!" I had said.

"Must IT' she asked.

"Yesl" I said.

"Mistress needs a master," she said.

"Get outl" I bad screamed, leaping to my feet, kicking aside the small table, sobbing. "Get outl Get outt"

The girl had fled from the room, terrified.

I bad sobbed then in the room, and thrown things about and run to the wall, and struck it with my fists, weeping.

"No!" I bad cried. "That is stupid, stupidl She is wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!"

Only later had I been able to wash and compose myself, and prepare to accompany Drusus Rencius to the height of the walls, to enjoy the view, as we had planned. I had recalled that he had not, initially, wished to take me to the walls, and then, rather suddenly, it had seemed, had agreed to do so.

"I am a larger woman than Susan," I informed Drusus Rencius, on the wall, acidly. "I am taller, and my breasts are larger, and my hips are wider." "These things being equal, such things might somewhat improve your price," he admitted "I scorn slaves," I said. "I despise them."

"Quite properly," said he.

I looked out, over the wall.

How pleased I was that I was freel How frightful, how terrible, it would be, to be a slave!

"Is Lady Sheila crying?" he asked.

"No!" I said.

I fought the wild needs within me, seeming to well up from my very depths, needs which seemed to be to surrender, to submit and love, totally. irreservedly, giving all, asking nothing. How superficial, suddenly, seemed then the dispositions to selfishness and egotism in me. From whence could these other emotions, so overwhelming within me, have derived, I asked myself. Surely they, frightening me in their way, seemed directly at odds with the Earth conditionings which I had been subjected. I feared they could have their source only in the very depths of my nature and being.

I dabbed at my eyes with the corner of my veil. "I am not crying," I said, "It is the wind." I then turned about, to look back from the wall over the city of Corcyrus. "Here," I said. "That is better."

The tarns on their perches were now on my left.

I looked over the roofs of Corcyrus. I could see, among trees, the various theaters, and the stadium. I could see the palace from where we stood. I could see, too, some of the gardens, and the-roof of the library, on the avenue of lphicrates.

"The city is beautiful," I said.

"Yes," he said, joining me in surveying it.

I was in love with the Gorean world,-though I found it in some ways rather fearful, primarily, I suppose, because it permitted female slavery.

I wondered if Susan were right, if J needed a master. Then I put such thoughts from my mind, as absurd.

I was not a cringing, groveling slave, a girl locked in a collar, who must hope that some brute might see fit to throw her a crust of bread. I was quite different. I was a woman of Earth. I was proud and free. Indeed, on this world I even enjoyed a particularly exalted status, one a thousand times beyond that of my imboDded sisters in the city below. I was a Tatrixl I looked down from the wall, over the many roofs of Corcyrus.

Why was Susan happy, and I miserable? She was only a collared slave. I was free. I surveyed Corcyrus. In the Gorean world, and I sometimes still had difficulty coping with this comprehension, female slavery was permitted. How horrifying! Yet something deeply within me, undeniably, was profoundly stirred and excited by this comprehension. This stirring within me troubled me. It did not seem to be a response which I had been taught.

"There is the palace," said Drusus Rencius, pointing.

"I see," I said.

Given the sovereignty of males in nature, general among the mammals and universal among the primates, it was natural enough, I supposed, that in a civilization congenial to nature, rather than in one opposed to it, that an institution such as female slavery might exist. This might be regarded as the civilized expression of the biological relationship, a recognition of that relationship, and perhaps an enhancement, riefinement and celebration of it, and, within the context of custom and law, of course, a clarification and consolidation of it. But why, I asked myself, irritatedly, should a civilization be congenial to nature? Is it not far better, I asked my self, for a civilization to contradict and frustrate nature; is it not far better for it to deny and subvert nature; is it not far better for it to blur natural distinctions and CODfUse identities; is it not far better for it, ignoring human happiness and fulfillment, to produce anxiety, guilt, frustration, misery and pain?

"There is the theater of Kleitos," said Drusus Rencius, "the library, the stadium."

"Yes," I said.

But whatever might be the truth about such matters, or the optimum ways of viewing them, female slavery, on Gor, was a fact. There were, as I had long ago learned, slaves here. I looked out, over the city. In the city, within these very walls, there were women, perhaps not much different from myself, in collars, who were literally held in categorical, uncompromised bondage. I had seen several of them, in their distinctive garb, in their collars. I had even seen one who, naked and in her collar, had been locked in an iron belt. Such women were owned, literally owned, with all that that might mean.

"There, where you see the trees," said Drusus Rencius, "is the garden of Antisthenes."

"How many slave girls do you suppose there are in Corcyrus?" I asked, as though idly. do not know," he said. "Probably several hundred. We do not count them." "Do such women seem happy?" I asked.

"As they are only slaves," said Drusus Rencius, "their feelings and happiness are unimportant."

Of course," I said. Men arie such brutest How helpless are the slavesl "There, where you see the trees," said Drusus Rencius, again, "is the garden of Antisthenes."

"Yes," I said. We had visited it twice. It was there, on our second visit, that I had first tried to entice Drusus Rencius to kiss me. The second time had been after we had witnessed the fencing matches. I had been rejected both times. I wondered if I would have been rejected had I been a collared slave. To be sure, he might have made "me whimper and beg for his kiss.

I rejected an impulse to kneel before Drusus Rencius. How I hated himl