Kajira of Gor

35 I Am Proven a Natural Slave Before Drusus Rencius, Whom I Love; The Silver Tarsk

"Here," said Drusus Reticius, angrily, to Publius, of house of Kliomenes. I jerked the bit of slave silk tightly, defensively, about body, and backed from the soldier.

I could not help responding as I had!

"It is as I told you, long ago, in Corcyrus," smiled Publius "Yes," said Drusus Rencius. He then placed a silver tarsk in the hand of Publius.

"Do not withdraw, Slave," said Publius to me.

"Yes, Master," I said, and knelt; on the broad stair lea(up to the serving dais in the private dining room in palace at Argentum.

"It is not wise to wager against a slaver in such matters said Publius. "We can tell such matters at a glance."

"I had thought, then, at least, that she was different," Drusus Rencius. "She is too vital and healthy, and has too strong drive be different," said Publius.

I knelt on the broad stair, embarrassed, holding the silk about me. On this same stair, and on the floor below, on the surface of the dais itself, before the long, low, table, I had been ordered to writhe, to the music. Then I been ordered to stand, my knees flexed, with my hands clasped behind my neck. Then a soldier had been ordered feel me. I had jerked and almost screamed from his touch. The man had smelled his hand, and laughed. is "You are right," had said Drusus Rencius to Publius, a slave, and a natural one."

"Yes," had said Publius.

I put down my head and stared, angrily, at the carpeting on the stair. I had known for months, of course, that I was a natural slave. It is not hard for a woman to know this. It can be made clear to her in many ways, for example, from dreams and fantasies, and from wishes, desires and needs. It is one thing for a woman to know this, of course, and quite another for her to find it made the subject of a public demonstration.

"You see," said Publius, "is it not as I told you?"

"Yes," granted Drusus Rencius, good-naturedly.

I looked down, almost in tears, a proven natural slave. How unworthy I was of Drusus Rencius!

"May I withdraw, Masters?" I asked.

"No," said Publius. "Continue with your service, Sheila."

"Yes, Master," I said, and rose to my feet. In a few moments, again, I was serving the men, bringing them food and drink, seemingly as though nothing had happened.

This matter went back to the time when I was a free woman, and had been taken for a tour to the house of Kliomenes by Drusus Rencius. In Publius's office he had made the wager, while I knelt in the light to one side. Drusus Rencius had accepted it.

"Cakes, Masters?" I asked, kneeling near them, proffering them the tray. "Yes," said Drusus Rencius.

"Yes," said Publius.

Drusus Rencius and Publius did not have slaves of their own in Argentum. Susan and I had been volunteered by our master, Miles of Argentum, to serve them. With a movement of Publius's finger, I was dismissed from the side of their table. I replaced the tray of tiny cakes on the nearby serving table.

Susan then approached the diners. "Black wine, Masters?' she asked.

"Yes," said Drusus Rencius.

"Yes," said Publius.

Susan then turned to me and snapped her fingers. "Sheila," she called. "Yes, Mistress," I said. I took the vessel of black wine, removing it from its warmer, and put it on its tray, that already bearing the tiny cups, the creams and sugars, the spices, the napkins and spoons. I then carried the tray, with the black wine, hot and steaming, to the table and put it down there. Susan then, as "first slave," took the orders and did the measuring and mixing; I, as "second slave," did the pouring. Afterward I returned the tray to the serving table, and the vessel of black wine to its warmer I then joined Susan, kneeling beside her in the vicinity of the serving table.

"When it comes time to serve the liqueurs," said Susan, "you will serve those of Cos and Ar, and I will serve those of Turia."

"Yes, Mistress," I said. The liqueurs of Turia are usually regarded as the best, but I think this is largely a matter of taste. Those of Cos and of Ar, and of certain other cities, are surely very fine.

I had little doubt that Drusus Rencius, of Ar, and Publius, at least once of Ar, would prefer those of their own city. Susan, I suspected, knowing my feelings for Drusus Rencius, was trying to be kind, giving me the liqueur that he was almost certain to choose. On the other hand, did she not know that now I could scarcely bear to face him, that I, only Ehn ago, had been proven before him to be a natural slave!

"You are not a free woman," whispered Susan. "Suppose the men look this way. Get those knees apart!"

"Yes, Mistress," I said. Susan was younger and smaller than I but she, having seniority over me among the women of Miles of Argentum, was dominant over me. I must obey her as though she owned me, as though she was my Mistress. In such ways is order kept among slaves. It is in accord with the precisions and perfections of Gorean discipline. But the men did not soon call for their liqueurs. Twice more, rather, talking and sipping, did they call for black wine, and twice more did two slaves, Susan and Sheila, serve it to them. Eventually it grew late, and the musicians were permitted to withdraw.

Still the men drank and talked.

"Why are you crying?" asked Susan.

"It is nothing," I said. I gasped, and half choked. I held back sobs. I restrained my tears. I wiped my eyes with slave silk.

Before the man I loved I had been stripped to the core. The one thing I had desired most fervently to conceal from him, above all men, bad been made clear to him. My secret Was revealed. My deepest and most secret self had been casually disrobed and displayed for his consideration. I had been publicly proven, before the man I loved, to be utterly worthless. I had been publicly proven to be a natural slave.

"They are ready for their liqueurs," whispered Susan.

We then brought them to them, on the two small trays.

"Liqueurs, Masters?" asked Susan.

"Liqueurs, Masters?' I asked.

"Yes," said Dertisus Heneius.

"'Yes," said Publius.

Publius, to my surprise, selected a liqueur of Turia. "Those of Turia are the best," he said to Drusus Rencius, smiling, almost apologetically.

"Perhaps," smiled Drusus Rencius, "but I prefer those of Ar."

"In the judgment of liqueurs," said Publius, "'patriotism is out of place." "I have never confused objectivity with municipal pride," responded Drusus Rencius.

"Perhaps," said Publius. "But you also thought that this Woman was not a natural slave."

"That is true," laughed Drusus Rencius.

I looked at the silver tarsk oil the table near Publius. It seemed very large and very heavy. It glinted softly in the light. I could see, the light, a dark, crescentlike shadow on one side about its rim, oil the wood. He had not yet placed it in his pouch. He had won it from Drusus Rencius.

"Look at me, Slave," said Drusus Rencius.

I struggled to lift my head. I met his eyes. Then I lowered my head, ashamed. "I was wrong about you," he said.

"Yes, Master," I whispered.

"You are indeed a natural slave," be said, "and an obvious one." "Yes, Master," I said.

I looked again at the coin near Publius. Drusus Rencius had made a wager. He had lost the wager. He had lost the bet.

"You may leave, Slaves," said Publius.

"Thank you, Master," said Susan.

"Thank you, Master," I said. Then I turned and fled from the room, sobbing. Behind the I heard Publius laughing, a great, roaring laugh. He was well pleased, it seemed. Doubtless he should have been. He had won his bet.