Magicians of Gor

25 Bracelets and Shackles

"So," shrieked Appanius, "this is how you betray me!"

Lavinia had screamed when the net had descended, and the slave with her had cried out in dismay.

An instant or so before I had seen the face of Appanius grow livid with rage at the observation portal and he had seized at the wooden lever and thrown it, dropping the net with its weights over the couch. Almost at the same time, weeping with misery and rage, he had rushed into the front room, his staff raised, followed by his four retainers, all seemingly sharing their employer's wrath and indignation, as befitted such fellows. I myself had not had an opportunity, nor had Marcus, of utilizing the observation portals, of which there were two, the first of which had been commanded by Appanius, and the second by his chief retainer. I had not, accordingly, been able to see what was going on in the front room.

Almost instantly however I, Marcus behind me, had rushed to the front room. There clinging together, terrified, helpless, entrapped in the toils of the net, threatened by the staffs of Appanius and his retainers, were the slave and Lavinia.

"Treacherous, treacherous slave!" wept Appanius.

I saw the two slaves within the heavy toils of the net, the reticulated pattern of cords close about them. He kept his arms about her. Both were naked.

"Treacherous slave!" screamed Appanius.

Marcus looked at me, and grinned. He was not surprised at this. I, on the other hand, was. It had been my anticipation that Lavinia would have to do all this by herself, get her clothing off and cling to him, presumably by the door, he fully clothed, and hope to convince Appanius that their presence together was by mutual arrangement, and indicative of mutual interest and desire. On the other hand, I found her in the center of the room, on the couch itself, in his arms. Saving for being on a couch instead of on furs on the floor she might have been any alcove slut in a paga tavern. The short cloak and tunic had been hastily removed. The cloak had apparently been slipped off, and dropped behind her, to reveal her shoulders and tunic. The position of her tunic suggested she had dropped it, doubtless by means of the disrobing loop, about her ankles, and then stepped from it. I suspected she had then entered his arms, and that he had then, a little later, lifted her up and carried her to the couch.

"You have betrayed me!" wept Appanius.

Marcus looked at me, puzzled. I shrugged. If I had been wrong about one thing, it seemed to me only fair if Marcus might be wrong about another.

"Traitorous slave!" wept Appanius.

Lavinia's body was a mass of contradictory colorations. Appanius but moments before it had been red with excitement, love and yielding, and had then, in the sudden surprise and shame of her discovery, flushed scarlet, blushing literally from head to tow, and then, almost instantly later, in the tumult, had begun in terror to drain of color, she suddenly realizing that she was now a discovered slave, a vulnerable, caught girl, apprehended in a situation of great compromise by a man such as Appanius, her former master. Once before, as I understood it, for so little as timidly touching a certain slave she had been sent to the fields. Now she had been discovered naked in his arms.

"How could you have done this to me?" wailed Appanius.

Lavinia's nipples were still erected. They were very lovely.

"How could you do this to me?" begged Appanius.

The male slave did not respond to these questions.

I thought that Lavinia was exquisite, naked, collared, in the net. I had once told her she could make a rock sizzle. Surely that was true.

"How! How!" demanded Appanius.

Lavinia was very exciting in the net. I felt like pulling her out and using her myself.

"Surely it is not hard to understand," said Marcus. "She is very pretty." I did not think that this was a judicious remark on his part, but then who am I to judge?

"Master, no, Master!" cried the male slave.

Appanius then, with a cry of rage, seizing his staff with both hands, struck down with it, smiting the male slave on the shoulder. He then, again and again, struck him, about the back and shoulders.

The female slave began to sob and it seemed she would try, within the net, to put her body between that of the male slave and the lashing staff, but he turned her forcibly, away from the staff, holding himself over her, sheltering her. I found this of interest. Seven or eight times the slave received heavy blows from the staff. In a moment there were long, dark welts on his body. There were the only marks on his body. I gathered he might have been a pampered slave. Appanius then seemed to realize that he was sheltering the girl and, angered by this, he rushed about, to strike, too, at her, but, again, the fellow turned, in the net, sheltering her. "No!" he said. As Appanius, crying out again with rage, again attempted to circle about, so that he could strike the girl, the fellow became tangled in the net and could no longer protect her. "It is my fault!" he cried. "I am to blame!" he cried. "Do not strike her!" he begged. Appanius then, in fury, jabbed at Lavinia, and she cried out, hurt. "No!" wept the fellow. "Do not hurt her!" Appanius drew back the staff again to thrust at Lavinia, but then I managed to get my hands on it, and held it back, away from the slaves. Appanius could not wrest it from my hands. He sobbed with frustration. His retainers neither used their staffs to punish the two slaves nor came to the assistance of their employer. I think this might have been because of their sensing the mood of Marcus, that he was more than ready to spill blood. Indeed, although they would not know this, it was even his plan to leave the city this evening. "You see," I said to Appanius. "I was right."

"She seduced him!" screamed Appanius.

"Nonsense," I said, though to be sure a candid observer might have admitted that there might be some sense to Appanius' asservation.

"Appanius!" said the male slave.

"Do nor dare speak my name to me," he wept, "slave!"

"Forgive me, Master!" said the slave.

I released the staff of Appanius, as the slave had dared to address the master by the master's name. To be sure, he might have become accustomed to doing so in the past but that was no excuse for permitting such boldness in the future. It was time the slave learned his condition, and was taken in hand.

Five times then the master struck the slave, and tears pressed from between the eyelids of the punished slave.

"Please, Master," wept Lavinia, "do not let him so strike him!"

"Did you not hear?" I asked. "He used the master's name to him. He is to be beaten as an errant slave."

"Mater!" she wept.

"Be silent, slave girl," I said.

"Yes, Master," she wept.

Twice more the staff fell on the male slave, who now shuddered in the net. Appanius, too, interestingly, was weeping. He then raised his staff against Lavinia.

I held the staff. "No," I said. "Her discipline is mine."

"I should have sent her out of the city on the first night I owned her," he said, "after having cut off her ears and nose."

Lavinia shuddered in the arms of the male slave.

"She is not yours," I said. "She is mine."

"Seductrix!" he said to her.

She made herself as small as she could, in the net.

"If you had listened carefully," I said, "you would have heard your slave admit his guilt in this matter. Clearly he turned the head of my little Lavinia."

"Look at her!" cried Appanius. "See the sleek, curvaceous little thing, naked, in her collar! Do you truly think she is guiltless in this matter?"

"Perhaps she is a little to blame, or, at any rate, her wanton, owned slave curves."

"Look there," said Appanius. "See the wine, the sweets, on the table, there, beside the couch? Do you doubt that this has been arranged?"

"That is an interesting point," I said.

"Slut!" said Appanius.

"Yes, Master!" she said.

"These things," he said, "or the moneys with which they were purchased, did they come from the resources of your master?"

"Yes, Master," whispered Lavinia.

"See!" said Appanius.

"Yes," I said.

"Forgive me, Master!" said Lavinia to me.

"Do you doubt her guilt now?" asked Appanius.

"No," I said.

"It is I who am wholly guilty," said the male slave.

"He spoke without permission," I said. "Also, in the light of your point, he has lied."

Appanius then, as Lavinia wept, struck the male slave twice more with his staff for speaking without permission, and twice again, for lying.

He moaned in the net, beaten.

"Get him out of the net," said Appanius, angrily, "and chain him."

In a moment the male slave lay on his stomach on the furs, chained, hand and foot. A heavy collar, too, was locked on his neck. To this was attached a chain leash. He was then drawn from the couch and put on his knees, at the feet of his master. Lavinia, still under the net, knelt to one side on the couch. I went to her and extricated her from the net, dropping it to the side. She then, frightened, wide-eyed, knelt near me.

"Master?" she asked, looking up.

"Be silent," I said.

"My Milo, my Milo!" wept Appanius, looking down at the much-beaten slave. "The most beautiful slave in Ar! My beloved slave! My beloved Milo!"

"He has betrayed you," said one of the retainers.

"How could you do it?" asked Appanius. "Have I not been good to you? Have I not been kind? Have you wanted for anything? Have I not given you everything?" The slave kept his head down. I think he was sick, and I did not much blame him. He had taken a fearful beating. His back and shoulders were covered with welts. I did not think that anything had been broken. I wondered if he had ever been beaten before. Perhaps not. I myself have doubtless been responsible for a few of those blows, but then they had been appropriately administered. His behavior, after all, had contained errors.

"He is an ungrateful slave," said another of the retainers.

"Send him to the fields," said one of the retainers.

"Sell him," said another.

"Make him an example to others," said the first retainer.

"We can fine you a better, Appanius," said another.

"One even more beautiful," said one.

"And one with appropriate dispositions," said another.

"And he, too, if you wish, can be trained as an actor and performer," said another.

Marcus looked at me, puzzled. He did not really follow this conversation. I did not react to his look.

"What shall I do with him?" asked Appanius.

"Let all your slaves learn that they are your slaves," said one of the retainers.

"Speak clearly," said Appanius.

"Rid yourself of him," whispered the fellow.

"Yes," said another.

Appanius looked down at the chained slave.

I now had some understanding of the jealousy of the retainers for the slave. The slave had doubtless enjoyed too much power in the house, too much favor with the master. They were eager to bring him down.

"How?" asked Appanius.

"He has been unfaithful to you," said a retainer.

"He had made a fool of you, with a woman," said another.

This remark seemed to have its effect with Appanius.

"If this gets out, you will be a laughing stock in Ar," said another.

I doubted this. It is natural enough for a male slave to have an eye for female slaves, and it is not unusual for a female slave to occasionally, say, find herself taken advantage of by such a fellow. To be sure, it is much more dangerous for a male slave to accost a female slave than for a free man to do so. Unauthorized uses of female slaves are almost always by free men. They have little, or nothing, to fear, for the girls are only slaves. The masters, if they are concerned about such things, may put the girls in the iron belt, particularly if they are sending them on late errands, or into disreputable neighborhoods.

Appanius seemed to be becoming angry.

I looked at the slave. His hands were manacled closely behind his back. The chains on his ankles would hardly permit him to walk. The chain leash dangled to the floor, where it lay in a rough coil.

"So, Milo," said Appanius, "you would make of me a laughing stock?"

"No, Master," said the slave.

"One can well imagine him laughing about how he betrayed you with a woman," said one of the retainers.

"It will be the whip, and close chains for you, Milo!" said Appanius.

"No," said one of the retainers. "Let him serve as an example to all such slaves as he!"

"Yes!" said another retainer.

"Let it be the eels!" said another.

"Yes!" said the fourth.

"No!" screamed Lavinia. "No!" She leaped to her feet and ran to Milo, to kneel beside him, holding him, weeping. She turned to Appanius. "No, no, please!" she wept. "No! Please!"

I took her by the hair and threw her back, away from Milo, to the floor, where she scrambled to her knees and, tears in her eyes, frantic, regarded us. Many estates, particularly country homes, have pools in which fish are kept. Some of these pools contains voracious eels, of various sorts, river eels, black eels, the spotted eel, and such, which are Gorean delicacies. Needless to say a bound slave, cast into such a pool, will be eaten alive.

I looked closely at Appanius. He was white-faced. As I had suspected, he was not enthusiastic about this proposal.

"It must be the eels," said the first retainer.

"Nothing less will expunge the blot upon your honor," said another.

"What blot?" said Appanius, suddenly, lightly.

The retainers regarded him, speechless.

"What is it to my honor," asked Appanius, "if I have been betrayed by an ungrateful, worthless slave? It is scarcely worth noting."

"Appanius!" said the first retainer.

"Do you wish to buy a slave?" asked Appanius of me, as though lightly. But I saw that he was desperate in this matter. Indeed, I was touched. His problem was a difficult one. He wanted to save both his honor and the life of the slave. As outraged as he might be, as angry, as terribly hurt as he was, even as sensitive of his honor as I supposed he might be, he was trying to save the slave. I was startled by this. Indeed, it seemed he might care for him, truly. That development I had not anticipated. I had thought that things would have worked out much more simply. I had expected him to be outraged with Milo and be ready, in effect, to kill him, at which point I was prepared to intervene, with a princely offer. If he were rational, and the offer was attractive enough, as it could be, as I had a fortune in gold with me, I could obtain the slave. That is the way I had anticipated things would proceed. If Appanius would not sell Milo, then I could simply keep Appanius, and the others, with the exception of Milo, bound and gagged somewhere, say, in the pantry in the back, and use Milo, still the slave of Appanius, to achieve my objective in a slightly different fashion, one then merely involving two steps rather than one. If he would not sell Milo, certainly he would be willing to sell another, one who might, for a time at least, be too dangerous to acknowledge, too dangerous to free, too dangerous to keep.

"Perhaps," I said.

"I have one for sale," said Appanius.

"No, Appanius!" said the first retainer.

"He is cheap," said Appanius, bitterly.

"How much?" I asked.

"He is the cheapest of the cheap," said Appanius, bitterly.

"Do not sell him, Appanius!" said the first retainer.

"He is the most valuable slave in all Ar!" said another.

"To me," said Appanius, "he is worth less than the lowest pot girl."

"How much do you want," I asked, warily. I had some forty-five pieces of gold with me.

"He is worthless," said Appanius. "He should be cast away."

"Throw him to the eels, Appanius," whispered the first retainer.

"No," said Appanius, "rather let him know my estimate of his worth."

"How much do you want?" I asked.

"A tarsk bit," said Appanius.

The retainers cried out with horror. The slave looked up, startled, trembling. Lavinia gasped.

"A tarsk bit," repeated Appanius.

The slave wept in shame, and jerked at the manacles in frustration. But he could not free himself. Well were his hands confined behind him.

"I think I can afford that," I said.

"That is the most valuable slave in Ar!" said one of the retainers.

"No," said Appanius. "It is the most worthless slave in Ar."

I removed a tarsk bit from my wallet and gave it to Appanius.

"He is yours," said Appanius.

The tarsk bit is the smallest denomination coin in common circulation in most Gorean cities.

"You do not mind filling out certain pertinent papers, do you? I asked. I had brought some sets of such papers with me.

"Common slave papers?" he asked.

"Yes," I said.

"It is not necessary," said one of the retainers.

"Not at all," said Appanius. "You do not have an appropriate collar at hand, I gather."

"No," I said.

"If I am not mistaken," said Marcus, "ink and a pen are in the back."

"Interesting," I said. To be sure, they had been here when he had scouted the compartments. Doubtless they had been used before, in the course of Appanius' acquiring new slaves. Slave papers, too, were in the back, although I had brought my own. Hoods, gags, ropes, and such, were in the back, too.

"Give me the papers," said Appanius.

I handed him a set.

"I will fill these out in the back, and you, Lucian, will witness them."

"Yes, Appanius," said one of the retainers, dismally.

"You will wish to bind him," said Appanius.

"No," I said. "If he attempts to escape, his throat will be cut."

"Remove his slave bracelet, and his chains," said Appanius.

"Yes, Appanius," said the fellow.

"I foolishly neglected to have him branded," said Appanius.

"I have noted it," I said.

"As he is a cheap and common slave," said Appanius, "I would have him put under the iron before nightfall."

"I shall consider the suggestion," I said.

Appanius went to the back, to complete the papers.

The slave looked up at me while the retainers removed his chains, and the identificatory slave bracelet, of silver, which he had worn on his left wrist. The retainer also gathered up his clothing, the golden sandals, the purple tunic, the robe, with the hood. Such things I had not purchased. I had, however, anticipated such things, and had brought, among several other things, some suitable garments with me, from the insula of Torbon.

"To whom do you belong?" I asked.

"To you, Master," he said.

"Remain on your knees, slave," I said.

"Yes, Master," he said.

Lavinia looked wildly at me, and then at the slave. And he looked at her, and at me. They both knew that they were now of the same household. They both knew that they not belonged to the same master.

In a few moments Appanius and I had concluded our business. The papers had been signed, and witnessed.

Appanius, returned to the front room, looked down at the male slave. "Do you wish to beg the forgiveness of your former master for what you have done?" he asked.

"No, Master," said the slave. "Not for what I have done."

"I see," said Appanius.

"But I beg your forgiveness, if I have hurt you," he said. "That was not my intention."

"As I have not been hurt," said Appanius, "no forgiveness is necessary."

"Yes, Master," said the slave.

"I see that you are at last learning deference," said Appanius.

"Yes, Master," said the slave. "Thank you, Master."

Appanius then turned toward Lavinia. "You are a pretty slut," he said.

She threw herself to her belly before him, in terror. She looked well there, on the tiles, naked, the collar on her neck.

Appanius, then, with a swirl of his robes, exited. He was followed by two of his retainers. The other two lingered, momentarily. Among them was the first retainer. "We have spoken among ourselves, the four of us," he said. "We will give you a silver tarsk for Milo."

"You are very generous," I said. "That is a considerable profit for me."

"You accept?" he asked.

"No," I said.

"Why not?" he asked.

"There are free women in Ar," I said, "who would pay a thousand pieces of gold for him."

The two retainers exchanged glances. It seemed I knew more of this fellow then they had understood.

"Could you have afforded that much, Lavinia?" I asked.

"No, Master," she said. "I could not have afforded that much."

"Position," I snapped.

Instantly Lavinia rose from her belly to her knees, placing herself in a position common among Gorean pleasure slaves, kneeling back on heels, back straight, head up, palms down on thighs, knees spread.

The male slave, gasped, seeing how beautiful she was, and how she obeyed. Perhaps then he sensed something of the pleasures of the mastery, what it can be to own a woman.

"Do you dare to look at a female slave?" I asked him.

"Forgive me, Master!" he said, lowering his head. Much had it doubtless cost him to avert his eyes from the beauty.

"What of ten thousand pieces of gold?" asked the first retainer.

"You have so much?" I asked.

"I think we can raise it, forming a company to do so," he said.

"I do not think you could raise it in Ar today," I said. "Perhaps a year ago, or two years ago."

"We have in mind contacting men in several cities," he said, "even in Tyros and Cos."

"So much money would pay the mercenaries of Cos for a year," I said.

"Perhaps," he said. "I do not know."

"Not even Talena, in a golden collar, would bring so much," I said.

"But she is a female," he said.

Actually I thought Talena might bring that much, not as a common slave, of course, but perhaps in some situation of great dignity, as, say, a stripped, chained Ubara, being bid on in a private sale, perhaps by the agents of Chenbar, the Sea Sleen, Ubar of Tyros, and Lurius of Jad, Ubar of Cos. It was my intention, of course, to see to it that she would become such that it would be unfitting for her to be accorded this dignity.

"That is your price then?" asked the other retainer.

"He is not for sale," I said.

"I see," said the first retainer.

"You will not get more," said the other.

"I do not expect to," I said.

"Appanius would not sell him either," said the first retainer to the other. "But he did," I reminded him, "for a tarsk bit."

The two retainers then, angrily, left. They left in the same fashion as had Appanius, and the other two, by the front entrance.

"What time do you think it is?" I asked Marcus.

"It is surely past the sixth Ahn," he said. The fifth Ahn marks the midpoint of the morning, betwixt the Gorean midnight and noon, as the fifteenth Ahn marks the midpoint of the evening, between noon and midnight. There are twenty Ahn in the Gorean day, as time is figured in the high cities. These Ahn, in the high cities, are of equal length. In certain cities, interestingly, the length of the Ahn depends on the time of year. In these cities, there are ten Ahn in the day, and ten Ahn in the night, and, as the days are longer in the summer and shorter in the winter, so, too, are the Ahn. Correspondingly, of course, the Ahn are shorter in the summer night, and longer in the winter night. The day as a whole, of course, including both day Ahn and night Ahn, comes out to the same overall length as it would in one of the high cities.

I looked down at the male slave.

"You do not look well," I said.

"I am sick, Master," he said.

He had taken a splendid drubbing, to be sure.

"Do you think that what has occurred here this morning is unaccountable?" I asked.

"Master?" he asked.

"That this is all a matter of chance, and unexpected?" I asked.

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

"It is not," I informed him. "You have been acquired as the result of a plan." He looked at me, startled.

"You have been seduced," I said, "that you would be brought into circumstances of great compromise, circumstances the outcome of which would be to bring you to your present condition, as my slave."

"Aii," he wept.

"The female slave, of course," I said, "was acting under my orders."

He looked at Lavinia.

"Have you received permission to look at her?" I asked.

Quickly he averted his eyes.

"You may look at her," I informed him.

He turned to Lavinia, stricken.

"May I speak?" he begged.

"Yes," I said.

"Do you not care for me?" he asked the slave.

"She had not received permission to speak," I informed him.

Lavinia looked at me, pleadingly, her lower lip trembling. I would permit her to speak later.

"She is pretty, isn't she? I asked.

"Yes, Master," he said, in misery.

"She is a seduction slave," I said.

Lavinia sobbed, and shook her head. A tear coursed down her cheek.

"Are you not, Lavinia?" I asked.

"Yes, Master," she sobbed.

"You should not object to this," I informed the male slave.

"You yourself, often enough, if I am not mistaken, have acted in the role of the seduction slave. Surely it is only fair that the tables have now been turned, and that it is you, so to speak, who now finds himself in the net."

He could not take his eyes from Lavinia.

"She acted under your orders?" he said.

"Of course," I said.

He moaned.

"And is there not a rich joke her," I asked, "for, as I understand it, it was you who, as a seduction slave, were responsible for first bringing her pretty little neck into the collar. It is not only fitting then that it be she, now a slave, whom I used for your acquisition?"

"Yes, Master," he said.

"Doubtless she finds her triumph rich and amusing," I said.

"Please, Master, may I speak?" begged Lavinia.

"No," I said.

She sobbed.

"You did your work well, pretty little seduction slave," I said to her.

"Please, Master!" she begged.

"No," I said.

"I had hoped you cared for me," he said.

She threw back her head in anguish.

"I had hoped you cared for me," he said. "I had never forgotten you!"

She looked wildly at him.

"You seemed so tender, so real, so helpless!" he said.

"Surely, as one who has had, as I understand it, experience on the stage," I said, "you can understand such things."

"She was responsive!" he said.

"She had better have been," I said. "Indeed, slave girls are trained to helpless responsiveness. They can juice, for example, in a matter of Ihn."

"She responded!" he said.

"She is a slave," I said. "She has strong and recurrent needs. Indeed, she is the prisoner, and victim, of such needs. Why should she not have utilized you to temporarily satisfy them?"

"Please, Master," wept Lavinia.

"No," I said.

"Well did you trick me," he said to the girl.

She regarded him with anguish.

"I do not blame you," he said. "You must do as your master commands."

I smiled to myself, despite my remarks to the male slave, had little doubt of the genuineness of Lavinia's words, her protestation, and such. The authenticity of a slave's words and responses, of course, are attested to by numerous bodily ones, many of which are unaware of, and cannot control. A master who is alert to these can then determine, particularly over a period of time, whether or not the slave's words, feelings and responses are genuine or not. The alternatives accorded to the Gorean slave girl are, in effect, to become an authentic slave, or die. Interestingly this understanding, particularly on the part of a woman who has been the victim of an antibiological conditioning program, as some Earth females, can be received as a liberating and joyful revelation, permitting them then in good conscience to yield at least, as they have long wished, to their femininity. Most women, of course, including most Earth females brought to Gor, as slaves, for that is the usual reason for which one is brought to Gor, do not need anything of this sort. Most are so joyful to find themselves on a natural world where their beauty, their dispositions and feelings are meaningful, that they can hardly wait to fulfill their depth nature, to be at last the women they are in their hearts, and bellies, and have always desired to be.

"She is not hard to take," I said.

"No, Master," he said.

"And if you had to be seduced," I said, "surely you must not object to my using her for the purpose."

"No, Master," he said.

"Indeed," I said, "perhaps you commend my perception, and generosity."

"Yes, Master," he said.

"Now," I said, "you both belong to me."

They looked wildly at one another.

"And I expect, seduction slave," I said to the girl, "that he will be good for your discipline. If you are not pleasing, perhaps I will throw you to him."

"Yes, Master!" she said. "Chain me, and throw me to him. Let me be his to do with as he pleases!"

The male slave gasped, staggered with the thought of such power over the beauty. "But then, on the other hand," I said, "I do not know if I would permit dalliance among my slaves."

He could not but drink in the beauty of Lavinia.

"Look away from her," I commanded.

With a moan he averted his eyes.

"To be sure, I might upon occasion," I said, "let you look upon one another, each chained to an opposite wall, or perhaps I might even allow you each enough chain to approach, but not touch, one another. Too, of course, I might have you chained helplessly and then have her dance naked, in her own chains, before you, thence to be dismissed to her kennel."

He hung down his head, in misery.

"No," I said to Lavinia, reading her anguished expression. She put her palms down, again, on her thighs. Tears were upon her cheeks and breasts.

"You noted when you saw her this morning, of course," I said, "that she was not in seeming state garb."

"Of course, Master," he said.

"Nor in a collar, to be sure, one she could not remove, seemingly one of the state."

"Yes, Master," he said.

"Did this excite your curiosity?" I asked.

"No, Master," he said. "As this was the morning of the putative assignation, I supposed it might be a disguise prescribed by her Mistress, that the curious, if they saw her in this neighborhood, would not be likely to link her with the Central Cylinder."

"That was an intelligent conjecture on your part," I said.

"And doubtless one on which Master counted," he said.

"Yes," I said.

"It did excite me," he said, "to see her not in the drab state garb, but in the tunic she wore, with the disrobing loop."

"Did she drop the tunic well?" I asked.

"Yes, Master," he said. "She is a superb seduction slave."

Lavinia sobbed.

The male slave looked up at me. "I am an actor," he said. "Master does not appear to be of the theater."

"No," I said. "I am not of the theater."

"I do not understand why master has brought these things about," he said, "why he has brought me into his possession. Of what possible use can I be to master?"

"Perhaps I could sell you to the quarries, or into the fields," I said. "Perhaps I could take you to the Vosk, or the coast, and sell you to a captain. You might look well, chained to the bench of a galley."

"I do not think it was for such purposes that master purchased me," he said. "You think you are valuable?" I asked.

"Surely master thinks so," he said. "I heard master himself conjecture that there were free women in Ar who would pay a thousand pieces of golf for me."

"And there are perhaps men," I said, "who would pay fifteen hundred."

"Yes, Master," he said, putting his head down, and clenching his fists. Then he looked up. "But master did not sell me, not offer me for sale," he said. "But surely I have been purchased on speculation," he said, "for resale?"

"Do not concern yourself with the matter," I said.

"Does master intend to keep me long in his possession?" he asked.

"Do not concern yourself with the matter," I said.

He looked at me.

"Curiosity is not becoming in a kajirus," I said.

"Yes, Master," he said. This was a play, of course, on the common Gorean saying that curiosity is not becoming in a female slave, or kajira. One of the traces of Earth influence on Gorean, incidentally, in this case, an influence from Latin, occurs in the singular and plural endings of certain expressions. (pg. 437) For example, "kajirus' is a common expression in Gorean for a male slave as is "kajira' for a female slave. The plural for slaves considered together, both male and female, or for more than one male slave is "kajiri'. The plural for female slaves is "kajirae'.

"Straighten your collar," I said to Lavinia.

Instantly, embarrassed, self-consciously, she lifted her hands to her collar. Then she looked at me, for a moment puzzled. To be sure, it was almost perfect. Then, shyly, with seeming demureness, but with a slave girl's sense of self-display, she, her chin level, her back straight, her shoulders back, centered the lock, with both hands, delicately, carefully, at the back of the neck. This lifted her breasts, beautifully. "Are you looking at her?" I asked the male slave.

"Forgive me, Master!" he said.

"To be sure," I said, "it is hard not to look at her."

"Yes, Master," he said, putting his head down.

Lavinia, too, lowered her head, smiling.

"As I mentioned earlier," I said, "you do not look well. This is doubtless because of having been well beaten. Indeed, from the marks, I suspect the staff of Appanius to have been cored with lead. I recommend you get up now and go to the alley. You may wish to heave there, once or twice. Then, return. In the back you will find water and a towel. Clean yourself. Then come back here and kneel again, as you are.

"Yes, Master," he said, rising to his feet.

For a moment Marcus blocked his exit, but then Marcus, with a looked at me, stepped aside.

"I should go with him," said Marcus to me.

"No," I said.

"Do you think he will come back? he asked.

"Certainly," I said. "I do not think he wishes to run naked about Ar. He is well known, and would doubtless immediately be in ropes." Nudity is often used on Gor as a uniform, so to speak, of prisoners and slaves. "Too," I said, "I doubt that he wants his throat cut."

"Probably not," granted Marcus.

"May I speak, Master?" asked Lavinia.

"Yes," I said. Let her tongue now be freed. It was acceptable to me.

"Would you do that?" she asked.

"Yes," I said.

She shrank back, white-faced.

"He might try to make it to the house of Appanius," said Marcus.

"He would be bound, and neck-roped, within two blocks," I said.

"Suppose he makes it to the house of Appanius," he said.

"Yes?" I said.

"If I am not mistaken Appanius would welcome him back."

"I think so," I said.

"He may wish to buy him back anyway."

"Perhaps," I said.

"For perhaps five thousand gold pieces, or more."

"Perhaps," I said.

"He might hide him," said Marcus.

"He would not be an easy slave to hide," I said. "And we have papers on him. Sooner or later I think we could get his throat to our blade."

"Oh, Maser!" wept Lavinia.

"What is wrong with you?" I asked.

"Let me stand surety for him!" she said.

"I do not understand," I said.

"If he runs, kill me, not him!" she said.

"No," I said.

She put down her head, weeping.

"He is not going to run," I said.

She looked up, red-eyed.

"Surely you are aware," I said, "that even were it not for the impracticality of escape, he would return."

"Master?" she asked.

"Can you not guess?" I asked.

"No, Master!" she cried in protest.

"Yes," I assured her.

She put her hand to her breast. "But I am only a collared slave!" she said. "And they are the most beautiful and exciting of all women," I said. "Wars have been fought for them."

She gasped. "He is so beautiful!" she wept.

"He is a reasonably handsome fellow, I grant you," I said.

"He is the most beautiful man in all Ar!" she said.

"Surely you do not think him as handsome as I?" I asked.

She looked at me, startled.

"Well?" I asked.

"Master jests," she said.

"Oh?" I said, not altogether pleased.

"Apparently Master wishes to beat his slave," she said, uncertainly.

"Why?" I asked.

"If I tell the truth," she said, "it seems I shall displease my master and be beaten, and if I should not tell the truth, it seems I must lie to my maser, and then, a lying slave girl, be beaten, or worse!"

"You think he is more handsome than I? I asked.

"Yes, Master," she said. "Forgive me, Master!"

"But not more handsome than I?" inquired Marcus.

"Yes, Master," she said. "Forgive me, Master."

"What does a slave girl know?" I said.

"True," agreed Marcus.

"Surely many women of Ar would agree!" she said.

"You are a meaningless and lowly slave," I said. "Be silent."

"Yes, Master," she said.

"Besides," I said, "what do they know?"

"They are women," she said. "Surely they are entitled to form an opinion on the matter."

"Perhaps," I said, begrudgingly.

"Surely you believe that men are entitled to form an opinion on the beauty of women," she said.

"Of course," I said. "And it is important that we do so. In many cases, we must buy and sell them."

"But then," she said, "if men may form opinions on the beauty of women, so, too, surely, women may form opinions as to the handsomeness, or beauty, of men."

"Very well," I said. "Your point is granted."

"Thank you, Master," she said.

"But your opinion, even if it might be shared by some others, is still only the opinion of a lowly and meaningless slave."

"Yes, Master," she said.

"And it is thus of no significance," I said.

"Yes, Master," she said. "Master," she said.

"Yes," I said.

"Do not think poorly of Milo," she begged.

"I do not think poorly of him," I told her.

"Did you not see his "Lurius of Jad"?" asked Marcus.

"I thought it was rather good," I said.

"It was terrible," he said.

"You are just not an enthusiast for Lurius of Jad," I said. "Besides, you are angry that Phoebe liked it."

"Your friend, Boots, would not have liked it," he said.

"Probably because his Telitsia would have liked it," I said.

"Do not be jealous of Milo, if he is more handsome than you," said Lavinia. "Very well," I said, "a€”if he is."

"Excellent," she said. "If he is more handsome than you, then you will not be jealous of him, and if he is not more handsome than you, then, as there would be no need, you will not be jealous of him."

"Of course," I granted her. The logic here seemed impeccable. Why, then, was I not better satisfied? Whereas intelligence in a slave is commonly prized on Gor, it is not always without its drawbacks.

"Am I to be whipped?" she asked, suddenly.

"No," I said.

"Thank you, Master," she said.

"At least not at the moment," I said.

"Thank you, Master," she said.

"It is nothing," I said.

"Do not fret, Master," she said. "Even if you are not Milos, you are both strong, handsome, attractive men. Too, there is something different and special in you, something distinguishing you from many other men. It is the mastery. Women sense in men such as you, or can come suddenly to sense in men such as you, sometimes to their terror, their masters, and this makes you unbelievingly exciting and attractive to them. This puts you beyond compare with other men. Women then wish to kneel before you and serve you, to please you and love you. And that has nothing to do with the regularity or smoothness of one's features, which may characterize even weaklings."

"All men are masters," I said.

"I do not know," she said. "But that is what the woman desires, her master."

"Why were you on the couch when I entered the room?" I asked.

"He put me there," she said.

"Very well," I said. One might have expected her to have been put to the floor, on furs, at the foot of the couch, as she was a slave.

"The slave is returning," said Marcus.

"Of course," I said.

Lavinia gasped with relief. I recalled that she had been ready to die for him. Too, I recalled he had, to the best of his ability, attempted to shelter her from the blows of the irate Appanius. These things I found of interest. To be sure, I did not think I would encourage dalliance among my slaves. It might be interesting, of course, to keep them within sight of one another but in anguished separation.

In a few moments Milo had washed in the back and returned to kneel in the front room.

"Put your head down and extend your left wrist," I said to him.

He did so, and I locked a silver slave bracelet, resembling the one he had previously worn, on his left wrist. On this bracelet, in fine, tiny lettering, were the words, "I belong to Tarl of Port Kar."

I then threw him a common tunic, one of the things I had brought with me. "Put it on," I told him.

"Yes, Master," he said.

"What time do you think it to be?" I asked Marcus.

"It must be near the seventh Ahn," he said.

"The magistrates should arrive any moment," I said.

"Presumably they will come to the back," he said.

"I would think so," I said. Surely they would have been here often enough in the past. Too, it did not seem likely they would wish to be seen entering by the street door. They would be, as far as they knew, keeping their appointment with Appanius and his men. When they arrived, of course, they would discover that a change of plans had occurred, and that it would not be Appanius for whom they would render their services, but another.

"Are you looking at the female slave again?" I asked the male slave.

"Forgive me, Master," he said.

"Keep your head down," I said.

"Yes, Master," he said.

"I will explain to you in a moment what I wish you to do," I said.

"Yes, Master," he said.

"In the meantime," I said to Marcus, "let us readjust this net."

"Did you bring the bracelets, with linked shackles?" asked Marcus.

"Of course," I said.