Norman, John - Gor 19 - Kajira of Gor.txt

Norman, John - Gor 19 - Kajira of Gor.txt Page 16

by Kajira of Gor [lit]

  as the Tatrix. A common free woman, for example, might simply be forbidden to

  cross certain thresholds.

  “Too,” he said, “even if commanded, I could not knowingly lead you into danger,

  for example, into certain sections of the city at night. It is my duty to

  protect the Tatrix, not to place her in jeopardy.”

  “You are an excellent guard, Drusus,” I said. “You are right, of course.”

  “I could take you to a tavern in which families are served,” he said.

  “It was not such a tavern I had in mind,” I said.

  “Oh,” he said.

  “Slaves can enter taverns, can they not?” I asked.

  “If on an errand, or in the company of, a free person,” he said.

  “There seems little concern for their sensibilities,” I observed.

  “Sometimes,” said he, “they are even taken to such places by their masters, that

  they may see the paga slaves, and the dancers, and thus learn from them how to

  serve even more deliciously and lasciviously in the privacy of their own

  quarters.”

  “What if I were clothed as a slave?” I asked.

  “It is unthinkable!” he said.

  I was pleased that this thought, obviously, had touched a nerve in him. I

  wondered if he had speculated, privately, on what I might look like clad as a

  slave, or perhaps, in chains, not clad at all. Many men had probably wondered

  what I looked like, naked. I had always been rather jealous, rather privat~,

  about my body, though. I had never had a master who might simply order me to

  strip. I had been seen naked, of course, by the men in my apartment, when they

  bad removed the towel from me. I remembered how casually and efficiently they

  had handled me, how I had been injected with the contents of the syringe, how I

  had been secured with leather straps, helpless aqd gagged, in the heavy metal

  box, with air holes.

  “Too,” he said, “in so public a place you might, unveiled as is a slave, be

  recognized. Your resemblance to the Tatrix., at least, Would surely be noted.”

  “You are right again, of course,” I said. He was.

  He was silent.

  “Drusus,” I said.

  “Yes,” said be.

  “I would like to see a slaver’s house, inside. I would like to see the ‘pens.”’

  “Such are not fit for the sensibilities of a free woman,” he said.

  “I would like to see them,” I said. “That would not be dangerous, would it?”

  “No,” he admitted, reluctantly. Such places, I gathered, might be among the

  -safest on Gor. I could scarcely conjecture the effectiveness of the security

  that might be practiced within them, how helplessly the slaves might be

  confined.

  Too, a free person on Gor is almost never in any danger from a slave unless it

  be a guard slave, and he is attacking its master. In some cities a slave can be

  slain for so much as touching a weapon. Insurbordination, slaves are quickly

  taught, is not -acceptable, in any way, to the Gorean master.

  “Then,” I said, triumphantly, “I shall expect you to arrange a tour.”

  “Are there any particular pens of interest to Lady Sheila?” he asked.

  “The choice,” I told him, airily, “may be yours.”

  “Did you merely wish to see girls in the grated ts, or chained in their kennels,

  or at their rings,” he asked, or did you wish, perhaps, to gain also an idea of

  what goes on in such a house?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “How, for example,” he said, “girls might be trained.”

  “That might be interesting,” I said, as though considering it, trying to keep

  the excitement out of my voice. The thought of women being trained, actually

  trained, as Susan might have been trained, almost made me faint with excitement.

  I wondered if I might train well. I supposed I might be punished if I did not.

  Under such conditions I suspected I would train quite well. I would do my best

  to be a diligent and apt pupil.

  “Your presence, of course,” he said, “as you may be aware, may inhibit the

  slaves.”

  “You are an intelligent man,” I said. “Perhaps you can figure out a way to

  prevent that.”

  “It might be possible,” he said, “in the privacy of the house, where few would

  know you.”

  “What do you have in mind?” I asked.

  “Do you have pretty legs?” he asked.

  “Yesl” I said. I thought I had very pretty legs.

  “It might be possible,” he mused.

  “Tomorrowl” I said.

  “So soon?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Why should you wish to see such a place?” be asked. “Why should it be of

  interest to you?”

  “I am merely curious,” I said, tossing my head.

  “Tomorrow?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “I shall attempt to make the arrangements,” he said.

  “Do so,” I said. “I shall be totally cooperative.” I then heard again that small

  sound, as of metal, from within his cloak.

  “Why did you wait so long to bring me to the height of the wall?” I asked. That

  small sound of metal had reminded me of his reticence with respect to its

  origin. That had puzzled me. Too, I recalled his earlier nervousness, though now

  that had seemed to pass. Too, I had not understood why he had brought me to this

  particular place on the wall. Its proximity to those fearful tarns, only feet

  away, had been unsettling.

  He shrugged. Too suddenly, it bad seemed, after earlier demurrings, he had

  brought me to the wall. It had almost been as though he had decided on some

  action. His nervousness, too, had seemed uncharacteristic. What was there here,

  other than the tarns, which need not be closely approached, to be nervous about?

  “You seem strange today, Drusus Rencius,” I said. “You seem less communicative

  than usual. There are many things here I do not understand. I do not know why

  you hesitated so long to bring me here. It is a lovely view. Then why would you

  have so suddenly, so belatedly, have found my suggestion agreeable? Had

  something happened to make you change your mind? Why, too, earlier, did you seem

  so distracted, as though your thoughts were elsewhere? Too, of all these places

  on the wall, why did you bring me here, so close to those terrible birds. They

  frighten me.”

  arn a. poor guard, Lady Sheila,” he said. “Too, I am poor company this day.

  Forgive me. Worse, I fear I am a poor soldier.”

  “Why should you say that?” I asked. That genuinely puzzled me.

  I had long considered bringing you to this place, Lady Sheila,” he said, “even

  before you yourself expressed an interest in the walls, but, again and again, I

  forced the thought from my mind. This thought I resisted further, even more

  tenaciously, when you yourself broached it, now
and again. Then finally, after

  much troubled thought, it seemed to me that perhaps it was best that I let

  myself accompany you here.”

  “I do not understand what you are saying,” I said.

  “Here I would be alone with the Tatrix of Corcyrus, near saddled tarns,” he

  said. “It seemed then that I knew what I should do. It seemed then that a given

  course of action would be appropriate. It would be easy enough to execute.

  Indeed, I could undertake it now. it is perhaps what I should do. I shall not,

  however, do it. I contravene no orders. Rather I will let the game take its

  course.”

  “You speak in riddles,” I chided him.

  “Let us now descend from the wall,” he said. “Let us now return to the palace.”

  I glanced at the tarns. They were gigantic, fierce birds.

  Drusus Rencius stood close behind me. I thought for a moment he might take me in

  his arms. I felt faint. I wanted him to do so.

  “What is that sound from within your cloak?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” he said.

  “Show me,” I said. I turned. He held open the side of the cloak, it then like a

  curtain between me and the city. The parapet was at my back.

  There, held by a snap catch against the silken lining of the great cloak,

  looped, in coils, there hung a set of light chains.

  I could not determine the exact arrangement of the chains, coiled as they were.

  There seemed, however, to be a longer chain, which was a base chain, and two

  smaller, subsidiary chains. At one end the base chain was attached to a rather

  small neck ring, but suitable for closing about a woman’s neck; at the other end

  it was attached to one of the subsidiary chains, about a foot long, and

  terminating on each end with a ring; those rings looked as though they might fit

  snugly about a woman’s ankles; the other subsidiary chain seemed to be placed

  about two feet or so below the, neck ring; at its terminations were smaller

  rings, which looked as though they might close snugly, locking, about a woman’s

  wrists.

  “What is that?” I asked.

  “It is called a sirik,” he said.

  “Do men carry such things?” I asked.

  “Sometimes,” he said.

  I wondered what chains like that would feel like on my body. They looked very

  graceful. They were doubtless flattering. Too, they would hold me quite well.

  “Let us descend from the wall,” said Drusus Rencius. “Let us return to the

  palace.”

  7 Bracelets

  “It is so skimpy,” I said, “so tiny.”

  “Retire behind the screen,” he said, “and put it on.”

  I hurried behind the three-part screen in one corner of’ The large, well-fit

  room in the inn of Lysias, off the square of Perimines, on the street of

  Philebus. It is not far from the house of the slaver, Kliomenes, on Milo Street.

  We had entered the inn through its front door. We would leave it through its

  back door, which opened onto an alley. Later, we would return to it through this

  same back door. We would then take our final exit, once again, later, through

  the front door.

  I put the small garment on the broad, dark-stained, polished boards of the floor

  near my feet, behind the screen. I then began to remove the veils -and robes of

  concealment.

  “There is no place back here,” I said, “to put my garments.”

  “Put them on the top of the screen,” be said. I will fold them and place them on

  the chest.” I did this, reaching above my head to place them on the top of the

  screen. He then removed them from this location.

  “You are to be barefoot,” he said.

  I removed my slippers and put them to the left side of the screen. I saw his

  hand take them.

  I then removed the remainder of my garments, and saw them, from the top of the

  screen disappear. Now, behind the screen, I was naked. Only an inch of wood

  separated me from such a man. I wished that I had retained some of my other

  garments behind the screen, if only for psychological security. I felt the dark,

  polished floor beneath my bare feet.

  I felt the air of the room, behind the screen, on my body. I touched the screen

  lightly with my finger tips.

  “Are you ready?” he asked.

  “No!” I said. I hastily, trembling, crouched down and sieized up the small bit

  of cloth I had placed at my feet. I moaned, inwardly. It was so light, tiny and

  short. it would be dismayingly revealing. Surely such garments are an insult to

  a woman, I thought, forcing her to show how beautiful she is, to anyone who

  might care to look upon her. I drew it over my head and pulled it down,

  desperately, about my body. It was a gray, beltless, one-piece garment of rep

  cloth, with inch-wide straps over the shoulders. I tugged it down, at the hem,

  at the sides, trying to make it cover more of my thighs.

  “Are you ready?” he asked.

  “Yes,’.’ I said, faltering.

  “Step forth,” he said.

  I came forth, from about the edge of the screen.

  “Aiiii,” he said, softly, to himself.

  This response pleased me.

  “Stand there,” he said, indicating a place on the floor.

  I went to where he had indicated.

  “Now turn, slowly, and then face me,” he said.-

  I did so.

  “Are my legs pretty?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he said. “But your face and figure, as a whole, are also quite pretty.”

  “You find my pleasing, then?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he said. “Indeed, I had not supposed that the Tatrix of Corcyrus would

  prove to be such a beauty.”

  “Surely, then,” I smiled, “I would be worth at least a silver tarsk.”

  “There are many beautiful women in the markets,” he said. “You are untrained.”

  “Oooh,” I said.

  “Come here,” he said, “and remove my cloak. Then fold it, and place it on the

  chest.”

  I did so.

  “Now return to where you were, facing me.”

  I did so.

  “The Tatrix of Corcyrus does not often remove cloaks for gentlemen,” I informed

  him. I did not tell him, of course, how I had almost trembled being so near him,

  and how pleased I was to have performed this small service for him.

  He did not respond but continued to gaze upon me, as though studying me. My

  scanty garb, of course, I understood, invited such scrutiny.

  “Few men,” I said, “have looked upon the Tatrix of Corcyrus clad in this

  fashion.”

  “Stand, straighter,” he said.

  I did so.

  “Doubtless they would think of her somewhat differently, if they saw her clad

  like this,” I said.

  “Or any woman,” he said.

  “Of course,” I said. I shuddered to think how men might think of women clad like

  this.

  “The garment,” he said, “is perhap
s too modest.”

  “Too modest?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he said, “but it will perhaps do. I tried to find a garment which would

  be both serviceable for our purposes and, at the same time, considerate, within

  the limitations of our project, of your modesty. That explains the neckline

  which does not plunge to your belly, revealin much of the beauty of your

  breasts, and the hemline, which is surely something less than slave short.

  I pulled down the sides of the garment. It seemed quite short to me.

  “It does not even have a nether closure,” I said to him.

  “In that it is authentic,” he said. “Such a closure, or the lines of a lower

  garment, affording such a closure, would be instantly detected by slaves.”

  “I see,” I said.

  ‘The slave, at any instant,” he said, “is to be available to the master.”

  “I see,” I said.

  “Do you wish to continue with this project?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “I will. take you into the house as though you might be a new girl or a fresh

  capture. This will explain why you are not in a collar. It will also make

  plausible your lack of a brand, should the matter arise. Your garment,

  incidentally, is ng enough to cover most common brand sites. That you are

  totally free woman, and not a slave, or a capture enroute to collar, will be

  known to several members of the staff.

  They will, accordingly, refrain from handling you as though you were such a

  slave or capture, for example, stripping you, rrying you through the halls with

  whips, and so on. Certain other members of the staff will not know that you are

  free. I all take it upon myself to protect you from them. The pose a jealous

  captor should suffice. The slaves, of course, will not know you are free. They

  will think you are merely a new either a slave or one who, optionless, will soon

  be reduced to their status, one who will then be no more than they.

  “No one will know, even high members of the staff, Will they,” I asked, “that I

  am actually the Tatrix of Corcyrus.”

  “No,” he said. “They will know only that you are a free woman.’

  “Good,” I said.

  “Come here,” he said, pointing to a place before him. I went there and stood

 

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