The stranger had now screwed shut the lid on the bota.
He had showed them hospitality. They had, so to speak, "shared his kettle." They rose to their feet.
Earlier in the evening, the front ward portion of the meadow, near the ruins of the long, low building, indeed, only a few feet in front of the rail, to which at that time Tela, Mina and Cara had still been fastened, Sempronius had fed me. Callisthenes had similarly put nourishment in the mouth of Tela, even as she was at the rail, neck-roped there. I had wondered if the stranger had permitted Callisthenes and Sempronius to feed us, half-naked slaves, in order to have them in proximity to us, whom they might not touch, as a torture for them, Gorean males.
The men were coming in this direction.
Now it seemed, however, that I had misread his intent.
Sempronius crouched before me. "Lie down," he said.
I obeyed.
How tightly my ankles were bound with cord! How closely my wrists were enclosed in steel!
He removed the belt and cloth I wore.
He then began, kneeling beside me, to caress me. I regarded him with dismay, twisting. It was his intention that I should be hot, and open, to him! I must resist! I must try to resist! What if the stranger should see! But men had changed my body. I now needed their touch, more so than I had ever dreamed could be possible, even in my moments of most frustrated passion on Earth. Let it be acknowledged straightforwardly and honestly. I had been made a slave.
"What is wrong?" asked Sempronius, puzzled.
"Nothing, Master," I said, firmly.
Sempronius had been permitted earlier in the evening to feed the slave Tuka, as Callisthenes had Tela. Tuka had knelt before him, clad only in a slave strip and belt of rolled cloth, her wrists crossed and bound behind her back, fastened closely to her crossed, bound ankles. He had put food in her mouth, and she must eat. But, as Tuka understood now, this had not been to torture him. Rather, if anything, it had been to bring him into her proximity to excite him, to whet his appetite, to give him a foretaste of the delights which might, if he wished, await him. and, too, from the woman" s point of view, she so helpless, so close to him, so much at his mercy, unable to defend herself, or even to feed herself, dependent on him for her very food, this produced a sense of distinct unease, and arousal.
I heard Tela, under the touch of Callisthenes, cry out, softly, to my right. Sempronius knew what he as doing. I tried to steel myself, and think of other things. I turned my head to the side.
I heard Tela gasp with pleasure.
I suddenly hated being a slave! Was this possible? That I should be so casually put, so cordially put, in the liberality of a Gorean host, at the disposal of guests? But of course it was possible! I was only a slave! But why would he do this to me, to me? Was I truly to him only this, only another slave, to be put without a second thought to the purposes of guests, merely another amenity or convenience to them, as might be a napkin or finger bowl, or a comfort, such as a blanket, or an extra cushion for his couch?
I must not let Tela" s cries arouse me. I must try not to hear them! What pleasure she must be enduring!
Perhaps the stranger did not recognize me?
"Oh!" I said, suddenly, softly.
Sempronius chuckled.
I knew then, and so did he, that he would conquer me.
"Is she satisfactory?" asked the stranger, standing behind Sempronius. I looked up, wildly, at the stranger.
"It seems she will prove so," said Sempronius.
The stranger held, coiled in his right hand, a slave whip. "If you are not fully satisfied," he said, "let me know."
"Very well," said Sempronius.
I knew then that the stranger would whip me if I were not pleasing.
But I began, unable to help myself, to squirm beneath the touch of Sempronius. "You are a hot slave," said Sempronius to me.
"Oh, oh," I moaned, softly.
"Are you not pleased?" he asked.
"Yes, Master," I sobbed. "Thank you, Master."
I heard Tela, in a moment, begging to be freed of the bracelets, that she might hold Callisthenes. He released her from one of the bracelets. Callisthenes and Sempronius apparently held the keys to our bracelets! How gracious of the stranger!
I reared up a little, and saw, to my relief, that the stranger was back with Mirus and Tupita.
I closed my eyes.
I lay back on the leaves, gasping, my head turning from side to side.
"I cannot stand it, Master!" I said. "I cannot stand it! Do not stop! Do not stop! Oh, please, Master, do not stop!"
I loved being a slave! I loved it!
I begged Sempronius to free my hands that I might hold him, clutching my softness to him.
He twisted me a bit on one side and removed one of the bracelets. I then clutched him eagerly.
"Oh! Oh, oh, ohhhhh, ohhh!" I said. "Ohhhhh."
"You yield well, slave," he said.
I looked up. tears in my eyes. The stranger had returned. He had been watching. In his hand was still the slave whip. Then he turned away, again. I gathered then it would not be necessary to whip me.
I responded to Sempronius" lips, and kissed him, too, softly, about the neck and chest.
Twice more that night he used me, and twice more was I reminded of my slavery, and how total it was.
The stranger did not return later to ascertain again for himself the adequacy of my yieldings. Apparently, on the basis of what he had seen, he assumed they would be acceptable. Too, of course, if Sempronius had not been satisfied, I could have been put beneath the whip.
Late that evening Sempronius and Callisthenes were permitted to leave the camp. Before they left they replaced the bracelets on the hands of two slaves. Tela and Tuka, so that their hands were again confined behind their backs. The keys to those bracelets were given to the stranger. They, too, reclothed us, if, given the nature of our scanty garmenture, such an expression is appropriate. They then had their swords returned to them. They were permitted to keep their purses.
Tela and I watched them withdraw, disappearing into the darkness.
After Callisthenes and Sempronius had left the camp, Mina and Cara were brought forth from the slave wagon and knelt down near the fire. They were still in their chains. Tela was then freed of the cords on her ankles, holding her between the trees. She was then pulled to her feet, drawn along, and then knelt down, in a line, with Mina and Cara. I was then freed of the ankle cords which had kept me in place, between the trees. I was then knelt before the sapling to which my right ankle had been fastened. One of the bracelets I wore was then removed, and my wrists dragged back, about the sapling. It was then replaced in such a way that my hands were now confined behind me, and braceleted about the sapling.
"In that direction," said the stranger, addressing himself to Mina, Cara and Tela, Mina and Cara in their chains, Tela with her wrists braceleted behind her, "lies the Vitkel Aria, and beyond it, continuing in the same direction, the camp of Pietro Vacchi. If you wish to return to Venna, and the camp of Ionicus, go right when you come to Viktel Aria."
Mina, Cara and Tela looked at one another.
He then removed the bracelets from Tela.
"Stand," he said.
They all stood.
"Whence"" he inquired.
"I do not wish to return to the black chain," said Mina. "I shall attempt to fall into the hands of the men of Pietro Vacchi."
"I, too," said Cara.
"I am sure," said the stranger, "that you will both make lovely camp slaves." "it will be done with us as masters please," said Mina.
"And what of you, my dear?" inquired he of Tela.
"I, too," she said, "shall attempt to venture to the camp of Pietro Vacchi, in the hope that one into whose hands I hope to fall will still be there. If he is not, I shall beg, then, to be returned to the camp of Ionicus."
"You have the look of a love slave," he said.
"Perhaps, Master," she said, putting down her head in confusion.
How much I thought must she love Aulus, to be willing to return to the black chain of Ionicus, if only to carry water in the work pits, her limbs chained, where from time to time she might look up to the hill, to the overseer" s tent atop it, or perhaps even to serve in the tent itself, in a rectangle of silk, as before.