I walked to one side of the tent.
“Remove the silk,” said Marlenus, “and come to my arms.”
Verna parted the slave silk, and dropped it to the side. He was sitting cross-legged, and she crept to him, trembling. He took her and held her across his knees, cradling her in his left arm. She looked up at him, vulnerable, helpless. His right hand was at her thigh, over her brand. There was the slight sound of slave bells, locked on her left ankle.
“You seem a woman,” said Marlenus.
“I am a woman,” said Verna.
“Are you free?” asked Marlenus.
“No,” she whispered. “I am a slave. I am your slave.”
With his hand Marlenus turned her head from side to side. Her hair was back. “These are lovely earrings,” he said.
I could see, from across the tent, the tiny shadows, where the small golden wires were thrust through the softness of her ear lobes.
They were indeed beautiful.
“Yes,” whispered Verna, a lowly pierced-ear girl in the arms of her master. “Do you like them?” asked Marlenus.
“Yes,” she whispered. “They excite me. They excite me as a woman.”
“That is one of their purposes,” said Marlenus.
She attempted to lift her lips, delicately, to his, but his hand prevented them from touching his.
“Do you like your lipstick?” asked Marlenus.
“Yes,” she whispered, “yes, Master!”
“It, too, excites you, does it not?” he asked.
“Yes, Master,” she whispered.
“How is that?” he asked.
“It, like the earrings,” she whispered, “males me feel more female, more slave.” “You are female, and slave,” said Marlenus.
“Yes, Master, she whispered. “I know. I have been taught.”
He then, with his right hand, this first kiss that he placed upon the lips of his slave girl, a kiss in which she was, by intent, permitted no part, save to feel the bruising of it in her body. When he thrust her back there was blood at her mouth, and fear in her eyes. She was now frightened of him, terribly frightened. But he put her to her back, swiftly, casually, and his hand was at her body. Then, though there was fear in her eyes, her body, as though of its own will, began to leap to his touch, that of her master. Her body, as though of its own will, obeyed the touch of Marlenus. Then she cried out, “Oh yes, Master, yes!” Her head was back. Her eyes were closed. She twisted. “I love you, Master!” she wept, “I love you!” “Tomorrow,” said Marlenus, “you will put a talender in your hair.” “Yes, Master,” she cried. “I will. I will!” I slipped from the tent. I looked back once. I saw, to one side, a bowl of scarlet, five-petaled flaminiums.
As I walked into the darkness I heard Verna’s helpless cries of joy. I heard, too, the sound of slave bells. They had been locked on her left ankle. They could not be removed, save by a key in the keeping of Marlenus.
“I love you, Master,” I heard her cry. “I love you. I cannot help myself. I love you, Master! I love you, my Master!” I envied Marlenus his girl, Verna. She was a beauty, and, in time, would be a prize slave. I thought of Sheera. Many times the thought of her had crossed my mind. I had told her I was going to sell her in Lydius. Perhaps I would not. I found myself lonely for Sheera. I called myself a fool. She was only a slave. But she was a slave not without promise. I recalled her in my shelter beside the Tesephone, in the darkness, and in the following day. She was not displeasing. Perhaps, with training, something could be made of her. I reminded myself that it was said that panther girls, once conquered, made excellent slaves. Lying in the darkness, wrapped in my blankets, I heard, in the distance, Verna’s cries of pleasure.
I threw away the blankets. I walked through the camp, until I came to the chain of Verna’s girls, they in their skins, each chained by the right ankle, the long chain fastened between the two stakes.
They were asleep, on the ground. Marlenus had told me that any of the women in the camp, save Verna, were free to me.
I looked along the chain, until I found one that pleased me.
She was sweet-bodied, wide-shouldered, dark-haired, like Sheera.
I knelt beside her and place my hand over her mouth. She squirmed helplessly. I held her. She eyes, over my hand, were wild.
“Be silent,” I told her.
Then I removed my hand from her mouth. She looked up at me.
I took her skins by the shoulders, and drew them from her body, leaving them about her right ankle, where it was fastened to the chain.
She lifted her arms to me, and her lips. I held her, gently, and them began to touch her. I felt her lips on mine. “Be silent,” I whispered to her. “Yes, Master,” she whispered. “Yes, Master.” It was nearly dawn when I left her side. At times I had to keep her mouth covered with my hand.
“What is your name?” I asked her.
“Rena,” she whispered.
“It is a lovely name,” I said, “and you, Rena, are a lovely slave.” “Thank you, Master,” she whispered.
I returned to my blankets, to get an Ahn’s sleep, if I could, before the camp became too much astir.
I looked up at the moons. I recalled Sheera. Yes, I did not think I would sell her in Lydius.
I recalled her, as I had seen her chained at the bar in Lydius. Even then I had wanted her. And I recalled her in the hold of the Tesephone, and later, in the camp, in my shelter beside the Tesephone, that hot night, and the sweet day that had followed.
No, when I returned, I would be in no hurry to sell her. She was a juicy slave, and one of high intelligence. She was not without interest. I rather liked the look of my collar on her throat.
I reminded myself that it was said that panther girls, once conquered, make excellent slaves.
I think it is a true saying.
I rolled over in my blankets, and fell asleep. In the morning I must make my way back to the Tesephone.
12 I Return to my Camp on the Banks of the Laurius
My emotions were much mixed as I made my way through the tall forest toward the banks of the Laurius.
I had left my men at the camp of Marlenus, Arn, his outlaws, and the five men from the Tesephone. I had wished to be alone on this journey. They would follow me, in two days.
I carried my weapons, even the great bow, recovered from Verna’s camp, days before.
I had come to the forest rich in my prides and my plans. I would, from under the nose of Marlenus, preferably by trade, snatch Talena, thus evening the score for his banishment of me from Ar, thus regaining her, thus winning glory, thus setting my ladder against the political heights of the planet Gor, for, with such a woman at my side, there were few doors and cylinders that would be locked against me, and I, only a merchant of Port Kar, might have ascended unimpeded the stairs of influence and power. At a stroke, companionship with such a woman, coupled with my position and riches in Port Kar, would have made me one of the most significant and prominent men of Gor.
I smiled.
Men of lowly origins and great ambition and talent, I knew, had often used alliances with high-born women to further the fortunes of their designs. Such alliances, portions of their planning, lifted them to strata where their talents and energies might have full play, strata otherwise closed to them by dominant, controlling groups and families, jealous of and protective of their own interests. The dominant and effective families thus take into themselves newcomers of energy and intelligence, who, in exchange for position and opportunity, when they themselves are allied with such families, help keep the families high and dominant in the society. Human structures are group structures, and closed groups, with senses of their own best interest, yet open enough and intelligent enough to accept a certain amount, carefully selected, of new and driving blood, regulate society. Many people are unaware of such groups, for they are seldom identifiable save through lines of social relation and connection. The first families of a city usually constitute one or more of such groups, sometimes competitive groups. When a city falls, the daughters of such families are most avidly sought by the conquerors as slaves. Their first duty, naked and collared, is to serve the conquerors at their victory feast. Subsequently, they are commonly awarded to high officers or men who have especially distinguished themselves in the taking of the city, perhaps an individual who has led a sortie which successfully stormed a gate, or the first man upon the enemy’s walls, or one who has captured a member of the city’s council. In the latter case, if the council member has a daughter, it is common to give her to the man who has captured her father.