"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.