"That is a high price," I said.
"You had better be worth it on the floor, Mina," said my hostess.
"I will try, Mistress," said Mina.
"Perhaps you will come into the keeping of a private master someday," I said. She looked up at me, tears in her eyes. "Such men," she said, "seldom buy girls out of brothels."
"Some might," I said. I looked at my hostess. "If someone were interested in her," I asked, "would she be for sale?"
"She is the only wench we have from the villas of Noviminae," said my hostess. "That is a rather special background. It is almost like once having been of high caste. That background is likely to be of interest to many of our customers. We expect her to be in frequent demand." She looked down upon the slave. "Perhaps you can tell them of the beauty of the villas, and of how spoiled and rich you were," she said, "while you squirm in their arms."
"Yes, Mistress," whispered the girl.
"But if an offer were made?" I asked.
"It would depend, of course," she said, "on the offer." "She is then for sale?" I asked.
"All our slaves are for sale," said my hostess.
"You could sell any of them to anyone then?" I asked.
"Of course," said my hostess. "To anyone who has the price."
We then proceeded to the next cage. It was the last one which was currently occupied.
This girl, like Mina, was a sweetly bodied slut, with luscious swelling breasts, a stocky, but considerably narrower waist, and wide hips, nursing a marvelous love cradle in which a man might lose himself with pleasure. She, too, like Mina, was nicely thighed. She, too, like Mina, was a brunet. She, too, like Mina, wore a close-fitting steel collar. She, kneeling in her cage, had not been unaware, of course, of our progress. When we appeared before her cage, she put her head down to the blanket, the palms of her hands on the floor of the cage, beside her head. It is a lovely gesture of obeisance, and required by many masters of their women.
"Her name is "Candice'," I said, reading the cage card. "That is an Earth-girl name. Is she an Earth-girl?"
"No," said my hostess. "She is from Tabor. We thought it a lovely name. We put it on her."
I nodded. It was a lovely name. If any girl were to appear on Gor with such a name, of course, she would be immediately taken to be a slave, and would be treated as such. She would soon be in a collar. Her fate would be bondage. "A very attractive slut," I said.
"Yes," said my hostess.
"How much did she cost?" I asked.
"Two silver tarsks," said my hostess.
"Interesting," I said. "Her beauty seems quite comparable to that of her chain sister, Mina, and yet Mina brought a full tarsk more."
"It is the Noviminae background," said the hostess.
"Interesting," I said. "It seems that sometimes what is being paid for is not the mere female herself."
"Of course not," said my hostess. "Suppose she was a Ubar's daughter." "I see," I said. "The daughter of a Ubar may bring ten thousand pieces of gold in a private sale," said the hostess, "but, as a woman, as a mere female on a chain, she may be worth far less than thousands of wenches one might lead home for a few copper tarsks."
"That is true," I said. And it is not unoften the case that such a common wench, of which little is expected, bought originally perhaps with the mere object of keeping her for week or so and then reselling her, will be discovered to be an astounding value. Fortunate is the master who gets so much for so little.
Fortunate is he who discovers that for his pittance he has purchased a treasure. He does not take her back in a week. She tugs at her chain; it is fastened securely to his ring. What counts ultimately, in my opinion, is not the cost of the merchandise, but its value, its quality; it is not what one pays that is ultimately important, but what gets for one's money. One day he considers himself, looking down at the slave at his feet; it is he whom she struggles so hard to please, as a slave must; it is he who is he in whose complete power she finds herself; it is he whom she must serve so humbly, and who is so strict with her, it is he who is her master; he looks down into her eyes; he sees that she, looking up at him, unable to help herself, has become his love slave. He smiles. He fingers his whip. He wonders if perhaps he is her love master. She bends down, kissing his feet. He knows he must guard against weakness. He must never forget the whip. She understands the whip. All slaves do. He watches her, her hair about his feet, and feels her lips and tongue. The sensations are not unpleasant. If he does not find the relationship satisfactory, of course, he may always sell her.
"I think I will return to the table," I said. "Thank you for showing me these wenches. They seem superb merchandise. I think, in time, with training, they will all prove excellent upon the floor."
"That is our hope," said my hostess. "We want the Tunnels to be one of the best brothels on the entire Alley of the Slave Brothels of Ludmilla."
"Who is Ludmilla?" I asked.
"I have never met her," said my hostess. We then returned to the floor. In our return we paused briefly by the girls at the side of the open space. "Yartel and Demet are now serving," said my hostess. "These two others are now open, ready for new rings," She indicated a blond and a brunet. "Ita and Tia," she said.
"Lovely," I said.
Louise, the Earth girl there, looked at me, aghast. Then she looked away. I gather she had not known that men from Earth, or once from Earth, could look in such a way upon women.
"But you will return to the table?" asked my hostess.
"Yes," I said.
"I shall have one of the slaves fetch you a drink," she said.
"That one," I said, indicating Louise.
"Certainly," she said. She snapped her fingers and Louise sprang up, and came to where we stood. Then she knelt.
I looked to one of the tables near my own. There was the free woman, in the sleeveless dress, with the low dA©colletage. She looked about. The fellow she had earlier approached was now slumped on the table. On the table was a bottle of ka-la-na. There were two glasses there. I saw her cut the strings of his purse and slip it inside her dress. On her left hand, as she did this, I saw a ring. I did not think she had had it on her hand before. I had seen such rings before. "What would you like?" asked my hostess.
I had been considering a glass of paga, perhaps, if it were available in a place such as this, of the brewery of Temus. I now, considering the rather revealingly clad free female, changed my mind.
"I think, upon reflection," I said, "that I shall order later."
"Very well," she said. Then she turned to Louise, kneeling in attendance. "When you are dismissed, if you are dismissed, return to your post," she said. "Do not neglect, however, to observe this table. When he wishes to order, and lifts his finger, hurry to him. Then obtain what he wishes from the bar."
"Yes, Mistress," said Louise. "I may be ordering a bottle," I said to the hostess.
"The admission price was only a tarsk bit," she reminded me.
"Forgive me," I said. I then counted her out five copper tarsks. I did this a bit obtrusively. The free woman, she with the low dA©colletage, as I had expected, did not fail to note this. She glanced back at the fellow slumped over the table. He would not awaken, doubtless, for some time, perhaps an Ahn or more.
"Ah!" said my hostess. "You are generous! For so much whatever you might like in the house, and as much of it as you like, is yours."
"Thank you," I said.
My hostess then took her leave.
I regarded Louise.
She looked up at me.
"Master?" she asked.
"You are dismissed," I said.
"Yes, Master," she said. She rose to her feet, her head down, backed away a step or tow, and then turned and hurried back to her place with the other girls. The female, I saw, was kept under good discipline. This pleased me. It is good for them.