The position of the Pleasure Slave, incidentally, differs from the position of both the free woman and the Tower Slave. The hands of a Pleasure Slave normally rest on her thighs but, in some cities, for example, Thentis, I believe, they are crossed behind her.More significantly, for the free woman's hands may also rest on her thighs, there is a difference in the placing of the knees.In all these kneeling positions, incidentally, even that of the Pleasure Slave, the Gorean woman carries herself well; her back is straight and her chin is high.She tends to be vital and beautiful to look upon.
'Why is there nothing but water to drink?' I asked Vika.
She shrugged.'I suppose,' she said, 'because the Chamber Slave is alone much of the time.'
I looked at her, not fully understanding.
She gazed at me frankly.'It would be too easy then,' she said.
I felt like a fool.Of course the Chamber Slaves would not be permitted the escape of intoxication, for if they were so allowed tolighten their bondage undoubtedly, in time, their beauty, their utility to the Priest-Kings would be diminished; they would become unreliable, lost in dreams and wines.
'I see,' I said.
'Only twice a year is the food brought,' she said.
'And it is brought by Priest-Kings?' I asked.
'I suppose,' she said.'
'But you do not know?'
'No,' said she.'I awaken on some morning and there is food.'
'I suppose Parp brings it,' I said.
She looked at me with a trace of amusement.
'Parp the Priest-King,' I said.
'Did he tell you that?' she asked.
'Yes,' I said.
'I see,' she said.
The girl was apparently unwilling to speak more of this matter, and so I did not press her.
I had almost finished the meal.'You have done well,' I congratulated her.'The meal is excellent.'
'Please,' she said, 'I am hungry.'
I looked at he dumbfounded.She had not prepared herself a portion and so I had assumed that she had eaten, or was not hungry, or would prepare her own meal later.
'Make yourself something,' I said.
'I cannot,' she said simply.'I can eat only what you give me.'
I cursed myself for a fool.
Had I now become so much the Gorean warrior that I could disregard the feelings of a fellow creature, in particular those of a girl, who must be protected and cared for?Could it be that I ihad, as the Codes of my Caste recommended, not even considered her, but merely regarded her as a rightless animal, no more than a subject beast, an abject instrument to my interests and pleasures, a slave?
'I am sorry,' I said.
'Was it not your intention to discipline me?' she asked.
'No,' I said.
'Then my master is a fool,' she said, reaching for the meat that I had left on my plate.
I caught her wrist.
'It is now my intention to discipline you,' I said.
Her eyes briefly clouded with tears.'Very well,' she said, withdrawing her hand.
Vika would go hungry that night.
Although it was late, according to the chamber chronometer, fixed in the lid of one of the chests, I prepared to leave the room.Unfortunately there was no natural light in the room and so one could not judge the time by the sun or the stars and moons of Gor.I missed them.Since I had awakened, the energy bulbs had continued to burn at a constant and undiminished rate.
I had washed as well as I could squatting in the stream of water which emerged from the wall.
In one of the chests against the wall I had found, among the garments of various other castes, a warrior's tunic.I donned this, as my own had been torn by the larl's claws.
Vika had unrolled a straw mat which she placed on the floor at the foot of the great stone couch in the chamber.On this, wrapped in a light blanket, her chin on her knees, she sat watching me.
A heavy slave ring was set in the bottom of the couch to which I might have, had I pleased, chained her.
I buckled on my sword. 'You are not going to leave the chamber, are you?' asked Vika, the first words she had said to me since the meal.
'Yes,' I said.
'But you may not,' she said.
'Why?' I asked, alert.
'It is forbidden,' she said.
'I see,' I said.
I started for the door.
'When the Priest-Kings wish you, they will come for you,' she said.'Until then you must wait.'
'I do not care to wait,' I said.
'But you must,' she insisted, standing.
I went to her and placed my hands on her shoulders.'Do not fear the Priest-Kings so,' I said.
She saw that my resolve was not altered.
'If you go,' she said, 'return at least before the second gong.'
'Why?' I asked.
'For yourself,' she said, looking down.
'I am not afraid,' I said.
'Then for me,' she said, not raising her eyes.
'But why?' I asked.
She seemed confused.'I am afraid to be alone,' she said.
'But you have been alone many nights,' I pointed out.
She looked up at me and I could not read the expression in her troubled eyes.'One does not cease to be afraid,' she said.
'I must go,' I said.
Suddenly in the distance I heard the rumble of the gong which I had heard before in the Hall of Priest-Kings.
Vika smiled up at me.'You see,' she said in relief, 'it is too late.Now you must remain.'
'Why?' I asked.
She looked away, avoiding my eyes.'Because the energy bulbs will soon be dimmed,' she said, 'and it will be the hours allotted for sleep.'
She seemed unwilling to speak further.
'Why must I remain?' I asked.
I held her shoulders more firmly and shook her to force her to speak.'Why?' I insisted.
Fear crep into her eyes.
'Why?' I demanded.
Then came the second rumbling stroke of the distant gong, and Vika seemed to tremble in my arms.
Her eyes were wide with fear.
I shook her again, savagely.'Why?' I cried.
She could hardly speak.Her voice was scarcely a whisper. 'Because after the gong -' she said.
'Yes?' I demanded.
'- they walk,' she said.
'Who!' I demanded.
'The Priest-Kings!' she cried and turned from me.
'I am not afraid of Parp,' I said.
She turned and looked at me.'He is not a Priest-King,' she said quietly.
And then came the third and final stroke of that distant gong and at the same instant the energy bulbs in the room dimmed and I understood that now somewhere in the long corridors of that vast edifice there walked the Priest-Kings of Gor.
Chapter Seven: I HUNT FOR PRIEST-KINGS
In spite of Vika's protests it was with a light heart that I strode into the passageway beyond her chamber.I would seek the Priest-Kings of Gor.