"Yes," she said fervently. "I desire to be pleasing!" She then reached out for me and put her hands behind the back of my neck. She then lifted her lips timidly to mine, fearing, it seemed, that her overture might be refused, that they might be rejected. "I do desire to be pleasing, Master," she whispered. I permitted her to kiss me.
Later we lay together, side by side.
It was near morning now. I had waited until the crew had finished with her, until late, before I had approached her. In this way I could have more time with her. I supposed that in an Ahn or so a fellow would come by, to release her from the chain, to return her to the hold. They were no longer kept in the tiny cages. They were free in the hold, though the hatch was locked. Claudia had been put at the ring earlier and returned to the hold earlier. Publia had been put at the ring later, and would be returned to the hold later. For a time during the evening, both had been at the ring. Tomorrow night, as it was on alternate nights, Claudia would be put at the ring later, and Publia earlier.
"On the day after tomorrow," I said, "we reach Port Cos." "I know," she whispered.
"The ship will be decorated," I said. "You and Claudia will be displayed at the prow."
"I have heard that," she whispered. "How will we be dressed for that honor?" "You will be naked," I said.
"And in chains?" she asked.
"Yes," I said, "or perhaps ropes. You surely know how women are displayed at prows."
"How will it be done?" she asked.
"You will probably be hung there," I said, "one on each side of the prow." "Doubtless it is a great honor," she said.
"Yes," I said. "But do not fear, I am sure that both of you, even if there were a cargo of superb captures aboard, would still be excellent candidates for the honor."
"I am not accustomed to thinking of myself as an ornament," she said. "It is one of the purposed to which a slave girl may be put," I said. "But now I find myself intrigued by the idea of serving so," she whispered. "Oh?" I said.
"Yes," she whispered, "of being found so beautiful that men would display me so. Oh, I fear it, but, too, I find it exciting, and meaningful and thrilling. I am coming to understand now how marvelous it is to be beautiful and attractive to men. I feel so much myself, and so real, and female! Will not other women, I wonder, resent and hate me that it was I who was put at the prow and not they?" "Perhaps," I said.
"Sometimes, when I was a free woman," she said, "I wondered, secretly, of course, what it might be like, to be so displayed."
"You will soon know," I said.
"Am I beautiful?" she asked. "Yes," I said, "and you will discover that in bondage you will become even more beautiful. Indeed, you will find you have little choice in the matter. There are many reasons for it, physical and psychological."
"I want to be beautiful," she said, "and I am proud to be beautiful!" "Beware of free women," I said.
"Surely masters will protect me from serious harm," he said.
"They will usually endeavor to do so," I admitted.
"I will be proud, being put at the prow!" she said.
"Beware of becoming too proud," I said.
"Maser?" she asked.
"Do you wish to be whipped again?" I asked.
"No!" she said. She had been whipped on our second night out, from Ar's Station. "The whip is an excellent device for taking pride from a woman," I said. "I do not doubt it," she said.
"Or, generally," I said, "for bringing about reforms in her character." "Yes," she laughed, "and for bringing us to you in any way you please to have us."
I then kissed her, and left her.
23 Claudia, Slave
The slave lay before me, on her stomach, over a pile of rope, aft on the Tais. Her head was down. Her neck was chained to a ring on the deck. "Is it you?" she asked.
"Yes," I said.
"I am afraid of you," she said. As a slave she had a right to this fear, indeed, a right to the fear of any man.
"Do you wish to beg for mercy?" I asked.
"Would my pleas be meaningful?" she asked. "I am a slave. Will masters not do with me as they please, regardless of my pleas?"
"They will do with you as they please," I said, "but if they harken to your pleas, then it may be that what will please them will be to do with you as you plead."
"Then by all means," she said. "I plead for mercy!"
"But will it be shown to you?" I asked.
"I do not know, Master," she whispered.
"That, you see," I said, "is what the masters will decide."
"Yes, Master," she said.
"You were once Lady Claudia, of Ar's Station," I said.
"Yes, Master," she said.
"Who are you now?" I asked.
"Claudia!" she said, "a slave."
She was pretty, lying on her belly, on the ropes, her head down. "Lift yourself, Claudia, slave," I said.
"Oh!" she said.
She was then held helplessly. She could not so much as move without giving me great pleasure.
"What is wrong?" I asked.
"I am afraid I will yield to you," she whispered.
"And what is wrong with that?" I asked.
"But as a shameless slave!" she wept.
"Do so," I said.
Then, sobbing, then gasping with elation, with relief, she yielded. I could hardly hold her for a moment, even with her small body, so grateful, so wild, so eager she was in her sudden, joyous, spasmodic helplessness.
Then she was on her belly, sobbing, pressing down into the ropes, as though she would hide herself in them. Her head was down, turned to one side, the side of it pressed against the ropes. She sobbed wildly, helplessly, poignantly, not able to understand her own behavior, shamed.
I crouched beside her.
"So that is how a slave is used!" she gasped.
"Sometimes," I said.
"Surely no free woman would be used in such a manner!" she said.
"Presumably not often, at any rate," I granted her. I did know that free women might be, and occasionally were, used in that way, for example, to insult them, or prepare them for the collar. To be sure, the man who used them in that fashion might as well be, I supposed, for most practical purposes, their master. "Do you presume, incidentally," I asked, "to arrogate to yourself the rights or modesties, or the least of the prerogatives of the free woman?"
"No, Master!" she said.
"Do you presume, further," I asked, "to inquire into even the least of the sexual habits or activities of free women, whatever they might be?"
"No, Master!" she said. Her response amused me. Naturally both free women and slaves, as both are women, are very much interested in one another's sexual activities. It is very natural. To be sure, unless the slave is a bred slave, most of this interest is on the part of the free women, for the slaves have usually, at one time or another, been free women, and have a very good idea of how narrow, dull, limited and mediocre is the sex life of the free woman. indeed, the matter is paradoxical, for the free women have a tendency both to inquire eagerly into the behaviors expected of slaves, and enjoined upon them, and, at the same time, commonly profess horror and scandal at what they hear. "Such things are no longer of concern to you, are they?"
"No, Master!" she said.
"And you are a little liar, aren't you?" I asked.
"Forgive me, Master!" she said.
"In any event," I said, "you need not concern yourself any longer with the sexual activities, the proprieties, and such, of the free woman. Your attention is now to be more properly focused on your own business and concerns, for example, such things as the many intricate, exciting, complex and delicious sexual modalities and behaviors of the female slave.
"Yes, Master," she said.