I laughed. "Take her in hand," she said."Take away her clothes. Put her in a collar. Throw her to your feet. use her. You will see!" I smote my thigh, laughing, in the Gorean fashion, so preposterous were the urgent words of the lovely, kneeling slave. How preposterous it was even to think of the lovely Miss Henderson as a slave.The girl knelt back, on her heels. "I assure you Master," she said, "she is as much, or more a slave than I."
"Watch your tongue, Girl," I said, angrily, "lest it be slit."She shuddered, and put down her head. "Forgive me Master," she whispered."She is different from you," I said. "Your are only a shameful and degraded slave."
"Do you wish her to be herself," she asked, "or to conform to some alien image which your culture has devised for her?" I did not speak."She is not man," she said, "She is a woman."They are the same," I said."That is stupid," she said.
"I know," I said. Then I said angrily, "I know that she is not a man. I know that she is a women." "And if that is so," she said, "how do you d\consider her differently?" "I don't know!" I said.
"Perhaps Master is indeed from earth," she said. "I was once from Earth," I said. "I must respect her."Do not respect her," she said, "fulfill her." "How?" I asked. "Make her your full and total slave" she said. "I cannot," I said.
"Surely Master knows he is of the dominant sex," she said. "and that it is those of our sex who must submit." "I know that is true," I said, "but it is my duty not to believe it."
"Can it truly be one's duty not to believe the truth?" she asked. "Yes," I said. "It is important to hld the correct opinions, whether they conform to reality or not."
"Perhaps such opinions subserve thpurposes of ambitious and eccentric minorities," she said."and that is doubtless and important point it their favor, but the do not seem to advance the cause of a civiliation congenial to the nature of the human species as it is in actuality constituted."
"It is important to cater to the few," I said, "though it may in time spell doom and pain to the many. "That is madness," she said. "It is the principle on which my world is based," I said. "Tht is no longer your world," she said. "How do you know?" I asked.
"I could tell a few Ehn ago," she said, "by how you held me." I shrugged. "Abandon disease and madness, "she said, "Return to the order of nature."
"To look upon truth, openly," I said, "could be a fearful thing," "Yes, Master," she whispered and put her head down, the collar n ther throat.
I reached to her hair and twisitng her head, she crying out, threw her to the furs. "But it might not be unpleasant to do so," I said and then took her.
Almost instantly she had writhed in my arems, surrendering as a female slave to her master. Then trembling, held, she looked up at me. "You took me well Master," she said. I laughed, pleased with my conquest and trimph over her. I then knew what was the order of nature. And she too, knew it well.
"The other girl," she whispered, "is she unpleasant or difficult to get on with?" "Perhaps," I said. "Do you find her at times a bother or troublsome"
"Yes," I said. "May I make a suggestion?" she asked. "Yes," I said. "Buy a whip," she said.
12. I Become Irritated with my Kept Woman I Kennel Her
"Do not forget you are a kept women," I told her. "Kept woman!" she cried. «Precisely,» I said."I do not care to think of myself as a kept woman," she said."Unfortunate, for that is exactly what you are."
"Where were you last night, and today," she demanded. "I own you no accountings… Is my supper ready?" I have already eaten," she said."Is my supper ready," he asked."You may prepare it yourself," shd said.
"The house is dirty," I said."Such work is not mine to do, " she said. "If you wish such work done, buy yourself a slave."
I had rented a small house a few blocks from the wharves. It had an upstairs and a downstairs. It was small, but stout, as are most Gorean dwellings. On the small earnings I made at the wharves it was somewhat expensive for me, but it was not altogether impractical. There were two bedrooms upstairs, and there was a hall, living room and kitchen downstairs.Mis Henderson's bedroom had a porch, which overlooked a small garden, surrpounded by a high wall.
"Would you be pleased," I asked her, "to return to an inn?"
"The house is not unpleasant," she said, "but it has certain distressing features." "And what are those?" I asked. I thought the house was rather nice, considering the modesty of the budget which must needs sustain its rental.
"My couch," she said, "in the master bedroom, has a heavy iron ring set in its base."That is a slave ring," I said. "Surely you know it's purpose."Yes," she said acidly.Such rings are commonly used for chaining slave girls, generally by the neck, to the foot of their Master's couch.
"And too," she said, "I do not like the slave kennels in the hall."I shrugged. "It is a Gorean house," I said.
"Did you bring the suls from the market?" she asked. "No," I said, "I did not."How much money did you earn today?" she asked.The amount of money earned varied from day to day depending on the galleys in port and the need for men from the hiring yard.
"It is none of your business," I told her. Her shoulders stiffened under the robes of concealment and her eyes flashed angrily over the slilk of the house veil. I could see her lips and mouth, vaguely, beneath the veil.
"You brought nothing from the market," she said. "Accordingly there is very little for you here to eat."Were you not to shop?" I saked. "I gave you money." "I did not feel like it," she said.
"I will eat out," he said."That is expensive," she said. "There is some bread and dried meat left." "I will eat out," I said.
"The girls are pretty at the paga taverns aren't they?" she asked, pointedly. "Thay had better be," I said, "or they would bring in little money for their masters." "I have heard such girls are hot," she said. "It is one of the features for which they are purchased." I said. "I see, she said in cold fury. "And what if they are not 'in the mood'?" she asked.
"They know enough to be in the mood," I assured her. "And what if the customer is not pleased?" she asked. "The girl then, would be well whipped." I said.
"Would you," she asked, "If not well pleased, have such a girl whipped?" "Yes," I said. "I see," she said in cold fury. She then rose to her feet.She drew her robes haughtily about her. "I am weary," she said. "I shall now retire."
"Do not throw the bolt onyour door," I said.She had been doing this, and it irritated me. "It is my bedroom," she said."Of these lodgings," I said, " I am the rental master. It is your bedroom only upon my sufferance."
"Of course," she said, coldly, "I am your kept woman."You may leave when you wish," I said. "Of course," she said, "I need only walk out upon the Gorean streets and see what will happen to me."
"You could sell yourself to an impotent maser," I said. Her eyes flashed angrily over the white silk of the house veil."I invite you to leave," I said. "I do not want to leave," she said. "You prefer to be kept." I said. "Yes," she said coldly, "I prefer to be kept."
She then turned about and left the kitchen, where we had been talking. She went through the living room and going throught the hall, passing the kennels, began to ascend the stairs. "Do not bolt the door," I called after her. "Why not?" she asked, angrily.