Kajira of Gor (18 page)

I surveyed Corcyrus. In the Gorean world, and I sometimes still had difficulty

coping with this comprehension, female slavery was permitted. How horrifying!

Yet something deeply within me, undeniably, was profoundly stirred and excited

by this comprehension. This stirring within me troubled me. It did not seem to

be a response which I had been taught.

“There is the palace,” said Drusus Rencius, pointing.

“I see,” I said.

Given the sovereignty of males in nature, general among the mammals and

universal among the primates, it was natural enough, I supposed, that in a

civilization congenial to nature, rather than in one opposed to it, that an

institution such as female slavery might exist. This might be regarded as the

civilized expression of the biological relationship, a recognition of that

relationship, and perhaps an enhancement, riefinement and celebration of it,

and, within the context of custom and law, of course, a clarification and

consolidation of it. But why, I asked myself, irritatedly, should a civilization

be congenial to nature? Is it not far better, I asked my self, for a

civilization to contradict and frustrate nature; is it not far better for it to

deny and subvert nature; is it not far better for it to blur natural

distinctions and CODfUse identities; is it not far better for it, ignoring human

happiness and fulfillment, to produce anxiety, guilt, frustration, misery and

pain?

“There is the theater of Kleitos,” said Drusus Rencius, “the library, the

stadium.”

“Yes,” I said.

But whatever might be the truth about such matters, or the optimum ways of

viewing them, female slavery, on Gor, was a fact. There were, as I had long ago

learned, slaves here. I looked out, over the city. In the city, within these

very walls, there were women, perhaps not much different from myself, in

collars, who were literally held in categorical, uncompromised bondage. I had

seen several of them, in their distinctive garb, in their collars. I had even

seen one who, naked and in her collar, had been locked in an iron belt. Such

women were owned, literally owned, with all that that might mean.

“There, where you see the trees,” said Drusus Rencius, “is the garden of

Antisthenes.”

“How many slave girls do you suppose there are in Corcyrus?” I asked, as though

idly.

do not know,” he said. “Probably several hundred. We do not count them.”

“Do such women seem happy?” I asked.

“As they are only slaves,” said Drusus Rencius, “their feelings and happiness

are unimportant.”

Of course,” I said. Men arie such brutest How helpless are the slavesl

“There, where you see the trees,” said Drusus Rencius, again, “is the garden of

Antisthenes.”

“Yes,” I said. We had visited it twice. It was there, on our second visit, that

I had first tried to entice Drusus Rencius to kiss me. The second time had been

after we had witnessed the fencing matches. I had been rejected both times. I

wondered if I would have been rejected had I been a collared slave. To be sure,

he might have made ‘me whimper and beg for his kiss.

I rejected an impulse to kneel before Drusus Rencius. How I hated himl

6
     
The Sirik

“There are places you have not taken me in Corcyrus,” I reminded him.

“Perhaps,” he granted me.

“There was a place two days ago,” I said, “which we passed in the afternoon.”

“Surely you heard the music which was coming from within?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. It would not be easy to forget that music, so melodious, so

exciting and sensual.

“A girl was dancing within,” he said. “It was a paga tavern.”

“You did not let me enter,” I said.

“Such girls often dance in little more than jewels, or chains,” he said. “It is

better, I think, too, that free women not see how they look at men and bow they

move before them.”

“I see,” I said. “And bow do men find such women?”

“It is in the best interests of the woman,” said be, “that the men find her

pleasing, very pleasing.”

see,” I said, shuddering. I wondered if I could be pleasing to a man in that

way, dancing before him, and then, later, if he had paid my owner my price, in

an alcove. Most girls in such a place, I had heard from Susan, but generally not

the dancers, came merely with the price of the drink itself. I supposed that if

one were a dancer, and was then serving in an alcove, an additional price having

been paid for one’s use, one would have to strive to be particularly good.

Gorean men, I was sure, would see to it that they got their money’s worth.

“Sometimes I feel sorry for slaves, mere slaves,” I said.

“Do not,” lie said.

“Why not?” I asked.

“As you suggest,” he said, “they are merely slaves.”

“Of course,” I said, bitterly.

“Does Lady Sheila identify with slaves?” be asked.

“No,” I said. “Of course nott”

“Good,” lie said.

“Why is it good?” I asked.

“It is said,” he said, “that she who identifies with slaves wants the collar on

her own neck.”

“No!” I cried.

“It is only a saying,” he said. “Another such saying is that she who identifies

with slaves is a slave.”

“Absurd!” I said.

“Doubtless,” lie said.

“But if I were a slave,” I said, poutingly, “I suppose I would have to obey. I

would have to do what I was told.” I stood quite close to him. I was quite small

compared to him.

His size and masculinity made me feel weak.

“Yes,” he said, looking down into my eyes. “In such circurnstances, you would

have to obey. You would have to do what you were told.”

I turned away from him, suddenly, frightened, and looked again out over the

wall, toward the fields. The tarns, now, were again on my right.

“It is fortunate that I am not a slave,” I laughed.

“Yes,” he said.

“Soldiers, too, are to obey, are they not?” I asked.

“Lady?” he asked.

“Hereafter,” I said, “when I wish to go somewhere, or do something, I shall

expect you to respect my wishes.”

“If Lady Sheila is dissatisfied with my services,” he said, “she need only call

this to the attention of Ligurious, first minister of Corcyrus. A replacement,

perhaps one more pleasing to her, may then be assigned.”

“N”ile you are assigned as my guard,” I said, “you will obey me. I shall decide

if, or when, you are relieved of your duties, or even if you are to be

discharged entirely from the service of Corcyrus.”

“Yes, Tatrix,” be said.

“Your services are not entirely displeasing to me,” I said, “but it is my

intention to see that they are improved. I am Tatrix of Corcyrus.”

“Yes, Tatrix,” he said.

“Should I wish to enter a paga tavern, for example,” I said, you will accompany

me.”

“In most paga taverns,” he said, “free women are not permitted. In some they

are.”

“I see,” I said. To force an entry to such a place, I then understood, might

necessitate an altercation, one perhaps ensuing in the exposure of my identity

as the Tatrix. A common free woman, for example, might simply be forbidden to

cross certain thresholds.

“Too,” he said, “even if commanded, I could not knowingly lead you into danger,

for example, into certain sections of the city at night. It is my duty to

protect the Tatrix, not to place her in jeopardy.”

“You are an excellent guard, Drusus,” I said. “You are right, of course.”

“I could take you to a tavern in which families are served,” he said.

“It was not such a tavern I had in mind,” I said.

“Oh,” he said.

“Slaves can enter taverns, can they not?” I asked.

“If on an errand, or in the company of, a free person,” he said.

“There seems little concern for their sensibilities,” I observed.

“Sometimes,” said he, “they are even taken to such places by their masters, that

they may see the paga slaves, and the dancers, and thus learn from them how to

serve even more deliciously and lasciviously in the privacy of their own

quarters.”

“What if I were clothed as a slave?” I asked.

“It is unthinkable!” he said.

I was pleased that this thought, obviously, had touched a nerve in him. I

wondered if he had speculated, privately, on what I might look like clad as a

slave, or perhaps, in chains, not clad at all. Many men had probably wondered

what I looked like, naked. I had always been rather jealous, rather privat~,

about my body, though. I had never had a master who might simply order me to

strip. I had been seen naked, of course, by the men in my apartment, when they

bad removed the towel from me. I remembered how casually and efficiently they

had handled me, how I had been injected with the contents of the syringe, how I

had been secured with leather straps, helpless aqd gagged, in the heavy metal

box, with air holes.

“Too,” he said, “in so public a place you might, unveiled as is a slave, be

recognized. Your resemblance to the Tatrix., at least, Would surely be noted.”

“You are right again, of course,” I said. He was.

He was silent.

“Drusus,” I said.

“Yes,” said be.

“I would like to see a slaver’s house, inside. I would like to see the ‘pens.”’

“Such are not fit for the sensibilities of a free woman,” he said.

“I would like to see them,” I said. “That would not be dangerous, would it?”

“No,” he admitted, reluctantly. Such places, I gathered, might be among the

-safest on Gor. I could scarcely conjecture the effectiveness of the security

that might be practiced within them, how helplessly the slaves might be

confined.

Too, a free person on Gor is almost never in any danger from a slave unless it

be a guard slave, and he is attacking its master. In some cities a slave can be

slain for so much as touching a weapon. Insurbordination, slaves are quickly

taught, is not -acceptable, in any way, to the Gorean master.

“Then,” I said, triumphantly, “I shall expect you to arrange a tour.”

“Are there any particular pens of interest to Lady Sheila?” he asked.

“The choice,” I told him, airily, “may be yours.”

“Did you merely wish to see girls in the grated ts, or chained in their kennels,

or at their rings,” he asked, or did you wish, perhaps, to gain also an idea of

what goes on in such a house?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“How, for example,” he said, “girls might be trained.”

“That might be interesting,” I said, as though considering it, trying to keep

the excitement out of my voice. The thought of women being trained, actually

trained, as Susan might have been trained, almost made me faint with excitement.

I wondered if I might train well. I supposed I might be punished if I did not.

Under such conditions I suspected I would train quite well. I would do my best

to be a diligent and apt pupil.

“Your presence, of course,” he said, “as you may be aware, may inhibit the

slaves.”

“You are an intelligent man,” I said. “Perhaps you can figure out a way to

prevent that.”

“It might be possible,” he said, “in the privacy of the house, where few would

know you.”

“What do you have in mind?” I asked.

“Do you have pretty legs?” he asked.

“Yesl” I said. I thought I had very pretty legs.

“It might be possible,” he mused.

“Tomorrowl” I said.

“So soon?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“Why should you wish to see such a place?” be asked. “Why should it be of

interest to you?”

“I am merely curious,” I said, tossing my head.

“Tomorrow?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“I shall attempt to make the arrangements,” he said.

“Do so,” I said. “I shall be totally cooperative.” I then heard again that small

sound, as of metal, from within his cloak.

“Why did you wait so long to bring me to the height of the wall?” I asked. That

small sound of metal had reminded me of his reticence with respect to its

origin. That had puzzled me. Too, I recalled his earlier nervousness, though now

that had seemed to pass. Too, I had not understood why he had brought me to this

particular place on the wall. Its proximity to those fearful tarns, only feet

away, had been unsettling.

He shrugged. Too suddenly, it bad seemed, after earlier demurrings, he had

brought me to the wall. It had almost been as though he had decided on some

action. His nervousness, too, had seemed uncharacteristic. What was there here,

other than the tarns, which need not be closely approached, to be nervous about?

“You seem strange today, Drusus Rencius,” I said. “You seem less communicative

than usual. There are many things here I do not understand. I do not know why

you hesitated so long to bring me here. It is a lovely view. Then why would you

have so suddenly, so belatedly, have found my suggestion agreeable? Had

something happened to make you change your mind? Why, too, earlier, did you seem

so distracted, as though your thoughts were elsewhere? Too, of all these places

on the wall, why did you bring me here, so close to those terrible birds. They

frighten me.”

arn a. poor guard, Lady Sheila,” he said. “Too, I am poor company this day.

Forgive me. Worse, I fear I am a poor soldier.”

“Why should you say that?” I asked. That genuinely puzzled me.