Swordsmen of Gor

Did I not attempt to escape? Slay me, and then loosen and discard the straps. None will know.”

“I fear several would know,” I said.

Licinius groaned.

“One is tied on the cross, closely,” said Tajima. “It is hard to move. Thus, in even a short time there arises from within the constricted muscles a great deal of pain, even agony. Too, one languishes for two or three days, until one dies of the pain, or of dehydration. Sometimes one is given some fluid, that the agony may be prolonged.”

“The sword! The sword!” begged Licinius.

“Impalement would be a Gorean way,” I said to Tajima.

“That is barbarous,” said Tajima.

“True,” I said.

“Too, it would be too quick,” said Tajima.

“It can last a long time,” I said.

“Interesting,” said Tajima.

“Yes,” I said.

“The sword!” said Licinius.

“I have sent for Ashigaru,” said Tajima. “They will take the prisoner in charge, and, too, will conduct Saru to the central camp.”

The girl, freed of bonds, naked, in Lord Nishida’s collar, lying nearby, the stains of the stable still on her, turned to her side, uneasily, and whimpered.

She was recovering from the effects of the Tassa powder.

I had noted some activity on her part a few Ehn ago.

One normally recovers slowly from the effects of Tassa powder, at least for a few minutes, and then one might, after a time, suddenly comprehending, awaken suddenly, hysterically, struggling, screaming, if one is not gagged. It is not uncommon for them to awaken in a stout, canvas slave sack, in which they can barely squirm, or bound hand and foot, say, on a carpet in an empty tent, or chained to a ring in the darkness. Such awakenings, too, may characterize Earth girls brought to Gor for the markets, as they are commonly sedated in tiered slave capsules for the journey from Earth to Gor. Many are even unaware of their journey, having perhaps been sedated in their own beds and then transported to Gor unconscious, only to awaken later in the pens, sometimes to the stroke of a slaver’s lash.

Saru now had her hands under her, and lifted her body a little, and looked up at me.

“You are back now,” I said. “You are near the stable, in the camp.”

She looked at Licinius near her, bound. I do not know if she understood what, even in general, had happened. Presumably she would have thought Licinius had been intercepted, or overtaken. Then she went to her belly, her head turned toward us. I did not know if she were capable of kneeling now, as she might be unsteady from the effects of the drug.

“The water in the bota was drugged,” I said. “The tarn returned.”

“Are you all right?” asked Pertinax.

“Show no concern,” I snapped. “Do you not know what she is?”

Saru regarded me, frightened. She averted her eyes. I sensed she knew what she was, even if Pertinax, in his naivety, did not.

” Nadu!” said Tajima, sharply.

The girl struggled to nadu, kneeling back on her heels, her head up, her back straight, the palms of her hands down on her thighs. She did not make eye contact with any of the free men, but kept her gaze forward.

It is a beautiful position.

“Split your knees,” said Tajima.

“No!” said Pertinax.

“Now!” said Tajima.

The girl spread her knees.

“Wider!” said Tajima. She was, after all, a collar-girl.

The former Miss Wentworth complied, quickly, docilely, with Tajima’s command. She had learned obedience to men, slave obedience, in the stable, at the hands of the grooms.

“Please!” protested Pertinax.

“Stay as you are,” cautioned Tajima.

The slave remained in the adjusted nadu, as directed. It was a common form of nadu, one almost invariably expected of a particular sort of slave, the pleasure slave.

I had the sense she very much wanted to look to Pertinax, for whatever reason, perhaps to see how he might view her, as she was, as she had been positioned, but she did not dare to do so. In any event, she knew she was before him, in nadu.

“Whose prisoner am I?” asked Licinius.

“You are the prisoner of Lord Nishida,” said Tajima.

“No,” I said, “you are my prisoner.”

“Captain?” asked Tajima.

“My prisoner,” I said.

” Ashigaru will soon be here,” said Tajima.

“Saru, I understand,” I said, “is finished in the stable. Ashigaru will call for her, see that she is cleaned up, and conduct her to Lord Nishida.”

“Yes,” said Tajima.

“You have learned the lessons of the stable, I trust,” I said to the slave.

“Yes, Master,” she whispered.

“Do you wish to be returned to the stable?”

“No, Master!” she said softly, quickly.

“You will learn to wear tunics, and silks, and bangles,” I said. “You will be taught to kneel and move. You may be perfumed and painted. You will be taught to please men. You will learn something of slave dance, and of the kisses of slaves. You will learn the use of your fingers, your hair, and tongue.”

“Yes, Master,” she said, shuddering.

“If you do poorly,” I said, “you will be slain.”

“Yes, Master,” she whispered.

“The wholeness of your life,” I said, “and your meaning, the fullness of it, all of it, and the very reason for your existence, and the only reason for your existence, is now to be a pleasure object for masters. You are an animal, and a property, only that, nothing more. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Master.”

“You will now exist for, and only for, the service and pleasure of men. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Master,” she said.

“Do you understand why?” I asked.

“Yes, Master,” she said.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I am a slave, Master,” she said.

I turned to the prisoner. “Licinius Lysias,” said I.

“Please, the sword!” he begged.

“You did not slay the slave,” I said.

“I would have,” he said, “had you not supplied my needs.”

“Of course,” I said, “but you did not do so.”

“Is she so important?” asked Licinius.

“Not at all,” I said, “but she is pretty, is she not?”

“Yes,” he said.

“We are pleased to recover the goods,” I said, regarding the slave.