'I understand,' I said. 'And you are, indeed, beautiful.'
'Thank you, Jason,' she said. 'You are very kind.'
'You are beautiful,' I said, ' quite beautiful.'
'I suppose that it is not hard to tell that, if it is true,' she said, 'when one is clad as a Gorean slave girl.'
'No,' I smiled. 'It is not'
'What brutes they are, to clothe us for their pleasure,' she said.
'At least,' I pointed out, 'you have been permitted clothing.'
'Yes,' she smiled. It was true that often, in slave pens, and in the houses of slavers, women were kept nude, save for their collars. This effects a saving in the laundering of slave tunics. Too, it is sometimes thought to have a useful disciplinary effect on the girls. They learn that even a rag is not something they can take for granted, but must, so to speak, be earned. Too, it might be mentioned, some masters commonly keep their girls nude in their own compartments. Most, however, permit the girl some garment, usually a brief, sleeveless, one-piece slave tunic. This helps the master to control himself, should he wish to do so. Too, it is enjoyable, at a snap of his fingers, to have the girl remove it, or, indeed, if he wishes, to tear if from her at his whim.
'In the Ta-Teera though,' she said. bitterly, 'it is sometimes like being more naked than naked.'
'I understand,' I said, softly. It presented her as a displayed slave.
She was silent.
'Yet doubtless,' I said, 'it affords your modesty more comfort than might a mere collar'
'Yes,' she smiled, 'a bit more than might a collar alone.'
How I then again envied the Gorean brutes who might order such a woman, at so little as a snap of their fingers, to strip to her collar.
'I was not branded,' she said, 'because the masters thought a brand would mar my beauty.'
'I understand,' I said. Actually, however, though I was not prepared to argue, I found this quite surprising. From What I had seen a brand made a woman at least a hundred times more beautiful and exciting. The brand's marvelousness, of course, is not simply a function of its aesthetic enhancement of the woman's beauty, adding beauty to her beauty, raising her almost geometrically to a new dimension of loveliness, but was doubtless as much or more a function of its meaning; it marked the loveliness into which it was burned as that of the most desirable of women, a female slave.
'I do not need the jacket,' I said.
'Please, for me, Jason,' she wheedled.
She was so pretty!
'Very well,' I said. I drew on the jacket.
'Now, the coat,' she said.
'I certainly do not need the coat,' I said.
'Oh, please, please, Jason,' she wheedled.
'Very well,' I said. I drew on the coat.
'How marvelous you look,' she said. 'How long it has been since I looked upon a handsome man of my world, so smartly attired.'
'I feel like a fool.' I said. 'These garments are so incongruous on this world. Too, they seem clumsy and out of place, almost rude and barbaric, compared to the lines and simplicity of Gorean garments.'
'No, no,' she said. 'They are perfect!'
'If you say so,' I smiled.
'You have been very kind to me,' she said, 'to let me see you dressed in this fashion, as a man of my old and dear world. You have pleased me very much. What lovely memories do you recall for me!'
'It is nothing,' I said. Indeed, it was such a little thing to do for the girl, and she seemed so appreciative. I gathered it meant much for her. 'Perhaps now,' I said, 'you should show me the secret exit, that I may attempt to escape from this place.'
'Hurry,' she said, slipping in front of me and out the barred gate, which was ajar.
'Slowly,' I said. 'There may be guards in the hall.'
'No,' she said. 'It is not yet time for their rounds but it will be quite soon. We must make haste.'
I followed the girl, swiftly, from the cell. Behind me I left the collar, opened, on the floor, and the chains, open and discarded, strewn about the ring.
I was well pleased t0 leave the room of slave preparation. I quickly followed the girl, heart pounding, through the dimly lit corridors. I thought it fortunate we encountered no guards. She knew the way well. Once we heard, in the distance, the striking of a gong. 'What is that?' I asked. 'It is a signal,' she said, 'that it is time for the guards to begin their rounds.' 'Hurry,' I said. She moved quickly before me.
How brave she was. She risked much, doubtless, for one who was only a man of her world.
What a fine and noble girl.
Suddenly she stopped before a large, heavy door. She turned, breathless, to face me.
'Is this the door?' I asked.
'Yes,' she said.
I took her in my arms. 'You must come with me,' I said. 'I cannot leave you here.'
She shook her head. 'I cannot go,' she said. 'Leave met Escape!'
'You must come with me,' I told her.
'I am only a half-naked slave,' she said, 'in a Ta-Teera and collar. I would be picked up in a moment. Go.'
'Please,' I said. 'Come with me.'
'Do you know the penalties for an escaped slave girl?' she asked.
'No,' I said, frightened.
'I tried to escape once,' she said. 'This time my feet could be cut off.'
I shuddered.
'Please, hurry,' she said. 'Every moment that you delay prolongs our danger.'
'You are the finest and bravest girl I have ever known,' I said.
'Hurry,' she whispered.
I lowered my head to her, to kiss her, but, again, she twisted her head away.
'Do not forget that I am a woman of Earth,' she said.
I continued to hold her. She was sensitive to the pressure of my hands upon her arms.
She looked up at me.
'Our relationship has been so beautiful, Jason,' she said, 'please do not spoil it.'
'I'm sorry,' I said. I released her.
She opened the door and peered through. It was dark on the other side of the door.
She turned about and faced me. She smiled. 'I wish you well, Jason,' she said.
'I, too, wish you well,' I said.
'Hurry,' she said.
'I will never forget you,' I said. Then I slipped through the door.
My arms were instantly pinioned to my sides. I heard a woman's laugh behind me.
'Light the torches.' said another woman's voice. I recognized it as that of my Mistress, the Lady Tima.
Torches were lit. I found myself on a semicircular stage, in a sort of an amphitheater. My arms were held at my sides by the two gigantic brutes, guards, whom I had seen earlier. There was much laughter, that of women, which rang about me, which showered down upon me. To my left and right torches were ignited. I was well illuminated. I could not see too well into the tiers but I could see, dimly, that they were filled with robed, veiled women. I struggled, futilely. There was much laughter.
I saw the girl whom I had thought was named Darlene removing the collar from her throat with a key. She handed the collar and key to an attendant, a husky brute with a knife thrust in his belt, who handed her a loose, white gown which she, fastening a clasp at her throat, donned. Too, she was handed a whip. She shook out its blades, and snapped them once. The sound was fearful
I looked up into the tiers.
I recalled the words of the heavy man on Earth. 'I think I know a little market where you might be of interest,' he had said.
