'They would also be the garments in which, for the first time, to my knowledge, she had ever dared to explicitly express her femininity.'
'Do the women on Earth not dare to express their femininity?' asked Glyco.
'Many fear to do so,' I said.
'What of the men of Earth?' asked Glyco.
'Many of them encourage the women to pretend to be pseudo-men,' I said.
'What sort of men are they?' asked Glyco.
'I do not know,' I said.
'Observe the hair,' I said.
'It seems severe, tight, rigid, constricted, constrained,' said Glyco.
That is part of the costume, so to speak,' I said, 'of many male-imitating women. The straight lines and severity are supposed to suggest, I gather, efficiency and masculinity.'
'Interesting,' said Glyco. 'It is incongruous, of course, with the garment, which seems rather feminine.'
'Such incongruities,' I said, 'are not uncharacteristic of many Earth women. They can indicate ambiguities in self images and confusions, in particular, as to their sexuality. There might, of course, I suppose, be many other reasons for them. For example, in some cases, they may represent that a transition is in progress toward femininity.'
'The cloth on the table and the candle,' said Miles of Vonda, 'are supposed to suggest to you the place of this meeting of which you spoke.'
'Yes,' I said. 'It was a place where food was served, and where one might engage in pleasant conversation.'
'A tavern?' asked Tasdron.
'Not exactly,' I said. There is no precise Gorean expression for a restaurant. 'There were no paga slaves there, and no dancers.'
'Why would one go to such a place?' asked Miles of Vonda.
'She went there that she might engage in delicate and intimate discourse with me,' I said.
'That she might offer herself to you as your slave?' asked Glyco.
'If so,' I said, 'that was not clearly understood at the time.'
'She appears then now before us,' said Glyco, 'much as she appeared then before you?'
'Yes,' I said, 'though there are, of course, differences. For example, at that time, her throat was bare.' The girl now wore a light white scarf twisted about her throat, the ends over her left shoulder. 'Too,' I said, 'at that time she carried a small silver-beaded pouch.'
'I see,' said Glyco.
The girl did not now, of course, carry a purse. Slave girls are not permitted to carry such things. When shopping she carries the coins usually in her mouth or hand. Sometimes she ties them in a scarf about a wrist or ankle. Sometimes her master places them in a bag, which is then tied about her neck. Gorean garments, generally, incidentally, except for the garments of craftsmen, do not have pockets. Coins, and personal items, and such, are usually, by free persons, carried in pouches, which are usually concealed within the robes of a free woman, or slung about the waist, or shoulder, of a free man.
The girl, then, to the music, moved gracefully, turning, her hands held out, about the table, displaying herself and her garments for us. She then returned to her place on the tiles, at the foot of the table.
I regarded her. How beautiful she was! She looked at me. Then, gracefully and decisively, to the music, she unbound her hair.
There was applause for this at the table, the gentle striking of left shoulders, for she had done it well, and the significance of a woman's unbinding her hair before a man is well understood on Gor.
'You see now,' I said, 'how beautiful can be a woman of Earth.'
'We know that from our slave markets,' laughed Glyco.
She then, reaching to the left side, beneath her arm, of what seemed to be a white sheath gown, undid a fastening, and then others, at the side of her body, her waist, her thigh, and knee, and then, gracefully, the Gorean music unobtrusive but melodious in the background, removed the garment. I saw then that a rectangle of white cloth, cleverly tucked and sewn, had been used to simulate the off-the-shoulder, white sheath gown on Earth. Such an actual gown, of course, had not been available to her on Gor.
There was gentle, appreciative applause.
She now stood before us in what seemed to be a brief, silken, off-the-shoulder slip.
'Now that is a slave's garment, obviously,' said Glyco.
'True,' I admitted. But I smiled to myself, for I knew that such garments, on Earth, might be worn by free women. To be sure, on Earth, they were usually worn as undergarments, whereas, on Gor, such a garment, silken and smooth, with nothing beneath it, would be regarded as quite acceptable for a slave's street wear, particularly in warm weather. To be sure, of course, the color of the garment, on Gor, would not be likely to be white, but, commonly, red or yellow. White, on Gor, is a color commonly associated with virginity. It is, accordingly, worn by few slaves.
The girl then sat on the tiles before us, but back a bit, where we, sitting cross-legged at the low table, could well see her. She extended her right leg, gracefully. It was flexed and, as her foot was placed fully upon the floor, her toes were pointed. These two things, respectively, curved her calf deliciously and extended the line of her beauty. Her left leg was back, its ankle beneath her right thigh. She looked at me, and then, bending forward, removed the golden straps wound about and under her right foot.
In the restaurant she had worn golden pumps, with wisps of golden straps. She looked at me. Well did she, and the others, know the significance of removing footwear before a free man. She cast aside the straps she had taken from her right foot. Then, putting her hands back, swiftly and smoothly, beautifully, to the music, without rising, she changed her position on the tiles. Her left thigh now faced me. Her left leg was now gracefully extended, flexed and toes pointed. Her left thigh, and calf, and ankle and foot were marvelous. Her right foot, as her left previously had been, was back, the right ankle now beneath her right thigh. She then removed the golden straps from her left foot, and cast them aside.
She looked at me. She had bared her feet before a free man. The golden straps she had used to simulate the footwear which she had worn on Earth were golden binding straps. They were the nearest thing she could find, within her limited resources, I gathered, to what she had worn in the restaurant. I did not object. They resembled somewhat, and well suggested, that footwear. Such straps, incidentally, are commonly used to bind the hands and feet of women. Sometimes, if it amused me, I could tie her in them.
There was gentle applause for the girl, and murmurs of appreciation. The footwear had been well removed.
She then rose to her feet and stood again before us, but now barefoot upon the tiles.
She then reached again to her left side, and undid a fastening there, below her left arm, and then another below it, and then one at her hip. She then unwrapped the brief slip-like garment from her body, and dropped it to one side.
'Ah,' said more than one man. 'Interesting,' said Glyco.
'The garments in which you now see her,' I said, 'are supposed to represent typical undergarments of an Earth female.'
'I see,' said Glyco.
The brassiere had been simulated cleverly with soft white silk. Her beauty, soft, and almost as though protesting its confinement, strained against this silk. Too, between her breasts, this silk had been twisted and knotted, this making even more evident the sweet contours of her beauty, and the sturdy, silken restraint placed upon it. The panties, too, were simulated with white silk, which, in a narrow rectangle, had been wrapped twice about her hips and tucked in at her waist. There was no nether closure to this silk, of course. The Gorean slave girl is not permitted to shield her intimacies without the explicit permission of her master.
Besides these two garments, intended, respectively, to suggest the brassiere and panties of an Earth girl, she still wore, of course, the light, narrow white scarf, this twisted and wound twice about her throat, the ends thrown over her left shoulder.
The girl then, to the music, put back her head and put her hands behind her back, and, reaching high behind her back, this lifting her breasts beautifully, strained for a moment, and then, one by one, twisting slightly, undid
