though I might be a slave.'
'I did?' I asked.
'Yes,' she said. 'Do you think a woman does not know when she is being looked upon as though she might be a slave? We are not stupid, my dear Master. Furthermore, you looked upon me as though I might be your slave.'
'I was not, at that time, clearly aware of such things,' I said.
'And, in my heart, beneath those ridiculous garments of Earth I then wore, I knew that you were right.'
'You would scarcely greet me,' I said. 'It seemed you would scarcely deign to recognize my existence.'
'I was afraid,' she said. 'Everything was suddenly so different. Can you imagine what it would be for an Earth girl, with all her conditioning, and her education and training, to suddenly recognize that she is a female, and has met her master?'
'Doubtless it would be a troubling insight,' I admitted.
'Put the chain on me, Master,' she laughed. 'I am eager to see how I look in it!'
'Vain slave,' I said. Then she stood and I, from behind, looped the chain about her. She hurried to one wall, where there was a full-length mirror, and, turning and posing, and adjusting the chain on herself, she examined herself.
'It is beautiful,' she said, turning. 'How I pity poor free women who cannot wear such things.' Then she looked at herself, frontally, and, skeptically, tilting her head one way and another, experimented with the chain, varying its lines, loopings and tensions. She adjusted it with her small hands with meticulous care and fastidious taste. 'I think I would bring a high price,' she said, not taking her eyes from the mirror.
'In a market,' I said, 'you would not be sold in the chain.'
'Even so,' she said, 'if I were a man, I think I might buy me.'
I did not respond.
'Of Shirley, Peggy, Lola and myself,' she asked, 'who is the most beautiful?'
'Most men,' I said, 'would probably pay most for Shirley, as most men would regard her as the most desirable, if not the most beautiful. Then I would think that Peggy would bring the next highest price, and then Lola, and then you.'
'I would be last?' she asked, still looking in the mirror.
'I think so,' I said, 'clearly.'
'But surely some men would find me attractive,' she said.
'Of course,' I said.
'I think I would bring a good price,' she said.
'You might,' I said.
'You do not find me unattractive, do you, Master?' she asked, lifting her hands to her head and throwing back her hair, regarding herself.
'You are being kept,' I pointed out, 'at least for the time.'
'You do find me attractive, don't you, Master?' she asked, turning to face me.
'You are not found to be entirely displeasing to my senses,' I said.
She swiftly came to where I stood and knelt down before me, and kissed my feet, and then lifted her head, looking at me. 'That pleases me, my Master,' she said.
I then lifted her to her feet, but did not permit her to press her lips to mine.
'Do you like the chain?' I asked.
'Yes, Master,' she said, 'it is beautiful.'
'It is not expensive,' I said. 'It is a common piece of slave jewelry.'
'Fit for a low slave,' she smiled.
'It also has certain features of which you might not be immediately aware,' I said.
'Oh!' she said. Then she tried to pull her wrists apart, from behind the back of her body. 'I am chained!' she said.
'Yes,' I said. With the small clips, using convenient portions of the chain, I had fastened her hands behind her. With the clips, of course, she may be chained by the hands and feet, and waist and neck, in almost any conceivable position.
'I now see why free women do not wear these things,' she smiled.
The chain was now secured with snap clips, which are usually perfectly adequate, as the girl, as she is chained, cannot reach or undo the snaps. I had also, however, purchased a set of lock slips, which are useful in some chaining situations or out-of-doors, where, say, one would not wish a stranger to be able to gag the slave, undo the clips and carry her off from where, perhaps, she has been chained to a post. The body chain I had purchased, though efficient, and attractive and sturdy, was not an expensive one. Some such chains, of course, such as those sometimes worn by high slaves, are quite expensive, being of gold and set with such stones as rubies, sapphires and diamonds.
She moved away from me, and turned before me. 'Am I pretty in your chain?' she asked.
I wanted to scream with pleasure, the little she-sleen! How well the little beast knew what she was doing! What a slave she was.
'I see that you think I would bring a good price,' she said.
I clenched my fists.
'You do find me quite attractive, you know,' she said.
I said nothing.
'Masters find it so difficult to conceal their desire,' she laughed.
I said nothing.
'I am helpless, you know,' she said, trying to pull her wrists apart.
'I know,' I said.
'May I approach Master?' she asked.
'Yes,' I said.
She came and stood quite close to me, within the circle of my space, close, as a slave may stand to her master. Her nearness was almost overwhelming. I thrust her back. She regarded me, amused, observing me scrutinizing her bared beauty. She knew I owned it.
'Doubtless I am now to be unchained,' she said, 'that I may attend to my domestic labors, clearing the table, and such, but then, perhaps, it was not for that reason that Master chained me so helplessly. Perhaps he has other plans in mind for me. I know that he need not reveal to me his intentions with respect to me, but, naturally, I am curious.'
'Curiosity is not becoming in a Kajira,' I said.
'Granted, Master,' she said, 'but, as you must understand, in certain situations, as when a woman finds herself naked and chained before a man, a certain amount of curiosity on her part regarding her fate is almost unavoidable.'
'I think it is time to throw you in your kennel,' I said. 'There you may ponder your cleverness.' I seized her angrily by the arm and pulled her, stumbling, toward her kennel. 'No, Master!' she cried. 'Please, no!'
In moments I had thrust her into the low, cement, steel barred kennel. She scrambled about, on her knees, on the blanket on the cement floor, her hands chained behind her, to face outward, just as the steel-barred gate clanged down, locking, in front of her. I saw the shadows of the bars on her face and body. She thrust her face, and beauty, against the bars. 'Please, Master,' she begged, 'don't kennel me!'
'Why not?' I asked.
She regarded me, through the bars, her face pressed close against them. She was on her knees. A girl cannot stand in the kennel. Its low ceiling, about four feet in height, does not permit it. She drew back, slightly, from the bars. 'The kennel is cold, and hard,' she said.
I turned away.
'Master,' she cried, 'please don't go!'
I turned again, to face her.
'I will try to be a good slave,' she said, 'humble, docile, loving and obedient.'
Again I turned from her.
'Master,' she cried, 'let me beg for what I want!'
