all things.
'It will be up to him, of course,' said Cuwignaka, 'as to whether or not he chooses to accept your use.'
'Accept my use, Master,' she begged. 'Please.'
'What if I do not accept her use?' I asked Cuwignaka.
'Then we will leave her behind, cast out of the Waniyanpi compound to die,' said Cuwignaka.
'Please accept my use, Master,' she begged.
I looked down upon her.
'I learned long ago, at the paws of a master's kaiila, that I was a slave,' she said. 'I learned it, too, in receiving the blow of a quirt, of a stong man.' This was a blow I had administered to her sometime ago, preparatory to questioning her in the matter of the attacked wagon train and column. 'I learned it, too,' she said, 'naked, in a yoke which had been fastened on me by red savages, when I was marched to the compound. Mostly I have learned it here, in the long hours I have had to think, in the fields and in the compound. No longer am I in doubt as to what I am. I am a slave.'
A thrill passed through the Waniyanpi women present, with the exception of Radish.
'Long ago,' she said, 'when you were free, and I had just been sentenced to a Waniyanpi compound, you refused to carry me off, making me your own slave. Perhaps, then, regarding me as a mere encumbrance, I having been so recently free, and did not take me with you. Perhaps on the other hand, it amused you, as it seemed ot, that I, someone you seemed to regard, somehow, as a foe of some sort, of lovely enemy, was to be sent to a Waniyanpi compound, you have now had your wish. I will never forget the horrors of my esceriences there. You may now, if it pleases you, take me from it, as I beg you. Too, now you, too, have fallen slave. You, now, are no more than I. Perhaps a salve, then, may see fit to accede to the pleas of another slave, rather than dismiss her petition as causally, as thoughtlessly, as cruelly, as might a free man. Also, you being a slave, too, perhaps you have been denied the use of women or deprived of their caresses, or perhaps, not being free, you have not been permitted to use them with the same liberal audacity as a free man, or as frequently as you might desire. If that is so, I might be of somewhat greater intrest to you now than I was before. Lastly I would no longer be an encumbrance to you for I am, obviously, no longer a free woman. No longer am I an inconvenience and a bother, something to be concerned about and watched out for. Now I am only a property that begs to love and serve you.'
'You seem a different woman than before,' I said.
'I now realize that I am a slave, Master,' she said.
'If I accept your use,' I said, 'you must understand that I do so-unconditionally.'
'No strong man accepts a woman on any other terms,' she said. 'I would not have it any other way.'
'Do you understand what it is to be a man's total slave?' I asked.
'Yes,' she said.
'Speak,' I said.
'The slave is totally subject to the master in all ways, and in all things. She is his to do with as he pleases. She depends on him for her food and the merest scrap of her clothing, if any. She is subject, completely, to his discipline, to his abuse and his whip. She is owned, like a sandal or saddle. She may be slain even on a whim, if her master wishes.'
'Are these, other such conditions acceptable to you?' I asked.
'Yes, Master,' she said.
'I accept your use,' I said.
'Thank you, Master!' she cried. She seized me about the legs and kissed me. I felt her tears through my tunic.
'Stand,' I said.
Joyfully she stood.
'Do you think your lot with me will be easy, Slave?' I asked.
'No, Master,' she said, happily.
I went to the travois on which Hci lay. On it, too, were various articles and supplies. I cut a length from a narrow, raided rawhide rope.
'He is going to put her in a collar!' said one of the Waniyanpi women, excitedly, awe in her voice.
'Yes,' said another, breathlessly.
'Come away!' said Radish to the women and men. But the women would not budge. The men too, their eyes cast down, save for furtive glances, seemed loath to leave.
I took the narrow rope, then, and looped it about her neck, three times. I then knotted it and ran my finger about, under the loops, making sure that they were unslippable and snug, but not in the least uncomfortable. The point of the collar is to mark the woman as a slave and, in many cases, by means of devices such as particular kind of knot, a tag, and engraving on metal, or a plate attached to it, to identify the master, not to cause her discomfort. Most of the time she will not even be aware she is wearing it. She may always, of couse, be reminded. And if she is in doubt, she may always touch it. It is on her. I let the two loose ends of the braided, rawhide rope, some seven or eight inches in length, dangle between her breasts. They would also make a convenient, short leash, to pull her about with, if I wished.
I looked at the woman, collared. The three loops were about her neck. The ends dangled down, between her breasts. This collaring arrangement, through not unfamiliar on Gor generally, particularly after he fall of a city, when metal collars may not be available in abundance, or in rural areas, is unusual in the Barrens, where leather, thong-tied beaded collars are almost universal. I di dnot think, accordingly, that there would be much doubt as to who it was, to whome her use belonged.
I tought she would make a lovely slave.
'She is collared!' said one of the women, breathlessly.
'Yes!' said another.
'Come away!' said Radish.
I noted that even the men, furtively, with but one exception, obsered the collaring of the beautiful female. I saw that they, too, wished they had a female to collar. I wondered if the sight of her collaring might arouse their manhood. The one exception was Pumpkin. He kept his eyes cast down, determinedly. He was sweating. His fists were clenched. I saw that he, in the approved fashion of the Waniyanpi, would turn his manhood against himself, using it to frustrate himself, using it to cause himself suffering, denying it its fulfillment, its sovereignty and dominance.
'Take the palce of my friend, in the traces of the travois, Slave,' I said.
'Yes, Master,' she said.
Cuwignaka slipped from the broad, over-the-shoulder strap he had used to exert leverage on the travios and then helped the girl adjust it to her body. She then stood before the travois, very straight and beautiful, the strap on her body. The men and women, with the exeption of Pumpkin and Radish, looked on, thrilled, and in awe and envy. The woman was obviously a slave. She would serve in any way her master chose. She could serve even, obvously, as a draft beast.
'Come away!' said Radish.
The men and women did not move.
'Pumpkin,' said Radish. 'Pumpkin!'
I saw how she appealed to him, as to a natural leader.
'Yes, Radish,' he said.
'Come away,' she said. 'Come away, Pumpkin!'
'Yes, Radish,' he said, and turned meekly about. He took his way from the place. The oters, and then Radish, casting a look of hatred behind her, followed.
I walked over to the girl.
She lifted her head proudly, the strap about her body.
'We have little food,' I said. 'There will be great danger.'
'I am a slave,' she said. 'Whip me, if I do not please you.'
'It is a fitting answer,' I said. I regarded her. She was very beautiful.
'It seems to me you took a great risk,' I said. 'You were very bold, very brave.'
'Not really, Master,' she said.
