pass it about.
'Only seven ostraka are left,' called Mirus. 'Who would like them? Only one, regretfully, I fear, may be now allowed to a customer.'
I watched the attestation being handed about the tables.
Men crowded about Mirus.
I no longer had the sheet of white silk about me. It had been taken from me. 'Alas,' then cried Mirus. 'The ostraka are gone!'
There were cries of anger.
'Do not be dismayed, noble patrons of the tavern of Hendow,' he called, 'for the number of ostraka was determined in advance. If too many were sold, the chances of any particular one winning would be too few. Surely those of you who have already purchased one or more ostraka can appreciate the weight of this consideration.'
Several men seemed to offer assent to this.
'And do not forget, noble patrons,' he continued, 'that although only one may be the first to open this lovely slave, she is now one of Hendow' s women. Accordingly you may all return, time and time again, over the next weeks, and months, to sip her pleasures at your leisure.'
'True,' said a man.
'And I think I can guarantee,' said Mirus, 'by all the whips in the house of Hendow, that she will do her best to please you.'
There was laughter.
I shuddered. Of course I would do my best to please them. I would have no choice. I was a slave. Too, these were not the men of Earth, so tolerant, so understanding, so considerate, so forgiving, so easily put off, so weak. These were Gorean men. If I was not perfect for them, and whenever, and however, they wished, they would make me pay, and well. On Gor there are many sayings about masters and slaves. One is in the form of a question and an answer. The question is, 'What does a slave owe a Master?' The answer is, 'Everything, and then a thousand times more.'
'Some of you have apparently found this slave of some interest,' said Mirus, 'for although she has not yet even danced, already are the ostraka gone.' 'True,' said a fellow.
Many girls, I had gathered, do not dance before their virginity, in such contests, is disposed of. Not all girls are skillful dancers, particularly at first, before they have had slave sexual experience. I was to be danced, however, I had gathered, not only because I could, at least to some extent, dance, but also as a form of advertising. Hendow taking this occasion to introduce me to his patrons. He had hopes for me, I had gathered, as a dancer. He hoped, I think, through me, to bring new and additional business to his tavern. I hoped he would not be disappointed in me, as I did not want to be punished.
'May I have the attestation paper?' asked Mirus. He retrieved it from a fellow over to the right. 'Thank you,' he said. He then waved the paper over his head. 'Here is the signed attestation of the noble Tamirus,' he said. 'She is a virgin!' he then rolled the paper and pointed to me with it. I looked at him. 'Behold her,' he said, 'kneeling there before you, a beautiful slave awaiting her first use master.'
I put my head down, trembling. I knelt there, my knees wide, awaiting my first use master.
'Dispense more ostraka!' called a man.
'No!' cried others.
'Which of you hold the winning ostrakon?' inquired Mirus.
'Is it you, sir? You? Or, you?'
'I hope it is me,' called a fellow.
There was laughter.
'Doreen,' said Mirus.
'Yes, Master,' I said, looking up, startled. I had not expected him to speak to me.
'Who will win, Doreen?' he asked.
'I do not know, Master,' I said, weakly.
'Speak up, Slave,' said he.
'I do not know, Master,' I cried, in misery.
'Nor will you,' he said.
I looked at him, in consternation.
There was laughter. I did not understand this.
'Do you beg now to dance before your first use master?' asked Mirus. 'Yes, Master,' I said.
'And before the guests of Hendow?' he asked.
'Yes, Master,' I said.
'And before all present?' he inquired.
'Yes, Master!' I said.
'Adorn her,' said Mirus.
'Ina,' called Tupita. 'Sit,' she said then to me, 'with your hands on the floor beside you, leaning forward, your right leg advanced.'
Ina came forward from the back, through the beaded curtain, with a flat, shallow box. Tupita and Sita removed the leather cuffs from my wrists.
There are some three senses of the expression 'virgin dance' on Gor. There is a sense in which it is a kind of dance, rather than a particular dance, which is deemed appropriate for virgins. In that sense I was not expected to perform a 'virgin dance.' One would seldom see such dances in taverns. The second sense is the obvious one in which it is a dance danced by a virgin, and usually just prior to the loss of her virginity. In that sense it could be almost any dance which serves the purpose of displaying the girl before her initial ravishing. The third sense of the term is that of a specific dance, or type of dance, most often, interestingly, not even danced by a virgin, but usually by an experienced slave. It is not exactly a story dance, but more of a 'role dance,' a dance in which the slave dances as though she might be a virgin, but knows she is to be ravished, and that she is expected to be pleasing. The dance I was expected to perform was, I suppose, a 'virgin dance' in both the second and third senses of the term. Mirus, paradoxically, speaking obviously in the third sense of the term, had told me that I would do better at this sort of dance when I was no longer a virgin.
I felt metal anklets being thrust on my ankles by Tupita and Sita. They put several on each ankle. they then, similarly, placed narrow bracelets on both my wrists, several on each wrists. A long belt of cord, to which were attached numerous metal disks, suspended and shimmering, was then looped twice about me, the first loop secured high, and tight, at my waist, and the second loop, a larger loop, a framing loop, was secured in such a way, in the back, that it would hang quite low on my belly, well below my navel. The purpose of this belt was to call attention to, and enhance, by sound and sight, the movements of the hips and abdomen. With the slave beads I already wore I felt inutterably displayed, and barbaric. I could not move now without the sounds of the beads, the anklets and bracelets, the shimmering belt with its two loops.
'Stand,' said Tupita.
I did.
The men gasped with pleasure. I was frightened.
'Prepare to dance, slave,' said Tupita.
'Good,' said a man.
I stood before them with my hands lifted over my head, the backs of my hands facing one another, my knees flexed. It is a common beginning position in slave dance.
The musicians readied themselves.
I looked out on the men. These were not men of Earth, defeated and tamed by propaganda and lies. These were Gorean men, men like lions. I stood before them, weak and helpless, a woman from Earth, now a collared slave, who must dance for their pleasure.
The czehar player, sitting cross-legged, now had his instrument across his lap. He was the leader of the musicians. He had his horn pick in hand.
I stood barefoot, naked, save for collar and adornments, on the dancing floor of a low-ceilinged Gorean tavern. I must prepare to please masters. I wondered what the men who had worked at the library would think if they could see me now, their so-much-taken-for-granted Doreen, her beauty now at the disposal of masters, men
