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 Preferred SlaveHere are the relevant references from the Books where the Preferred Slave is mentioned. I make no pronouncements on these matters, but report them as I find them. Arrive at your own conclusions. I wish you well, Fogaban "How is it you know of Haakon of Skjern?" he asked. "I was his preferred slave," I said. "I fled." We flew on, not speaking. Then, after perhaps a quarter of an Ahn, I asked, "May a girl speak?" "Yes," he said. "To be the preferred slave of a man such as Haakon of Skjern, who is rich and powerful, you must understand that I am unusual, quite beautiful and skilled." "I see," he said. "Accordingly," I said, "I should be sold in Ar. And, further, since I am white silk, I should not be used. My price will be higher if I am sold white silk." "It is unusual, I would suppose," said the man, "for the preferred slave of a man such as Haakon of Skjern to be white silk." I reddened, all of me, before him. "Say to me the alphabet," he said. I did not know the Gorean alphabet. I could not read. Elinor Brinton, on Gor, was ignorant and illiterate. "I do not know the alphabet," I confessed. "An illiterate slave girl," said the man. "Further, your accent marks you as barbarian." "But I am trained!" I cried. "I know," he said, "in the pens of Ko-ro-ba." I looked at him, dumbfounded. "Further," he said, "you have never belonged to Haakon of Skjern." "Oh yes!" I cried. "I did!" His eyes became suddenly hard. "Haakon of Skjern is my enemy," he said. "If you were truly his preferred slave, it is your misfortune to have fallen into my hands. I shall have much sport with you." "I lied," I whispered. "I lied." "Now you lie," he said, sternly, "to save your flesh from the irons and the whips." "No!" I cried. "On the other hand," he said, "if you were indeed his preferred slave, doubtless you would bring a high price in Ar, and would be much bid for by rich gentlemen." I was in anguish. "Warrior," I said, "I was truly, I confess, the favored slave of Haakon of Skjern, but I fled from him, so do not be cruel to me!" And then he no longer summoned other women to his tent. Then it was only I, El-in-or, whom he summoned. And then I, to the anger of some of the other girls, was the acknowledged favorite of Rask of Treve, his preferred slave. "Some of the girls are yours," I reminded him. "And I intend to have them back," he said. In that herd, I surmised, were several of our women, Thyri, Aelgifu or Pudding, Gunnhild, Olga, Pouting Lips, Pretty Ankles, the former Miss Stevens of Connecticut, now Honey Cake, the girl named Leah, from Canada, whose last name was of no interest, and others. Too, among them now, prisoner, was Hilda, perhaps Ivar's preferred slave. Some hundred yards from the head of the column, I passed a large white kurdah, on a large, black kaiila. I did not brush aside the curtain. It did not contain a girl I owned. It contained a slave girl, an exquisitely feminine girl, blond-haired and blue-eyed; she was richly veiled and bejeweled; it was said she was the preferred slave of the great Haroun himself, high Pasha of the Kavars; it was said her name was Alyena; she was of high station; she wore silks, and veils, and jewels; but the collar on her throat was of steel. I knew that a steel collar did immeasurably enhance the beauty of a girl. I had much envied Eta her collar, though it had been plain. I had seen few collars on Gor, but I had learned from Eta that there was great variety among them. They ranged from simple bands of iron, hammered about a girl's throat, her head held down on an anvil, to bejeweled, wondrously wrought, close-locking circlets befitting the preferred slave of a Ubar; such collars, whether worn by a kitchen slave or the prize beauty of a Ubar, had two things in common; they cannot be removed by the girl and they mark her as slave. He turned to Sandal Thong. "I pronounce you my preferred slave," said he. "You will sleep in my hut, and tend it." "A slave is grateful," said she, "Master." "Too," said he, "you are first girl." "As Master wishes," she said. "Submit," he said. "I submit myself, totally, Master," she said. Roughly he shut the collar, enclosing her lovely throat in the obdurate band of slave steel. He then, with his foot, spurned her to the floor. "Throw me among your women, Master," she begged. "I shall," he said. He then turned away and strode from the tavern. But I had little doubt the lovely Sabina would be his preferred slave. I saw a blond-haired slave girl, in a brief, revealing tunic, sneak on her knees near to Samos. It was Linda, a former Earth girl, one of the preferred slaves of Samos. She was looking at the standing woman with fear and anger. She reached out to touch Samos' sleeve. He shook free, a small gesture, of her touch. "Some might think her passable," said Boots, "but compared to yourself her beauty is doubtless no more than that of a she-urt compared to that of the preferred slave of a Ubar." I withdrew the blade from his throat, and he shuddered in his bonds. I had not even thought of gross Lurius, he of Jad, he who was Ubar of Cos. Once, long ago, I had sacked a treasure fleet bound from Tyros to Cos, intended for Lurius. Too, at that time, I had taken and chained naked at the prow of my flagship, as a trophy of my victory, the lovely young Vivina, who was being brought to Telnus, the capital of Cos, to be entered into companionship with him, then to be his royal consort. In Port Kar then, later, I had had her collared, and locked beneath the slaving iron. She was now the preferred slave of Henrius, a captain in Port Kar. "What was your name?" he asked. "Lucilina," she said. The fellow regarded me. "Do you know the name of the high officer of the Cosian forces in the south?" he asked. "Myron, Polemarkos of Temos, cousin to Lurius of Jad, Ubar of Cos," I said. "And what do you think might have been the name of his preferred slave?" he asked. "I gather it was Lucilina," I said. "She was as greedy as she is beautiful," said the officer. "She had much freedom in the Cosian camp, given even her own quarters, in which the Polemarkos could call upon her. In these quarters, amidst her cushions and silks, surrounded by her jewel boxes, attended by female slaves assigned to her for her own use, to whom she was as absolute mistress, she held sway almost as might have a Ubara. Comfortably secure in the favor of her powerful and highborn master, esteemed and pampered, she, though only a slave, gathered power about herself." I became angry hearing this. A female slave is not to have power. Rather she is to be subjected to it, totally. "Her influence with the Polemarkos became well known. She had his ear. A word from her, for or against a fellow, as she pleased, could promote or ruin a career. In her tents she would receive visitors, callers and petitioners. Dozens, coming to understand her power, came soon to sue for her favor. There were gifts for her, naturally. Surely that was only fitting. Her jewel boxes began to brim with precious stones. Rings were brought to her worth the ransom of a Ubar. Her cosmetic cases could boast perfumes that might have been the envy of a Ubara." "Better chains of iron and a whip for her," I said, bitterly. "Among these petitioners came one fellow bringing with him the promise of a gift of wine, a wine supposedly secret, the rare Falarian, a wine only rumored among collectors to exist, a wine supposedly so rare and precious that its cost might purchase a city. She, of course, would test this. She, though only a slave, would choose to sip it." "The wine, of course," he said, "was too precious to have been brought with him, but it is in his tent. She summons her palanquin and bearers, male slaves, and is to be carried to this place. Too, in this fashion the matter may best be kept secret from her attendants. She is often carried about the Cosian camp in her closed palanquin by bearers. This excites little curiosity. In his tent she will taste the wine, demanding even that he pour it for her. It is done. She looks at him, startled. Can this wine, which seems like a cheap ka-la-na, be the rare Falarian? But in a moment she is unconscious. Arrangements have already been made with the bearers, of course. They will receive their freedom. It could have been done otherwise but this is best. They were known. Had we substituted others for them we would have increased our risks. Too, left behind they might well have been killed, absurdly enough, by the Cosians, an unnecessary and foolish waste of able men, in my opinion, whereas I now have four more grateful, loyal fellows in my ranks, any one of whom I think would willingly die for me." "Of course," I said. "The palanquin is then brought within the walls of the outer tent. Meanwhile the female is stripped. She is placed, unconscious, in the palanquin. Binding thongs, about her ankles, her legs spread, about her wrists, they tied down at her sides, and about her thighs, belly, above her breasts and below her arms, and about her throat, fasten her to it, securing her tightly in place. When she awakens she will discover she can scarcely move a muscle. She is then gagged. Lastly the curtains of the palanquin are closed. She is now ready to be transported." "She has been drugged, of course," I said. "Not heavily," he said. "She will remain unconscious, by our intent, for only a few Ehn, for little longer than it takes to strip, bind and gag her. We want her to awaken quite soon, while still in the Cosian camp, and, awakening, to be fully appreciative of her predicament. We want her to lie there, helpless, fully conscious of what is being done to her." "Excellent," I said. "My man checked in on her once," he said "Her eyes were wild, frantic, over her gag. He then, again, closed the curtains." "It is a splendid coup," I said, "to have stolen the preferred slave of the Polemarkos of Temos." I was under no delusion now that I might be in the favor of my master. I was under no delusion now that there might be something special about me, that I might even be a preferred slave or a high slave. I knew now, and knew it well, that I was only another girl, no different from any other in the house. "Check," I told her, "and as you are." I then indicated, with a gesture of my finger, that she should proceed on her way. Sobbing, slowly, as she could, in her chaining, she took her way from the room. She had scarcely attained the kitchen door before another woman emerged, swiftly, yet gracefully, drawing a diaphanous silken wrap about her. How she moved! There was a close-fitting collar on her neck. How beautiful she was! What bondage does for a woman! She hurried to the fellow and bellied to him. Immediately he seemed mollified. I felt my fingernails scratch on the lacquer on the table. That must be one of the keeper's best girls, I thought. Indeed, perhaps she was the keeper's preferred slave, sent by him to the customer from his own furs. Shirley shrank back, a little. To be sure, even though she was the preferred slave of Aemilianus, her use could be handed about as easily as that of the lowest collar sluts on board, Claudia and Publia. There was pleasure in the eyes of the free women. I had seen that even the briefly tunicked slave girls on deck, kneeling together amidships, properties of various masters on board, were eager, happy and excited. Among them, with no special sign of her status, as being the preferred slave of Aemilianus himself, was Shirley, only one slave among others. There had been some other slaves, too, following the slim line of mercenaries on the road, beauties serving as pack slaves, bearing burdens. I had recognized one among these, as well, one struggling, bent over, with a burden perhaps somewhat heavier than those of the others. She had once been Lucilina, the preferred slave of Myron, Polemarkos of Temos, cousin to Lurius of Jad, Ubar of Cos, commander of the Cosian forces in the south. Indeed, she had been not only a high slave, and the preferred slave of the Polemarkos, but his confidante, as well. She had, thus, been privy to many secrets. Too, through her wiles and his weakness, she had exercised great influence over him. She had, thus, though ultimately only a slave, become a force in his retinue. Even free men had shamefully courted her favor. Her influence might be the difference between the favor and the disfavor of the Polemarkos, between advancement and neglect, between promotion and disgrace. Then, tricked and captured, she had been smuggled out of the Cosian camp, to a nearby city, to find herself there in common chains as a common girl. She had then been put under suitable disciplines and subjected to exact, sustained Gorean interrogation. Later, emptied of all sensitive and pertinent military and political information, and retaining merely her values as a female, she was given away as might have been any other spoil of war, she in this instance, and by design, to one of the captain's lowest soldiers, a rude and common fellow of the lowest rank, to serve him in absolute and uncompromising bondage, as one of the lowest and most common of slaves. Her name, at last I had heard, had been Luchita. I did not know if it would be the same now or not. Similarly, I did not know what might now be the name of the former Lady Cara, of Venna. I would have supposed 'Cara', that seeming to me suitable for a slave name, but I did not know. It could be anything. The city of which the former Lady Cara had spoken disparagingly, before being brought into the custody of the mercenary captain was Tarnburg. The city to which the former Lucilina, the former preferred slave of Myron, the Polemarkos, had been smuggled was Torcadino, then held by the same mercenary captain, Dietrich of Tarnburg, of course. Technically the lowest of free women, of the lowest caste, is immeasurably above even the highest of slaves, even the preferred slave of a Ubar. Sometimes a Ubar will even have his preferred slave serve in a low-caste hovel one day a year, under the command, and switch, of a low-caste free woman, performing her labors, and such, that she may be reminded that she is truly, when all is said and done, only a slave, as much as the lowest of the kettle-and-mat girls in the most wretched of hovels, crowded about the walls of a small city. I saw that she was very angry with me. Surely she must blame me for her humiliation. Too, I suspected she might, for some reason, be jealous of me. Was it my fault if I might be more beautiful or desirable than she? Did she resent the interest of the men in me? Did she fear that I might turn the head of the fellow in the chair? Might that be it? Did she fear that she might cease to be his preferred slave, if, indeed, she was that? I did not think that she was likely to have been a bred slave, except insofar as every woman, being a woman, is a bred slave. There are, of course, many differences among slaves, ranging from the preferred slave of a ubar, often a witty, literate, talented, highly educated, brilliant woman, though she, too, is at his feet, to the simplest kettle-and-mat wench, who, too, of course, is expected to be throbbing, kicking, helpless delight in the furs, or blankets. "Master?" I asked. The pit master, of late, had seemed much lost in thought. Seldom now he read at the table. Fina, too, his preferred slave, was much concerned. Fina, the preferred slave of the pit master, burst into the quarters of the pit master. I and two others were present, a guard and another girl. "Master!" she cried. "They are coming! Members of the black caste!" "Are any of these a preferred slave?" asked the leader of the fellows in black. Ellen had arrived at a bold plan. That she was in the iron belt must be meaningful, an indication of her master's interest in her, his solicitude for her, his reserving of her deflowering, or her "opening for the uses of men," for himself alone. He must want her, as a special slave, perhaps even a preferred slave! He had put her in the laundry, why? He must be waiting for her to respond affirmatively to the question put to her that evening after supper, an affirmative response that would indicate her interest in, and desire for, sexual experience, in and for itself. A slave who is nothing to one man may be exactly the slave that another man must have at any price, and a stunning beauty, perhaps a flower from a defeated Ubar's pleasure garden, perhaps even his preferred slave, these women vended in a war camp, might not appeal to a given common soldier, and such. The slave's best defense against discrimination and abuse, of course, is to endeavor to be so prized by the master that her sister slaves fear to attack her, steal her food, and such. A mere hint dropped by a preferred slave may bring a rival to the whipping ring, something the rival is not likely to soon forget. The favorite, incidentally, is not likely to be "first girl," that slave placed in charge of the others in the house, but she may nonetheless exercise considerable power, and candidates for "first girl" are likely to cultivate her favor. Much depends, of course, on her remaining the preferred slave. If a new slave should usurp her place at the master's slave ring, her life may become a misery, particularly if she is not popular with her sister slaves, is perceived as having abused her power, and so on. "Perhaps," I said, "you would like a private master?" She leaned forward. "Oh, yes, yes, Master!" she wept. "I want a private master, a private master!" This is not unusual amongst slaves. It is a common dream of public slaves, tavern slaves, brothel slaves, the girls of the laundries, the public kitchens, the mills, and such, that they should have a private master. And, of course, the dream goes far beyond this, for usually the dream is to be the single slave of a private master, to be the only slave in her master's household. For example, there is often much misery, much grief, even lamentation, in the pleasure garden of a rich man, who is assuredly a private master, where slaves may often constitute little more than another adornment, much as the colored grasses, the trimmed shrubberies, the beds of flowers, the exotic trees, the unusual fruits, to enhance the beauty of the garden. Perhaps no more than two or three preferred slaves are ever called to the slave ring of their master. Indeed, he may often bring in rent slaves from the party houses to sing and dance for him, and his guests, to play the kalika, to accompany with flute music the measuring of wine and the cutting of meat. Indeed, as the stocking and tending of such gardens is often managed by independent companies, staffed with professionals, he is likely to have several girls in his gardens whom he, personally, has never seen. "She fears she is not your preferred slave," he said. "I have no other," I said. "At present," he said. "At present," I agreed. "Asperiche," he said, "wishes to be a preferred slave, and she fears she is not yours." "She is the only one I have," I said. "Now," he said. "Yes, now," I said. "I see no more than twenty, no more than twenty-five or thirty here," I said. "Lord Yamada received something like one hundred and fifty slaves from the holding of Lord Temmu." I did recall that, as far as I knew only one slave had been retained in the holding of Lord Temmu. I did not understand that. Perhaps she was a preferred slave of some sort. I did not think she could have been that much more beautiful than the others, who had gone for rice. I did not know the name of the slave in question. "Doubtless he has access to all the slaves in the house," I said. "Not to the high slaves, the preferred slaves," she said. "They are reserved for the master, Decius Albus." "There is much to be said for pot girls and kettle-and-mat girls," said Kurik. "They frequently make the best of slaves." "And," said Drusus, "often enough one man's pot girl is another man's preferred slave, and sometimes one man's preferred slave is no more than another man's pot girl." And, let me apprise you that the noble Samos, as is his occasional wont, has inserted here, at one of these rings, which one, I wonder, as a challenge and surprise, a girl worthy to be the preferred slave of a Ubar!" I sensed that Kira lifted her head, and straightened herself. Most of the girls at the Golden Chain were "Kef girls." The Kef might be a common brand but that did not entail that the girl who wore it was a common slave. Many preferred slaves and high slaves wore the Kef. The brand was the common Kef, the first letter in the word "kajira," the staff and fronds, beauty subject to discipline, the most common slave brand on Gor. She regarded the brand, aghast. "I am not a kettle-and-mat girl!" she cried. "It is a lovely mark," I said. "Many preferred slaves are so marked." She sprang to her feet, fists clenched. |
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