Magicians of Gor Read online

  Marcus had, of his own thinking in the matter, purchased the garment. It was, in my opinion, high time he had done so. Not only would Phoebe be incredibly fetching in a slave garment, garments permitting a female in many ways to call attention to, accentuate, display and enhance her beauty, but it would make her, and us, less conspicuous on the streets of Ar. Also, of course, she would then be no more susceptible than other, similarly clad slaves of the pinches, and other attentions, of passers-by in the streets.

  "May I put it on?" she asked, holding the garment out.

  "Yes," said Marcus. He was beaming. I think he had forgotten that he hated the wench, and such.

  "Why have you come to Ar?" I asked Marcus.

  "Surely you know," he said.

  "But that is madness," I said.

  During the siege of Ar's Station its Home Stone had been smuggled out of the city and secretly transported to Ar for safekeeping. This was done in a wagon owned by a fellow named Septimus Entrates. We had learned, however, after the fall of Ar's Station, that the official rumor circulated in the south was to the effect that Ar's Station had opened its gates to the Cosian expeditionary force, this in consideration of substantial gifts of gold. Accordingly, those of Ar's Station were now accounted renegades in the south. This supposed treachery of Ar's Station was then used, naturally, to explain the failure of Ar's might in the north to raise the siege. It was supposed that Ar's dilemma in the north was then either to attack their former colony or deal with the retreating expeditionary force. On the supposition that the latter action took priority the might of Ar in the north entered the delta in pursuit of the Cosians, in which shifting, trackless morass column after column was lost or decimated. The devastation of Ar's might in the delta was perhaps the greatest military disaster in the planet's history. Of over fifty thousand men who had entered the delta it was doubted that there were more than four or five thousand survivors. Some of these, of course, had managed to find their way back to Ar. As far as these men knew, of course, at least on the whole, the circulating rumors were correct, namely, that Ar's Station had betrayed Ar, that it was still intact and that it was now a Cosian outpost. Such things they had been told in their winter camp, near Holmesk, south of the Vosk.

  Phoebe slipped the garment over her head.

  Marcus observed, intently.

  Understandably enough, given these official accounts of doings in the north, Ar's Station and those of Ar's Station were much despised and hated in Ar. Happily Marcus' accent, like most of Ar's Station, was close enough to that of Ar herself that he seldom attracted much attention. Too, of course, these days, in the vicinity of Ar, given the movements of Cos on the continent, and the consequent displacements and flights of people, there were medleys of accents in and about Ar. Not even my own accent, which was unusual on Gor, attracted much attention.

  Phoebe drew down the tunic about her thighs, and turned before Marcus, happily.

  "Aii!" said Marcus.

  "Does the slave please you?" inquired Phoebe, delighted. The question was clearly rhetorical.

  "It is too brief," said Marcus.

  "Nonsense," I said.

  "It is altogether too brief," said Marcus.

  "The better that my master may look upon my flanks," said Phoebe. They were well exposed, particularly with the notching on the sides.

  "And so, too, may other men," he said, angrily.

  "Of course, Master," she said, "for I am a slave!"

  "She is extraordinarily beautiful," I said. "Let her be so displayed and exposed. Let others seethe with envy upon the consideration of your property."

  "She is only a slut of Cos!" said Marcus, angrily.

  "Now only your slave," I reminded him.

  "You are a pretty slave, slut of Cos," said Marcus to the girl, grudgingly.

  "A girl is pleased, if she is found pleasing by her master," said Phoebe.

  "Surely, by now," I said to Marcus, "you have thought the better of your mad project."

  "No," said Marcus, absently, rather lost in the rapturous consideration of his lovely slave.

  The Home Stone of Ar's Station, as I have suggested, was in Ar. It was primarily in connection with this fact that Marcus had come to Ar.

  "She is marvelously beautiful," said Marcus.

  "Yes," I said.

  "For a Cosian," he said.

  "Of course," I said.

  Given the anger in Ar at Ar's Station, and the fact that the Home Stone of Ar's Station had been sent to Ar, supposedly, according to the rumors, not for safekeeping, given the imminent danger in the city, but in a gesture of defiance and repudiation, attendant upon the supposed acceptance of a new Home Stone, one bestowed upon them by Cosians, the stone was, during certain hours, publicly displayed. This was done in the vicinity of the Central Cylinder, on the Avenue of the Central Cylinder. The purpose of this display was to permit the people of Ar, and elsewhere, if they wished, to vent their displeasure upon the stone, insulting it, spitting upon it, and such.

  "The stone," I said, "is well guarded."

  We had ascertained that this morning. We had then gone to the Alley of the Slave Brothels of Ludmilla, on which street lies the insula of Achiates. I did not enter the insula itself, but made an inquiry or two in its vicinity. Those whom I had sought there were apparently no longer in residence. I did not make my inquiries of obvious loungers in its vicinity. I went back, with Marcus and Phoebe, later in the afternoon. The loungers were still in evidence. I had assumed then they had been posted. There was a street peddler nearby, too, sitting behind a blanket on which trinkets were spread. I did not know if he had been posted there or not. It did not much matter. Normally in such arrangements there are at least two individuals. In this way one can report to superiors while the other keeps his vigil. As far as I knew, no one knew that I was in the vicinity of Ar. I did know I could be recognized by certain individuals. The last time I had come to Ar, before this time, I had come with dispatches to Gnieus Lelius, the regent, from Dietrich of Tarnburg, from Torcadino. I had later carried a spurious message which had nearly cost me my life to Ar's Station, to be delivered to its commanding officer at the time, Aemilianus, of the same city. I had little doubt that I had inadvertently become identified as a danger to, and an enemy of, the party of treason in Ar. I did not know if the regent, Gnieus Lelius, were of this party or not. I rather suspected not. I was certain, however, from information I had obtained at Holmesk, at the winter camp of Ar, that the high general in the city, Seremides, of Tyros, was involved. Also, secret documents earlier obtained in Brundisium, and deciphered, gave at least one other name, that of a female, one called Talena, formerly the daughter, until disowned, of Marlenus of Ar. Her fortunes were said to be on the rise in the city.

  "I am well aware," said Marcus, "that the stone is well guarded."

  "Then abandon your mad project," I said to him.

  "No," said he.

  "You can never obtain the stone," I said.

  "Have you come to Ar for a reason less likely of fruition?" he asked.

  I was silent.

  The girl did not understand our conversation as we had not spoken before her of these things. She was a mere slave and thus appropriately kept in ignorance. Let them please and serve. That is enough for them.

  "Well?" smiled Marcus.

  I did not respond to him. I thought of a woman, one now high in Ar, one for whom I had once mistakenly cared, a vain, proud woman who had once, thinking me helpless and crippled, mocked and scorned me. I thought of her, and chains. It would be impossible to obtain her, of course. Yet, if somehow, in spite of all, I should obtain her it was not even my intention to keep her but rather, as a gesture, merely dispose of her, giving her away or selling her off as the least of slaves.

  "I see," said Marcus.

  "Master?" asked Phoebe, turning before Marcus.

  "Yes," he said, "you are very pretty."

  "Thank you, Master," she said, "for giving me a garment."

  "Fo
r permitting you to wear one," Marcus corrected her.

  "Yes, Master," she said.

  "For at least a moment or two," he said.

  "Yes, Master!" she laughed.

  "You have an exquisitely beautiful slave, Marcus," I said.

  Phoebe looked at me, gratefully, flushed.

  Marcus made an angry noise, and clenched his fists. I saw that he feared he might come to care for her.

  He whipped the cord, some five feet in length, from his shoulder.

  Phoebe approached him and held her wrists, crossed, before her. "Am I to be bound, Master?" she asked. In extending their limbs so readily, so delicately, for binding, slaves express, and demonstrate, their submission.

  "Do you like the garment?" he asked.

  "Whose use I may have, if only for a moment," she smiled. "Yes, Master. Oh, yes, my Master!"

  "Are you grateful?" he asked.

  "Yes, Master," she said. "A slave is grateful, so very grateful."

  "It is not much," he said.

  "It is a treasure," she said. I smiled. To her, I supposed, a slave, such a tiny thing, little more than a brief rag, would indeed be a treasure.

  "You understand, of course," he said, "that its use may be as easily taken from you as given to you."

  "Yes, Master," she said.

  "Do you wish to retain its use?" he asked.

  "Of course, Master," she said.

  "You now have an additional motivation for striving to please," he said.

  "Yes, Master," she smiled. The control of a girl's clothing, and many other things, such as her diet, chaining, name, whether or not her head is to be shaved, and so on, are all within the purview of the master. His power over the slave is unqualified and absolute. Phoebe, of course, was muchly in love with Marcus, and he, in spite of himself, with her. On the other hand, even if she had been, as he sometimes seemed to want her, the hating slave of a hating master, she would still have had to strive with all her power to please him, and in all things, and with perfection. It is such to be a Gorean slave girl.

  "Do you think me weak?" he asked.

  "No, Master!" she said.

  He regarded her, torn with his love for her, and his hatred of the island of Cos.

  She lifted her crossed wrists to him, for binding.

  But he did not move to pinion them. The cord, of course, was not for such a purpose, though that was a purpose which it could surely serve.

  She separated her wrists timidly, and looked at him, puzzled, with love in her eyes.

  "I am eager to be pleasing to you," she whispered.

  "That is fitting," he said.

  "Yes, Master," she whispered.

  "For you are a slave," he said.

  "And yours," she said, suddenly, breathlessly, "yours, your slave!"

  He looked at her, angrily.

  "I exist for you," she said, "and it is what I want, to please and serve you." She was much in love. She wanted to give all of herself to Marcus, irreservedly, to hold nothing back, to live for him, if need be, to die for him. It is the way of the female in love, for whom no service is too small, no sacrifice too great, offering herself selflessly as an oblation to the master.

  He regarded her, in fury.

  She extended her arms a little, toward him, timidly, hoping to be permitted to embrace him. "Accept the devotion of your slave," she begged.

  I saw his fists clench.

  "I love you. I love you, my Master!" she said.

  "Sly, lying slut!" he said.

  "No!" she wept.

  "Mendacious slut of Cos!" he cried.

  "I love you! I love you, my Master!" she cried.

  He then struck her with the back of his hand, striking her to one side, and she fell, turning, to her knees. She looked up at him from all fours, blood at her lips.

  "Were you given permission to speak?" he asked.

  "Forgive me, Master," she whispered. She then crawled to his feet and, putting her head down, kissed them. "A slave begs the forgiveness of her Master," she said.

  Marcus looked down at her, angrily. Then he turned to me. "Her use, of course," he said, "is yours, whenever you might please."

  "Thank you," I said, "but I think that I can find a rent wench outside in the camp, or, if I wish, buy a slut, for they are cheap in the vicinity of Ar these days."

  "As you wish," said Marcus.

  Although Marcus was harsh with his slave, pretending even to a casual and brutal disdain for her, he was also, it might be mentioned, extremely possessive where she was concerned. Indeed, he was almost insanely jealous of her. She was not the sort of girl, for example, whom he, as a host, even at the cost of a certain rudeness and inhospitality, would be likely to hand over for the nightly comfort of a guest. It would be at his slave ring alone that she would be likely to find herself chained.

  "Stand up," said Marcus to the girl.

  "I hear some music outside," I said.

  "Yes," said Marcus.

  "At least someone in the neighborhood seems cheerful," I said.

  "Probably peasants," said Marcus.

  I thought this might be true. There were many about, having fled before the march of Cos. Driven from their lands, their stock muchly lost, or driven before them, they had come to the shelter of Ar's walls. Still they were ready to sing, to drink and dance. I admired peasants. They were hardy, sturdy, irrepressible.

  Phoebe now stood humbly before Marcus, as she had been commanded.

  "Wipe your face," said Marcus.

  She wiped the blood away, or smeared it, with her right forearm.

  "This cord," said Marcus, "may function as a slave girdle. Such may be tied in several ways. You, as a slave, doubtless know the tying of slave girdles."

  I smiled. Marcus would know, of course, that Phoebe would not be likely to know much, if anything, of such matters. Only recently she had been a free woman, though, to be sure, one who had been long kept, languishing, it seemed, and, of course, incompletely fulfilled, in the status of a mere captive. Only a few weeks ago had she been branded and collared, and thusly liberated into total bondage.

  "No, Master," said Phoebe. "I am not trained, save in so far as you, and before you, Master Tarl, have deigned to impart some understandings to me."

  "I see," said Marcus. I think he was just as pleased that Phoebe had not been muchly trained. From one point of view this suggested that she had presumably been less handled before coming into his keeping than might have been otherwise the case. Also, of course, if she was to strive to please, and squirm, under strict training disciplines, he would prefer that she do so under his personal tutelage, and in the lights of his personal taste, she thus being kept more to himself, and also being trained to be a perfect personal slave, one honed to the whims, preferences and needs of a particular master. To be sure, this sort of thing can be done with any woman. It is part of her "learning the new master."

  "Master is undoubtedly familiar with many slaves, and things having to do with slaves," said Phoebe. "Perhaps then Master can teach his slave such things."

  Though Marcus was a young man and, as far as I knew, had never owned a personal slave before Phoebe, he, as a Gorean, would be familiar with slaves. Not only were they in his culture but he probably, as he was of the Marcelliani, which had been a prominent, wealthy family in Ar's Station, would have had them in his house, in growing up, the use of some perhaps being accorded to him after puberty. Similarly he would be familiar with them from his military training, which would include matters such as the hunting and capture of women, who count as splendid trophies of the chase, so to speak, and his military life, as officers and men commonly have at their disposal barracks slaves, camp slaves, and such. Too, of course, he would be familiar with the lovely properties encountered in paga taverns, and such places. Indeed, together we had frequented such establishments, for example, in Port Cos, after our landing there, as refugees from Ar's Station. The Gorean slave girl seldom needs to fear that her master will not be fully familia
r with, and skilled in, the handling, treatment and discipline of slaves.

  "I am not a professional slave trainer," said Marcus, "or costumer or cosmetician, but I will show you two of the most common ties. Others you might inquire of, when the opportunity permits, of your sister slaves."

  "Yes, Master," she said.

  Phoebe, because of the nature of her acquisition and holding, and our movements, and such, had had very little chance to associate with, or meet, other slaves. On the other hand this deprivation might be soon remedied, I supposed, if Marcus should take up a settled domicile. Indeed, even if we remained in the camp for a few days, it was likely that Phoebe would soon find herself in one group or another of female slaves, conversing, working together, perhaps laundering, or such. From her sisters in bondage a girl, particularly a new girl, can learn much. In such groups there are normally numerous subtle relationships, hierarchies of dominance, and such, but when a male appears they are all instantly reduced, before him, to the commonality of their beauty and bondage.

  "Also," said Marcus, sizing up the slim beauty before him, "we can always, if we wish, extend our repertoire of ties by experiment."

  "Yes, Master," said Phoebe, eagerly. It seemed she had forgotten her cuffing. Yet I had little doubt that its admonitory sting lingered within her, not only as a useful memorandum of her bondage but recalling her to the prudence of caution.

  Marcus looped the cord and put it over her, so that the loop hung behind her back and two loose ends before her.

  Already, it seemed, Phoebe had returned to her normal mode of relating to him, as a mere, docile slave, not daring to confess her love openly. Yet I think there was now something subtly different in their relationship. Phoebe now, given his recent intensity, his denunciation of her mendacity, his fury, his excessive response to her protestations of love, the violence of his reaction to them, had more than ample evidence of the depth of his feelings toward her. She was more than satisfied with what had occurred. Such things, to the softness and intelligence of her woman's heart, spoke clearly to her. She was not in the position of the helplessly loving female slave at the feet of a beloved master who regarded her with indifference as merely another of his women, or was even cold to her, perhaps disdaining her as a trivial, meaningless possession.