Dancer of Gor

She reached to the disrobing loop, and dropped the tunic to the floor, about her ankles. Tupita was too good a slave, and too wise a slave, to dally before a Gorean male, having received such a command.

"What is the meaning of this?" she said, naked.

Her hands were then drawn behind her, and, in an instant, she was braceleted, as securely as I.

"Perhaps we are in the hire of Hendow, your master," said the leader of the men. "No!" cried Tupita. "No!" she flung herself to her knees before the leader, and the others. "No, please, Masters!" she cried. "Take pity on me!" "But we are not in his hire," said the leader.

Tupita sobbed with relief.

"Examine her," said the leader, curtly. I rolled to the right side of the table, and twisted about, a little. Then, frightened, I rolled again to my back. "She had this," said one of the men, holding up a small, damp leather sack by its strings.

I turned a little and saw some of the tiny golden coins, such as adorned the dancer" s costumes, spilled into the hand of the leader. I heard Tupita, on the floor, sobbing. It was a good deal more than a silver tarsk that she had thought to garner from her venture this night in Brundisium. No wonder she had been willing to leave, even without the tarsk. Had Mirus still been with the tavern, I do not think she would have been able to secure the tiny coins. He had been careful about such things.

"See if she is vital," said the leader.

I heard Tupita suddenly cry out and, startled, gasp, and then whimper.

"She is vital," said a man.

I then saw Tupita pulled to her feet. She seemed half in shock. Her hair was down about her face. A man held her from behind, keeping her from falling, by the upper arms. Her wrists were braceleted behind her. Held as she was, and with her hands braceleted behind her, the beauty of her bared bosom was accentuated. Sometimes slavers present prospective buyers with girls held in this fashion. This time, of course, it was a mere convenience that she was held so. I regarded her. Tupita was quite beautiful. There was no doubt about it.

"I would not mind owning either of them," said fellow.

"Please!" said Tupita.

"Not in Brundisium, you wouldn" t," laughed one of the men.

"Yes," said another. "They must be sold out of Brundisium."

"Please!" begged Tupita.

"Be silent," snapped the leader. "Apparently you have not felt the whip enough." Immediately Tupita silent.

"You are not now with soft masters," he said. "You are not now in the house of Hendow, where, it would seem, the girls do not know the whip."

Tupita put her head down, not daring to meet his eyes.

The leader was mistaken, of course. The girls in the house of Hendow knew the whip, and knew it well. Indeed, it was not unusual for them to experience it if they had been even in the least bit displeasing. To be sure, this very understanding, in itself, knowing the discipline under which they served, its consistency and reality, encouraged them to attempt to achieve perfect pleasingness, with the result that the whip was seldom called for, unless perhaps for the amusement of the master.

"We must get these slaves out of Brundisium soon," said a man, nervously. "Before light," said another.

"Before sleen are put on their trail," said another.

"Yes," said another.

I thought of Borko, the gray sleen. When it was discovered that we were missing, he, or other such beasts, might be set upon our trail. My blanket, of course, had been left behind in the kennel. That would suffice for any hunting sleen. Borko, of course, did not need so typical a stimulus. He, knowing my name and scent, could be set on my train by a mere verbal command. I shuddered. Through no fault of my own I feared I might be torn to pieces. A similar fate, of course, might befall Tupita. She had been quite anxious, I recalled, to be swiftly out of Brundisium.

"Lift your head," said the leader to Tupita.

She obeyed.

"You will not even have to pay for your tarn passage out of Brundisium," he said.

"Yes, Master," she said.

"Bring tools," said the leader.

Our collars, which identified us as the girls of Hendow, were to be removed. It is customary to change a girl" s collar shortly after she has been stolen. This makes it harder to trace her.

"Where are you going to take us, Master?" asked Tupita.

The leader went to her and, with the back of his hand, lashed her across the mouth.

"Curiosity," he said, "is not becoming in a kajira."

"Yes, Master," she said. Her lip was cut.

"Gag her," he said.