The raucous ambience of the Tavern had faded, one drunken client was leftover, nearly passed out, laying his head on the table. As he drifted into a drunken slumber that left only the slaves with one final task. The nightly routine of the cleaning which was well under way. Those who had not been serving had busied themselves with the labor. As the crowd had grown sparse, one by one, the girls were sent from the slave mats to gather dishes, goblets, mugs and other tasks. At least one girl was left kneeling on the slave mats in case a late night quest wandered in. A goblet and a pitcher of water would be left for the Master that slept.
Brethhor believed in hospitality. Bretthor sat at the table and counted the coppers then looked up. His dark eyes studied the Inn. and perhaps because he himself felt weary nodded to the second girl.
" Yes Master. " she, reading his eyes as they glanced to the hall leading to the slave pens. " Girls ... time to kennel. Harta ! "
lori received the words with a tired sigh of relief. The day had been long. she comforted herself with the knowledge that she had been used this evening and had brought a copper or two to the Master coffers. Had she ever been used, she laughed to herself as she thought of the drunken Master. He would not be displeased. So she felt an uncertain assurance that she would not be whipped. she wiped her hands with the cloth and stepped toward the wall opposite the Masters chair.
He had been quiet tonight. maia had had the pleasure of being at his feet this evening. lori and her exchanged a wry smile as they qued. she thought of the exercise as less than an accounting and more of an indoctrination of sorts. They stood to be counted. In a line. How long does it take to count to five ? she smiled to herself.
But, every evening, in yet another way the Earth girl was again told that she was a slave. Property. The inventory was a part of this.
" maia ... doe... lori... sultra ..."
Each name evoked the simple " Yes Mistress "
The girls then walked toward the kennel, on rare occasions they would be chained in a coffle to make the same journey. Yet in any case the journey was past a small bowl of scraps. Generally the only chance the slave would have to sample something more than the bland gruel.
Of course a girl could not be greedy, she could not grab a large handful. Enough to put in her mouth immediately on passing, then one more smaller portion such as she could grasps in her fingers. A greedy slave would more than likey get the switch quickly. Or worse incur the ostracism of the other girls when the bowl was not set out the next evening.
As lori passed the girl mira laid the switch softly on her hand. " Not tonight Lori .. "
lori looked up to her, her blue eyes asked why, but the words were not spoken.
" Yes Mistress. "
And now, as she filed past the treat, she wondered what she had done to displease the Master. Or the girl. The others did also. It is the minutia and trivia of a slaves world. Fuel for gossip. lori knew the girls would imagine that she was now set apart. " lori had been displeasing. " Maybe. lori wondered as they walked down the narrow stairs to the pens. Was this from mira or from the Master ?
The slave pens of the Inn were, by Gorean standards, luxurious. The kennels themselves were large, though the girls slept in common, rather than in single individual pens. But there were those as well. The larger door to the iron gridwork was for the entrance and exit of the Free Persons.
The girls would have to bend and crawl through the smaller grid. And so they all knelt, in the same que as before. lori watched the girls. she started for the small door to find mira's foot blocking the path.
" Kneel over there .." she pointed behind her.
" Yes Mistress. "
And as an after thought, maybe to quench any anger she had seen in the sluts eyes, she added. " Master has ordered this lori .. "
" Yes MIstress. "
lori looked at the cage. It was small. Criss crossed with the metal bars. she was afraid of it. Maybe she was being sold. The cage was a transport device ? she found herself looking at the cage from the inside. Her eyes moistened with a tear as the lock clicked.
mira dimmed the lanterns and walked to her kennel. lori found she had enough room to lay on her side, with her legs curled up. her mind could not digest the flurry of activity that buzzed through her imagination.
she lay quietly. Never in a thousand lifetimes would she had imagined such a fate. Never. she would still, on occasiaon, in her thoughts, think of herself as Madison. Maybe she always would. But even now those occasions were less frequent. Only when she was confronted with the more brutal realities of this life. Such as being caged. Such as now.
" Ohhh Madison ..where are you ... "
And the paradigms of her past were vanquished. she could not deny that she was alive with passion. Nearly constantly. And this was precisely the premise of Gorean biology as it pertained to female slaves. To slavery. It is a natural state. The sirik, the collar and the brand. she lived in a physical, mental and emotional state of a seemingly endless foreplay.
" I am so hungry ... " she whimpered out loud, her voice trailing off to a whisper. " ... a girl is hungry. " she drifted off to sleep.
The girls in kennel heard her. Some may of thought she wanted food.
Part Two
The mornings were usually quiet at the Inn. In the slave pens they were routine. The girls were fed and bathed quickly. Slar, an erstwhile employee of the Inn, a free woman on the edge of poverty attended to the girls. The rumor was that she was once a slave. There being varied twists and turns to the rumor. Some whispered that she herself was not far from a collar.
The girls kneeled, licking, eating the bland gruel that she had slopped to the bowls. As they ate Slar barked out the intenirary. Clean the firepit. Sweep the Inn. Rake the sandpit. Wash the dishes....
There were basically two shifts so to speak. Bretthor wanted the girls to be lively and vibrant when it counted. So in acheiving this they slept a little later into the morning. Or were allowed to. The first shift addressed the more taxing chores.
After this the girls were bathed and more attention given to the make up, the brushing of hair. A slave girl of the Five Blade Inn was distinctive in many ways. Not the least of which was Brettors reputation of buying and training the best and hottest female slaves.
The girls all were kept in siriks. The webbing of chain locked to their wrists and ankles. Each girl was pierced through the nose, sporting a silver nose ring. All the slaves were pierced ear girls. And none were allowed any growth of pubic hair, being routinely shaven between their legs.
So this too was done in the afternoons, before the larger crowds would gather. This would be late to mid afternoon.
lori watched from the cage as the girls filed out. A bowl of cool water passed through the grating of the cage.
" Food Mistress ? " the girl pleaded softly.
" No lori ...." Slar answered and patted her cheek, walking then up the stairs to oversee the chores. Doe peeked over her shoulder to smile to the girl in the cage. To encourage her.
" Harta ! doe. "
she then scrambled up the stairs, the chains of the sirik bouncing. lori watched the empty kennel from the cage. Bringing her lips to taste the cool water.
The cage demanded introspection. What else was there to do. And maybe that was the purpose lori thought. The first hours were spent in a careful retrospection. What had she done to be displeasing.
It was vain to atempt comfortable in the cage. And particularly for a slave such as lori. High strung. Energetic. Now, she knelt quietly. The ihns passed slowly. Outside she could hear bustle of commerce as the city was awake and thriving. The Inn sat on the outskirts of Koroba. The road was well travelled and the Inn had its own reputation inside the city itself. So nestled on a trade route it was insured a steady stream of quests from far and near.
she heard the girls coming down the stairs. Had it been that long ? It was now past midafternoon, the heavier labor done, the kajirae would be bathed, make up and hair attended to.
mira watched curiously as Slar unlocked the cage, lifting her eyes as she brushed Doe's hair. Then averting her gaze as tall girl crawled out stretching her form, her muscles aching and cramped.
" Stand girl. " the voice was strange. A man. A master.
" Yes Master. " lori stood.
He was a rough looking sort of man, his face and skin weathered from the elements. lori felt him lift her hands, he measured. she wondered if she was to be sold. He was most unimpressive.
His hand grabbed her hair, she flinched, bowing as his hand commanded. He measured her neck. It was significant to the girl only, that she was made to lay on her back to lift her ankles to be measured. He measured around her thigh, or rather just above her knees. He gave it no thought. He was Gorean. He did not bend before slaves. He let go of her ankle and walked away, back up the stairs.
Some of the girls peeked as the short woman, Slar ordered "leasha", most, the experienced girls, minded their own business.
lori felt the tug on the leash and was led, crawling, up the stairs. An earth girl is not used to crawling in chains on a leash. It is perhaps for this reason that the Masters delight in having them leashed and crawling.
lori followed, thinking how strange it is to crawl. To be made to crawl. It was often an awkward exercise, not nearly as graceful as say a slow alluring strut across the Inn. she felt the weight of her tits hanging, her breasts swaying with a rhythm of their own. her stomach growled. her hunger now gnawing at her constantly. An incessant reminder of her complete dependence on her keepers.
she was led before a wooden pail of water in the far corner of the Inn. Master Bretthor could be heard chuckling with another Master about something. The sound of the carpenters at work the only thing out of the ordinary. lori wondered if the Master could see her. she was a mess. her hair was toussled, she was not pretty. dhe did not feel pretty. dhe knew that she was pretty but even the natural beauty would not overcome the effects of a restless night in the cage.
The leash unsnapped. lori winced as she felt the girl grip her collar. Slar had decided not to try a detailed explantion of how the girl should attend this task. She held the collar with one hand, then pressed the girls head to water. Pressing down until her hair hung into the pail.
lori took a deep breath, stifling the rush of anger in her heart as the smaller woman spoke. she gritted her teeth in a rage, the pride of the Earth girl still pulsing through her veins. Pushing the slaves head down near the floor, her damp mane laying wet on the dust of the tiles.
" Mop ! "
It was the force of the culture at play. lori wanted to pummel the wench. she would not allow herself to acknowledge that the woman was fulfulling commands given to her. Otherwise how could she be angry. Could she direct so rage to the Master of the Inn ? And the deep humiliation dragged on for another hour.
For a time Slar stood over her. Until she discerned that the pretty girl no longer entertained any reluctance. At least any demonstrable evidence of such. She had only used the switch once. The girl was quite pliable she thought. One little swipe she chuckled to herself. The girls of Earth are so inclined to chains Slar thought.
lori shook. Their was no escape. This you will do or you will be beaten. The long drudgery continued, sliding, plodding across the floor. her stomach growled. she peeked up to Slar.
" Food Mistress .. lori begs .. "
The woman shook her head.
On her hands in knees, in the most menial drudgery she had ever encountered, lori mopped the entire Inn. The carpenters chuckled as she slid the pail past them. lori did not look up. Several times she thought she heard the Masters footsteps. she would wring her hair out, drop low on her hands and knees, then slide her damp hair across the floor.
The other girls were taking their places on the slave mats, the idle chat and laughter rising mirthfully in the hour before the Inn began to bustle. Bretthor allowed it. He encouraged it.
" Leasha .. "
lori was led down the stairs, crawling past her chain sisters, all of whom grew silent as she was led past them. Why shouldn't they be silent ? lori knew she stank. her hair reeked. she did not allow herself to consider what she had mopped in the dark corners of the Inn.
Crawling down a set of stairs is a greater challenge she thought. Especially in the sirik.
her day was only beginning. she was given water to drink. Then Slar had her prepared. she knelt, bent over, resting her forhead on her hands. The warm water rinsed her insides as she blushed. she would be thoroughly cleaned. she emptied herself on command. The process repeated five or six times before she was allowed to rise and lay in the scented bath. And the bath was luxurious. she felt the warm water soothing the aching muscles. The oils and scents an elixir for her spirit, she closed her eyes as Slar scrubbed her hair.
Part Three
The music of Gor was an eclectic mix ranging from subtle harmonies to the most primitive sounds of the drums. To the blindfolded girl, the strains of the cacaphnous chorus added to her anxiety. As did the laughter of men around her as she knelt. she recognized Master Bretthors soft chuckle. her hands studied the wood.
" it is a table Masters ? " her voice timid, anxious. Slar stood in distant and admired the girls beauty. Not recognizing her as the smelly beast that mopped. She smiled taking pleasure in her handiwork.
A light tap of the whip on her flank caused her to shiver.
" Of course its a table ... it was taken from your dinining room on Earth ... " the man laughed. " .. it is obviously too high to be a table girl .. "
The whip whistled, lori felt its sting, rolled away from it. It was not a hard lash. It was a frightening lash in the darkness of the blindfold.
" Study it closly " Bretthor's voice reverberated.
her fingers traced about the table, she felt the yoke on top now, one large hole and two smaller holes, she shivered. One for a girls head, two for her wrists. Nearly halfway down from these there rose what felt like two small collars. Bands of steel on a pedestal.
The blindfold was removed as she stood.
lori was lost in whirl of lust and fear. she was lifted. her neck was aligned with the larger hole. her wrists the smaller ones. The top half of the yoke, the stocks, swiveled closed. she heard the click of a lock.
her knee was lifted, bent back and upward, the "collar" was tightened around her thigh, just above the knee. Both knees thus attached, she was opened wide. The pedestals moved with the turning of a handle, stretching her legs open wider.
" It is a rape rack .... " Bretthor spoke detached. Stating a simple fact. Watching the girls eyes.
" That carpenter will buy you for six coppers. And you are sold if the life of a paga slut is too indelicate to your sensibilties..... "
lori trembled. she thought of the hours upon hours in the sun, hauling lumber and bricks, being filthy for most of the time. she looked at the carpenter.
" No Master please ... lori begs. " her face pale at the thought.
" Are you the kind of slut that could please
men ... in the rape rack ? "
Bretthor held his gaze.
" Yes Master a girl is a slut Master. " her eyes moist.
He fastened a coin box to her. First locking the band around her waist, then moving other straps between her legs. The entrance to her slit made inaccessable by the coin box. He tested the opening with his fingers and nodded to Slar, a trace of a smile on his lips.
The farmer shrugged and laughed to his companions. " Well we still have six coppers. "
lori felt her juices trickling down into the open crevice. The copper rattled in the coinbox.