 Free Companionship"There is no marriage, as we know it, on Gor, but there is the institution of the Free Companionship, which is its nearest correspondent." Outlaw of Gor Book 2 Page 54 "In every woman," she said, "there is something of the Free Companion and something of the Slave Girl." Priest-Kings of Gor Book 3 Page 204 "In every woman," said Ute, "there is a Free Companion and a slave girl. The Free Companion seeks for her companion, and the slave girl seeks her master." Captive of Gor Book 7 Page 83 Following now is my narrative on Free Companionship including the relevant references from the Books. It is not meant to be anything other than the facts of the matter. Arrive at your own conclusions. I wish you well, Fogaban It should first be noted that, as with most facets of Gorean culture, there are few, if any, hard fast rules which are not shown as having an exception somewhere else. It is dangerous therefore to make blanket statements as saying something is "Gorean" or "All Goreans act this way" or "To be Gorean you must do this". However, due to the preponderance of evidence, one may draw conclusions as to generally accepted behavior or generally acknowledged lifestyles. This research applies to the Gorean concept of Free Companionship as viewed among the general population. For instance, the city of Port Kar does not recognize the free companionship. The free women of that city are known simply as the women of their men. [1] In many western religions on Earth, there are only two things that break the marriage bonds, death or infidelity. On Gor, there are two things that break the free companionship contract, death or slavery. [2g][4b][4d] The next biggest difference is that while marriage is entered into for life, the free companionship must be renewed annually. [4a][4c][4e] Another difference being that the Gorean woman does not change her name as do many women in a marriage. [5a] It is interesting to note that while the free companionship must be renewed annually, it is still taken very seriously. [2f] Such relationships, even referred to as privileges, [3] are not entered into lightly. While the man, or the woman for that matter, may have many slaves, there is only one free companion. [2e] The female free companion is usually regarded highly. She holds a status higher than that of an wife. [5b] It is said that "There is no freer nor higher nor more beautiful woman than the Gorean Free Companion." [6] In fact, the only female a man may allow to utter his name is his free companion. [7] Another thought-provoking point, the word divorce does not appear in the Books. Only the plural form, 'divorces' does but it is referring to relationships on Earth.[7a] Entering into a free companionship can take the form of a proposal and acceptance. The proposal then may come from either the man or the woman. The free companionship may also be arranged by others.[49] There are only two proposals actually spoken in the books. Both were in front of others, during a feast [8][9] and offered by a man. The first was Tarl's proposal to Talena when he ask her "If you will have me as my Free Companion." Talena's answer was "I accept you, Tarl of Ko-ro-ba. "I accept you as my Free Companion." [10] Proposals are also referenced as being ask by the woman. [11][11a] It is not unusual for a master to free one of his slave girls in order that she may share the full privileges of free companionship. [2d][12][13][48] In fact, the other spoken proposal is when Thurnus, of Tabuk's Ford, says to his recently freed slave, Sandal Thong, "I ask this free woman, for whom I muchly care, to accept me in free companionship." Her answer, quite different than Talena's, was "Then, noble Thurnus, I do refuse. I will not be your companion." [14] Before delving deeper into the intricacies of Sandal Thong's refusal, it should be noted that there are also arranged companionships. A woman, bought from her parents for tarns or gold, is still regarded as a free companion, even though she may not have been consulted in the transaction. [2b] Women are shown as being pledged, [15] promised, [16] or intended [17] to be free companions. Even if for political reasons, [18] these unions would be, by law, just as binding as a companionship based first on love. More commendably though, the free woman would, of her own free will, agree to be such a companion. [2c] There is never a mention of 'wedding' rings being exchanged. It seems evident that, instead of being proclaimed 'husband and wife' by someone of religion, the point at which the companionship becomes valid [19] is an interlocking of arms and drinking the 'wine of free companionship'. [20][21][22] At one point a single reference is made to the "rude bridal customs of Gor". It seems the new 'bride' playfully struggles and pretends to resist her new companion. [23] What clothing the woman wears to the ceremony is mentioned once where it is said that she may wear as many as eight veils. These veils are then ritualistically removed from her during various phases of the ceremony. In some cities the woman has all of her veils removed in order that those in attendance may then express their pleasure and joy in her beauty. There is also a reference to the "swirling love silks of the free companion". [24][25] A garland or crown woven of talenders is often worn by the woman. [26][27]
The free companionship is shown mostly in two different lights. The first being a true, deep and binding love. For instance, Tarl sought Talena for years after the destruction of Ko-Ro-Ba and his return to Gor. Another being, as mentioned above, the love of Sandal Thong and Thurnus. Sandal Thong knew that the love she had for Thurnus was a deep, rich and hopeless slave's love for her master. [28] She obviously knew what a free companionship could become. [29] She knew the confinements of the free companion. Even when there is love between the two, the life of a female free companion is not easy. Imagine a 'wife' unable to speak to anyone but her mate, [30] or not being allowed to leave the house with permission. [31] While the female is usually allowed the privilege of sleeping with her companion, [32] she knows that at the foot of the bed there is a slave ring. [33] She knows that should she deserve it, she might spend a night there, stripped and chained with no blanket or mat. [34] The female must learn the preparation and serving of exotic dishes, the arts of walking, and standing and being beautiful, the care of a man's equipment, the love dances of their city, and so on. [35] She may prefer to do these household chores because she does not want a slave in the house. [36] The Free Woman certainly would never have her ears pierced. [37] In fact, some Goreans think of the free companionship as being a form of contract slavery. [38] Later on in the books, the institution of free companionship is shown in a decidedly more negative light.
In fact, it is shown that the woman views sex with disdain, resignation, and reluctance. To the point that she insists the act be as brief as possible, take place in complete darkness, preferably while substantially clothed, and surely beneath coverlets. [39]
Female free companions are shown to be frigid and cold, [40] prideful of her lofty status, [41] foolish, [42] clumsy and inept, [43] one whose own mate has lost interest her, [44] to the point where she turns his life into a torture. [45] No doubt a reason why very few female free companions are studied, and examined with the same interest and thoroughness as a slave. [46] Following is an example which seems typical of most free companionships:
There was a wagon to the left of the bridge. Its canvas cover was drawn down. The rain poured from it. Under the wagon there was a small, huddled figure, a tarpaulin clutched about its head and shoulders. Within the wagon, then, I supposed, there might be a fellow and his free companion. Doubtless, unless it had been displeasing in some way, the location of the small figure beneath the wagon, huddling there in misery and cold, was a consequence of the presence of the free companion within it. I did not doubt but what the small figure was far more beautiful and attractive than the free companion. That was suggested by what must be its status. Free women hate such individuals and lose few opportunities to make them suffer. I wondered if the fellow in the wagon had acquired the individual under it merely for his interest and pleasure, or perhaps, too, as a way of encouraging his companion to take her own relationship with him more seriously. Perhaps, if his plan worked, in such a case, he might then be kind enough to discard the individual beneath the wagon, ridding himself of it, its work accomplished, in some market or other. Perhaps then, it really is that the female free companion seeks a strong hand. That there is, in every woman both the free companion and the slave girl. [47] [1] Port Kar does not recognize the Free Companionship, but there are free women in the city, who are known simply as the women of their men. Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 295 [2a] There is no marriage, as we know it, on Gor, but there is the institution of the Free Companionship, which is its nearest correspondent. [2b] Surprisingly enough, a woman who is bought from her parents, for tarns or gold, is regarded as a Free Companion, even though she may not have been consulted in the transaction. [2c] More commendably, a free woman may herself, of her own free will, agree to be such a companion. [2d] And it is not unusual for a master to free one of his slave girls in order that she may share the full privileges of Free Companionship. [2e] One may have, at a given time, an indefinite number of slaves, but only one Free Companion. [2f] Such relationships are not entered into lightly, [2g ] and they are normally sundered only by death. Outlaw of Gor Book 2 Page 54 [3] . . . the privileges of a Free Companionship are never bestowed lightly. Priest-Kings of Gor Book 3 Pages 161 - 162 [4a] The Companionship, not renewed annually, is at an end. And you were once enslaved." It was true that the Companionship, not renewed, had been dissolved in the eyes of Gorean law. [4b] It was further true that, had it not been so, the Companionship would have been terminated abruptly when one or the other of the pledged companions fell slave. Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 9 [4c] "Once we were Companions," she said. "No longer," I said. The Gorean Companionship terminates in a year, unless renewed. Rebels of Gor Book 33 Page 624 [4d] "We were Companions," she said. "We drank together the wine of Companionship!" "The Companionship is done," I said, "years ago. It was never renewed. It is void. Too, it is not unusual that a woman who was once a Companion falls into bondage. Indeed, sometimes they come into the possession of their former Companions. You cannot expect a woman who has worn the collar to be accepted into the honor of Companionship. She has been spoiled for that. Too, only a fool frees a slave girl. Surely you know the saying. And, too, a woman who might be an indifferent, or poor, Companion, is often of much greater interest when she is chained to a slave ring, at the foot of a master's couch." Rebels of Gor Book 33 Page 628 [4e] Despite the exalted status of free women, who are equal to men in the holding of a Home Stone, can hold money and property in their own right, may found, organize, and manage businesses, may occupy positions of importance and authority even to the occupancy of thrones, and who may enter into relationships, or discontinue them, much as they please, the Free Companionship requiring an annual renewal, Gor is essentially a man's world. Plunder of Gor Book 34 Page 143 [5a] A free woman's name, of course, tends to remain constant. A Gorean free woman does not change her name in the ceremony of the Free Companionship. She remains who she was. In such a ceremony two free individuals have elected to become companions. The Earth woman, as a consequence of certain mating ceremonials, may change her last name. The first and other names, however, tend to remain constant. [5b] From the Gorean point of view the wife of Earth occupies a status which is higher than that of the slave but lower than that of the Free Companion. Explorers of Gor Book 13 Page 365 [6] There is no freer nor higher nor more beautiful woman," I said, "than the Gorean Free Companion. Nomads of Gor Book 4 Page 290 [7] The privilege of using his name, of having it on her lips, is, according to the most approved custom, reserved for that of a free woman, in particular a Free Companion. Priest-Kings of Gor Book 3 Page 206 [7a] First, I was a man of Earth. Thus I was not accustomed to truly looking upon women, truly seeing them and trying to understand them. Most men of Earth do not, truly, unfortunately, pay much attention to women. Men often do not even, truly, know their mates. If they did, it seems that misunderstandings, divorces, and such, would be less frequent. An interesting contrast here is the Gorean master/slave relationship. Fighting Slave of Gor Book 14 Page 99 [8] When I returned to Ko-ro-ba with Talena, a great feast was held and we celebrated our Free Companionship. Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Page 216 [9] . . . to the Feast of our Free Companionship at Ko-ro-ba. Outlaw of Gor Book 2 Page 120 [10] "If you will have me," I said, "as my Free Companion." "I accept you, Tarl of Ko-ro-ba," said Talena with love in her eyes. "I accept you as my Free Companion." Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Page 213 [11] But within that six months she is expected to find a man of Tharna to whom she will propose herself as a Free Companion. Outlaw of Gor Book 2 Page 250 One courts the moody, unpredictable free woman who may confuse, vacillate, misdirect, tease, and tantalize to her heart's content. One puts the slave to one's slave ring. The free woman may dangle the prospect of her couch, angling for gain, selling herself for her own profit. The slave is sold for the profit of another. The free woman is the equal of her free companion; the purchased female is the slave of her master. The free companion wonders if his free companion will be in the mood this night, he will hope so; the master orders his slave to the furs. Smugglers of Gor Book 32 Pages 277 - 278 Had I been a free woman, perhaps I might have tortured him, and made him long for me, flirting, approaching and then backing away, demanding attentions and bargains, teasing, and taunting, implicitly bespeaking my favors, and then, perhaps with feigned surprise or scorn, withholding them. Might I not make my companioning, if I were interested in such, a prize in a game many might play, and from which, at my whim, I might withdraw? Might I not sell myself, on my own terms, as I saw fit, to the highest bidder, for station, and wealth? Smugglers of Gor Book 32 Page 483 "Perhaps Master would prefer to free me, as I earlier suggested, and then petition for my Companionship which I might then, should it amuse me, or should the whim possess me, refuse." Smugglers of Gor Book 32 Page 552 [12] It seems she thereafter, because of her embarrassment, would never see the warrior and he, at last, impatient and desiring her, carried her off as a slave girl, and returned to the city months later with her as his Free Companion. Priest-Kings of Gor Book 3 Page 46 [13] I noted that the girls who had been once their slaves, captured enemies, now wore no longer their collars of gold, but instead stood at their sides as Free Companions. Assassin of Gor Book 5 Page 61 [14] Thurnus stood up again. "I ask this free woman," said he, indicating Sandal Thong, "for whom I muchly care, to accept me in free companionship." There was a great cry of pleasure from the villagers. "But Thurnus," said she, "as I am now free do I not have the right to refuse?" "True," said Thurnus puzzled. "Then, noble Thurnus," said she, evenly, calmly, "I do refuse. I will not be your companion." Slave Girl of Gor Book 11 Page 239 [15] "As you know," she said, "I am pledged to be the Free Companion of Lurius, Ubar of Cos. Accordingly, my ransom will be high." Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 209 [16] She had once been promised to him in Companion Contract, as a Free Companion; now he had purchased her as a slave. Slave Girl of Gor Book 11 Page 419 [17] She, now a love slave, had once been the ward of Chenbar, Ubar of Tyros, and once had been intended to be the free companion of gross Lurius of Jad, the Ubar of Cos, thence to be proclaimed Ubara of Cos, which union would have even further strengthened the ties between those two great island Ubarates. Players of Gor Book 20 Page 9 [18] It seemed unlikely that Pa-Kur would be so politically naive as to use the girl before she had publicly accepted him as her Free Companion, according to the rites of Ar. Treated as a pleasure slave, she would have negligible political value. Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Page 176 [19] "When," I asked. "High Lady, will you drink the wine of the Free Companionship with Lurius, noble Ubar of Cos?" Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 180 [20] "Drink with me the cup of the Free Companionship," said Relius, rather sternly. "Yes, Master," said Virginia, "yes!" "Relius," said he. "I love you!" she cried. "I love you, Relius!" "Bring the wine of Free Companionship!" decreed Marlenus. The wine was brought and Relius and Virginia, lost in one another's eyes, arms interlocked, drank together. Assassin of Gor Book 5 Page 402 [21] . . . that we might here together drink, one with the other, the wine of the Free Companionship. Assassin of Gor Book 5 Page 73 [22] . . . with interlocking arms, we had drunk the wines of the Free Companionship. Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 10 [23] Then, in accord with the rude bridal customs of Gor, as she furiously but playfully struggled, as she squirmed and protested and pretended to resist, I bound her bodily across the saddle of the tarn. Her wrists and ankles were secured, and she lay before me, arched over the saddle, helpless, a captive, but of love and her own free will. The warriors laughed, Marlenus the loudest. "It seems I belong to you, bold Tarnsman," she said, "What are you going to do with me?" In answer, I hauled on the one-strap, and the great bird rose into the air, higher and higher even into the clouds, and she cried to me, "Let it be now, Tarl," and even before we had passed the outermost ramparts of Ar, I had untied her ankles and flung her single garment to the streets below, to show her people what had been the fate of the daughter of their Ubar. Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Page 213 [24] I supposed it was perhaps the first time that the lips of a man had touched hers. Doubtless she had expected to receive that kiss standing in the swirling love silks of the Free Companion, beneath golden love lamps Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 235 [25] In certain cities, in connection with the free companionship, the betrothed or pledged beauty may wear eight veils, several of which are ritualistically removed during various phases of the ceremony of companionship; the final veils, and robes, of course, are removed in private by the male who, following their removal, arms interlocked with the girl, drinks with her the wine of the companionship, after which he completes the ceremony. This sort of thing, however, varies considerably from city to city. In some cities the girl is unveiled, though not disrobed, of course, during the public ceremony. The friends of the male may then express their pleasure and joy in her beauty, and their celebration of the good fortune of their friend. Slave Girl of Gor Book 11 Page 107 [26] In the distance, perhaps some forty pasangs away, I saw a set of ridges, lofty and steep, rearing out of a broad, yellow meadow of talenders, a delicate, yellow-petaled flower, often woven into garlands by Gorean maidens. In their own quarters, unveiled Gorean women, with their family or lovers, might fix talenders in their hair. A crown of talenders was often worn by the girl at the feast celebrating her Free Companionship. Outlaw of Gor Book 2 Page 131 [27] Free Companions, on the Feast of their Free Companionship, commonly wear a garland of talenders. Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 216 [28] Sandal Thong gently lowered herself to the ground, and lay on her belly before Thurnus. She took his right ankle in her hands and, holding it, pressed her lips softly down upon his foot, kissing it. She lifted her head, tears in her eyes. "Let me be instead your slave," she said. "I offer you companionship," he said. "I beg slavery," she said. "Why?" he asked. "I have been in your arms, Thurnus," she said. "In your arms I can be only a slave." "I do not understand," he said. "I would dishonor you," she said. "In your arms I can behave only as a slave." "I see," said he, caste leader of Tabuk's Ford. "The love I bear you, Thurnus," she said, "is not the love of a free companion, but a hopeless slave girl's love, a love so deep and rich that she who bears it can be only her man's slave." Slave Girl of Gor Book 11 Page 239 [29] "I love him," she said. "I love Miles of Vonda!" "With the love of a free companion?" I asked. "No," she said, "with the helpless and total love of an owned slave girl for her master." Rogue of Gor Book 15 Page 240 [30] I rejoiced that in at least one city on Gor the free women were not expected to wear the Robes of Concealment, confine their activities largely to their own quarters, and speak only to their blood relatives and, eventually, the Free Companion. Outlaw of Gor Book 2 Page 49 [31] Indeed, in Ko-ro-ba, a woman might even leave her quarters without first obtaining the permission of a male relative or the Free Companion, a freedom which was unusual on Gor. Outlaw of Gor Book 2 Page 49 [32] "I have heard," she said, smiling up at me, "that it is only a Free Companion who is accorded the dignities of the couch. Assassin of Gor Book 5 Page 56 [33] a world in which even the exalted Free Companion sleeps upon a couch with a slave ring set at its foot. Assassin of Gor Book 5 Page 245 [34] If she has not pleased her master of late, she may be, of course, as a disciplinary measure, simply chained nude to the slave ring in the bottom of the couch, sans both blanket and mat. The stones of the floor are hard and the Gorean nights are cold and it is a rare girl who, when unchained in the morning, does not seek more dutifully to serve her master. This harsh treatment, incidentally, when she is thought to deserve it, may even be inflicted on a Free Companion, in spite of the fact that she is free and usually much loved. According to the Gorean way of looking at things a taste of the slave ring is thought to be occasionally beneficial to all women, even the exalted Free Companions. Thus when she has been irritable or otherwise troublesome even a Free Companion may find herself at the foot of the couch looking forward to a pleasant night on the stones, stripped, with neither mat nor blanket, chained to a slave ring precisely as though she were a lowly slave girl. It is the Gorean way of reminding her, should she need to be reminded, that she, too, is a woman, and thus to be dominated, to be subject to men. Should she be tempted to forget this basic fact of Gorean life the slave ring set in the bottom of each Gorean couch is there to refresh her memory. Gor is a man's world. . . . Of custom, a slave girl may not even ascend the couch to serve her master's pleasure. The point of this restriction, I suppose, is to draw a clearer distinction between her status and that of a Free Companion. At any rate the dignities of the couch are, by custom, reserved for the Free Companion. Priest-Kings of Gor Book 3 Pages 67 - 68 [35] . . . even girls who will be free companions, and never slaves, learn the preparation and serving of exotic dishes, the arts of walking, and standing and being beautiful, the care of a man's equipment, the love dances of their city, and so on. Nomads of Gor Book 4 Page 63 [36] Many lower-caste households do not contain slaves. There are two primary reasons for this. Whereas slaves are abundant and cheap it costs to keep them. Most obviously, they must be fed and, to some extent, clothed. Secondly, if the household is small, and a free companion is in the household, she may not care to have a slave on the premises. Conspirators of Gor Book 31 Page 218 [37] "But only slave girls," she wept, "have their ears pierced." She wept. "How can I ever hope to become a Free Companion," she wept. "What man would want a woman with the pierced ears of a slave girl? Captive of Gor Book 7 Page 166 [38] Some Goreans think of the Free Companionship as being a form of contract slavery; this is not, of course, precisely correct; on the other hand, if more women took that definition seriously, I have little doubt but what free companionships would be far more rewarding than they now are, for many couples. They might then, under that interpretation, and held contractually enforceable on the woman, be that next best thing to her actual slavery. Blood Brothers of Gor Book 18 Page 246 [39] Accordingly, when the society's demands were to be met, and the more embarrassing, regrettable aspects of companionship satisfied, those having to do with matchings, lines, alliances, and such the proper free woman was to enter into carnal congress with disdain, resignation, and reluctance, or feigned disdain, resignation, and reluctance, insisting, at least, that such lamentable congress be as brief as possible, and take place in complete darkness, preferably while substantially clothed, and surely beneath coverlets. Conspirators of Gor Book 31 Pages 90 - 91 The Gorean free woman, as I understand it, who often mates while gowned, commonly refuses to reveal her "slave belly" to her companion, because of the shame of it. What if he should become excited, tear off her gown, and put her to use with the same audacity, aggression, exhilaration, and exultation with which he might use a vulnerable, meaningless animal, say, a chain-slut or paga girl? Swordsmen of Gor Book 29 Page 229 [40] "Our customers do not come here," said the hostess, "for attentions which they could receive at home from their free companions. They come here for the kisses of slaves, and the pleasures of slaves." Mercenaries of Gor Book 21 Page 330 [41] They want to know them with a depth, detail and intimacy that it would be quite inappropriate to expect of, or desire from, a prideful free companion, whose autonomy and privacy is protected by her lofty status. Mercenaries of Gor Book 21 Page 349 [42] "Men are only human. They do not, nor should they have, endless patience, particularly with the sort of animal which you will then be. It is not like having a foolish free companion, one who knows no better, who will patiently work with you for years, trying to help you become a woman." Mercenaries of Gor Book 21 Page 176 [43] "If your master is not satisfied with your meals you may expect to be whipped. You are a slave, not a free companion, lofty in her dignity, who may be as clumsy and inept as she wishes." Conspirators of Gor Book 31 Page 72 [44] That a male of Earth may not even know what clothing his wife owns, or what she buys, would be unthinkable to most Goreans, even those who stand in free companionship. Slave Girl of Gor Book 11 Page 76 [45] "She is a slave," I said, "not a free companion, who may not be touched, to whom nothing may be done, even if she turns your life into a torture, even if she drives you mad, even if she intends to destroy you, hort by hort." Magicians of Gor Book 25 Page 467 [46] Nothing in a slave may be hidden from the master. This is not unusual, as men are often closely concerned with their possessions. Many masters, for example, are very well aware of their slave's body, every part of it, every mark, every fault and blemish. I do not know, but I suspect very few female free companions are studied, and examined, with the same interest and thoroughness. Conspirators of Gor Book 31 Pages 669 - 670 [47] "In every woman," said Ute, "there is a Free Companion and a slave girl. The Free Companion seeks for her companion, and the slave girl seeks her master." Captive of Gor Book 7 Page 83 "I was once a girl of Port Cos," she said, "one born free, but one who knew herself in her heart to be a slave. I fled Port Cos to avoid an unwanted companionship. He who desired me too much respected me, and though I muchly loved him, I knew that he could not satisfy my slave needs. He wanted me as his companion and I wanted only to be his slave. He wanted me in veils and silk, and wished to serve me. I wanted only to be naked, and collared, and at his feet, kissing his whip. "I confessed my needs to him and he was scandalized, and that he was scandalized shamed and mortified me. Each outraged by the other we parted. "I then decided that I would hate men, and do without them. I would be bold and insolent with them, and make them suffer, punishing them for their rejection of my womanhood. If they could not, or would not, understand me, then I would take my vengeance on them, making them miserable! Even in my hatred, of course, I could never forget that in a corner of my heart, kneeling, there languished a love slave. Our parents, naturally, knowing nothing of what had occurred between us, pressed us to intertwine our arms and drink the wine of the companionship. "He, furious but resigned, cognizant of his expressed intentions and earlier proposals, became convinced that his duty lay in this direction. I had little doubt that if I were but once taken into companionship by him I should be sequestered, and left untouched, that that would be my punishment for having shamed him; he would keep me as his official 'companion' but he would not so much as put his hands on me; I would be forced to endure honor and freedom; respect and dignity would be forced upon me, like chains. I would lie alone, twisting in the darkness, while he reveled elsewhere, contenting himself, in the lascivious embraces of obedient slaves, painted, bangled girls, such as might be purchased in any slut market. How I would envy such girls their collars and the lash of his whip! Guardsman of Gor Book 16 Page 85 [48] How I wanted his collar! Then I was afraid. What if he were companioned? Might he buy me for his companion? Would she sense that I was his slave? How cruel she would be to me! Might he keep me to the side, in rented space, in a girl stable to be used when convenient? Smugglers of Gor Book 32 Page 381 "I thought," I said, "Master might free me." "Free you?" he said. "Yes," I said, "and then petition for my Companionship which offer I might then accept or refuse, as I might please." "Are you mad?" he said. "Surely," I said, "just as Companions may become slaves, so slaves might become Companions." "Only a fool," said he, "frees a slave girl." Smugglers of Gor Book 32 Page 550 [49] Our parents, naturally, knowing nothing of what had occurred between us, pressed us to intertwine our arms and drink the wine of the companionship. Guardsman of Gor Book 16 Page 85 It seemed unlikely that Pa-Kur would be so politically naive as to use the girl before she had publicly accepted him as her Free Companion, according to the rites of Ar. Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Page 176 Talena looked into my eyes. "What will you do with me?" she asked. "I will take you to Ko-ro-ba," I said, "to my city." "As your slave?" she smiled. "If you will have me," I said, "as my Free Companion." "I accept you, Tarl of Ko-ro-ba," said Talena with love in her eyes. "I accept you as my Free Companion." "If you did not," I laughed, "I would throw you across my saddle and carry you to Ko-ro-ba by force." She laughed as I swept her from her feet and lifted her to the saddle of my giant tarn. In the saddle, her arms were around my neck, her lips to mine. "Are you a true warrior?" she asked, her eyes bright with mischief, testing me, her voice breathless. "We shall see," I laughed. Then, in accord with the rude bridal customs of Gor, as she furiously but playfully struggled, as she squirmed and protested and pretended to resist, I bound her bodily across the saddle of the tarn. Her wrists and ankles were secured, and she lay before me, arched over the saddle, helpless, a captive, but of love and her own free will. The warriors laughed, Marlenus the loudest. "It seems I belong to you, bold Tarnsman," she said, "What are you going to do with me?" In answer, I hauled on the one-strap, and the great bird rose into the air, higher and higher even into the clouds, and she cried to me, "Let it be now, Tarl," and even before we had passed the outermost ramparts of Ar, I had untied her ankles and flung her single garment to the streets below, to show her people what had been the fate of the daughter of their Ubar. When I returned to Ko-ro-ba with Talena, a great feast was held and we celebrated our Free Companionship. A holiday was declared, and the city was ablaze with light and song. Shimmering strings of bells pealed in the wind, and festive lanterns of a thousand colors swung from the innumerable flower-strewn bridges. There was shouting and laughter, and the glorious colors of the castes of Gor mingled equally in the cylinders. Gone for the night was even the distinction of master and slave, and many a wretch in bondage would see the dawn as a free man. To my delight, even Torm, of the Caste of Scribes, appeared at the tables. I was honored that the little scribe had separated himself from his beloved scrolls long enough to share my happiness, only that of a warrior. He was wearing a new robe and sandals, perhaps for the first time in years. He clasped my hands, and, to my wonder, the little scribe was crying. And then, in his joy, he turned to Talena and in gracious salute lifted the symbolic cup of Ka-la-na wine to her beauty. Talena and I swore to honor that day as long as either of us lived. I have tried to keep that promise, and I know that she has done so as well. That night, that glorious night, was a night of flowers, torches, and Ka-la-na wine, and late, after sweet hours of love, we fell asleep in each other's arms. I rejoiced that in at least one city on Gor the free women were not expected to wear the Robes of Concealment, confine their activities largely to their own quarters, and speak only to their blood relatives and, eventually, the Free Companion. I thought that much of the barbarity of Gor might perhaps be traced to this foolish suppression of the fair sex, whose gentleness and intelligence might have made such a contribution in softening her harsh ways. To be sure, in certain cities, as had been the case in Ko-ro-ba, women were permitted status within the caste system and had a relatively unrestricted existence. Indeed, in Ko-ro-ba, a woman might even leave her quarters without first obtaining the permission of a male relative or the Free Companion, a freedom which was unusual on Gor. I decided the girl was beautiful. Perhaps it was something in her carriage, something subtle and graceful, something which could not be concealed by the dejected cast of her shoulders, her slow gait and apparent exhaustion, no, not even by the coarse heavy robes she wore. Such a girl, I thought, would surely have a master or, I hoped for her sake, a protector and companion. There is no marriage, as we know it, on Gor, but there is the institution of the Free Companionship, which is its nearest correspondent. Surprisingly enough, a woman who is bought from her parents, for tarns or gold, is regarded as a Free Companion, even though she may not have been consulted in the transaction. More commendably, a free woman may herself, of her own free will, agree to be such a companion. And it is not unusual for a master to free one of his slave girls in order that she may share the full privileges of Free Companionship. One may have, at a given time, an indefinite number of slaves, but only one Free Companion. Such relationships are not entered into lightly, and they are normally sundered only by death. Occasionally the Gorean, like his brothers in our world, perhaps even more frequently, learns the meaning of love. Though on Gor the free maiden is by custom expected to see her future companion only after her parents have selected him, it is common knowledge that he is often a youth she has met in the marketplace. He who speaks for her hand, especially if she is of low caste, is seldom unknown to her, although the parents and the young people as well solemnly act as though this were the case. The same maiden whom her father must harshly order into the presence of her suitor, the same shy girl who, her parents approvingly note, finds herself delicately unable to raise her eyes in his presence, is probably the same girl who slapped him with a fish yesterday and hurled such a stream of invective at him that his ears still smart, and all because he had accidentally happened to be looking in her direction when an unpredictable wind had, in spite of her best efforts, temporarily disarranged the folds of her veil. In the distance, perhaps some forty pasangs away, I saw a set of ridges, lofty and steep, rearing out of a broad, yellow meadow of talenders, a delicate, yellow-petaled flower, often woven into garlands by Gorean maidens. In their own quarters, unveiled Gorean women, with their family or lovers, might fix talenders in their hair. A crown of talenders was often worn by the girl at the feast celebrating her Free Companionship. The mountains of the Sardar were not such a vast, magnificent range as the rugged scarlet crags of the Voltai, that almost impenetrable mountain vastness in which I had once been the prisoner of the outlaw Ubar, Marlenus of Ar, ambitious and warlike father of the fierce and beautiful Talena, she whom I loved, whom I had carried on tarnback to Ko-ro-ba years before to be my Free Companion. Each silver mask would have six months in which she would be free to live within the city and be fed at the common tables, much as before the revolt. But within that six months she is expected to find a man of Tharna to whom she will propose herself as a Free Companion. If he does not accept her as a Free Companion - and few men of Tharna will be in a mood to extend the privileges of Free Companionship to a silver mask - he may then, without further ado, simply collar her as his slave, or if he wishes he may reject her completely. If she is rejected she may propose herself similarly to yet another of the men of Tharna, and perhaps yet another and another. After the six months, however - perhaps she has been reluctant to seek a master? - her initiative in these matters is lost and she belongs to the first man who encircles her throat with the graceful, gleaming badge of servitude. In such a case she is considered no differently, and treated no differently than if she were a girl brought in on tarnback from a distant city. Perhaps Lara understood, as I did not, that women such as silver masks must be taught love, and can learn it only from a master. It was not her intention to condemn her sisters of Tharna into interminable and miserable bondage but to force them to take this strange first step on the road she herself had traveled, one of the unusual roads that may lead to love. When I had questioned her, Lara had said to me that only when true love is learned is the Free Companionship possible, and that some women can learn love only in chains. I wondered at her words. My business with the Priest-Kings is simple, as are most matters of honor and blood. For some reason unbeknown to me they have destroyed my city, Ko-ro-ba, and scattered its peoples. I have been unable to learn the fate of my father, my friends, my warrior companions, and my beloved Talena, she who was the daughter of Marlenus, who had once been Ubar of Ar my sweet, fierce, wild, gentle, savage, beautiful love, she who is my Free Companion, my Talena, forever the Ubara of my heart, she who burns forever in the sweet, lonely darkness of my dreams. Yes, I have business with the Priest-Kings of Gor. If she has not pleased her master of late, she may be, of course, as a disciplinary measure, simply chained nude to the slave ring in the bottom of the couch, sans both blanket and mat. The stones of the floor are hard and the Gorean nights are cold and it is a rare girl who, when unchained in the morning, does not seek more dutifully to serve her master. This harsh treatment, incidentally, when she is thought to deserve it, may even be inflicted on a Free Companion, in spite of the fact that she is free and usually much loved. According to the Gorean way of looking at things a taste of the slave ring is thought to be occasionally beneficial to all women, even the exalted Free Companions. Thus when she has been irritable or otherwise troublesome even a Free Companion may find herself at the foot of the couch looking forward to a pleasant night on the stones, stripped, with neither mat nor blanket, chained to a slave ring precisely as though she were a lowly slave girl. She looked at me directly. "My mother," she said bitterly, "- was a Passion Slave - bred in the pens of Ar." "She must have been very beautiful," I said. Vika looked at me strangely. "Yes," she said, "I suppose she was." "Do you not remember her?" I asked. "No," she said, "for she died when I was very young." "I'm sorry," I said. "It doesn't matter," said Vika, "for she was only an animal bred in the pens of Ar." "Do you despise her so?" I asked. "She was a bred slave," said Vika. I said nothing. "But my father," said Vika, "whose slave she was, and who was of the Caste of Physicians of Treve, loved her very much and asked her to be his Free Companion." Vika laughed softly. "For three years she refused him," she said. "Why?" I asked. "Because she loved him," said Vika, "and did not wish him to take for his Free Companion only a lowly Passion Slave." "She was a very deep and noble woman," I said. Vika made a gesture of disgust. "She was a fool," she said. "How often would a bred slave have a chance of freedom?" "Seldom indeed," I admitted. "But in the end," said Vika, "fearing he would slay himself she consented to become his Free Companion." Vika regarded me closely. Her eyes met mine very directly. "I was born free," she said. "You must understand that. I am not a bred slave." "Are you not going to hunt down my father or my Free Companion and kill them if I do not serve you?" "No," said Misk. "No." "Why not?" I demanded. "Are you not a Priest-King?" "Because I am a Priest-King," said Misk. "What would you like?" asked Sarm. "My freedom," I said, "the restoration of the City of Ko-ro-ba, the safety of its people - to see my father again, my friends, my Free Companion." "Perhaps these things can be arranged," said Sarm. She laughed. "It could be far worse," she said. "At least I am a Red Silk girl." At this I swept her from her feet and carried her to the broad stone couch in the room, where I placed her on the piles of furs that bedecked it. "I have heard," she said, smiling up at me, "that it is only a Free Companion who is accorded the dignities of the couch. "True," I cried, bundling her in the furs and throwing the entire roll to the floor at the end of the couch, beneath the slave ring. With a flourish I unrolled the furs, spilling Elizabeth out, who shrieked and began to crawl away, but my hand caught at the loop on the left shoulder of her garment and she turned suddenly, trying to sit up, her feet tangled in the garment and I kicked it away and took her in my arms. "What of Ko-ro-ba, and of Talena?" I had questioned Misk, even on the ship, before we returned to the Nest beneath the Sardar. I must know of my city and its fortunes, and of she who had been my free companion, these many years lost. Elizabeth was silent as I asked of these things. "As you might have surmised," said Misk, "your city is being rebuilt. Those of Ko-ro-ba have come from the corners of Gor, each singing, each bearing a stone to add to the walls. For many months, while you labored in our service in the Land of the Wagon Peoples, thousands upon thousands of those of Ko-ro-ba have returned to the city. Builders and others, all who were free, have worked upon t he walls and towers. Ko-ro-ba rises again." "And Talena?" I demanded. Misk's antennae dropped slightly. "What of her!" I cried. "She was not among those who returned to the city," came from Misk's translator. I looked at him. "I am sorry," said Misk. I dropped my head. It had been some eight years or better that I had not seen her. "Is she slave?" I asked. "Has she been slain?" "It is not known," said Misk. "Nothing of her is known." My head fell. "I am sorry," came from Misk's translator. I turned. Elizabeth, I noted, had stepped from us as we had spoken. Misk had soon brought the ship to the Sardar. Elizabeth had been rapt with wonder at the Nest, but after some days, even in the presence of its grandeur, I knew she desired again to be on the surface, in the free air, in the sunlight. My return to the city was affecting, for here it was that my sword had been pledged to a Gorean Home Stone; here it was that I had trained in arms and learned Gorean; it was here that I had met my father, after long years of separation; it was here that I had made dear friends, the Older Tarl, Master of Arms, and small, quick-tempered Torm, he of the Caste of Scribes; and it was from this place that I had, many years before, in tarnflight begun the work that would shatter the Empire of Ar and cost Marlenus of Ar, Ubar of Ubars, his throne; and, too, it was to this place, I could not forget, that I had once brought on tarnback, not as a vanquished slave but as a proud, and beautiful, and free, joyous woman, Talena, daughter of that same Marlenus, Ubar of Ubars, had brought her to this place in love that we might here together drink, one with the other, the wine of the Free Companionship. I wept. We crossed the partially rebuilt walls, Elizabeth and I, and found ourselves among cylinders, many of which were in the process of reconstruction. In an instant we were surrounded by Warriors on tarnback, the guard, and I raised my hand in the sign of the city, and drew on the four-strap, taking the tarn down. I had come home. In a short time, I found myself in the arms of my father, and my friends. Our eyes told one another, even in the joy of our meeting, that we, none of us, knew the whereabouts of Talena, once the companion, though she the daughter of a Ubar, of a simple Warrior of Ko-ro-ba. He removed from her throat the slave collar. "No," she said. "Please, no!" She looked at him, suddenly afraid. "No!" she cried. "Keep me! Keep me!" "Would you consent," asked Relius, "to be the companion of a Warrior?" "Companion?" she asked. Relius nodded his head. He held her very gently. She looked at him, unable to comprehend his words. "It is the hope of Relius," said he, "that the free woman, Virginia, might care for a simple Warrior, one who much loves her, and accept him as her companion." She could not speak. There were tears bright in her eyes. She began to cry, to laugh. "Drink with me the cup of the Free Companionship," said Relius, rather sternly. "Yes, Master," said Virginia, "yes!" "Relius," said he. "I love you!" she cried. "I love you, Relius!" "Bring the wine of Free Companionship!" decreed Marlenus. The wine was brought and Relius and Virginia, lost in one another's eyes, arms interlocked, drank together. He carried her from the court of the Ubar, she lying against him, weeping with happiness. "I love you, Ho-Sorl," she said. "And I will accept you as my companion!" Her face was radiant as she waited for him to unlock the steel that encircled her throat. "Companion?" asked Ho-Sorl. "Of course, Companion," said she, "you beast!" She spun to face him. Ho-Sorl looked puzzled. "Surely," she cried, "you have no intention of keeping me as a slave!" "That was my intention," admitted Ho-Sorl. "Beast!" she cried. "Beast!" "Do you wish this slave?" asked Marlenus, from the throne. "Let her submit to whomsoever she chooses," yawned Ho-Sorl. "Very well, Wench," said Marlenus, "choose your master." "Ubar!" she cried. "Or be returned to the pens of state slaves." Phyllis looked at him. "Choose!" ordered Marlenus. Phyllis looked about herself in rage. Then, in fury, she knelt before Ho-Sorl, head down, arms extended and crossed at the wrists, as though for binding. Seldom had I seen a woman so enraged. "Well?" asked Ho-Sorl. "The slave Phyllis submits to the Warrior Ho-Sorl," she shouted. "Of Ar," added Ho-Sorl. "The slave Phyllis submits to the Warrior Ho-Sorl of Ar!" shouted Phyllis. Ho-Sorl said nothing. Phyllis looked up, angrily. "Do you beg to be my slave girl?" asked Ho-Sorl. Her eyes filled with tears. "Yes," she said, "I beg to be your slave girl!" "I have waited long," said Ho-Sorl, "for this moment." She smiled through her tears. "So, too, have I," said she. "Since first I saw you I have wanted to kneel before you and beg to be your slave girl." There was a great cheer in the court of the Ubar. Phyllis, radiant, opened her wrists, extending her hands to Ho-Sorl that he might now lift her to her feet as a free woman, to be his sworn and beloved companion. "I love you, Ho-Sorl," said she. "Naturally," said Ho-Sorl. "What!" she cried. He clapped slave bracelets on her wrists. She drew back her wrists, seeing them closely confined in steel. She looked on them disbelievingly. Then she looked up at Ho-Sorl. "Beast!" she cried. She leaped to her feet, swinging her manacled wrists at him but he ducked neatly and scooped her up, throwing her over one shoulder. She was wiggling madly on his shoulder, pounding him on his back with her chained fists. "I hate you," she was screaming, pounding him. "I hate you, you beast, you big beast!" Amidst the laughter of the court of the Ubar Ho-Sorl carried his prize from the chamber, the lovely, squirming slave girl, Miss Phyllis Robertson. I expected that Ho-Sorl, who was difficult to please, would be a most exacting master. "The Lady Vivina, as you doubtless know, is promised to Lurius, Ubar of Cos," said Chenbar. "I did not know," I said, "that the promise had been given." "Yes," said Chenbar, "this morning I gave my word." Lurius grinned. The girl looked at me with fury. There was some polite striking of the left shoulder with the right hand in the room, which is a common Gorean applause, though not of the warriors, who clash weapons. Chenbar smiled and lifted his hand, silencing the applause. "This companionship," said Chenbar, "will link our two Ubarates. Following the ceremony of the companionship there will be a conjoining of our fleets, that we may soon thereafter pay Port Kar a visit of state." "When," I asked. "High Lady, will you drink the wine of the Free Companionship with Lurius, noble Ubar of Cos?" "I shall return first to Tyros," she said, "where I shall be made ready. Then, with treasure ships, we shall return in festive voyage to the harbor of Telnus, where I shall take the arm of Lurius and with him drink the cup of the Free Companionship." Raised as she had been, in the sequestered quarters of high-born women in the palace of Tyros in Kasra, I supposed it was perhaps the first time that the lips of a man had touched hers. Doubtless she had expected to receive that kiss standing in the swirling love silks of the Free Companion, beneath golden love lamps, beside the couch of the Ubar of Cos; but it was not in the white, marbled palace of the Ubar of Cos that that kiss was to take place; and it was not to be received as a Ubara from the lips of a Ubar; that kiss was to take place in Port Kar, in the holding of her enemies, under barbaric torchlight, before the table of her master; and she was not to wear the love silks of a Free Companion and Ubara but the brief, wretched garment of a Kettle Slave, and a collar that proclaimed her slave girl; and the lips would be those of a slave which touched hers, those themselves of a slave. At the age of twelve, Ute had been purchased by a leather worker, who dwelt on the exchange island, administered by the Merchants, of Teletus. He, and his companion, had cared for her, and had freed her. They had adopted her as their daughter, and had seen that she was trained well in the work of the leather workers, that caste which, under any circumstances, had been hers by right of birth. On her nineteenth birthday, members of the Caste of Initiates had appeared at the door of the leather worker's hut. It had been decided that she should now undertake the journey to the Sardar, which, according to the teachings of the Caste of Initiates, is enjoined on every Gorean by the Priest-Kings, an obligation which is to be fulfilled prior to their attaining their twenty-fifth year. If a city does not see that her youth undertake this journey then, according to the teachings of the Initiates, misfortunes may befall the city. It is one of the tasks of the Initiates to keep rolls, and determine that each youth, if capable, discharge this putative obligation to the mysterious Priest-Kings. "I will go," had said Ute. "Do you wish the piece of gold?" asked the chief of the delegation of Initiates, of the Leather Worker and his Companion. "No," they had said. "Yes," said Ute. "We will take it." It is a custom of the Initiates of Teletus, and of certain other islands and cities, if the youth agrees to go to the Sardar when they request it, then his, or her, family or guardians, if they wish it, will receive one tarn disk of gold. Ute knew that the leather worker, and his companion, could well use this piece of gold. Besides, she knew well that, some year, prior to her twenty-fifth year, such a journey must be undertaken by her. The Merchants of Teletus, controlling the city, would demand it of her, fearing the effects of the possible displeasure of the Priest-Kings on their trade. If she did not undertake the journey then, she would be simply, prior to her twenty-fifth birthday, removed from the domain of their authority, placed alone outside their jurisdiction, beyond the protection of their soldiers. Such an exile, commonly for a Gorean, is equivalent to enslavement or death. For a girl as beautiful as Ute it would doubtless have meant prompt reduction to shameful bondage, chains and the collar. Further, on other years, there would be no piece of gold to encourage her to undertake this admittedly dangerous journey. "I will go," she had said. She agreed to participate in the group then being organized by the Initiates. The leather worker and his companion, reluctantly, yielding to her entreaties, accepted the piece of gold. Ute did indeed get to see the Sardar. But she saw it in the chains of a naked slave girl. "She was once my companion," I told Telima. "The companionship is gone," said Telima. "More than a year has passed," she pointed out, "and you have not, together, repledged it." "That is true," I admitted. By Gorean law the companionship, to be binding, must, together, be annually renewed, pledged afresh with the wines of love. "And," said Telima, "both of you were once enslaved, and that, in itself, dissolves the companionship. Slaves cannot stand in companionship." I looked at her angrily. "You have not forgotten the delta of the Vosk?" she asked. Telima was not pleasing in her jealousy. "No," I said, "I have not." I could never forget the delta of the Vosk, and my degradation. I knew that I had once betrayed my codes. I knew that I was one who had once chosen ignominious slavery over the freedom of honorable death. "Forgive me, my Ubar," had said Telima. "I do," I said. I looked toward the northern forests. It had been so many years. I recalled her, Talena. She had been a dream in my heart, a memory, an ideal of a youthful love, never forgotten, glowing still, always remembered. I remembered her as I had seen her, in the swamp forest, south of Ar, with Nar the spider, and in the Ka-la-na grove, where I had freed her from the chains of a slave, only to put mine upon her; and in the caravan of Mintar, of the Merchants, in her collar, mine, and slave tunic, with Kazrak, my sword brother; and her dancing in my tent; and she upon the lofty cylinder of justice, in Ar, threatened with impalement, and as she had been, beautiful and loving, in the hours of our Free Companionship in Ko-ro-ba, before I had awakened again, stiff, bewildered, in the mountains of New Hampshire. I had never forgotten her. I could not. For years Talena, the magnificent Talena, had been in my heart's deepest dreams, my first love, my never forgotten love. She had burned in my memory, unforgettably. I recalled her from the fields near the Swamp Forest south of Ar, in the caravan of Mintar, at the great camp of Pa-Kur's horde, as she had been upon Ar's lofty cylinder of justice, as she had been in lamp-lit Ko-ro-ba, when, with interlocking arms, we had drunk the wines of the Free Companionship. How could I not love Talena, the deep, and first love, the first beautiful love of my life? "Do you love her?" asked Samos. "Of course!" I shouted, angrily. At my side, in robes worthy of a Ubara, would stand Talena. Let official word then be sent to Ar that his daughter now sat safe at my side, consort of Bosk, Admiral of Port Kar, jewel of gleaming Thassa. We would make a splendid couple. The companionship would be an excellent one, a superb one. Who knew, in time, how high might be raised the chair of Bosk? How beautiful she would have looked as we had, arms interlocked, drunk the wines of a renewed, repledged companionship. How splendid she would have looked at my side, my beautiful consort in Port Kar. Together, in our curule chairs, raised above those of others, we might in the house of Bosk have held court. With my wealth and power we might have been as Ubar and Ubara. The jewels and robes which I would have given her would have been the finest in Port Kar, the finest on all Gor. But now it did not seem that she would stand beside me among falling flowers on the bow of the Tesephone, on some great holiday declared in Port Kar, as we returned in triumph to that city, making our way through its flower-strewn canals, beneath the windows and rooftops of cheering throngs. She was now only a slave, no more than Sheera, or Grenna, or any other. She had been the daughter of a Ubar. But she had been disowned. She, while slave, could not even stand in companionship. She, even if freed, without family, and, by the same act, without caste, would have a status beneath the dignity of the meanest peasant wench, secure in the rights of her caste. Even if freed, Talena would be among the lowest women on Gor. Even a slave girl has at least a collar. I stared up at the sky, the stars. Again I laughed bitterly. How foolish had been my dreams. The glory that was to have been Marlenus' would have been mine. I might then, when it had pleased me, have had official word sent to Ar, that his daughter now sat safe at my side, my consort, the consort of Bosk, Admiral of Port Kar, jewel of gleaming Thassa. We would have made a splendid couple. The companionship would have been an excellent one, a superb one. Talena was a rich and powerful woman, high born and influential. It would have been an excellent match. Who knew how high might have been raised the chair of Bosk? Perhaps there might even, in time, have been a Ubar in Port Kar, sovereign over even the Council of Captains. And there might, in time, have been an alliance, in virtue of the companionship, between Port Kar and Ar, and other cities. And who knew, in time, there might have been but one throne of one Ubar of this unprecedented empire? Who knew to what heights might have been raised the chair of Bosk? We would have made a splendid and powerful couple, the envy of Gor, Bosk, the great Bosk, and Talena, the beautiful Talena, daughter of a great Ubar, his consort. Companionship with the daughter of Marlenus, Ubar of Ubars, would have brought me much. I needed much. I was already a rich and powerful man, but my political power did not extend beyond Port Kar. And in Port Kar, I recalled, my political power, strictly, extended no further than my vote in the Council of Captains. I was not even first in the council. That post was held by Samos. In the past years, in Port Kar, since I had given up the service of Priest-Kings, my ambitions had enlarged. Economic power and political power are like the left and the right foot. To truly move, to truly climb, one must have both. My ventures in merchantry had secured me wealth. My companionship with Talena, opening up a and alliances, conjoined with my riches, would have made me easily among the most splendid and powerful men on Gor. Companionship with such a person, for anyone of position or power, was unthinkable. It would result in the equivalent of ostracism. With her as companion one could be only rich. Companionship with such a person, an ex-slave, one without caste, one without family and position, would be, politically and socially, a gross and incomparable mistake. I wondered of the daughters of Ubars. It was unfortunate that the great Ubar, Marlenus, had no such daughter. Had he one, she might have been ideal. Lurius of Jad, Ubar of the island of Cos, was said, by a long-dissolved companionship, to have a daughter. Phanius Turmus, of Turia, was said to have two daughters. They had once been enslaved by Tuchuks, but they were now free. They had been returned, though still wearing the chains of slaves, as a gesture of good will, by Kamchak, Ubar San of the Wagon Peoples. Turia was called the Ar of the south. Cos and Port Kar, of course, are enemies, but, if the Companion Price offered to Lurius were sufficient, I would not expect him to hesitate in giving me the girl. The alliance, of course, would be understood, on all sides, as not altering the political conditions obtaining between the cities. It was up to Lurius to dispose of his daughter as he saw fit. She might not desire to come to Port Kar, but the feelings of the girl are not considered in such matters. Some high-born women are less free than the most abject of slave girls. Clark of Thentis had a daughter, but he was not a Ubar. He was not even of high caste. He, too, was of the merchants. Indeed, there were many important merchants who had daughters, for example, the first merchant of Teletus and the first merchant of Asperiche. Indeed, the two latter individuals had already, in the past year, approached me with the prospect of a companionship with their daughters, but I had declined to discuss the matter. I wanted a woman of high caste. I could probably have Claudia Tentia Hinrabia, of the Builders, who had been the daughter of Claudius Tentius Hinrabius, once Ubar of Ar, but she was now without family. Marlenus, in whose palace she held her residence, probably, in his generosity, would have seen that she accepted my proposal. I recalled she had once been slave, and that I had, on a certain occasion, in the house of Cernus, seen her fully. Other things being equal, I would, of course, prefer a beautiful companion. Claudia, as I recalled, with pleasure, was beautiful. Further, she, once having been slave, would promise delights not always obtainable from an ignorant free woman. A woman who has once been slave, incidentally, often wishes to kiss and touch again in the shadow of the slave ring. Why this is I do not know. Beauty in a companion, of course, is not particularly important. Family and power are. In a house such as that of Bosk there are always beautiful slave girls, eager to please, each hoping to become first girl. But I dismissed Claudia Tentia Hinrabia. The Hinrabians, with the exception of herself, had been wiped out. Thus she was, for practical purposes, of a high name but without family. There were various jarls in Torvaldsland who had daughters but these, generally, were ignorant, primitive women. Moreover, no one jarl held great power in Torvaldsland. It was not uncommon for the daughter of a jarl in that bleak place, upon the arrival of a suitor, to be called in from the pastures, where she would be tending her father's verr. There were Ubars to the far south, I knew, but their countries were often small, and lay far inland. They exercised little political power beyond their own borders. It seemed clear that I should take unto myself as companion the daughter of some Ubar or Administrator, but few seemed appropriate. Too, many Ubars and Administrators might not wish to ally their house with that of a mere merchant. That thought irritated me. Gorean pride runs deep. Perhaps I should think of the daughter of Lurius of Jad, Ubar of Cos. She was the daughter of a Ubar. He would doubtless let her go if the Companionship Price were sufficiently attractive. The ideal, of course, would have been if Marlenus of Ar, the greatest of the Ubars, had had a daughter. But he had no daughter. She had been disowned. The daughter of Lurius of Jad was a possibility. I could probably buy her. But perhaps it was too early for me to think of Companionship. But this Bosk, forcing his mistress, the beautiful Telima, to grant him his freedom, had come to Port Kar, bringing her with him as his slave, and had there, after many adventures, earned riches and fame, and the title even of Admiral of Port Kar. He stood high in the Council of Captains. And was it not he who had been victor on the 25th of Se'Kara, in the great engagement of the fleets of Port Kar and Cos and Tyros? He had come to love Telima, and had freed her, but when he had learned the location of his former Free Companion, Talena, once daughter of Marlenus of Ar, and vowed to free her from slavery, Telima had left him, in the fury of a Gorean female, and returned to the rence marshes, her home in the Vosk's vast delta. A true Gorean, he knew, would have gone after her, and brought her back in slave bracelets and a collar. But he, in his weakness, had wept, and let her go. Doubtless she despised him now in the marshes. And so, Tarl Cabot gone, Bosk, Merchant of Port Kar, had gone to the northern forests, to free Talena, once his Free Companion. And so it was that she, Talena, once daughter of Marlenus of Ar, then disowned, once my companion, was ushered into my presence. "The slave," said Samos. "Do not kneel," I said to her. "Strip your face, Slave," said Samos. Gracefully the girl, the property of Samos, First Slaver of Port Kar, removed her veil, unfastening it, dropping it about her shoulders. We looked once more upon each other. I saw again those marvelous green eyes, those lips, luscious, perfect for crushing beneath a warrior's mouth and teeth, the subtle complexion, olive. She removed a pin from her hair, and, with a small movement of her head, shook loose the wealth of her sable hair. We regarded one another. "Is master pleased?" she asked. "It has been a long time, Talena," said I. "Yes," she said, "it has been long." "He is free," said Samos. "It has been long, Master," she said. "Many years," said I. "Many years." I smiled at her. "I last saw you on the night of our companionship." "When I awakened, you were gone," she said. "I was abandoned." "Not of my own free will did I leave you," said I. "That was not of my will." I saw in the eyes of Samos that I must not speak of Priest-Kings. It had been them who had returned me then to Earth. "I do not believe you," she said. "Watch your tongue, Girl," said Samos. "If you command me to believe you," she said, "I shall, of course, for I am slave." I smiled. "No," I said, " I do not command you." "I was kept in great honor in Ko-ro-ba," she said, "respected and free, for I had been your companion even after the year of companionship had gone, and it had not been renewed." At that point, in Gorean law, the companionship had been dissolved. The companionship had not been renewed by the twentieth hour, the Gorean Midnight, of its anniversary. "I should have brought a thousand of gold," she said. "As daughter of Marlenus of Ar my companion price might be a thousand tarns, five thousand tharlarion!" "You are no longer the daughter of Marlenus of Ar," I told her. "You are a liar," she said. She looked at me contemptuously. "With you permission," said Samos, " I shall withdraw." "Stay," said I, "Samos." "Very well," said he. "Long ago," said I, "Talena, we cared for each other. We were companions." "It was a foolish girl, who cared for you," said Talena. "I am now a woman." "You no longer care for me?" I asked. She looked at me. "I am free," she said. "I can speak what I wish. Look at yourself! You cannot even walk. You cannot even move your left arm! You are a cripple, a cripple! You make me ill! Do you think that one such as I, the daughter of Marlenus of Ar, could care for such a thing? Look upon me. I am beautiful. Look upon yourself. You are a cripple. Care for you? You are a fool, a fool!" I drew forth five pieces of gold. "This money," said I to Samos, "is for safe passage for Ar, by guard and tarn, for this woman." Talena drew about her face her veil, refastening it. "I shall have the moneys returned to you," she said. "No," I said, "take it rather as a gift, as a token of a former affection, once borne to you by one who was honored to be your companion." "These I give to you, Champion," said the boy, trying to push into my hands the three tarn disks of silver. "Save them." said I, "for your sister's dowry in her companionship." "With what then," asked he, "have you been paid?" "With sport," I said. The free woman was a tall woman, large. She wore a great cape of fur, of white sea-sleen, thrown back to reveal the whiteness of her arms. Her kirtle was of the finest wool of Ar, dyed scarlet, with black trimmings. She wore two brooches, both carved of the horn of kailiauk, mounted in gold. At her waist she wore a jeweled scabbard, protruding from which I saw the ornamented, twisted blade of a Turian dagger; free women in Torvaldsland commonly carry a knife; at her belt, too, hung her scissors, and a ring of many keys, indicating that her hall contained many chests or doors; her hair was worn high, wrapped about a comb, matching the brooches, of the horn of kailiauk; the fact that her hair was worn dressed indicated that she stood in companionship; the number of keys, together with the scissors, indicated that she was mistress of a great house. She had gray eyes; her hair was dark; her face was cold, and harsh. A girl with living senses and a living body, of course, is far more passionate than one whose senses and body sleep. The skin itself, in a trained girl, becomes an extensive, glorious, marvelously subtle sensory organ. Every bit of the slave, if she is well trained, is alive. This is done, of course, to make her more helpless under the touch of a master. When she does yield to the master, her guts half torn out with the love of him, then, of course, she is a more satisfactory slave. These indignities, of course, are not inflicted on free women. They are permitted to go through life with their eyes half closed, so to speak. In this way they can maintain their self-respect. Sometimes inert, esteemed Gorean free women cry out in rage, not understanding why their companions have forsaken them for the evening, to go to the paga tavern; there, of course, for the price of a cup of paga, he can get his hands on a silken, belled girl, a slave; the free woman must denounce her companion, crying out, for his lusts; too busy for this, however, are the sweet, dark-eyed, sensuous sluts of the paga tavern; they do not have time to denounce the lusts of their master's customers; they are too busy serving and satisfying them. One lunar month from this date, by the phases of the largest moon, after days of preparation, the ceremony of the companionship was scheduled to be consummated in Ti, binding together as companions Thandar of Ti, son of Ebullius Gaius Cassius, Administrator of Ti, and the Lady Sabina, daughter of Kleomenes, high merchant in Fortress of Saphronicus. I hoped, naturally, that they would be happy. I was only a slave, but I did not think myself much less free than the Lady Sabina, whose beauty was being bartered for commercial and political power. I might have to be half naked in a bond girl's Ta-Teera but she, I expected, despite the wealth of her robes and jewels, was in her way as slave as I. Yet I did not feel sorry for her, for I had heard from Eta that she was a pretentious, haughty girl, one bold in speech and cruel to her slave maids. Many of the daughters of merchants are proud sorts, for the merchants themselves, in virtue of their power, tend to vanity and pride, and agitate, justifiably or not, for the inclusion of their caste among the high castes of Gor. Their pampered daughters, protected from work and responsibility, ostentatiously garbed and elaborately educated in caste trivia, tend to be spoiled and soft. Yet I did not wish the Lady Sabina unhappiness. I hoped that she would have a splendid companionship with Thandar of Ti. Too, allaying my commiserations for the girl, for she had had no say in her companionship arrangements, was my understanding, conveyed by Eta, that she looked forward to the match and was much pleased by it. In taking companionship with one of the Warriors she would raise caste, for the Warriors on Gor are among the high castes, of which there are five, the Initiates, Scribes, Physicians, Builders and Warriors. "You are not the Lady Sabina," he said. "Who are you?" I kept silent. "Do you flee an unwanted companionship?" he asked. "Was your retinue ambushed? Do you flee outlaws?" "Thurnus," said his free companion, a large, heavy woman, in a rep-cloth veil, kneeling to one side. She was squat and heavy. She was not much pleased. There was a kennel nearby, where Thurnus kept his girls. He did not tend his fields alone. "Be quiet." said Thurnus, to her, "Woman." To one side, against the wall of the hut, there rested, on a small table, a piece of plain, irregularly shaped rock, which Thurnus, years earlier, when first he had founded the farm, later to be the community, of Tabuk's Ford, had taken from his own fields. He had, one morning, years ago, bow upon his back and staff in hand, seed at his thigh, after months of wandering, come to a place which had pleased him. It lay in the basin of the Verl. He had been driven from his father's village, for his attendance upon a young free woman of the village. Her brother's arms and legs had he broken. His woman had followed him. She had become his companion. With him, too, had come two young men, and two other women, who saw in him, the young, rawboned giant, the makings of a caste leader. Months had they wandered. Then, following tabuk, in the basin of the Verl, he had come to a place which had pleased him. There the animals had forded the river. He had not followed them further He had driven the yellow stake of claimancy into the dark soil, near the Verl, and had stood there, his weapons at hand, beside the stake, until the sun had reached the zenith and then, slowly, set. It was then he had reached to his feet and picked up the stone, from his own fields. It now rested in his hut. It was the Home Stone of Thurnus. "Thurnus," said his companion. He paid her no attention. It had been many years ago that she had followed him from the village of her father. It had all been many years ago. In the fashion of the peasants he kept her. She had grown slack and fat. She could no longer in honor return to the village of her brother. I kept my lips pressed to Thurnus's cup. He drew the cup more closely to him. I must needs follow. I knew he had girls he kept in a kennel. Thurnus was a strong man, of the sort who must either have many women, or incredibly much from one woman. His companion, I supposed, was no longer attractive to him, or, perhaps, in the prides of her freedom, was too remote to be much in his attention. It is easiest for a man to see a woman who is at his feet, begging to be seen. You are a pretty little slave," said Thurnus to me. I could not speak, for my lips were pressed to his cup. "What is her name?" asked Thurnus of my master. "She does not have a name," he responded. "Oh," said Thurnus. Then he said, "She is a pretty little thing." I felt his hand on my leg. Angrily, Melina, who was the free companion of Thurnus of Tabuk's Ford, rose to her feet and left the hut. Clitus Vitellius, my master, was a captain of Ar. It had been his charge, I supposed, doubtless placed upon him by Marlenus of Ar, Ubar of that city, to prevent or disrupt the imminent alliance forming between Fortress of Saphronicus and the Confederation of Saleria, an alliance to be confirmed and sealed in the companionship of Thandar of Ti, youngest of the five sons of Ebullius Gaius Cassius, of the Warriors, Administrator of Ti, of the Salerian Confederation, and the lady Sabina, the daughter of Kleomenes, high merchant of Fortress of Saphronicus. I recalled that the Lady Sabina was valuable indeed. Her companionship with Thandar of Ti, of the city of Ti, of the Salerian Confederation was to result in an alliance between Fortress of Saphronicus and the Confederation. The companionship, of course, was political. The Lady Sabina and Thandar of Ti, according to Eta, had never seen one another, the companionship being arranged by their parents and the councils of their respective cities. In such a companionship the Lady Sabina would have raised caste, and become one of the high ladies of Ti, and of the Confederation. She had been looking forward, it was well known, with enthusiasm to her attaining this high station. "You are the weakling, Thurnus," snapped Melina. She then put away the knife, and stood up. "It was a mistake to have followed you," she said. He looked at her without speaking. "You could have been a caste leader for a district," she said. "Instead I am only the companion of a village leader. I could have companioned a district leader. You stink of the sleen you train and the girls you own." Thurnus stood up again. "I ask this free woman," said he, indicating Sandal Thong, "for whom I muchly care, to accept me in free companionship." There was a great cry of pleasure from the villagers. "But Thurnus," said she, "as I am now free do I not have the right to refuse?" "True," said Thurnus puzzled. "Then, noble Thurnus," said she, evenly, calmly, "I do refuse. I will not be your companion." Thurnus lowered the cup of paga. There was silence in the clearing. Sandal Thong gently lowered herself to the ground, and lay on her belly before Thurnus. She took his right ankle in her hands and, holding it, pressed her lips softly down upon his foot, kissing it. She lifted her head, tears in her eyes. "Let me be instead your slave," she said. "I offer you companionship," he said. "I beg slavery," she said. "Why?" he asked. "I have been in your arms, Thurnus," she said. "In your arms I can be only a slave." "I do not understand," he said. "I would dishonor you," she said. "In your arms I can behave only as a slave." "I see," said he, caste leader of Tabuk's Ford. "The love I bear you, Thurnus," she said, "is not the love of a free companion, but a hopeless slave girl's love, a love so deep and rich that she who bears it can be only her man's slave." "I only wanted to be the companion of a district leader," she said. "You are now anyone's slave to whom I give or sell you," he said. "Yes, Master," she said. "I did not move to become district leader," said Thurnus, "for it was your urging and intent that I do so. Had I sought the position it would have seemed to all that I did so for your ambition and to avoid the lashing of your tongue." She squirmed on the rape-rack, confined by the beams, in misery. "I was a poor companion," she whispered. "I will try to be a better slave." "If I choose to seek the leadership of the district," said Thurnus, "I will do so. If I do not wish to do so, I will not." "As Master wishes," said Melina, the slave. "You knew little of the matters of being a companion," said Thurnus. "Yes, Master," she said. She looked up at him. "You are strong," she said, "and masterful. You are a great man, whether you are a district leader or not. My freedom blinded me to your manhood and your worth. I saw you not for the things you were but for the things you might, enhancing my own person, become. I saw you not as a man but as an instrument of my own perceptions and ambitions. I regret that I did not, in my companionship, relish and celebrate what you were, rather than an image of what you might become. I never truly knew you. I knew only the image of my own invention. I never truly looked at you. Had I done so, I might have seen you." I now well understood the agitation of Bina. Thandar of Ti, of the Warriors, of the four cities of the Salerian Confederation, was the fifth son of Ebullius Gaius Cassius, of the Warriors, Administrator of Ti, high officer of the Confederation. At one time a girl, the Lady Sabina, the daughter of a merchant, Kleomenes of Fortress of Saphronicus, high merchant of that city, had been pledged in Companion Contract to this Thandar of Ti. Raiders had struck the companion caravan, acquiring its riches and carrying off the Lady Sabina, and others. To guarantee the frustration of the Companion Contract and to prevent the alliance of Fortress of Saphronicus with the Salerian Confederation, the Lady Sabina had been reduced to slavery. She had been made worthless in the affairs of state. The alliance of Fortress of Saphronicus and the Confederation of Saleria had never taken place. Bad blood now existed between them. "How beautiful he is," breathed Bina. Never had Thandar of Ti and the Lady Sabina of Fortress of Saphronicus, as far as I knew, looked upon one another. Their companionship had been an intended match of state. Bina, Slave Beads, gazed upon the powerful, wondrous Thandar of Ti. "He is handsome," I said. "My ears are pierced," wept Bina. "My ears are pierced." Never, now, if ever, could she have hoped to be companion to such a man. Thandar of Ti, and his fellows, some five of them, ordered from Busebius, who stood eagerly about them. They would have more than paga. They would be fed, and have wines. The presence of the august visitors, except perhaps by the slaves, was forgotten. Thandar of Ti looked in our direction. We knelt, two beautiful slave girls, lowly pierced-ear girls, paga slaves. It was a great honor for girls such as we that a man such as Thandar of Ti would even deign to cast a glance upon us. Thandar of Ti looked away. I smiled to myself at the irony of the situation. In looking upon one of us, upon one of two lowly, exquisite slaves, he had been looking upon she who had once been the Lady Sabina, of Fortress of Saphronicus, once intended to sit regally at his side, gloriously robed, his free companion. "It was I, too," said Bina, dreamily, "whom he took to serve him in the alcove." She closed her eyes, holding herself with her arms. "Oh, how beautiful he is," she said, "and how well I served him." She opened her eyes. "The pleasure he gave me!" she moaned. "I could not believe the pleasure." She looked at me, directly. "How fortunate it is," she said, "that I did not become his companion." "I do not understand," I said. "For then, this night, I could not have been his slave," she whispered. She had once been the Lady Sabina of Fortress of Saphronicus, the daughter of Kleomenes, of Fortress of Saphronicus, promised in Companion Contract, in a proposed political alliance intended to further the fortunes of Fortress of Saphronicus and the Salerian Confederation, to the fifth son of the warrior, Ebullius Gains Cassius, the Administrator of Ti, Thandar of Ti, also of the warriors. He rose to his feet. She looked up at him. Thandar of Ti, her master, regarded her. She had once been promised to him in Companion Contract, as a Free Companion; now he had purchased her as a slave. "You were once Sabina, the daughter of Kleomenes," he laughed, "once promised to me in Companion Contract." She looked at him, wildly. "Now, of course, you are only a slave," he said. "Yes, Master," she said. "When the Companionship was under consideration by the Council of the Confederation," he said, "I slipped away, on tarn, to Fortress of Saphronicus. I spied on you, to see if you pleased me." "Pleased!" she cried. It is beneath the dignity of a free woman to please a man. Slave girls please men. "Yes," he said. "It must have been difficult," she said, "for you to tell, I clothed in the robes of concealment, if I pleased you." "You recall your quarters," he asked, "and the window, high in the wall." "Yes," she said. "It may be reached by a rope, from the roof," he said. She gasped. "You were quite beautiful in your bath," he said. She looked down, confused, blushing. "Is a slave modest?" he asked. "No, Master," she said. Then she looked up at him, shyly. "Did you find me pleasing, truly?" she asked. "Yes, quite," he said. "The girl, Marla, too, and the others," he said, "were also quite beautiful." "Yes," she said. "My serving slaves were beautiful." She looked up at him. "Were they more beautiful than I?" she asked. "Not to me," he said. "I am pleased," she said. "You can well understand my dilemma," he said. "Seeing you I wanted you. You were one of those women who is so feminine and attractive that a man finds it difficult to think of you in terms other than jealous ownership. I wanted to own you. I wanted you at my feet naked, in my collar. Yet you were intended to be my companion. How could one relate to a girl as feminine and beautiful as you, I ask you, other than as a master to a slave?" "I do not know," she said. "Besides," he said, "you were only of the merchants. It is unseemly for a Warrior to take as a companion the daughter of a merchant. I detest the politics which seemed to make such a match expedient. Surely I was not consulted in the negotiations." "No, Master," she said. "Nor was I," she added, pointing this out. "But you are a woman," he said. "That is true," she said. "The daughters of merchants," he said, "are fit only to be the slaves of Warriors." "Oh, Master?" she asked, archly. "Yes," he said, evenly, regarding her. "Yes, Master," she said, dropping her eyes. "Besides," he said, "you, free, were an arrogant she-sleen. You needed enslaving, collaring and whipping." "Yes, Master," she said, frightened. "I resolved to refuse the companionship," said Thandar of Ti. "I resolved to flee the city." He grinned. "As it turned out," he said, "that was not necessary." "She is yours, Master," said the auctioneer to Clitus Vitellius. I knelt at his feet, joyfully. He would now free me, and take me as his companion. He put aside his shield and spear, to lift me to my feet as his equal. "Your whip," said Clitus Vitellius to the auctioneer. "You did not wish her whipped," he said. "She is mine to whip," said Clitus Vitellius. The auctioneer placed his whip in the hands of Clitus Vitellius. "Master?" I said. "Yes?" he said. "Are you not going to free me?" I asked. "Only a fool," he said, "frees a slave girl." "I heard yesterday, from an askari, he said, "that they would pass here today. They are gifts from Bila Huruma to Tende, daughter of the high chieftain, Aibu, of the Ukungu villages, serving slaves. It is his intention to take Tende into companionship." "The companionship," said one of the men, "will consolidate the relation of the Ukungu villages with the Ubarate." "Lady Tende, daughter of Aibu, high chief of Ukungu," said Mwoga, "is being conveyed in honor to the ceremony of companionship, to be mated to his majesty, Bila Huruma." "She is being sold to seal a bargain," said Kisu. "How could she be more a slave?" Tende's face remained expressionless. "Of her own free will," said Mwoga, "the Lady Tende hastens to become Ubara to Bila Huruma." "One of more than two hundred Ubaras!" scoffed Kisu. "She acts of her own free will," averred Mwoga. "Excellent," said Kisu. "She sells herself!" he said. "Well done, Slave Girl!" he commended. "She is to be honored in companionship," said Mwoga. "I could not in battle beat Bila Huruma," said Kisu. "His askaris were superior to my villagers. But now, as I have stolen Tende, his projected companion, I have lured him into the jungle. I need now only lead him on and on, until he is slain in the jungle, or until, bereft of men and supplies, I need only turn back and meet him, as man to man, as warrior to warrior." I looked at him. "Thus," said Kisu, "in destroying Bila Huruma, I will destroy the empire." "It is an intelligent and bold plan," I said, "but I think you may have miscalculated." "How is that?" asked Kisu. "Do you truly think that Bila Huruma," I asked, "who owns or is companion to perhaps hundreds of women would pursue you into the jungle at great risk to himself and his empire to get back one girl, a girl whom he doubtless realizes has by now been reduced to slavery, and has thus been rendered politically worthless, and a girl who was never more to him to begin with than a convenience in a minor political situation on the Ngao coast?" "A lovely slave girl," said Bila Huruma, "a lovely token of esteem and good will, but scarcely sufficient to consolidate a matter as weighty as a political alliance." "She was the daughter of Aibu," said Msaliti. "She was to have been companioned to you." "Companioned?" inquired Bila Huruma. "Yes," said Msaliti. "I am advised, Jason," she said, "by certain of my friends to accept a companion." "I did not know that," I said. "Many men, young and rich, have desired to become my companion. Such matches, in many cases, would profitably increase our common holdings. Yet I have until now, at least, turned them all away. I have remained independent." "Yes, Mistress," I said. "I have seen many companionships," she said. "Yet more often than not I have seen the male companion keep sluts of slave girls on the side, and, I think, it is only those sluts he cares for." Her voice was bitter. "Why," she asked, "should a man forsake a noble companion, serene and beautiful, independent and regal, for a slut in a steel collar who will crawl to his feet and beg to lick them with her tongue?" "You wished a perfume, did you not," asked Turbus Veminius, "to distract your companion from his slave sluts, did you not?" "Yes," she said. "This perfume," said Turbus Veminius, "will remind him of what he has forgotten, that you are a woman." She looked at him, her body rigid with rage. "But it, in itself," he said, "will do little to improve your situation." "I do not understand," she said. You are, I suspect," said Turbus Veminius, "a pretty little thing. If your companion bought you, naked and collared, in a market, he would doubtless prize you highly." "Turbus!" she cried, angrily. "But as his companion you are too much taken for granted," he said. "It is true," she suddenly sobbed. "If you would improve your situation somewhat," he said, "I recommend that you learn the arts of the slave girl, and practice them with diligence." "That would only improve my situation somewhat?" she asked, puzzled. "Yes," he said, "for you would still be free, and no free woman, because she is free, can truly compete for the attention and affection of a man as can a slave girl." "Why?" she asked. "I do not know," said Turbus Veminius. "Perhaps it is simply because the slave girl is a slave girl, truly, and is owned." "What then am I to do?" she asked. "You could risk slavery," he said, "expose yourself to possible capture, walk the high bridges at lonely Ahn, picnic in the country, go to paga taverns alone, take dangerous sea voyages." "But what if I were caught, and enslaved?" she asked. "You would then be a true slave girl," he said, "and would doubtless be taught, thoroughly, and more deeply and sensuously than you could ever hope to learn them as a free woman, for you would then be a slave, the arts of the female slave." "But I might never again come into the possession of my former companion," she said. "Presumably you would not," he said. "But presumably you would come into the possession of some man who truly wanted you, and who was willing to pay good money for you." "I brought a large companion price to my companion," she said. "Perhaps he wanted that more than me." "I do not know," said Turbus, shrugging. I had beaten the champion of the stables of Miles of Vonda two weeks ago. It had been that match which had established my precedence among the fighting slaves of the stables in the vicinity of Vonda. It had been that match which had resulted in my being named the local champion. This victory had not set well with Miles of Vonda. It was not merely that his own champion had been defeated and that he had lost a goodly bit of coin on the wagering involved, but that he had been, in the past, like several other young swains in the vicinity, an unsuccessful suitor, in the matter of the companionship, for the hand of the Lady Florence of Vonda. "Did you see that?" she whispered. "He was looking for me, and he was carrying slave chains." "Yes," I said. I smiled. Miles of Vonda had been one of several unsuccessful suitors for the hand of the proud Lady Florence of Vonda. He had not been successful in winning her to be his in Free Companionship, nor had his many competitors. The Lady Florence had held herself to be too good for men. Now, perhaps he reasoned, if she could not be enticed to kneel across from him at his table in the honorable resplendent robes of free companionship she might at least, perhaps, more appropriately, crawl to him naked, on her belly, under the whip, across the tiles of his slave quarters. She looked at me, frightened. "Where are we going?" she asked. "To the camp of Tenalion," I said. "But for what reason, Jason," she begged, "for what possible reason?" "He knows you," I said, "and he is familiar with various matters known in Vonda and within her vicinity. He will know, for example, that you have been much sought as a Free Companion by rich young swains of Vonda, but that you have held yourself too good for them, and have refused them all." "I was once a girl of Port Cos," she said, "one born free, but one who knew herself in her heart to be a slave. I fled Port Cos to avoid an unwanted companionship. He who desired me too much respected me, and though I muchly loved him, I knew that he could not satisfy my slave needs. He wanted me as his companion and I wanted only to be his slave. He wanted me in veils and silk, and wished to serve me. I wanted only to be naked, and collared, and at his feet, kissing his whip. "I confessed my needs to him and he was scandalized, and that he was scandalized shamed and mortified me. Each outraged by the other we parted. "I then decided that I would hate men, and do without them. I would be bold and insolent with them, and make them suffer, punishing them for their rejection of my womanhood. If they could not, or would not, understand me, then I would take my vengeance on them, making them miserable! Even in my hatred, of course, I could never forget that in a corner of my heart, kneeling, there languished a love slave. Our parents, naturally, knowing nothing of what had occurred between us, pressed us to intertwine our arms and drink the wine of the companionship. "He, furious but resigned, cognizant of his expressed intentions and earlier proposals, became convinced that his duty lay in this direction. I had little doubt that if I were but once taken into companionship by him I should be sequestered, and left untouched, that that would be my punishment for having shamed him; he would keep me as his official 'companion' but he would not so much as put his hands on me; I would be forced to endure honor and freedom; respect and dignity would be forced upon me, like chains. I would lie alone, twisting in the darkness, while he reveled elsewhere, contenting himself, in the lascivious embraces of obedient slaves, painted, bangled girls, such as might be purchased in any slut market. How I would envy such girls their collars and the lash of his whip! "In Port Cos," said he, "long ago, I wooed you with all the honors and dignities to be accorded to the free woman. Well did we grow acquainted, and many were the long and intimate conversations in which we shared." His eyes then grew hard. "And in one of these," he said, "you uttered an unspeakable confession, acknowledging your slave needs." "I was so ashamed," she said, turning her face away. "How could I take to my bed in honor one who had dared to confess her slave needs? Such girls I could buy at the market. We parted, naturally. But our families, desiring the companionship, pressed us for explanations. That our honors might be protected, of course, yours that you had dared to confess your slave needs, and mine, that I had been the scandalized auditor of so shameful an admission, we remained silent." "But," said she, moist-eyed, "that our courtship not appear to have failed, and that our families not be disgraced, you agreed to proceed with the companionship, this in accordance with your conception of your duty as an officer and a gentleman." He looked down at her, not speaking. "I did not wish to languish, scorned and neglected, in a cold bed, while you contented yourself with market girls. I fled the city." "You are mistaken in at least one thing," he said. "I had not determined to proceed with the companionship because of family pressures. I am not so weak. Similarly, my duties as an officer and a gentleman were not implicated in the matter." "But, why then?" she asked. "I wanted you," he said. "But I have slave needs," se said. "I thought long after our conversation," he said. "You had dared to confess your slave needs, and this had shamed you, and it had scandalized me. But, why, I asked myself. Should not, rather, one be more ashamed by deceit than the truth? Can there truly be a greater honor in hypocrisy than in honesty? It does not seem so. I then realized how bravely you had trusted me and revealed this to me. My outrage gave way to gratitude and admiration. Similarly, I asked myself, why was I scandalized. Was this not connected with hidden fears of my own, that I might discover complementary needs within myself, the needs to own and be a master? Your confession, so expressive and poignant, tended to undermine a deceit of free persons. You had dared, it seemed, to break the code of hypocrisy. Had the gate to barbarism been left ajar? I regretted, for a time, the loss of the lie. We grow fond of our myths. Yet our myths are like walls of straw. Ultimately they cannot protect us. Ultimately they must perish in the flames of truth." "You would have taken me," she asked, "knowing that I had slave needs?" "Your slave needs," he said, "made you a thousand times more desirable. What man does not want a slave?" She looked at him, startled. "It was thus my intention to take you into honorable companionship," he said, "but, in the privacy of our quarters, away from the sight of the world, to put you in a collar, and keep you as a slave, even to the whip." She looked up at him, disbelievingly. "But," he said, "such a farce will not now be necessary." "I do not understand," she said. "Strip," he said. "There are others present," she protested. His right hand, in a backhand blow, lashed forth, fierce and powerful, striking her from her knees to her side on the tiles. She rose to her hands and knees and, blood at her mouth, regarded him, disbelievingly. "Must a command be repeated?" he inquired. Swiftly she tore away the slave tunic, stripping herself. He snapped his fingers and pointed to his feet. She crawled to his feet on her belly. She looked up at him. "I gather that you accept the gift," I said. "I do accept it," he said, "and I thank you." "At one time," she said, "in spite of being a proud free woman of Ar, I felt the desire for the companionship of men." "I understand," I said. "I decided that I would permit them, certain ones of my careful choosing, of proper means and stations, to become acquainted with me, and that I might then, from among these, favor certain ones with the dignity and honor of my friendship. Then, perhaps, in time, if I felt so inclined, I might, if he were thoroughly pleasing and wholly suitable, consider acceding to the pleas of one to enter into companionship with me." "And how did matters proceed?" I asked. "I called together a number of young men," she said. "I informed them of my willingness to form acquaintances, and specified to them the strict conditions to which these relationships, absolute equality, and such, would be subject." "And what happened?" I asked. "All withdrew politely," she said, "and I never saw them again, with one exception, a little urt of a man who told me he shared my views, fully." "You entered into companionship with him?" I asked. "I discovered he was interested only in my wealth," she said. "I dismissed him." "You were then angry and hurt," I said, "and began to devote yourself wholly to the pursuits of business." "Yes," she said. "Your accent," he said, "suggests that you might be from Tabor." "Yes!" I said, seizing on this. "I am. My parents had arranged an unwanted companionship for me. I fled. I now want to go somewhere else." "Tabor is far away," he said. "Did you come all this way on foot?" "Yes!" I said. "That is amazing," he said, "for Tabor is an island." There was a wagon to the left of the bridge. Its canvas cover was drawn down. The rain poured from it. Under the wagon there was a small, huddled figure, a tarpaulin clutched about its head and shoulders. Within the wagon, then, I supposed, there might be a fellow and his free companion. Doubtless, unless it had been displeasing in some way, the location of the small figure beneath the wagon, huddling there in misery and cold, was a consequence of the presence of the free companion within it. I did not doubt but what the small figure was far more beautiful and attractive than the free companion. That was suggested by what must be its status. Free women hate such individuals and lose few opportunities to make them suffer. I wondered if the fellow in the wagon had acquired the individual under it merely for his interest and pleasure, or perhaps, too, as a way of encouraging his companion to take her own relationship with him more seriously. Perhaps, if his plan worked, in such a case, he might then be kind enough to discard the individual beneath the wagon, ridding himself of it, its work accomplished, in some market or other. "My master does not care for me," she said. "He bought me only to anger his companion, who is terribly cruel to me. During the day, when my legs are open, he even rents me out to strangers for a tarsk bit!" "Does his companion grow more attentive and concerned?" I asked. "I think not," she said. "Perhaps it should be she who is chained beneath the wagon," I said. The canvas covering of the wagon had been drawn back, probably to air the contents from the dampness of the storm. No one seemed to be within the wagon, or about it, other than the pair at the side of it. I had little doubt, accordingly, that the blond woman kneeling before the fellow with the whip was his free companion, or former free companion. The girl who had been beneath the wagon last night, and whom Ephialtes had, hopefully, purchased for me this morning, had been formerly purchased, and primarily purchased, I had suspected, in an attempt, and perhaps a somewhat foolish, and somewhat misdirected attempt, I thought, by the fellow to encourage his companion to take her relationship with him more seriously. She had apparently done so, at least to the extent of treating the slave with great cruelty. But now the slave was gone, and there was a chain on her neck. He had apparently now gone to the heart of the matter. If she were still his free companion, it seemed she would now be kept in the modality of bondage, but perhaps she was now only his former free companion, and had been reduced to actual bondage, now being subject to purchase by anyone. I recalled how she had bent in terror to kiss his feet. There was no doubt that she would now take her relationship to him seriously. It is difficult not to do so when one is owned, and subject to the whip. The woman would now discover that her companion, or former companion, a fellow perhaps hitherto taken somewhat too lightly, one perhaps hitherto accorded insufficient attention and respect, one perhaps hitherto neglected and ignored, even despised and scorned, was indeed a man, and one who now would see to it that she served him well, one who would now own and command her, one who would summon forth the woman in her, and claim from her, and receive from her, the total entitlements of the master. "You have had only one master?" I asked. "Yes," she said. "He was one who had sought my hand in the free companionship but whose renewed suits I had consistently scorned." "And now you are his slave?" I said. "Yes," she said. "She was abandoned by her intended companion, who had become enamored with a lovely Earth-girl slave," said another. Perhaps I should not have been, but I was pleased to hear this. Her projected companion had preferred one such as I, an Earth-girl salve, to one such as she! Inferior goods indeed! The love of a free woman, should they be capable of love, is very different from the love of a slave. The free woman must have her respect, her self-esteem, her dignity. She must consider how her friends will view her, and the match, and what they will think of her, and say of her. She must consider her assets, her properties, and their protection. All details of contracts must be arranged, usually with the attention of scribes of the law. She must have a clear understanding of what will be permitted to her companion and what will not be permitted to him. Certainly, as she is free, her modesty is not to be compromised. All things are to be regulated with care, how and where he may touch her, and such. She has her position in society to consider, her station and status. She is hedged in with a thousand trammels and compromises, militating against her selfless surrender. The love of a free woman, then, to the extent that she can love, is beset with a great number and variety of considerations, with a thousand subtle and noxious calculations, plannings and governances. Needless to say, these several appurtenances do not enter into the ken of a slave. Sometimes a free woman, who fears that her feelings for a projected companion, to her dismay and scandal, are more intense, suffusive, overwhelming and passionate than is proper for one of her status will withdraw from the projected match. She is terrified to think of herself as, in effect, a slave. Sometimes, too, a free man will withdraw from a match if he suspects that the woman's desires and needs are unworthy of a free woman. After all, he is looking for a free woman, not a slave, a proud, lofty, noble, free woman, one who will fulfill the customs of her station, and prove to be a suitable asset, particularly with respect to connections and career. So pity the poor free woman who would yield herself as a slave to her lover and does not do so, for her enmeshment in the chains of pride. And scorn the foolish free man who cannot recognize and accept, and rejoice in, the slave in a woman. And consider that free man who calculates so carefully the advantages of a companionship, who so carefully measures out the prospects of a relationship, as a merchant might weigh grain upon a scale. He treats the woman as an instrument to his future, and thus treats her as more a slave than a slave. And what of the calculating free woman, as well, she, ensconced in veils and customs, despising men as weaklings, exploiting them, though sheltered and protected by them, viewing them as conveniences, as little more, at best, than sources of social and economic advantage, save, of course, for the gratifications she derives from their torment, from delightfully arousing in them a hundred hopes and desires which she will then enjoyably frustrate. Sometimes a slave learns that her master is to be companioned. In such a case she must expect to be given away or sold. This often causes her great sorrow. But certainly one could not expect the projected companion to tolerate so distractive a presence in their domicile. Free women are well aware that they cannot compete with slaves; accordingly, to the best of their ability, they see to it that any such competition is precluded. "Oh, yes," he laughed, "anything to escape the stable, the collar! For that what sacrifice would she not make? Even that of becoming what she hitherto most despised, a wife, or companion!" "No, Master," said Cecily. "She wants to be otherwise in your arms, not as wife or companion, but as slave." Sometimes a girl will flee a projected, unwanted companionship but these flights are seldom successful, and the fair fugitives are likely to find themselves soon caged and collared. Sometimes they are returned to their city where they are given, now as a naked slave, to he from whose companionship they had fled. Let us briefly consider the matter of the fugitive from the unwanted companionship, who is returned to her former suitor, now as a slave. The perquisites he might have sought via her companioning, resources, connections, and such, are then no longer available, but the girl herself is his, to do with as he pleases. As the projected social and economic losses he may have sustained by her flight will presumably far outweigh her value on a sales platform one may appreciate his likely disappointment, if not actual disgruntlement, consequent upon her untoward and unacceptable behavior. Accordingly he may not, at least immediately, put her into the markets, but might keep her for himself, for perhaps months, to derive from her skin, so to speak, an ample compensatory retribution of servitude and pleasure, prior to having her led to a convenient market, hooded, braceleted, and leashed. Indeed, she who was in her view once too fine for his couch may later plead, her lips to his sandals, with all her heart, to be kept at his slave ring. "Go downstairs," said the beast to the Lady Bina. "Fetch a slave whip." "They have no slave," she said. "They will have such a device," he said. I did not doubt it. Such things are common in a Gorean household. Delia companion of Epicrates, a free woman, I was sure, would not be without one. Who knew when a slave, perhaps near the shop at a fountain, on the street might be displeasing? Free women, abroad, often have a switch about their person. "A Ubar, a great lord, a potentate," said the beast, "does not companion casually or lightly. There are slaves for that sort of thing, hundreds, scattered about in various pleasure gardens. He companions to forge alliances, protect borders, acquire cities, extend dominions, obtain access to trade routes, a port on the shores of Thassa. You are unknown, and unconnected, you bring no cities or armies into his grasp no fleets, or cavalries of tarns. You do not even have a Home Stone." I knew little of Home Stones, at that time. Nor would I be permitted one, as I was a slave. Sleen, kaiila verr, and such, other animals, too, have no Home Stones. "I see," said the Lady Bina. "Things would then be difficult." "A Ubar might companion a Ubara from another city, a coveted city, one of wealth and power, or companion the daughter of another Ubar, of such a city, such things." "I see," she said, not pleased. As I knelt in the background, inconspicuous but at hand, I saw that the Lady Bina was not so much dissuaded of her astonishing ambition, as convinced that its realization might be less easily achieved than hitherto anticipated. "Occasionally," said the beast, "a Ubar may companion the Ubara of a captured city, forcing companionship however unwelcome, upon her, making of her free spoils, so to speak, thereby, as she is then companioned, entitling himself legally to the wealth of her treasury and the allegiance of her subjects. In such a case she may sit beside him, on a throne, within her fine robes, chained." "I suppose," said the Lady Bina "he may do this severally." "No," said the beast, "for one may have but one companion, at one time." I had no doubt, of course that a Ubar, or, indeed, any person of means, might have several slaves. "What if a second Ubara is conquered?" asked the Lady Bina. "You are thinking of companioning?" asked the beast. "Yes," she said. "Then the Ubara of less consequence," he said, "will be demoted to bondage, and then kept, or put up for sale, or such." "But surely," she said, "companioning is not always involved in such matters." "Certainly not," he said. "The conqueror holds rights to all in virtue of the right of conquest, in virtue of war rights. The usual ensuance in such matters is that the conquered Ubara will be marched naked in the triumph, chained to the stirrup of the victor's tharlarion or kaiila after which she, and the women of her court, similarly paraded, will serve naked at the victory feast, during which they will be enjoyed, and after which, in the morning, they will be lashed and fitted with their collars." I jerked back their hoods, and tore away their veils. "Behold!" laughed a fellow. "Two are face-stripped!" Some of the free women, at the other tables, stood. One had screamed, two gasped. "Interfere!" said one of them to a fellow, standing, watching, he presumably her companion. "Not at all!" he laughed, striking his left shoulder twice with the flat of his right hand. "Beast!" she cried to him. "Do something!" said another free woman to her escort or companion. "I am," he said. "I am watching." "Take me home," she said. "Later," said he, "after breakfast." "Now!" she said. "I would not hazard the streets of Brundisium alone," he said. She remained standing beside him, and seemed pleased enough to be doing so. "I thought," I said, "Master might free me." "Free you?" he said. "Yes," I said, "and then petition for my Companionship which offer I might then accept or refuse, as I might please." "Are you mad?" he said. "Surely," I said, "just as Companions may become slaves, so slaves might become Companions." "Only a fool," said he, "frees a slave girl." "Perhaps Master would prefer to free me, as I earlier suggested, and then petition for my Companionship which I might then, should it amuse me, or should the whim possess me, refuse." "Do not sport with me," he said. "Then, I gather," I said, "it is your intention to keep me as a slave." "Do you truly think " he asked, "I would let a slave off her chain, any slave, and, in particular, a slave such as you?" "I do not know," I said, and then, thinking it wise, added the word, "- Master." "You are too slave to free," he said. "You are too beautiful and exciting to free." |       
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