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I was half dragged, half pushed, by a crowd, Ke
"Well done, Jason," said Ke
We heard the striking of the long bar from near the pit. Another match was begi
We walked around, behind the tiers, still Pressing through an admiring throng. Slave girls pattered behind, hoping for another look, but fearful now, away from the gate, of jostling free persons.
"Back," begged Ke
We were now near the corridor gate leading from the small arena, to the stables where we were prepared for combat.
"The Mistress!" said Ke
I looked up. Before us, standing, near the corridor gate, were two free women, veiled, in flowing. lovely robes.
Swiftly I knelt. I was owned by one of these women.
"Congratulations, Jason," said the Lady Florence of Vonda. "You did well."
"Thank you, Mistress," I said. I looked up at her. My throat was locked in her collar. I was still breathing heavily.
Though she was robed and veiled I would have recognized her, of course, from her eyes, her attitude, the lineaments of her body. Silk slaves recognize the bodies of their mistresses, even when they are robed and veiled, with much the same ease with which a master recognizes the bodies of his slaves. Too, I had, as I had learned on Gor, a good eye for woman flesh. Too, to my amazement, I recognized the woman who stood beside her.
"May I present, Ke
"I am charmed, Lady Melpomene," said Ke
"Jason," said the Lady Florence, "perhaps you remember my good friend, the Lady Melpomene of Vonda, my city."
"Yes, Mistress," I said, putting my head down.
"We have patched up our differences, Jason," said the Lady Florence, "and we are now the best, and fastest, of friends."
"I am pleased to hear that, Mistress," I said.
"Lady Melpomene will be staying with us for two or three days," said the Lady Florence. "And, soon, we shall have some house guests."
"Yes, Mistress," I said.
"You will see that the grounds, and the stables, are tidy, won't you, Ke
"Surely, Lady Florence," said Ke
"And you will keep the stable sluts on their chains, won't you?" she asked.
"As Lady Florence wishes," said Ke
"We would not wish the sight of them to embarrass or offend our guests."
"No, Lady Florence," said Ke
"Oh, Ke
"Yes, Lady Florence," he said.
"What is her name?" she asked, absently.
"Taphris," said Ke
"Oh, yes!" she said. "Is she doing well?"
"Yes," said Ke
"Oh," said the Mistress.
Taphris, in her stable collar, reddening, gasping, shrank back.
"It seems her tunic has been torn," said the Lady Florence, "and, too, it seems her hair has been cut."
Taphris, with two hands, tried to pull together the sides of her tunic, but it did her little good. She was now as exposed as any stable slut. Ke
"Surely Mistress recognizes that her tunic is now more fit for the arduous and crude labors of the stable slut than before."
"Of course," said Lady Florence.
"And her hair had value," said Ke
"Of course," said the Lady Florence. She would not interfere, of course, with Ke
Ke
"Again, Jason," said the Lady Florence, turning away from Ke
"Thank you, Mistress," I said.
"I did not know, Lady Florence," said Ke
"I am not," she said. "It is only that the Lady Melpomene and I thought it might be amusing, for the afternoon, to see how some of those of the lower castes see fit to spend their time."
"I see," said Ke
"As a woman of taste, and one of refined sensibility," she said, "I could not enjoy them."
"I see," said Ke
"They are far too brutal," she said. She turned to the Lady Melpomene. "How did you find them, my dear?" she inquired.
"Disgusting, simply disgusting," said the Lady Melpomene, quickly.
"Most disgusting of all, perhaps," said the Lady Florence, "was the disgraceful sight of those half-naked slave girls pawing after the fighters."
"Yes," said the Lady Melpomene.
"They are only slaves," pointed out Ke
"This is true," admitted the Lady Florence.
"Yes," said the Lady Melpomene. "What can one expect of collared sluts?"
"I wonder, though, what it would be like to feel such emotion," mused the Lady Florence.
"They wear only a rag and a collar," said the Lady Melpomene. "They are owned. They must serve. They are not permitted pride. Under such circumstances it is doubtless easy to feel emotion"
"Perhaps," shuddered the Lady Florence.
"With your permission, Lady Florence," said Ke
"I trust you take as good care of my tharlarion as you do of your fighters," said the Lady Florence.
"Of course," gri
"You may kiss my feet, Jason," said the Lady Florence I bent, putting my lips to her slippers, kissing them. "Now those of the Lady Melpomene," she said. Again I bent, this time pressing my lips to the slippers of the Lady Melpomene, too, kissing them.
"He has become a sturdy brute, hasn't he?" asked the Lady Florence.
I lifted my head.
"And a handsome brute, too." she said.
"Come, Jason," said Ke
"Ke
Ke
"Is he to be rewarded?" she asked.
"Surely," said Ke
"Double rations, and wine," she said.
"Of course," said Ke
I was angry.
"And no slut!" she said, clearly.
"He is a male slave, a fighter," protested Ke
"No slut," she said.
"Let me at least chain Taphris at his side," said Ke
Taphris shrank back.
"No, Ke
"He is a man," said Ke
"He is not to be given a woman," she said. "Is that clearly understood, Ke
"Yes, Lady Florence," he said, angrily.
"Ke
"Yes, Lady Florence," he said.
"I will later find a slut for him," she said. "I have a slut in mind."
Ke