"Your use is mine," I said.
"My `use'!" she exclaimed.
"Of course," I said.
"Yes," she then said, half purring with delight, "my `use' has been given to you by the Mistress."
"You are then mine, for an Ahn or two," I said.
"Yes," she said.
"I am then, for an Alin or two, your Master," I said.
"Yes," she said.
"And you should address me as such," I said.
"Yes," she whispered, softly, "-Master."
She tried then to kiss me, but I held her from me.
"Has the Mistress owned you long?" I asked.
"No, Master," she said. "I am a new slave."
"Where were you purchased?" I asked.
"In Vonda," she said.
"Why has the Mistress sent you to me?" I asked.
"I do not know, Master," she said.
"What is your name?" I asked.
"The Mistress has not yet given me a name," she said. "If you wish, you may give me a name, for your use of me."
"I shall not bother," I said. "It is sufficient for me that I simply hold you in my arms as a nameless slut."
Her body became suddenly rigid, but then she relaxed. "Yes, Master," she said.
"Doubtless your Mistress will soon give you a name," I said.
"Yes, Master," she said.
"It is convenient for a,slave to have a name," I said.
"Yes, Master," she said.
"It is then easier to order her about, to serve and fetch," I said.
"Yes, Master," she said.
"It is interesting to me that you are not collared and branded," I said.
"Yes, Master," she said.
"Do you expect to be soon collared and branded?" I asked. I smiled to myself.
"Probably," she said, sadly.
"You sound sad," I said.
"Should I not be?" she asked.
"No," I said. "The collar and brand are splendid on a woman. They make her a hundred times, a thousand times, more beautiful."
"Oh," she said.
"Kiss me, nameless slut," I said.
"Yes, Master," she said. Then she lay back. I felt her finger at my shoulder.
"Do you think that I am more beautiful than the Mistress?" she asked.
"Probably," I said. "It is difficult for a free woman to even begin to compete with a slave in beauty."
"Is the Mistress attractive?" she asked.
"She is a quite beautiful woman," I said. "If she were made a slave, she would probably become dazzlingly and desirably beautiful."
"If the Mistress and I were both slaves," she said, "who do you think would be the most beautiful?"
"I do not know," I said. "I would have to stand you both naked in your collars before me, side by side, and see."
"That would be difficult to do," she laughed.
"Why?" I asked.
"Nothing," she said.
"Why?" I asked.
"Oh," she said, quickly, lightly, but frightened, "because Mistress is a wonderful free woman, and I am only a lowly slave."
"I see," I smiled.
"What are you going to do with me now?" she asked.
"Why use you for my pleasure, and as a slave," I said.
"Yes, Master," she breathed.
"But first I shall see if you are hot," I said.
"Master?" she asked. "Oh!" she cried.
"I see that you are hot," I said.
"Yes, Master," she said.
I held her.
"Your arms are strong," she said.
I did not move. I felt her beauty squirm against my chest and thighs. "Master, Master," she whispered. "Please, Master!"
"What do you want me to do?" I asked.
"Have your hot slave," she begged.
"Very well," I said.
I made her scream and sob muchly in the darkness of the tunnel. She seemed piteous in my arms. "I did not know it could be like this," she whispered, hoarsely.
"Be silent, slave," I told her. "Yes, Master," she whispered, kissing and moaning.
"Do it to me again, Master," she begged. "Please, Master!"
"It is growing late," I said.
"Please, Master," she said.
"It is time to send you back to your Mistress," I said. "She will surely be wondering where you are."
"Please, Master," she begged.
"Surely you do not wish to spend time at the whipping ring," I said.
"The Mistress will not whip me," she said.
"How do you know?" I asked.
"I am sure of it," she said. "Please, please, Master!"
"It is late," I said.
"But one more time, I beg of you," she said. "But one more time, I beg of you, my Master," she said.
"Very well," I said.
She lay on her back in the dirt, beside me. She was very quiet. I rose to my feet, found my tunic, and drew it on. "Get on your knees," I told her. She did so. I reached to her hair and, holding her head with one hand, with the other jerked a few hairs from her head.
"Oh!" she cried. "Why did you do that?"
"It pleased me," I said.
"You hurt me," she said.
"Be silent," I said.
"Yes, Master," she said. I put the bit of hair to one side, where I might retrieve it later.
"Find your things," I said, "and hold them in your hands." She felt about in the darkness.
"I have them," she said.
"Are you now again kneeling before me?" I asked.
"Yes, Master," she said.
"Kiss my feet," I said. I felt her lips kissing at my feet in the darkness. "Straighten up," I said.
"Yes, Master," she said.
"I now dismiss you," I said. "You dismiss me!" she cried.
"Should I not now return you to your Mistress?" I asked, smiling.
"Yes, Master," she said, angrily.
I heard her move to get up.
"Wait!" I said.
"Master?" she asked, acidly.
I crouched beside her. I took the two slippers and the light gown from her hands. "Open your mouth," I told her. I put a bit of the silk across her lower teeth, and then thrust the open heels of the slippers into her mouth. "Close your mouth," I told her. She did so, with a sound of anger. I then, by the arms, jerked her to her feet, and turned her about.
"Return to your Mistress," I told her.
She made an angry noise.
"Run!" I told her. I gave her a swift and stinging slap below the small of the back.
She then ran down the tunnel, sobbing, away from me.
I retrieved the bit of hair which I had put on the floor of the tunnel, and placed it in my tunic.
I heard her running down the tunnel, sobbing, away from me.
I smiled in the darkness.
25 I FIGHT KRONDAR, SLAVE OF MILES OF VONDA; TARNSMEN
The leather slave hood was pulled from my head. I heard the cry of the crowd. Barns rubbed my back. Kenneth was wrapping the long strips of leather about my hands. I saw slave girls, in their brief rags and collars, at the gate, some standing on the bars of the gate. "Jason! Jason!" some of them called. "Krondar!" cried several of the free persons in the crowd. "Jason!" cried others.
There was a new cry from the crowd as a burly, short, thick-bodied man was led into the sand-floored, circular pit. He pulled against the manacles which confined his hands behind his back. "He is eager," I thought.
"Krondar! Krondar!" cried men in the crowd.
"I have not heard of this slave," I said to Kenneth. "Is Gort not the champion of the stables of Miles of Vonda?"
"Here," cried one of the referee's men, pointing to me, "is Jason, champion of the stables of the Lady Florence of Vonda!" There was a cheer at this. "Jason! Jason!" cried several of the slave girls. The women present at the pit of sand, whether at the gate leading into it, or in the tiers looking down upon it, were excited. Women grow excited when men are to do battle. This is because they know that they are the natural spoils of the wars of men. This is obvious in any woman, whether slave or free, but it is particularly and almost pathetically obvious among female slaves, who already know themselves explicitly and legally as properties and spoils. Too, their half-naked bodies, collared and branded, make it difficult for them to conceal their excitement, or other emotions and feelings.