"Master?"
"Consider the shame to the Ubar!” he said. “Put such daughters aside! Leave them in their collars! Let them be sold thousands of pasangs away! Their bondage must not be allowed to besmirch a noble house! Let them not be spoken of, seen, or heard of again! Leave them on their chains. Let it be as though they had never existed!"
"But many must be the daughters of Ubars who find themselves slaves,” she said, “given the fortunes of war."
"Certainly,” said Cabot. “The victors make them slaves, and some are even marketed."
"Doubtless they bring high prices."
"Sometimes, for the amusement of the victors, they are sold for almost nothing."
"A considerable alteration in their circumstances,” she said, “from the luxury of a court to the exposure of the auction block."
"But, too,” said Cabot, “she begged to be purchased."
"I could conceive of myself begging to be purchased,” she said, regarding him, “if it were a certain man."
"But you are a rightful slave,” he said.
"Yes, Master."
"Sometimes,” said he, “slaves must beg to be purchased. Indeed, a common phrase expected of an inspected slave is, ‘Buy me, Master'."
"I could conceive of a man,” she said, “to whom I might address such a plea, and in a most heartfelt manner, and with earnestness and hope."
"But you are a slave, you see,” he said.
"Yes, Master,” she said.
"I think you cannot even conceive of how the free Gorean views the slave,” he said.
"But surely girls in their collars are of interest?” she said.
"Certainly,” said Cabot. “What Gorean male does not find female slaves of interest?"
His she-beast trembled at his side.
"Clearly the girl was no longer fit to be the daughter of a Ubar, and so, when freed, she was disowned. She was then sequestered, and kept from public view. But the Ubar disappeared. None know his whereabouts. The city, betrayed by many within, who sought advantage, fell to foes, and the former daughter, a conspirator as well, was brought forth by the traitors and victors and placed as a puppet on the throne."
"How is she a slave?"
"She fell afoul of a law, one of her own father's laws, that she who couches with, or readies herself to couch with, a slave, becomes the slave of the slave's master, the couching slave in this case, whom I had purchased in order to compromise and entrap the Ubara, was a famed and handsome actor. Afterwards, as had been my intent, I freed him, but this, in accord with the law and my plan, left her my slave. The matter was duly witnessed and processed, but then I permitted her to be recovered, and returned to the throne of the city. So now she who sits upon that throne, supposedly a Ubara, is only a slave, who must with uneasiness await her reclaiming."
"It is hard to understand how her father could disown her,” she said.
"She fell slave, and begged to be purchased,” said Cabot. “This was an enormity, twice an unconscionable affront to her father's honor, and shamed him. Doubtless he was merciful to have her sequestered, and not slain."
"Is it such a shameful thing, to be a slave?” she asked.
"Certainly,” said Cabot. “The slave is only a beast, as you are, a nothing, an object, mere goods, to be bought and sold."
"And you hope to reclaim her?"
"Why not? I own her, legally. And once she was unkind to me. And so I hope to have her naked on her knees before me, in slave bracelets."
"Doubtless she is very beautiful."
"Quite so,” said Cabot. “Certainly worth a collar, as many others."
"But is she not a great and noble woman?"
"Doubtless she seems so to the world,” said Cabot, “but now, under her father's own laws, she is only another slave."
"She sits upon the throne?"
"And desecrates it,” said Cabot. “Can you conceive the ignominy of this? Commonly, even in low-caste households, a slave is not permitted to sit on a bench or chair, and certainly would not be permitted to recline on a supper couch. Indeed, in many domiciles, a slave is not even allowed on her master's couch, but is used at its foot."
"Yet,” said the slave, “she sits upon the throne?"
"Uneasily, I trust,” said Cabot, “in terror, lest her secret be discovered."
"In the garb of a free woman?"
"Did the girls in the pleasure cylinder not speak to you of such things,” he asked, “when they were measuring you for a tunic, teaching you how to belt a camisk, and such?"
"Yes, Master,” she said, “slaves must be distinctively garbed, that there be no mistaking them for free women."
"It can be a capital offense,” said Cabot, “for a slave to present herself as a free woman, to pretend to be a free woman, to garb herself as a free woman, or such."
"Surely she must know this,” said the slave, fearfully.
"Of course,” said Cabot.
"And you hope to bring her to your holding?"
"Certainly,” he said.
"Let me be her sandal slave,” said the brunette.
"No,” said Cabot. “You are clearly a man's slave."
"Yes, Master,” she smiled.
"Trust that you never become the sandal slave of a free woman,” said Cabot.
"I gather from Corinna,” she said, “that that would be unpleasant."
"You have little to fear there,” said Cabot, “as you are ignorant of the intricacies of the free woman's toilette, the arrangements of robes, their foldings, drapings, and closures, the subtleties of various veils, the choice of scents, many things."
"Yes, Master,” she said.
"A not unknown punishment for a slave,” said Cabot, “is to sell her to a free woman."
"I see,” she said.
"The mere fear of that,” said Cabot, “motivates many a slave to increase many times her efforts to please her master."
"The slave, being a slave,” said the brunette, “must in any event strive to serve and please her master!"
"And?” said Cabot.
"—in all ways, to the best of her ability,” said the slave.
"Yes,” said Cabot.
They were then silent, for a time. Cabot seemed angry, and lost in thought, and the slave was at first reluctant to speak.
"I grieve that Master is distressed,” she said, at last. “And I fear I do not, at least to my satisfaction, understand wholly the causes of his concern. The considerations which seem to motivate him do not seem to me coercive, even weighty."
"You are not a man,” he said, “nor are you of my caste, the scarlet caste, nor are you Gorean."
"It seems, to me,” she said, “that I am like a piece of fruit, in some lovely orchard, dangling on a branch before you, perhaps luscious fruit, certainly within reach, which you might pluck or not, as you pleased. Why then would you not reach out your hand, and seize me, and pluck me from the branch? Some men, I am sure, would enjoy having me at their feet. I knew men on Earth who would, I am sure, have reveled in my bondage, and striven to buy me."
"I did not seek you in the markets, or hunt you, or capture you,” said Cabot.
"Release me into the forest,” she suggested. “With a word to Ramar he will bring me back, bleeding, to your feet."
"I did not choose you,” said Cabot.
"Choose me now,” she said.
"—Now?” said Cabot.
"Choose me now,” she said. “See if I prove satisfactory. Slave girls, surely, are often tried out by masters, to see if they are satisfactory, and, if they are not, the master may seek another. Can you not try me out?"
"—Perhaps,” said Cabot.
"Are not some girls rented, or put out, on a trial basis?"
"Yes,” said Cabot.
"It is now your free choice,” she said, eagerly, “to choose me or not."
"Interesting,” said Cabot.
"Others may have brought me to your attention,” she said. “But the choice is yours. You may accept me or not, and for a given time or not. It is up to you."