"I wished that I were a slave, that I might have a chance for life, that I might have an opportunity to convince a master somehow, in any way possible, that I might be worth sparing. But I was a free woman and would be subjected to the cold and inhuman mercies of the law. I was being transported to Argentum for impalement."
"Kajira of Gor" page 190
“You understand further, of course,” said he, “that under Gorean merchant law, which is the only law commonly acknowledged binding between cities, that you stand under separate permissions of enslavement. First, were you of Ar, it would be my right, could I be successful, to make of you a slave, for we share no Home Stone. Secondly, though you speak of yourself as the Lady Elicia of Ar, of Six Towers, you are, in actuality, Miss Elicia Nevins of the planet Earth. You are an Earth girl and thus stand within a general permission of enslavement, fair beauty quarry to any Gorean male whatsoever."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 394
Use of veils
"In some cities, and among some groups and tribes, it might be mentioned, though this is not common, veils may be, for most practical purposes unknown, even among free women. The cities of Gor are numerous and pluralistic. Each has its own history, customs and traditions." "Slave Girl of Gor" page 108
"She was veiled, as is common for Gorean women in the high cities, particularly those of station. In some cities the veil is prescribed by law for free women, as well as by custom and etiquette. "Vagabonds of Gor" page 26
"In some cities an unveiled free woman is susceptible to being taken into custody by guardsmen, veiled, by force if necessary, and publicly conducted back to her home. Indeed, in some cities she is marched back to her home stripped, except for the face veil, which has been put on her. In these cases a crowd usually follows, to see what home it is that she is to be returned. Repeated offenses in such a city usually result in the enslavement of the female. Such serious measures, of course, are seldom required to protect such familiar Gorean proprieties. Custom, by itself, normally suffices."
"Players of Gor" page 125
"Veils are worn in various numbers and combinations by Gorean free women, this tending to vary by preference and caste. Many low-class Gorean women own only a single veil which must do for all purposes.(...) The veil, it might be noted, is not legally imperative for a free woman; it is rather a matter of modesty and custom. Some low-class, uncompanioned, free girls do not wear veils. Similarly certain bold free women neglect the veil. Neglect of the veil is not a crime in Gorean cities, though in some it is deemed a brazen and scandalous omission."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 107
"Kajira of Gor" page 183
"On Ar's Station," he said, "as in Ar, robes of concealment, precisely, are not legally obligatory for free women, mo more than the veil. Such things are more a matter of custom. On the other hand, as you know, there are statues prescribing certain standards of decorum for free women, For example, they may not appear naked in the streets, as may slaves. Indeed, a free woman who appears in public violation of these standards of decorum, for example, with her arms or legs too much bared, may be a slave."
"Renegades of Gor" page 367
"After all, according to the rude codes of Gor, I owed her nothing; indeed, considering her attempt on my life, which had been foiled only by the fortuitous net of Nar's web, I would have been within my rights to slay her, abandoning her body to the water lizards."
"Tarnsman of Gor" page 92
"He now had her kneeling naked
at his feet, addressing him as "Master". In the Gorean culture, of
course, this sort of thing is very significant. Indeed, in some cities such
things as kneeling before a man or addressing him as "Master" effects
legal imbondment on the female, being interpreted as a gesture of
submission." "Players of Gor" page 139
"I called you Master!"
she cried. "Am I yet legally free?" "Yes," I said,
"but I think it will be well for you to accustom yourself to calling free
men Master." "Yes!" I decided that I would not yet grant her the
collar, ripe for it though she might be. She was a free woman. I would make her
wait longer, in frustration, for it." "Renegades of Gor" page
147
"Gorean Free Woman is expected to keep her virtuous status or else choose the fate of an honorable death than accept eternal slavery. It is very rare that a Free Woman would give up her freedom and is willing to suffer the cruel sentence of death than be humiliated and degraded into bondage. Many Gorean Freewomen would rarely visit, much less frequent, a public paga tavern, as such places are, in essence, a Gorean cross between a strip-joint and a brothel. The men who visit such places do so because they have come to have sex with the slaves for the price of a cup of paga, or because they wish to take their ease and comfort in such a den of disrepute. To the mind of the Gorean male, any FreeWoman showing true yearning desires of lust and submissive behavior that is openly displayed by a collared slave girl deserves to be one. It is said eventually the FreeWoman will sooner or later have to prove such accusations as false. However, if the honor of a FreeWoman, after many offenses committed, can not be held She will be stripped and collared. In the mind of the Gorean male and that of the rules of Gorean society, if the slave-like behavior is continued, the FreeWoman is actively wanting enslavement and is considered to be "courting the collar". It is general practice to bestow upon the FreeWoman a brand and collar of her very own."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 221
"Conduct indicating suitability
for the collar," of course, can be interpreted in various ways, and more
broadly and narrowly. It is almost always understood, of course, fortunately
for women, and as I suppose the phrase itself makes clear, in the special legal
sense of the phrase, as having to do with overt behavior rather than
psychological predispositions and such. Many Gorean men believe that all women
are natural slaves, and thus, in a sense, all are eminently suitable for the
collar. But even taken in the appropriate, legal behavioral sense the phrase
is, as may well be imagined, subject to diverse interpretations.
For example, in the present case, a judge would be expected to decide whether
or not the behaviors of the sort performed, constituted behavior for which the
collar might be suitably imposed."
"Renegades of Gor" page 372
"I had left some slave beads in recompense, of course, pretty beads of cheap wood, such as are cast about in festivals, sometimes even being seized up secretly by free women who put them on before their mirrors, in secret, as though they might be slaves. In many cities, incidentally, a woman who is discovered doing such a thing may be remanded to magistrates for impressment into bondage."
"Vagabonds of Gor" page 69
"For example, sometimes free women attempt, sometimes even disguising themselves, to spy on the doings of masters and slaves. For example, they might attempt, disguised as lads, to gain entrance to paga taverns. And often such entrance in granted them but later, to their horror, they may find themselves thrown naked to the dancing sand and forced to perform under whips. Similarly if they attempt to enter such establishments as pretended slaves they may find themselves leaving them by the back entrance, soon to become true slaves. In many cities, such actions, attempting to spy on masters and slaves, disguising oneself as a slave, garbing oneself as a slave, even in the supposed secrecy of one's own compartments, lingering about slave shelves and markets, even exhibiting an interest in, or fascination with, bondage, can result in reduction to bondage. The theory is apparently that such actions and interests are those of a slave, and that the female who exhibits them should, accordingly, be imbonded." "Magicians of Gor" page 50
"For example, they may not appear naked in the streets, as may slaves. Indeed, a free woman who appears in public in violation of these standards of decorum, for example, with her arms or legs too much bared, may be made a slave."
"Renegades of Gor"
page 367/8
"Contrarywise, almost no free woman would bare her legs. They would not dare to do so. They would be horrified even to think of it. The scandal of such an act could ruin a reputation. It is said on Gor, any woman who bares her legs is a slave. Indeed, in some cities a free woman who might be found with bare legs is taken in hand by magistrates, trialed and sentenced to bondage. After the judge's decision has been enacted, its effect carried out upon her, reducing her to the status of goods, sometimes publicly, that she may be suitably disgraced, sometimes privately, by a contract slaver, that the sensitivities of free women in the city not be offended, she is hooded and transported, stripped and chained, freshly branded and collared, a property female, slave cargo, to a distant market where, once sold, she will begin her life anew, fearfully, as a purchased girl, tremulously as the helpless and lowly slave she now is."
"Mercenaries of Gor" page 69
"There was no crime
then", she said, "in my appearing in public as I did, even thogh,
say, I wore but a single layer and my calves, ankles and feet were bared."
Wether the degree of your exposure was sufficient to violate the codes of
decorum is a subtle point," said Aemilianus, "but I will not press
it."
"Surely many low-caste girls go about with only as much, or even
less," she said."
"Renegades of Gor" page 368
"No free woman, for example, would dare place herself in such a position before Gorean free men, unless perhaps, weary of her misery and frustration, she was begging them, almost explicitly, to put her in a collar. There are many stories of Gorean free women, sometimes of high caste, who, as a lark or in a spirit of bold play, dared to dance in a paga tavern. Often, perhaps to their horror, they found themselves that very night hooded and gagged, locked in close chains, lying on their back, their legs drawn up, fastened in a wagon, chained by the neck and ankles, their small bodies bruised on the rough boards as they, helpless beneath a rough tarn blanket, are carried through the gates of their city."
"Explorers of Gor" page 342
"The principle he had alluded to pertains to conduct in a free woman which is taken as sufficient to warrent her reduction to slavery. The most common application of this principle occurs in areas such as fraud or theft. Other applications may occur, for example, in cases of indigency and vagrancy. Prostitution, rare on Gor because of female slaves, is another case. The women are taken, enslaved, cleaned up and controlled. Indulgence in sensual dance is another case. Sensuous dance is almost always performed by slaves on Gor. A free woman who performs such dancing publicly is almost begging for the collar. In some cities the setence of bondage is mandatory for such a woman."
"Renegade of Gor" page
372
"Certainly, however, not all women are legal slaves. Many women are free , legally , whether it is in their best interest or not. Such dances then, "slave dances," at least on Gor, are not for such women. If a "free woman," that is, one legally free, were to publicaly perform such a dance on Gor she would probably find herself in a master's chains by morning. Her "legal freedom," we may speculate, would prove quite fleeting."
"Dancer of Gor" page 172
"Sometimes, however, the free woman in a captured city is not, say, simply stripped, thrown down and tied, later to be turned over to an iron master for the searing kiss of his white hot metal. Sometimes, rather, she stripped, and presented before officers, is offered the choice between swift, honorable decapitation and slavery. If she chooses slavery, she may be expected to step onto a submission mat, and kneel there, head down, enter a slave pen of her own accord, or, say, fully acknowledging herself a slave, belly to an officer, kissing his feet. The question is sometimes put to her in somewhat the following fashion. "If you are a free woman, speak your freedom and advance, now, to the headman's block, or, if you are truly a slave, and have only been masquerading until now as a free woman, step now, if you wish, upon the mat of submission and kneel there, in this act becoming at last, explicitly, a legal slave." She is then expected, sometimes, kneeling to lick the feet of a soldier, who then rapes her on the mat. It is commonly regarded as an acceptable introduction for a woman to her explicit and legal slavery." "Blood Brothers of Gor" page 337
"We were put on the racks as free women," she said, "that we, the women of the enemy, be properly humiliated. Too is it not a rich joke for the men of Ar that more than a thousand of the free women of Vonda adorn their pleasure racks, fastened down like slave girls, their use available for a tarsk bit to the passers-by?"
"Rogue of Gor" page 27
"The institution of capture is
universal, to the best of my knowledge, on Gor; there is no city which does not
honor it, provided females captured are those of the enemy, either their free
women or their slaves." "Assassin of Gor" page. 159
"Few seem to object to the institution of capture, not even the women who might seem to be its victims. On the contrary, incredibly enough, their vanity is terribly outraged if they are not regarded as worth the risks, usually mutilation and impalement."
"Outlaw of Gor" page 51.
"Something of the nature of the institution of capture, and the Gorean's attitude toward it becomes clear when it is understood that one of a young tarnsman's first missions is often the capture of a slave for his personal quarters. When he brings home his captive, bound naked across the saddle of his tarn, he gives her over, rejoicing, to his sisters, to be bathed, perfumed and clothed in the brief slave livery of Gor."
"Outlaw of Gor" page 51/2
"On the other hand, in spite of the theories pertaining to such matters, free women are certainly not immune to the fates of capture and enslavement. Many men, despite the theories pertaining to such matters, and accepting the risks involved, enjoy taking them. Some slavers specialize in the capture of free women. Indeed, it is thought by some, perhaps largely because of the additional risks involved, and the interest in seeing what one has caught, that there is a special spice and flavor about taking them. Similarly it is said to be pleasant, if one has the time and patience, first to their horror and then to their joy, training them to the collar."
"Rogue of Gor" page 42
"The free women is entitled to attempt to flee her captor , as best she can, and without penalty, even after the first night in his bonds, if she still chooses to do so. If she is enslaved, of course, then she is subject too, the same customs, and practices, and laws, as any other slave." "Dancer of Gor" page 95/6
"She was his by legitimate capture, and he could do with her whatever he pleased. Any court on Gor would have upheld this."
"Players of Gor" page 15
"I was taken pursuant to the couching laws," she said. "I see," I said. Any free woman who voluntarily couches with another's slave, or readies herself to do so, becomes the slave of the slave's master. By such an act, the couching with, or readying herself to couch with, a slave, as though she might be a girl of the slave's master, thrown to the slave, she shows herself as no more than a slave, and in this act, in law, becomes a slave. Who then should own her, this new slave? Why, of course, he to whom the law consigns her, the master of the slave with whom she has couched, or was preparing to couch."
"Magicians of
Gor" page 303
"Free me!" she said.
"You would have us compromise our honor?" asked Tolnar.
"I order you to do so," she said.
Tolnar smiled.
"Why do you smile?" she asked.
"How can a slave order a free person to do anything?" he asked.
"A slave!" she cried. "How dare you!"
"You are taken into bondage," said Tolnar, "under the couching
laws of Marlenus of Ar. Any free woman who couches with, or prepares to couch
with, a male slave, becomes herself a slave, and the property of the male
slave's master."
"Magicians of Gor" page 455
"The principle he had alluded to pertains to conduct in a free woman which is taken as sufficient to warrant her reduction to slavery. The most common application of this principle occurs in areas such as fraud or theft. Other applications may occur, for example, in cases of indigence and vagrancy."
"Renegades Of Gor" page 372
"I saw some girls rummaging through a garbage can. They wore short tunics but they were not slaves. Goreans sometimes refer to such women as "strays." They are civic nuisances. They are occasionally rounded up, guardsmen appearing at opposite ends of an alley, trapping them, and collared."
"Kajira of Gor" page 139
"I might try to live by begging and scavenging garbage for a time as do those vagrant free women sometimes called she-urts, but I being collared, could never pass by one.(...) Once or twice a year, particularly when there are complaints, or they are becoming nuisances, many of them will be rounded up and taken before a praetor. Their sentence is almost invariably slavery."
"Kajira of Gor" page 316
"She lived from men, following them and exploiting them," I said. "She was a debtor slut. I paid her bills and thus came into her de facto ownership, through the redemption laws." "Renegades of Gor" page 172
"Women such as these, those at the wall, would be surrendered by the management of the inn for the equivalent of their unpaid bills. They would then be in the power of their "redeemers," any who might make good their debts. Lacking such a "redemption" they might then expect to find themselves, sooner or later, sold as slaves. In this way the inn usually recovers its money and, not unoften, turns a profit. Particularly beautiful specimens are sometimes kept by the inn itself, as inn slaves." "Renegades of Gor" page 42
"Also, a female debtor, in many cities, is subject to judicial enslavement, she then coming rightlessly and categorically, identically with any other slave, into the ownership of the creditor."
"Magicians of Gor" page 275
"Nela had been a slave since the age
of fourteen. To my surprise she was a native of Ar. She had lived alone with
her father, who had gambled heavily on the races. He had died and to satisfy
his debts, no others coming forth to resolve them, the daughter, as Gorean law
commonly prescribes, became state property; she was then, following the law,
put up for sale at public auction; the proceeds of her sale were used, again
following the mandate of the law, to liquidate as equitable as possible the
unsatisfied claims of creditors." "Assassin of Gor" page 164
"The mills, incidentally, like certain other low slaveries, such as those of the fields, the kitchens and laundries, serve an almost penal function on Gor. For example, a free woman, sentenced to slavery for, say, crimes or debts, may find herself, once enslaved, by direction of the court, sold for a pittance into such a slavery. Such slaveries also provide a place to utilize women who are thought to be good for little else." "Kajira of Gor" page 265
"Her ear," I said. "Her ear was notched." Rim and Thurnock laughed. "A thief," said Thurnock. (...) I suddenly recognized the girl. It was she who had cut my purse earlier in the day, the sensuous little wench, whose ear had been notched.(...) I well knew what the punishment was for a Gorean female, following her second conviction for theft.
"Hunters of Gor" page 47/9
"The Lady Sasi, of Port Kar," said the praetor, "in virtue of what we have here today established, and in virtue of the general warrant outstanding upon her, must come under sentence." "Please, my officer," she begged. "Please sentence me only to a penal brothel!" "The penal brothel is too good for you," said the praetor."
"Explorers of Gor" page 58
"A female thief in Tor, even on a first offense, is immediately reduced to slavery."
"Tribesmen of
Gor" page 52
"They had declared themselves slaves. The slave herself, of course, once the declaration has been made, cannot revoke it. That would be impossible, for she is then only a slave. The slave can only be freed by one who is at the time her master, or, if it should be the case, her mistress."
"Explorers of Gor" page 409
'You understand, do you not,' I asked
the girl, 'the meaning of this?'
'Yes,' she said.
'You may freely enter into the state of bondage,' I told her, 'but you may not
freely leave it. This thing, once it is done to you, is, one your part,
irreversible. It is not then within your power to break, alter or amend it in
any way. You will then, you see, no longer be a free person, but only a slave.'
'I understand,' she said. She then turned to the young man, 'I am ready,' she
said, 'Make me a slave." "Blood Brothers of Gor" page 298
"Pronounce yourself slave,"
said Samos. The fellow relaxed his grip on the hilth.
"I am a slave," she said, pronouncing herself slave. Several of the
slave girls cried out. There was now a new slave on Gor.
At a gesture from Samos the fellow with the blade resheathed the weapon, and
the two guards who had held the girl in position released her, standing up. She
was now on her hands and knees, naked on the tiles, before the table. She
looked wildly at Samos. "See the slave!" laughed more than one of the
slave girls pointing at her. They were not reprimended. The girl, frightened,
looked from face to face. The words had been spoken. They could not now be
unspoken. She was now rightless, only a nameless animal, incapable of doing
anything whatsoever to qualify or alter her status."
"Players of
Gor" page 17
"In most cities, on the other hand, a free woman may, with legal tolerance, submit herself as a slave to a specific man. If he refuses her, she is then still free. If he accepts her, she is then, categorically, a slave, and he may do with her what he pleases, even selling her or giving her away, or slaying her, if he wishes. Here we may note a distinction between laws and codes. In the codes of the warriors, if a warrior accepts a woman as a slave, it is prescribed that, at least for a time, an amount of time up to his discretion, she be spared. If she should be the least displeasing, of course, or should prove recalcitrant in even a tiny way, she may be immediately disposed of. It should be noted that this does place a legal obligation on the warrior. It has to do, rather, with the proprieties of the codes."
"Players of Gor" page 21
"He might have you sign a slave document, in the presence of witnesses. As soon as your signature is on the document, of course, you are a slave. On the other hand, he might proceed even more simply. He might merely have you utter a formula of enslavement, though, again, doubtless in the presence of witnesses, who might sign a paper certifying their witnessing of your declaration. Let us suppose you utter such a formula. The simplest is perhaps, ‘I am a slave.’ You are then a slave. He will perhaps then say, ‘You are my slave.’ This claims you. You are then his slave."
"Mercenaries of Gor" page 417
"Sometimes a free woman, seeking to save her life, even at the expense of
a slave, will remove the slave's collar and put it on her own throat, thinking
thereby to pass for a slave.(...)
What the woman in her collar seldom understands is that she, herself, is now
also, genuinely, a female slave. She, by her own action, in locking the collar
on her own neck, as much as if she had spoken a formula of enslavement, is now
also a slave."
"Vagabonds of Gor" page 70/1
"If a free woman would assure herself of a man's love she could not do better than, in effect, become his slave. She can beg of him, if she senses in herself the true bondage of love, an enslavement ceremony, in which she proclaims herself, and becomes, his slave. In their most secret and intimate relations thereafter she lives and loves as his slave. If a woman fears to do this she may, on an experimental basis, resort to limited self-contracting, in which her documents will contain stated termination dates. Thus, by her own free will, she becomes a slave for a specific period, ranging usually from an evening to a year. The woman enters into this arrangement freely; she cannot, of course, withdraw from it in the same way. The reason for this is clear. As soon as the words are spoken, or her signature is placed on the pertinant document, or documents, she is no longer a free person. She is then only a slave, an animal, no longer with any legal powers whatsoever. She is then, until the completion of the contractual period, until the expiration date of the arrangement, totally subject to the will of her Master."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 101/2
"And yet it was not a strange thing, particularly not on Gor, where bravery is highly esteemed and to save a female's life is in effect to win title to it, for it is the option of a Gorean male to enslave any woman whose life he has saved, a right which is seldom denied even by the citizens of the girl's city or her family. The Gorean man, as a man, cheerfully and dutifully attends to the rescuing of his female in distress, but as a Gorean, as a true Gorean, he feels, perhaps justifiably and being somewhat less or more romantic than ourselves, that he should have something more for his pains than her kiss of gratitude and so, in typical Gorean fashion, puts his chain on the wench, claiming both her and her body as his payment."
"Priest Kings of Gor" page 138
"In most Gorean cities it is illegal to offer an unbranded woman in a public sale. This is presumably in deference to the delicacy and sensibilities of free women. The brand draws a cataclysmic gulf between the Gorean free woman, secure in her arrogance, beauty and caste rights, and the stripped, nameless, rightless slaves, suitably vended as the mere lovely beasts they are in the flesh markets of this primitive, gorgeous world. Unbranded women, of course, may be sold privately, for example, as fresh captures to slavers, or, say to men who have speculated that they might find them of interest."
"Savages of Gor" page 101
"It then occurred to me, suddenly, that, following Gorean civic law, the properties and titles, assets and goods of a given individual who is reduced to slavery are automatically regarded as having been transferred to the nearest male relative--or nearest relative if no adult male relative is available--or to the city--or to, if pertinent, a guardian. Thus if Aphris of Turia, by some mischance, were to fall to Kamchak, and surely slavery, her considerable riches would be immediately assigned to Saphrar, merchant of Turia. Moreover, to avoid legal complications and free the assets for investment and manipulation, the transfer is assymetrical, in the sense that the individual, even should he somehow later recover his freedom, retains no legal claim whatsoever on the transferred assets."
"Nomads of Gor" page 103
"When a girl is enslaved, she loses caste, of course, as well as citizenship, rights and personhood, When she is enslaved, she becomes an animal, subject to the whips and wills of Master's."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 430
“"I suppose," I said, "I should be pleased that you did not order me to strip completely and kneel before you." "You are, of course," he said, "a free woman." “Yet it seems,” I said, “ if only implicitly, you have threatened me.” "Suitable disciplines and punishments may be arranged for a free woman," he said, "suitable to her status and dignity." "I am sure of it," I said, ironically.”
"Kajira of Gor" page 17
"It is a judicial
enslavement," he said.
With Rim and Thurnock, moving in the crowd, I craned for a look.
I saw first the girl, stumbling. She was already stripped. Her hands were tied
behind her back. Something, pushing her from behind, had been fastened on her
neck. Behind her came a flat-topped wagon, of some four feet in height. It was
moved by eight tunicked, collared slave girls, two to each wheel, pushing at
the wheels. It was guided by a man walking behind it, by means of a lever
extending back, under the wagon, from the front axle. Flanking the wagon, on
both sides, were the musicians, with their drums and flutes. Behind the wagon,
in the white robes trimmed with gold and purple of merchant magistrates, came
five men. I recognized them as judges.
A pole extended from the front of the wagon, some eight or nine feet. There
was, at its termination, a semicircular leather cushion, with a short chain.
The girl's neck had been forced back against the cushion, and then the chain
had been fastened, securing her, standing, in place. As the wagon moved
forward, she was, thus, forced to walk before it. The pole, projecting out from
the wagon, isolated her, keeping her from other human beings. The music became
louder.
I suddenly recognized the girl. It was she who had cut my purse earlier in the
day, the sensuous little wench, whose ear had been notched. I gather that she
had not had such good fortune later in the day. I well knew what the punishment
was for a Gorean female, following her second conviction for theft.
On the flat-topped wagon, fastened to one side on a metal plate, already white
with heat, was a brazier, from which protruded the handles of two irons. Also
mounted on the wagon was a branding rack, of the sort popular in Tyros. It was,
I conjectured another instance of the cultural minglings which characterized
the port of Lydius.
The wagon stopped on the broad street, before the wharves, where the crowd
could gather about.
A judge climbed, on wooden stairs at the back of the wagon, to its surface. The
other judges stood below him, on the street.
The girl pulled at the leather binding fiber fastening her wrists behind her
back. She moved her neck and head in the confinement of the chain and leather,
at the end of the pole.
"Will the Lady Tina of Lydius deign to face me?" asked the judge,
using the courteous tones and terminology with which Gorean free women, often
inordinately honored, are addressed. I looked quickly at Rim and Thurnock.
"Tina!" I said.
They grinned. "It must be she," said Rim, "who drugged Arn, and
took his gold." Thurnock grinned.
I, too, smiled. It must indeed be she. Arn, I supposed, would have much
relished being here.
I suspected that little Tina would cut few purses in the future.
"Will the Lady Tina of Lydius please deign to face me?" asked the
judge, with the same courtesy as before.
The girl turned in the chain and leather to face her judge, standing removed
from her and above her, in his white robes, trimmed with two borders, one of
gold, the other of purple. "You have been tried, and convicted, of the
crime of theft," intoned the judge.
"She stole two gold pieces from me!" cried a man standing in the
crowd. "And I had witnesses!"
"It took an Ahn to catch her," said another man, laughing.
The judge paid no attention to these speakings.
"You have been tried and convicted of the crime of theft," said the
judge, "for the second time."
The girl's eyes were terrified. "It is now my duty, Lady Tina," said
the judge, "to pass sentence upon you."
She looked up at him.
"Do you understand?" he asked.
"Yes," she said, "my judge."
"Are you prepared now, Lady Tina of Lydius," asked the judge, to hear
your sentence?"
"Yes," she said, regarding him, "my judge."
"I herewith sentence you, Lady Tina of Lydius," said the judge,
"to slavery." There was a shout of pleasure from the crowd. The
girl's head was down. She had been sentenced.
"Bring her to the rack," said the judge.
The man who had guided the wagon from the rear, and had now locked the brake on
the front wheels, went to the bound girl. He unfastened the chain that bound
her against the curved leather at the end of the pole; and, holding her by the
arm, her wrists still tied behind her, led her to the rear of the wagon, and up
the steps. She then stood beside her judge, barefoot on the flat-topped, wooden
wagon. Her head was down.
"Lady Tina," requested the judge, "go to the rack."
Wordlessly, the girl went and stood by the rack, her back to the curved iron.
The man who had brought her to the wagon now knelt before her, locking metal
clasps on her ankles.
He then went behind her, and unbound her wrists. "Place your hands over
your head," he said. She did so. "Bend your elbows," he said.
She did so. "Lie back," he then said, supporting her. She did so, and
was stretched over the curved iron. He then took her wrists and pulled her arms
almost straight. He then locked her wrists in metal clasps, similar to those,
though smaller, which confined her ankles. Her head was down. He then bent to
metal pieces, heavy, curved and hinged, which were attached to the sides of the
rack, and a bit forward. Each piece consisted of two curved, flattish bands,
joining at the top. He lifted them, and dropped them into place. Then, with two
keys, hanging on tiny chains at the sides, he tightened the bands. They were
vises. She might now be branded on either the left or right thigh. There was
ample room, I noted, between the bands, on either side, to press the iron. She
was held perfectly. Her tanned thigh could not protest so much as by the
slightest tremor. She would be marked cleanly.
The man, placing heavy gloves on his hands, withdrew from the brazier a slave
iron. Its tip was a figure some inch and a half high, the first letter in cursive
script, in the Gorean alphabet, of the expression Kajira. It is a beautiful
letter.
The judge looked down upon the Lady Tina of Lydius. She, fastened over the
rack, stripped, looked up at him, in his robes, those with two borders, one of
gold, the other of purple. Her eyes were wild.
"Brand the Lady Tina of Lydius," he said. "Brand her
slave." Then he turned, and departed from the platform.
The girl gave a terrible scream.
There was a shout from the crowd.
The man now, swiftly, brutally, released the girl, spinning open the vises, and
dropping them against the rack, unfastening her wrists and ankles, and dragged
her to her feet. Her hair was over her face. She was weeping.
The man's hand was strong on her arm. "Here is a nameless slave!" he
cried. "What am I bid for her?"
"Hunters of Gor" page 48/51