Indeed, in the deep and profound relationships of love and bondage, such eyecontact is usually welcomed and encouraged. What can be understood of theglances of masters and slaves by those who have been united only in lesserrelationships? Too, to be sure, from the practical point of view, it is usefulfor a girl to be able to look into the eyes of the master. In this way she maybe able to better read his moods, and desires, and, accordingly, be able thebetter to serve him, in the process perhaps saving herself a few cuffings andbeatings, such as might be garnered by a less alert, more slothful, laxer girl.
To be sure, all girls, upon occasion, are cuffed or beaten. This is good forthem, and helps to remind them that they are slaves. Beauty in a slave girl,incidentally, and most slaves are beautiful, for this is the sort of woman thattends to be enslaved, does not excuse poor service. The most beautiful girl mustserve with the same perfection as the lesser girl. Gorean masters areuncompromising on this point.
From the point of view of the master, too, not only is it pleasant to look intothe eyes of a slave, but there are certain practical advantages attached todoing so. For example, one might, in her eyes, read desire, and thus order herto perform an act which she, even though a slave, might not have dared to beg toperform, or, say, by looking into her eyes, one might determine if she has beenup to something or has neglected something to which she should have attended.
Has she been into the sweets? Has she, perhaps gossiping and dawdling with theother girls, been amiss in the discharge of her duties? Perhaps the shopping hasnot yet been done? Perhaps the laundry has not yet been finished? Suchinfractions call for discipline. But perhaps, in lieu of discipline, the masterwill accept the performance of desperate placatory services on the part of theoffending slave. The decision is his. I would, incidentally, advise the slave tobe superb.
The Fleer warrior stopped his kaiila by Priscilla, the second to the last girlon the coffle, and lifted up her chin with the iron point of his lance. It was atrade point, some nine inches long, socketed, with two rivets.
He then backed his kaiila away from her.
Priscilla had not met his eyes, as Grunt had advised them.
Grunt did not want to do business with the Fleer. He wished only to traverse thearea in peace.
The kaiila snorted and threw up its head, and squealed, its mouth wrenched bythe jerking back of the jaw rope.
On its nose were red lines, coup marks, matching those on the warrior's legs.
Its eyes were outlined with wide circles of black paint. On its left forequarterwas drawn a zigzag line, indicating lightning. On its right forequarter therewere five inverted "U's." Its right ear bore a V-shaped notch. On its left flankthere was an opaque red circle with a waving red line descending from it also onthe left flank, and on the right flank, too, there was a black, horizontal line,with a semicircular, curved blue line above it. The coup marks and the inverted" U's" were exploit markings. The inverted "U's" indicated kaiila stolen from theenemy, the mark itself being a stylized convention whose heritage, I did notdoubt, might be traced back to another animal, and another world and time. Thecircles painted about the eyes and the line of lightning on the left forequarterwere signs in the medicine of war. The medicine use of the circles was to enablethe beast to see clearly and far and that of the line to impart to its motionsomething of the same suddenness, the same swiftness and power, as attends themovement of lightning, that dread natural phenomenon, itself. The opaque circlewith the wavy line descending from it was a wound mark, the location of the markindicating a former wound site, the redness standing for blood, of course, andthe descending line for bleeding. I did not know the meaning of the notched ear,if it had a meaning, or of the other marks on the animal's flanks.
The Fleer moved his kaiila about, on the other side of the coffle, so that hemight look at the girls, one by one. None of them, as Grunt had advised, met hiseyes. They kept their beads high, and looked ahead, knowing themselvesscrutinized as the pretty, meaningless beasts they were.
"Our friend," said Grunt to me, "is a member of the Blue-Sky Riders, a warriorsociety of the Fleer."
"One should be careful of such fellows?" I asked.
"I would think so," smiled Grunt "You are gathering this membership from the marks on the kaiila's flanks?" Iasked.
"Yes," said Grunt, "the dark line of the earth, the overarching dome of the bluesky."
"I see," I said. Most tribes had several warrior societies. These societies hadmuch influence within the tribes and, on an alternating basis, to preclude anyone society from becoming predominant, a good deal of power. Their members wereexpected to set an example in the war and the hunt.
"I do not think he means us harm," said Grunt. "He is merely curious."
Warrior Societies in the tribes have many functions. They are a significantcomponent of tribal existence. Such societies, on an alternating basis, do suchthings as keep order in the camps and on the treks. They function, too, asguards and police. It is part of their function, too, to keep the tribesapprised as to the movements of kailiauk and to organize and police tribalhunts. Such societies, too, it might, be noted, are useful in various socialways. They provide institutions through which merit can be recognized andrewarded, and tribal traditions freshened, maintained and renewed. They preservemedicine bundles, keep ceremonies and teach histories. It is common for them togive feasts and hold dances. Their rivalries provide an outlet for intratribalaggression, and the attendant competitions supply an encouragement for effortand a stimulus to excellence. Within the society itself, of course, the membersprofit from the values of alliance, camaraderie and friendship. Needless to say,each society will have, too, its own medicines and mysteries.
I watched the Fleer, carefully. How intricate, actually, is the structure andgovernance of a tribe.
"The ear of his kaiila is notched," I said to Grunt. "Is that an eccentricmutilation or is it deliberate, perhaps meaningful?"
"It is meaningful," said Grunt. "It marks the kaiila as a prize animal, oneespecially trained for the hunt and war."
The girls continued to look ahead. They wisely avoided direct eye contact withthe appraising warrior, thus perhaps precipitating an encounter crisis, inwhich, perhaps because, of misconstrual or misinterpretation, he might feelprompted action. There are various ways in which a woman may look into the eyesof a man. One way, of course, is with a direct and self-assured gaze, as thoughshe might be the equal of the brute who regards her, the way of the free woman.
This is not to be recommended, of course, for a woman who is scantily clad andhas a chain on her neck. Such an insolence, at the least, would be likely to winher beauty a bout the five-stranded Gorean slave lash. Why do some women lookinto the eyes of a man in this fashion? It is an interesting question. Somethink that it is their way, perhaps even half consciously, of challenging him totheir subduing, of challenging him to make them a woman, a slave. It is notunusual for a woman, at any rate, who has looked into the eyes of a man in thatfashion to discover, later, that she is looking into his eyes in quite adifferent fashion, that whereas she once may have regarded him directly, andinsolently, she now, perhaps kneeling stripped at his feet, in a locked collar,bearing his identificatory device, lifts her eyes to his rather differently,doing so now as a mere slave girl to her master.
The Fleer backed his kaiila from Ginger, the animal almost crouching back on itshaunches.
There was blood about the jaws, and lips, of the kaiila, from where, earlier, hehad jerked back on the jaw rope. I saw the muscles within the kaiila's flanksmove beneath the paint.