"Have no fear," grinned Speusippus. They are well satisfied. From their point of view the slave has been identified and her owner has been located. Indeed, he has even come wd claimed her."

"Yes, Master," I said.

He then took up the slack in the leash until he held me, by he leash, but inches from him.

Speusippus," he said, whispering intimately to me, "have the Tatrix of Corcyrus naked and on a slave leash."

"Yes, Master," I said.

"Say that word again," be whispered, "and more slowly, pronouncedly and beautifully."

"Master," I said.

"And she addresses me, Speusippus, the lowly peddler, as Master,"' he said. "Yes, Master," I said.

He turned about, slackening the leash, and I followed him.

I was led through the streets. The people of Venna paid me little attention. Such sights, I gathered, were not that uncommon in a Gorean city, that of a naked, leashed slave in he care of her master.

But could they not see that I was not branded, that I was not collared?

But this seemed to make little difference. Clearly my status was either bond or that of captive. Indeed, perhaps I was being conducted even now the shop of a metal worker, there to be marked and reDive, and have locked upon me, measured and fitted, a suitable, inflexible, identificatory circlet of bondage.

I followed Speusippus of Turia through the streets of Venna, even through the great market square. I was naked, barefoot and bound. I followed him whether I wished to or not. I was leashed.

19 The Trunk

"Now we are alone, Lady Sheila," he said.

He had turned from the door, after locking it and depositing the key in his pouch.

I stood with my back against the wooden wall. I watched him put the pouch, on its strap, in a far corner of the room, with other articles. It was a small, bare, largely unfurnished room. It had a common wall with a small stable, beyond which was a small stable yard. His tharlarion was in the stable, and his wagon, outside, in the yard, chained. His goods, in various crates and trunks, had been brought into the small room. It was one of several such small dwellings, with attached stables and yards, in a line, habitations rented out to teamsters and itinerant merchants. It was on the southern outskirts of Venna.

I had scrubbed down the tharlarion, cleaning and washing its scales and claws. I had then, under his supervision, cleaned out its stable and brought in fresh greens for it to feed upon.

After this he had taken me to the public trough where under his instructions, washed. We had then returned to the small dwelling in the complex where I, over a small grill in the yard, cooking not allowed in the shacks, had cooked for him. He had thrown me one piece of meat. In front of some of the other shacks in the line, in the yards, I could see girls cooking for masters, too. They, of course, were clearly slaves.

After I had cleaned the grill and washed the paraphernalia connected with his meal we had come indoors. He had now locked the door.

I felt the roughness of the wall at my back.

He opened a chest and drew forth, from somewhere within it, apparently from Under several other objects, a brief gray tunic, and threw it to me. I caught it, eagerly. I had not had clothing since shortly after my capture in Corcyrus. Even so tiny and despicable a scrap of clothing as a mere slave tunic, I then realized, can be a precious treasure to a woman. He sat down on a box, watching me, his hands on his knees, across the room from me. Swiftly, elatedly, gratefully, I drew the tiny garment over my head. It was sleeveless, scandalously short and its neckline plunged to my belly, but I welcomed it as though it might have been the most splendid gown in the wardrobe of a Tatrix. "Now take it off," he said.

Slowly, numbly, I took the garment off, and dropped it to the side.

"Now kneel before me, Lady Sheila," he said.

I dropped to my knees before him.

"Open your knees," he said.

"I arn a free woman," I protested.

Then I saw his eyes, and opened my knees before him "Excellent, Lady Sheila," he said. "Now say, Lady Sheila, the Tatrix of Corcyrus, kneel naked, my knees open, before Speusippus of Turia.' "I, Lady Sheila, the Tatrix of Corcyrus," I said, "kneel naked, my knees open, before Speusippus of Turia."

"Excellent," he said. "Do you remember sentencing me, in Corcyrus?" "Yes, Master," I said.

"You seemed very proud then," he said. "You do not seem so proud now." "No, Master," I said.

"You are sorry for having sentenced me, aren't you?" he asked.

"Yes, Master," I said.

"And you wish to atone for it, don't you?" he asked.

"Yes, Master," I said.

"And I will see that you do so," he said.

"Yes, Master," I said.

"On your belly, Lady Sheila," he said. I lowered myself to my belly before him. "Do you wish to be taken to Argentum for impalement?" He asked.

I lifted my head to look at him, my eyes wild. "No," I cried. "No!" "We are going to get along very well, aren't we?" he asked.

"Yes, Master," I said.

"And we are going to get to know one another very -well, aren't we?" he asked. "Yes, Master," I sobbed.

"You may now beg to please me," he said.

"Whip me!" I begged him. "Enslave me! Give me no choice! Do not make me do this of, my own will!"

"Say," he said, "I, Sheila, Tatrix of Corcyrus, naked and on my belly, of my own free will, beg to please Spensippus of Turia.' "

"I, Sheila, Tatrix of Corcyrus," I said, "naked and on my belly, of my own free will, beg to please Spensippus of Turia."

"'And as a slave,'" he added.

"And as a slave," I sobbed.

I lay there on the floor, sobbing, and, to my horror, watched him unroll wretched, stinking sleeping furs.

He then removed his tunic and reclined on the furs, watching me, leaning on one elbow.

"I do not even know how to please a man," I said, "let alone with the sensuous intimacies of a slave."

"Have no fear," he said. "I know that you are an ignorant free woman." "Yes, Master," I said.

"But I shall expect you to show marked and rapid improvement in these matters," he said.

"Yes, Master," I said.

"If you do not," he said, "you will be punished."

"Yes, Master," I said.

"You do not want to be punished, do you?" he asked.

"No, Master," I said.

"You will endeavor, then, to make rapid progress in the arts of intimacy, won't you, Lady Sheila?" he asked.

"Yes, Master," I said.

He then beckoned that I should approach him.

"I am a virgin!" I cried.

"Excellent," he said. "Then, before the night is done you will be opened by Speusippus of Turia for the uses of men."

I then, on my belly, sobbing, began to crawl toward him.

"Stop," he said.

I stopped, puzzled. My body was still on the floor. I had not yet even come to the edge of those stinking furs.

"You are a free woman," he said, "and you have much to learn. We will begin with simple things."

"Master?" I asked.

"Lie at my feet," he said, "and lick, and kiss and suck at them. When you have managed to learn to do that properly, I will give you further instructions." "Yes," I wept.

"Yes, what?" he asked.

"Yes-Masterl" I sobbed.

"You did not do badly, Lady Sheila," he said. "If I did not know better, I would have thought that you had had some training. Perhaps it is natural in a woman. Get in." He held open the lid of the large trunk.

I crawled into the large, deep trunk, and lay down in it, on my side, with my legs drawn up.

"Did I please Master?" I asked.

"You speak like a slave," he sneered.

"Forgive me, Master," I said. Interesting enough, and I hardly understood this, and it seemed almost incredible, I did, clearly, want him to find me pleasing. "Are you hungry?" be asked.