"We are going to pretend that you are Sheila, the Tatrix of Corcyrus," he smiled.

"But I am Tiffany," I said, frightened, "of Feast Slaves, of the Enterprises of Aemilianus!"

"But we are going to pretend, aren't we?" he asked.

"As Master wishes," I said, frightened.

"Stand," he said.

I did so.

"Straighter," he said.

I straightened up, even more.

He then, from a chest at the side of the room, fetched forth a lovely, yellow, silken sheet. This he draped, regally about my shoulders.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Tiffany!" I said. "Tiffany, of Feast Slaves, of the Enterprises of Aemilianus!" "But we are playing, aren't we?" he asked. I shuddered.

"Now," said he, "who are you, really?"

"Sheila," I murmured. "Sheila, the Tatrix of Corcyrus."

"I thought so," he said.

I looked at him wildly, frightened.

"Sit in the chair," he said.

"I dare not!" I said. The thought of sitting in such a chair terrified me. It was the chair of a free person. I was a slave. I might be whipped, or slain, for sitting in such a chair. The greatest honor I might expect in connection with such a chair was to be permitted to crouch or lie at its foot, or, perhaps, to be chained by the neck to its side.

"Is a command to be repeated?" he asked.

"No, Master!" I said. I hurried to the chair and, small and frightened, sat down within it.

Sit up more straightly, more regally, and put your hands on the arms," he said. "Good."

Then he came over to the chair and, bending over, care-fully adjusted the sheet about me. He then stepped back. "Good," he said. Then he sat, cross-legged, on the tiles, a few feet from me.

"Yes," he said. "Good. That is it." As he sat, he was below me. The angle would be similar to that which he had had from the floor of the great hall, or from the lower steps of the dais, looking up at me on the throne.

"I never forget a face," he reassured me. was silent.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I am Sheila," I said, "the Tatrix of Corcyrus."

"Yes," he said, "you are."

He then rose up and approached. me. He drew away the sheet and folded it, horizontally, again and again, until it formed, with several folds, a thick, long, narrow band, about six inches in height and the sheet's length, about seven feet, in width.

He then passed this band about my waist and about the back of the chair. He then tied me, snugly, back in the chair. He then resumed his place on the floor. "Yes," he said, "clearly, at least a silver-tarsk girl." I recalled that he had conjectured in the great hall, much to the fury of many of my retainers, that that might be about my value in a slave market.

He then rose up, again, and approached the chair. I tried to back, even further, against the back of the chair. My hands and arms were free but the thick, yellow band, knotted tightly behind the back of the chair, held me helplessly in place. "You are not going to interfere, are you?" he asked.

"No, Master," I said.

Then he began to caress me.

"There was quite a search for you," he said.

"Yes, Master," I said.

"It was lucky that I found you in Ar, wasn't it?" he asked.

"Yes, Master," I said.

"It is convenient that the addresses of many slaves are on their collars, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yes, Master," I said.

"It was thus easy to find you," he said. "Yes, Master," I said.

"What is wrong?" he asked. "Nothing, Master!" I said.

"You are squirming," he said.

"Yes, Master!" I said.

"Did you have a nice trip from' Ar?'~ he asked.

"Yes, Master!" I said.

"Were you in chains all the way?" he asked.

"Yes, Master!" I said tried to hold my body still. I dug my fingernails into arms of the chair.

"It seems that you have been shorn," he said.

"Yes, Master," I said. "It was done last to me a few months ago by Borkon, my whip master, in Mill 7, of the Enterprise of Mintar."

"I see," he said.

"Oh," I sobbed. "Oh!" Then I could no longer control body.

"You are squirming again," he said.

"Yes, Master," I moaned. I writhed, helplessly, uncontrollably, held in place by the tight band of the sheet, my finger nails digging into the arms of the chair. "You respond like a slave," he said.

"Yes, Master!" I said.

"Who are you?'.' he asked.

"Sheila," I said, "Tatrix of Corcyrus!"

"I know," he said.

I tried to lift my body more to him, to make it easier him to touch.

"That is enough for now," he said. He removed his hands from my body. I looked at him wildly, piteously, pleadingly. He must stop now! Surely he knew what he was doing to me.

"Now," he said, "Lady Sheila, you are going to be leashed and then you are going to perform on your leash, and supply, and, after that, you are going to beg to please me, as a slave."

"Yes, Master," I said.

He then went to a chest and from it fetched forth a thick, plain, black-leather collar with a lock closure. It was a sturdy ring attached to this collar, and, attached to ring, there was a long slave leash of black leather. It some fifteen feet in length. In most leadings, of course, this afliount of length would not be used, but would be coiled in the grasp of the master. The length is useful if the slave is expected to perform leash dances, is to be bound with the leash, or if, it doubled at the master's end, it is to be used to train or discipline her. I sat back in the chair, held helplessly there by the thick bond of the yellow sheet. I watched him approach, with the collar and leash. He then stopped before the chair.

"I am now going to leash you," he said. "Yes, Master," I said.

"Lift up your chin," be said.

"Yes, Master," I said. I then felt the high, thick collar put about my neck, over the collar of Aemilianus. I could feel it snug under my chin. It was then snapped shut.

"You are leashed," he said. "Yes, Master," I said.

He then untied the sheet from the chair. I had not been freed of that bond until after I had been leashed. This sort of thing is almost second nature with Goreans in the tyings and chainings of slaves. This is reasonable, I suppose, at least in -many instances, that one security should be kept in effect until it has been replaced by another. He folded the sheet twice and dropped it beside the chair.

"What is a woman in a slave leash doing on such a chair?" be asked.

"Forgive me, Master," I said. I did not leave the chair, however. I did not know what he wanted me to do "Slip from the chair now," he said, "and go to all fours, and then, in this fashion, crawl ten feet away, and then turn and, in this fashion, face me." I hastened to obey. Then, in a moment or two, I faced him on all fours, the leash dangling from the collar, its end, as I had crawled, and turned, in front of me, a few feet from the foot of the chair. He had now taken his place on the chair. How right he seemed there, how lordly and masterful.

"You will note," he said, "that you wear a common slave leash and collar. There is nothing unusual or valuable about them. The collar, for example, is neither set with sapphires nor is it trimmed with gold. The leash, similarly, is of plain, sturdy material. Both devices are quite ordinary, but, of course, quite efficient."

"Yes, Master," I said.

"It amuses me to put you in such common articles," he said.

"Yes, Master," I said.

"You are now going to make as complete a circuit of the room as is practical," he said. "You will, where practical, kiss the walls at the corners, on each side of the corner, about five horts from the corner and about ten horts from the floor. Where you come to chests or furniture, you will treat them as extensions of the wall, kissing them at the corners, and so on. You will then return exactly to your present position."

"Yes, Master," I said.