"If there was a major purpose for which I was brought to Gor," I said, "then it seems evident, and I think you have stated or implied as much, that there must have been a minor purpose, or purposes, as well." I recalled I had gathered something of this sort even from the agents I had met on Earth.

"Yes," he said, "of course, and to understand it, and well, you would need only to regard yourself, and closely, in the mirror. In particular, note the beauty of your face, its intelligence and sensitivity, and your softness and femininity, so different from that of more masculine women, those with larger amounts of male hormones, and the lusciousness of your slave curves. There was indeed a minor purpose for which you were brought to Gor, that purpose which I called to your attention in the throne room, here in Argentum, that purpose which you now, you little she-sleen, obviously wish to hear explicitly reiterated."

"Oh?" I asked, innocently.

"That purpose for which most women are brought to Gor," he said.

"And what purpose might that be?" I inquired, innocently.

"That purpose which you now, from your hair to your toes, manifest so perfectly," he said.

"Oh?" I asked.

"That purpose?" he said. "Is it not obvious? It was to be made a female slave." "Yes, Master," I said, and kissed him.

For a time we lay quietly side by side, not speaking. Each of us, I think, had our thoughts.

"Master," I whispered.

"Yes," he said.

"May I speak again?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

"Sheila and I have our collars," I said. "We must go where masters wish, heeding them and doing their bidding. But what of you? Tomorrow you will have your freedom. What will you do? Where will you go?"

"Away," he said. "I do not really know." He kissed me, softly, and I kissed him back, gently.

Then he fell asleep.

I lay there for a time. Sheila was owned by Hassan, whom ~she loved. I, like many women, was owned by Miles of Argentum, whom I admired and respected, and feared, and to whom I could not help but yield helplessly and promptly, but whom I did not love. Tears sprang into my eyes.

Then, after a time, I, too, fell asleep.

35 I Am Proven a Natural Slave Before Drusus Rencius, Whom I Love; The Silver Tarsk

"Here," said Drusus Reticius, angrily, to Publius, of house of Kliomenes. I jerked the bit of slave silk tightly, defensively, about body, and backed from the soldier.

I could not help responding as I had!

"It is as I told you, long ago, in Corcyrus," smiled Publius "Yes," said Drusus Rencius. He then placed a silver tarsk in the hand of Publius.

"Do not withdraw, Slave," said Publius to me.

"Yes, Master," I said, and knelt; on the broad stair lea(up to the serving dais in the private dining room in palace at Argentum.

"It is not wise to wager against a slaver in such matters said Publius. "We can tell such matters at a glance."

"I had thought, then, at least, that she was different," Drusus Rencius. "She is too vital and healthy, and has too strong drive be different," said Publius.

I knelt on the broad stair, embarrassed, holding the silk about me. On this same stair, and on the floor below, on the surface of the dais itself, before the long, low, table, I had been ordered to writhe, to the music. Then I been ordered to stand, my knees flexed, with my hands clasped behind my neck. Then a soldier had been ordered feel me. I had jerked and almost screamed from his touch. The man had smelled his hand, and laughed. is "You are right," had said Drusus Rencius to Publius, a slave, and a natural one."

"Yes," had said Publius.

I put down my head and stared, angrily, at the carpeting on the stair. I had known for months, of course, that I was a natural slave. It is not hard for a woman to know this. It can be made clear to her in many ways, for example, from dreams and fantasies, and from wishes, desires and needs. It is one thing for a woman to know this, of course, and quite another for her to find it made the subject of a public demonstration.

"You see," said Publius, "is it not as I told you?"

"Yes," granted Drusus Rencius, good-naturedly.

I looked down, almost in tears, a proven natural slave. How unworthy I was of Drusus Rencius!

"May I withdraw, Masters?" I asked.

"No," said Publius. "Continue with your service, Sheila."

"Yes, Master," I said, and rose to my feet. In a few moments, again, I was serving the men, bringing them food and drink, seemingly as though nothing had happened.

This matter went back to the time when I was a free woman, and had been taken for a tour to the house of Kliomenes by Drusus Rencius. In Publius's office he had made the wager, while I knelt in the light to one side. Drusus Rencius had accepted it.

"Cakes, Masters?" I asked, kneeling near them, proffering them the tray. "Yes," said Drusus Rencius.

"Yes," said Publius.

Drusus Rencius and Publius did not have slaves of their own in Argentum. Susan and I had been volunteered by our master, Miles of Argentum, to serve them. With a movement of Publius's finger, I was dismissed from the side of their table. I replaced the tray of tiny cakes on the nearby serving table.

Susan then approached the diners. "Black wine, Masters?' she asked.

"Yes," said Drusus Rencius.

"Yes," said Publius.

Susan then turned to me and snapped her fingers. "Sheila," she called. "Yes, Mistress," I said. I took the vessel of black wine, removing it from its warmer, and put it on its tray, that already bearing the tiny cups, the creams and sugars, the spices, the napkins and spoons. I then carried the tray, with the black wine, hot and steaming, to the table and put it down there. Susan then, as "first slave," took the orders and did the measuring and mixing; I, as "second slave," did the pouring. Afterward I returned the tray to the serving table, and the vessel of black wine to its warmer I then joined Susan, kneeling beside her in the vicinity of the serving table.

"When it comes time to serve the liqueurs," said Susan, "you will serve those of Cos and Ar, and I will serve those of Turia."

"Yes, Mistress," I said. The liqueurs of Turia are usually regarded as the best, but I think this is largely a matter of taste. Those of Cos and of Ar, and of certain other cities, are surely very fine.

I had little doubt that Drusus Rencius, of Ar, and Publius, at least once of Ar, would prefer those of their own city. Susan, I suspected, knowing my feelings for Drusus Rencius, was trying to be kind, giving me the liqueur that he was almost certain to choose. On the other hand, did she not know that now I could scarcely bear to face him, that I, only Ehn ago, had been proven before him to be a natural slave!

"You are not a free woman," whispered Susan. "Suppose the men look this way. Get those knees apart!"

"Yes, Mistress," I said. Susan was younger and smaller than I but she, having seniority over me among the women of Miles of Argentum, was dominant over me. I must obey her as though she owned me, as though she was my Mistress. In such ways is order kept among slaves. It is in accord with the precisions and perfections of Gorean discipline. But the men did not soon call for their liqueurs. Twice more, rather, talking and sipping, did they call for black wine, and twice more did two slaves, Susan and Sheila, serve it to them. Eventually it grew late, and the musicians were permitted to withdraw.

Still the men drank and talked.

"Why are you crying?" asked Susan.

"It is nothing," I said. I gasped, and half choked. I held back sobs. I restrained my tears. I wiped my eyes with slave silk.

Before the man I loved I had been stripped to the core. The one thing I had desired most fervently to conceal from him, above all men, bad been made clear to him. My secret Was revealed. My deepest and most secret self had been casually disrobed and displayed for his consideration. I had been publicly proven, before the man I loved, to be utterly worthless. I had been publicly proven to be a natural slave.