Shadows of Gor Chapter Eight (of Eighteen)

 

Chapter Eight: Chloe and I make our theatrical debut on the stage of Boots Tarsk-Bit

“Oh woe! What is to become of us?” I cried as I placed the back of my right hand dramatically to my forehead in a mock swoon. I stood on a temporary stage constructed this morning from raised planks of wood. I was surrounded by pots of ferns that were meant to imply a Gorean forest, and for the first time in over five years I wore the long flowing gowns and light veils of a Free Woman, as did Chloe who stood in a similar state to myself somewhere to my left. “It has been several frightful hours now since I, the good Lady Candicia of Pseudopolis, and my bitter rival, the Lady Tandice of Anango became lost in this endless forest. Oh woe that we chose to leave our fine caravan this morning while it briefly rested, and strayed too far in order to pick some fruit.”


“It is all of course the fault of my annoying rival, the Lady Candicia,” said Chloe in a stage whisper to the assembled audience as she tried to remember her lines. We hadn't been given much time to rehearse after all, but thankfully there was a man at the foot of the stage whose job it was to hold aloft the script and turn the pages in case we needed to remind ourselves at any time, which was constantly the case. “I have walked for miles, and look – one of my bejewelled slippers is stained with mud!”

“And so once again these two fine Mistresses have placed themselves in a position of uncertainty due to their haughty and reckless nature,” said a slave-girl, carrying a broad leather satchel, played by Boots's girl, Litsia, who now walked on stage. She was clad in a brief slave tunic that well revealed her superb legs. “I am Litsia, the slave-girl of the rich, spoilt and petty Mistress Candicia, and yet deep down I suspect that my Mistress, and her haughty rival, The Lady Tandice, like so many Free Women, are truly no better than myself when it comes to slave feelings. Now that we appear to be lost for a while in this thick wood due to their rash foolishness, maybe I can turn the situation to my advantage and prove their true nature to all of our satisfactions?” she winked at the audience as if to imply that she as a character was aware they were there with her, and that they were all in on this coming subterfuge together. This is a theatrical convention known as 'breaking the fourth wall' in which one or more characters is aware of the existence of the audience and references them from time to time, usually in stage whispers. “Especially since my foolish Mistress by chance picked up the wrong travel bag from the luggage cart when she told me to follow her this morning. I have by chance glanced inside this satchel, which on the outside looks much like hers, but contains very different possessions indeed.” Now Litsia tapped her nose knowingly and winked again to the men in the audience. “Perhaps we can soon put them to some good use, yes?”

It was strange to be wearing the robes of concealment again after so long. I had forgotten what they felt like, and how constricting they were with their multiple layers of cloth. I felt hobbled by the heavy brocade ankle length skirts. The confining nature of the material allowed me only a stride of two feet at best, making running impossible. The three of us walked around in circles on stage as we talked. The walking in circles is another theatrical convention to imply we were travelling some distance through the supposed forest. Then, after a couple of ehn we seemed to come across a large tranquil pool within a copse of trees. I would like to say this was conveyed by some astonishing acting on my part, but in actual fact a stage hand walked behind us brandishing a sign that read 'and so after some time the proud haughty women stumble across a bathing pool, hidden deep within the forest interior'.

“It looks so cool and inviting,” I said gazing at the foot of the stage.

“Indeed it does,” said Chloe. “Oh, how hot it is in these robes, for we have been walking now for so long. I feel almost faint.”   

“Mistress could bathe if she wishes to,” said Litsia as she knelt beside the pool, the broad leather satchel beside her knees. “And I would stay and guard her clothes and valuable possessions. I would keep watch for any sign of danger.”

“Are you sure it is safe, Litsia?” Again I gazed into the deep undergrowth, represented by potted ferns that had kept the supposed pool hidden until we had literally stumbled upon it.

“I am sure, Mistress. Note the birds calling out in the trees nearby. Why, if men were moving through the forest there then surely the birds would have flown, yes? Mistress need do nothing. I would undress her of course and then once she has refreshed herself, I would dress her again.”

“How wonderful it would be to be free of these heavy gowns, even for just fifteen ehn, to wash and cool myself in the water,” I now said in a stage whisper to the audience, as if lost in thought. “But can I be sure it is truly safe out there?”

“Yes it's safe!” shouted one of the men in the audience.

“It's very safe!” shouted another one. “Take your clothes off, slut!” There was a resounding cheer as he said that and much striking of the left shoulder, which is the Gorean way.

Despite myself, I smiled and stood there, looking cocky, with one hand on my hip, gazing down at the men with a raised eyebrow. “You're not trying to get me into trouble, are you?” I said, going off script for a moment.

“Show us your tits!” shouted a man who wore the caste colours of the builders. Some things, it seems, are much the same on Gor as they are on Earth.  

“Or of course we could continue walking through the forest now.” Litsia indicated the pathway that snaked back through the bushes and trees. “If Mistress is comfortable with the oppressive heat and multiple layers of her robes…”

“I wish to bathe!” I said quickly.

“And I too!” said Chloe. We glanced at each other, knowing that what we were about to do was incredibly daring, but we were so hot and uncomfortable!

“No one will see you, save me, and I am but a slave, kind Mistresses,” said Litsia with a smile and a sideways wink to the audience who began to laugh.

“It is true,” said Chloe after a while. “There is no shame in a slave seeing her Mistress naked.”

As I nodded, Litsia rose up gracefully and took some steps towards me. I felt her hands touch my veils and one by one unpin them to the accompaniment of raucous, drunken cheers from the men in the audience.

“Face stripped!” shouted one of the men.

“Put her in a collar!” shouted another of the men.

“Shameless!” shouted a Free Woman who obviously had only come here tonight with the intention of being offended. 

Men love the face stripping moments of Gorean theatre, and see it as a prelude to the erotic scenes that will almost certainly follow. Now Litsia set to work with her nimble fingers on my gowns as she begin to undo the small hidden clasps, carefully peeling away layers of garments in a slow and erotic strip tease until I now stood beside the side of the pool clad only in the silken sheath like under slip that fell to my knees. The Gorean men in the audience beat time to my undressing, stamping their feet on the ground, gradually getting faster in tempo as more of my flesh was revealed, until there was a loud roar as I stood there semi-naked. There were now deafening calls for me to be completely stripped, drowning out our next lines. The audience really did resemble a pack of barking dogs.  

“The slip, too?” I said in a hesitant voice, knowing it was what our audience wanted. Litsia smiled, nodded and carefully peeled away the slip from my body to more cheers from the audience. I of course seemed to ignore the men in front of the stage, pretending that they weren't there. Then Litsia was at Chloe's side and within a few ehn had teasingly stripped her as expertly as I had been stripped, garment by garment, layer by layer, pausing from time to time for the men to appreciate each stage of our unveiling. Litsia was well versed in the art of theatrical tease, and knew how to prolong the stripping of a girl for maximum applause. Both sets of clothing were neatly folded and stacked under the fronds of a large plant. Chloe was making a show of pretending to blush, and turned coyly away from me, presenting me with her side profile as her hands sought to cover her breasts and sex.

“Slaves!” shouted the voice of an angry Free Woman in the audience. I should add that our brands were not visible, as Boots had covered them with adhesive flesh coloured patches, and our throats were bare of slave collars, but since Free Women never acted upon stage, let alone stripped before a baying audience, it was obvious enough that we were slaves. “Whip them! Whip the slaves!”

Why do Free Women come to these plays? They know they're going to be offended by the content. There were now several Free Women hissing at us, when they could easily have spent the night at some polite cafe, sipping ka-la-na instead.

As I slipped into the shallows of the area of the stage designated as the water, I let out a sigh of absolute bliss and relief. Taking my reaction as a prompt, Chloe, as the Lady Tandice, followed me in and gasped in equal pleasure as the imaginary water engulfed us both. We made a big thing of paddling about, which happened to pose us nicely before each area of the audience in all our nudity. 

“Please enjoy your swim, Mistresses,” said Litsia from the bank. She continued to kneel, smiling as we acted as if we frolicked in the water, and now she addressed the audience again, speaking conspiratorially in a stage whisper, “so, now that the Free Women are separated from their rich garments and valuable belongings, let us see what mischief we can have with these two haughty Mistresses.”

A loud cheer rose up from the audience.

“Disgraceful!” cried a Free Woman to her friends. “This scene does not advance the plot at all. It has no artistic merit whatsoever. I find it grossly offensive!”

Wait until you see the rest of it, I thought glumly to myself.  

“If you swim to the far shore, there are overhanging branches bearing sweet ripe fruit,” said Litsia with a sly smile. Chloe and I mimed swimming strokes to reach the far shore, which of course did wonders for our breasts, where we then made a big play of picking and biting them. 

“Delicious!” I cried out.

“Sweet and tasty!” cried Chloe, laughing a bit out of character as a man in the audience quickly shouted back, “Never mind your slutty friend, what about the fruit?!”  

I took a moment out of character to stand in an aggrieved looking pose with one hand on my hip and the other wagging an admonishing finger at the man. Everyone seemed to find that funny, which was my intention.

“How much for the blonde after the show?” cried out one of the men in the audience.

“It's the Taharian beauty I want,” cried out another one.

My nerves rose hearing that. As I have mentioned before, it is commonplace for the slaves who act on stage to be made available for sex to paying customers after each performance. Simon had instructed Boots that we were not be made available like that, but Simon was nowhere to be seen at the moment. I had hoped he might be in the audience to keep an eye on us and whisk us quickly away when the play finished, but scanning the bustling crowd I could see no sign of him.

I glanced at Chloe. If she was worried about the possibility of her use being auctioned off, she didn't show it. Instead she walked out of character across the stage, her hands in her hair, gazing at the men below with apparent need, and striking various provocative poses.

“I'll pay two coppers for the Taharian girl tonight!”

“And I'll pay three!” countered a second man. The play was now interrupted by several other men becoming involved in an unwanted bidding war, that went up to seven coppers before Boots himself was forced to come out on stage, bang a gong, and ask the audience politely to settle down and let the play proceed without any more commotion.

“Kind Masters! Let us enjoy the pleasures of Art first,” said Boots with a sly smile on his face, “before any of us partake of the after dinner pudding...”

I glanced at him in alarm. Surely he remembered Simon's instructions pertaining to us? But on the other hand, I suppose if he informed the crowd now that neither of us were available, there could be trouble. Better to let the men assume we might be made available later on for coin, so that the play could be performed without any objections.

The break in the play gave me the chance to sidle up next to Chloe and whisper in her ear while Boots was trying to placate the men who would rather just haul the two of us down onto the grass and have us there and then.

“Have you gone mad?” I hissed. “Keep this up and there's no way Boots will be able to tell those men we're not available once the show finishes.” Chloe was so close to the edge of the stage that several men tried to reach out and touch her.

“Maybe I want a man to have me after the show,” said Chloe with uncharacteristic defiance as she continued to pose for the audience. “I'm actually enjoying this, Emma. I was scared stiff when I walked out, but now that I see their reaction...” She blew a kiss towards a man who had offered six coppers for her use afterwards. He began to applaud and cheer Chloe, striking his left shoulder with his right hand.

“Chloe, I don't think you quite grasp that we're going to be gang raped if you don't cut this out right now. Boots is going to have a hard job satisfying the paying crowd with just his girl, Litsia, later on. You'll start a riot if you're not careful.”

Chloe gazed at me with her hands on her hips and a smile on her face. “Don't pretend you don't want a man, Emma. I saw how frustrated you were last night. You've been a long time without sex. I know what that does to you. I can see what it's doing to you now.”

“Chloe, this isn't the time or the place.”

“Maybe it would do you some good if a man did pay for your use tonight. Yes. You should beg Simon, you know. Crawl to his furs and beg use by him. Or beg him to rent you out, if he doesn't want you for himself. You'd feel better for it in the morning.”

“I am not begging Simon to have sex with me! Chloe, what has gotten into you these last few days?”

“Maybe I realise what I want out of life, Emma. I love you like a big sister, but maybe I spent a little too much time trying to be the person you wished I was back on the estate where you tried to protect us from things that maybe we really didn't want to be protected from, if we're being honest about it? I'm a slave-girl, Emma. So are you. We like sex. We like to be dominated. We like to be Mastered. The difference is I'm happy to admit it. How about you?” 

“And now, kind patrons of the theatre, the Boots Tarsk-Bit production continues for your delectation!” said Boots as he kicked a man back who was trying to clamber onto the stage to seize Chloe's ankle. The man, some sort of labourer, I guessed, from the style of his clothes, fell back into the arms of the other men who roughed him up a bit and sent him reeling away in good humour. “Please keep your enthusiastic reactions confined to ribald and salacious remarks to encourage these beautiful girls! I thank you!” Boots bowed and headed back off the stage, dodging a couple of thrown tomato-like fruits, which is an occupational hazard of being the man who interrupts a show involving naked women, and in doing so he passed close to Chloe, where he whispered, “a marvellous performance so far. You're a natural! You are wringing every subtle nuance from my priceless words. There will be a small pan of ka-la-na for you after the show if you keep this up.” He patted her ass in appreciation, and Chloe grinned, apparently delighted by the praise and the promise of some wine. 

“As for you...” Boots whispered to me, “I want to see more teasing and tantalising of the audience! More eroticism! More posing! I want to see coy, embarrassed, but brazen sexuality!” He spanked my ass quickly with the coiled whip in his right hand, making me squeal loudly to the merriment of the audience below, even though they couldn't hear what he was saying. “Involve the audience more! Use your breasts and that pert little bottom to accentuate the poignancy of my script. The slave, Chloe, is carrying you at the moment. My words should spring free like floating tree blossom from your ripe lips, not lie scattered about the stage like lumpen acorns. Liven your performance up or else when you next see my whip it will be most certainly uncoiled!” He gave my ass a second hard spank, this time with the flat of his hand. It sounded like a thunderclap and I danced forward again, propelled by the hard spank, squealing once more to further cheers.

A cold shiver ran down my spine as I considered the possibility that I might actually be whipped after the show had finished. Simon may have denied the use of me, but he had certainly not denied Boots the right to discipline me. I gazed at Chloe, and she gave me a knowing look as if to say, 'watch and copy' as she struck a very sexy pose on the stage. I swallowed hard and did the same. She gave me a positive nod in return as we received some applause.    

“These fruits are, um, lovely...” I ad-libbed while I tried to find my place on the script pages that were being held up for me to see.

“Men!” cried Litsia suddenly as she rose to her feet, picking up the leather satchel. “Men are coming!” And then she mimed diving into the water with the satchel around her shoulders, swimming fast and straight towards us. Chloe and I froze, pretending to tread water, apparently shocked into inaction by this sudden change in events. There were men approaching? Where? We gazed back at the 'far' shore where Litsia had dived into the water, but we could of course see no sign of anyone through the trees.

There was laughter from the audience who understood now what Litsia was up to. 

“Get to the far shore!” shouted Litsia as she swam towards us, making breast stroke motions with her arms, but she winked at the men in the audience in the process. There was much laughter as the men could guess what the sassy slave-girl had planned. They seemed to like her spirit, and the way she was planning on trapping her Mistresses.

I gazed back at the opposite side of the pool where all my clothes and possessions lay neatly folded beneath the palm fronds. “No time for your gowns, beautiful Mistresses!” shouted Litsia. “Swim for your life to the shore over there! For men are coming with capture nets and close chains and they will surely catch you otherwise!”

Chloe and I mimed climbing out of the water quickly, squealing in mock dismay, and trying once again to cover our nakedness with our hands. I had nothing! Not a stitch of clothing! Nothing! We must have looked a pitiful sight as Litsia ran towards us, she of course still dressed in a brief slave tunic, the mysterious satchel safely about her shoulders. She shouted angrily as she saw we were just standing there.

“Run for your lives, Mistresses! Or else they will collar you!”

At that we snapped out of whatever shock gripped us and despite our nudity, we ran in panic in circles, squealing in dismay as Litsia winked again at the men in the audience and made to follow us. A stage hand from the side of the stage pulled our clothing away, off stage, to confirm we had now moved on somewhere else. 

“Quick! No time to gaze back!” snapped Litsia as she seemed to herd us both deeper into the forest away from the pool until she seemed satisfied that we could all stop.

“I think we’re safe, but you must both be quiet!” ordered Litsia, perhaps a little too commanding to befit a slave. “Not a sound!” she warned as she motioned for us to drop to our knees. All three of us crouched low and listened for the sound of pursuit while the men in the audience laughed because there was obviously no one else there.

“Litsia…” I tried to whisper, but she hissed back at me:

“Quiet Mistress! Do you want men to collar you?”

I shook my head desperately in the negative. Only after a moment or two did she seem satisfied that we had evaded pursuit.

“That was close. We were very lucky – they almost had us.”

“I didn’t see anyone,” whimpered Chloe as she hugged her arms to conceal in part her naked breasts.

“Nor did I,” I said, as I too made pathetic, inadequate attempts to conceal my beauty.

“Of course not, Mistress, for you are not at home in the forest as I am.” Litsia smiled sweetly as she gazed at her two Mistresses in their abject nudity. “Without me you would be tied and collared by now.”

“Our clothes!” whimpered Chloe again. “We left our clothes behind!”

“Yes.” Litsia regarded us. “A shame. But better that than losing your freedom? You do not want to be the slave of a man, do you, Mistress?”

“No! Of course not!” Chloe tried to look angry at that suggestion, but she then broke out of character into a fit of giggles. The men in the audience picked up on that and cheered, prompting Chloe to quickly spring to her feet and offer them a position of submission with her wrists crossed towards them, crying out suddenly, “I do want to be the slave of a man, Masters! Please collar me!” prompting even more applause and the loud stamping of feet. Then she managed to control herself and she dropped back down onto her knees back in character again. “But I am naked!” she wailed, casting her eyes back to the script boards.

“That is unfortunate, Mistress. But we cannot go back. We may run into the men with their capture nets, and even if we did not, we might not find that pool again. We have probably run half a pasang or so. I’m not sure we could find our way back.”

“What are we going to do? We can’t continue without clothes!” I wailed. 

“Perhaps there are suitable clothes in the bag!” shouted one of the men in the audience, prompting laughter from everyone else.

Litsia slid the leather satchel from her shoulders on cue and smiled at us. “What luck then that I managed to save your travel bag, Mistress. Perhaps there will be something in here for you to wear?” she said innocently, before directing a stage whisper to the audience to say, “It is of course not actually her bag. In her haste to pick some fruit she took the wrong satchel.” Now she emptied the contents of the mysterious satchel onto the ground and both Chloe and I crawled close to see what it might contain. I noticed Chloe had her ass enticingly raised to view as she crawled, and with a sigh, knowing that Boots would be watching me, and considering whether to use his whip on me later, I did the same.

“But, oh no, Mistresses, it appears this is not your pack! Why, it must belong to a Master in the caravan, for look see...” To our apparent dismay the contents didn’t appear nearly as useful as we had assumed. There were two steel collars, slim and suitable for the collaring of Gorean women. There were matching keys for each collar. There were two pairs of slave bracelets and two pairs of ankle chains, and two single chains that could be used to link the bracelets and the ankle chains together. Those two chains could also be used for example to link two collars together, perhaps for marching slave girls through the streets of a city. Then there were two garments, and at the sight of them both Chloe and I gasped in dismay, for these were of slave silk – short, brief tunics of that sensuously thin material that clings to the curves of a girl such that, as the Gorean saying goes, ‘a girl is more naked than naked’. Litsia’s simple cotton tunic was modest by comparison, for these wisps of red silk were pleasure silk, and a girl clad thus would attract the attention of any man looking upon her.

“You can’t be serious,” said Chloe in mock horror. “There must be something else to wear!”

Litsia shrugged and laid out each silken tunic for us to see. “The Master whose satchel this was, was obviously intending to procure two new slave girls en-route, Mistresses. It is all he carried for them to wear. But if you prefer nudity, then I can discard these sensual garments…”

“No wait!” I was first to speak for the thought of being totally naked was obviously a far worse option. I bit my lower lip and blushed at the thought of myself dressed in the soft red silk of a slave girl. “I don’t want to be naked…”

“Then take this one, Mistress. By chance it appears to be your size.”

I took the wisp of silk from her hands and lowered my head in despair at the thought of having nothing but this to wear. Litsia retrieved the second silken tunic and was prepared to discard it.

“As for this one, I suppose it will not be needed so…”

“No, please! I do not wish to be naked either!” Chloe held out her hand for the silk and, like me, she too couldn’t meet Litsia’s eyes.

“Let me understand you, Mistress? You are begging to wear the soft silk of a slave girl?” Litsia smiled pleasantly as she considered the matter.

“Yes…” Chloe whimpered softly. Litsia seemed to consider this for a moment before handing her the garment. Quickly then, not daring to look at each other for fear of recognising the shame on one another’s faces, we pulled the garments on over our bodies and smoothed the silk down over our slave curves.

“You are in luck, Mistress,” said Litsia to Chloe, “for by chance the second of the two garments is the right size for you.” We posed for a moment, looking bashful, shy and humiliated in our slave silks as the men in the audience cheered and slapped their shoulders in appreciation. Before it could get out of hand, Litsia waved them to silence so that the play could continue. “I have given some thought to our predicament now, Mistresses. With your permission I will outline what I believe to be our only practical course of action.”

“Please do so, Litsia,” I replied. A stage hand walked along the back of the stage carrying a sun symbol on a stick to signify that the sun was beginning to set, casting the first of the long shadows over our tiny clearing. Soon it would begin to grow darker and we would be alone and defenceless in the wilds of Gor.

“Perhaps the Mistresses would care to sit comfortably before I begin?” Litsia nodded to the ground. Chloe and I looked at each other for a moment, and then Chloe knelt down in the position of a free woman, knees tightly pressed together, the scandalously brief hemline of the silken slave garment tugged quickly as far down her thighs as she could, which wasn’t far. She sat with her back straight, fingers gripping the hem line, holding it in place, not wishing it to ride up in the slightest. I followed suit and felt a strange sensation course through my body as I gazed up at Litsia, now towering above us both.

“A little bit together please Mistresses.” She motioned for me to nudge a few inches to the side which I did until my shoulder brushed Chloe's.

“Much better.” Litsia stood there now in her relatively modest cotton tunic. Unlike our clingy garment, hers was practical and, to defer to our easily offended sensibilities, was cut low to just above her knees, with her shoulders covered. For some reason she now held a long supple stick in her right hand as she talked.

“Knees together a little tighter, Mistress,” she said to me. “You are a Free Woman after all.” I blushed and pressed thigh to thigh as tightly as I could. “Back a little straighter too, I think, Mistress,” she said firmly but with a smile as she tapped us both on our shoulders with the switch stick. “And hands on thighs, both of you, as if you were fully robed and veiled.” She swished the long stick once in the air as if to punctuate her suggestion. Chloe and I looked confused but we both straightened up and placed our hands palms down on our thighs.

“Litsia, this isn’t necessary,” I said, apparently rather annoyed at the way she was overstepping her position.

“Oh? It does appear to me, Mistresses, that your situation is now of considerable concern. You are both, and excuse me for saying this Mistresses, beautiful women who find themselves virtually naked, dressed only in the skimpiest of silken slave garments, alone and abandoned in the depths of the great Northern Forests of Gor, with no provisions, no weapons, no food and no men to safeguard you.”

I squirmed, very afraid, knowing all this to be true. Beside me, Chloe, playing the role of the Lady Tandice, moaned softly in despair.

“Let us also consider the fact that you are both physically small and weak and that you would be unable to defend yourself from any of the predators, be they animal or human, who hunt in the forest. Your options are limited. The forest is vast, and to find your way out will be a difficult task. But even then, dressed as you are, you are likely to fall prey to the first men who come across you.”

“But we’re free!” whimpered Chloe.

“Indeed you are, Mistresses. I know that. But men will take one look at your desirable bodies, so evidently displayed in your short silken slave silks, and they will throw you immediately to the grass, bracelet your wrists and lock collars around your pretty throats.”

We now looked at one another in fear, trembling at Litsia's feet.

“But of course, within the forest you might also fall prey to cruel Panther Girls. Seeing you as Free Women they would regard you as easy prey and would capture you, bind you, and display you for sale on the banks of the Lydius river where slavers often visit to purchase cheap collar meat in return for candies, arrow heads and various cheap baubles.”

“What are we to do!” wailed Chloe in desperation.

“But, beautiful Mistresses, you do have one thing in your favour… your faithful slave, Litsia! Once, a long time ago, I was a Panther Girl, and I am experienced in the forest and know how to travel through it to the very edges themselves. I know how to move quietly, build shelters, light fires, hunt small animals for food. I know which berries and fruits are safe to eat.”

“Litsia you are a treasure!” said Chloe gratefully. “I promise you in return that when we are safely back home I will personally ensure that you receive some treats from time to time. Perhaps some cheap candies and the occasional sip of ka-la-na wine from a bowl?”

Litsia smiled sweetly as she stood there gazing down at Chloe with the long stick in her hand. “Mistress is so kind to say that. Truly I do not deserve such generosity, for being your slave I am duty bound to obey you in all things.”

“Well of course.” Chloe nodded. “But nevertheless I wish it to be known that we will repay you with small trivial acts of kindness when you are returned to your cement slave kennel.”

Litsia smiled at that again. “How lovely. But now we must consider what needs to be done to ensure your safety. In all likelihood we are going to encounter Panther Girls, but if we travel in the right direction they are likely to be of my previous tribe. I will be able to intercede on all of our behalfs. How fortunate!”

“They will help us?” Chloe asked eagerly.

“It depends. It depends very much on who they think you are. Do you know where Panther Girls come from?”

We shook our heads. It had never occurred to us it seems.

“A few – a very few are self reliant free women who have entered the forest to find a new life away from men. But most are resourceful women who have escaped a life of slavery. The weak ones of course are simply claimed by the Panther Girls and sold back to men for a profit. But the more impressive ones earn a place in the Panther war bands. This is what we must be.”

“I don’t understand,” I said.

“Think Mistress. If they see you as Free Women who have been stranded here they will simply capture and sell you. Is that not obvious?”

“I suppose so…” It did sound very much like what Panther Girls would do.

“So you have to fool them. They have to think that you are, for example, escaped slaves!” Litsia suddenly look surprised by the thought as if it had only just occurred to her.

Chloe and I now looked round at one another in distaste.

“Litsia!” We both cried out in outrage.

“But, kind Mistresses, the Panther Girls will think that any slave girl who has managed to get this far in my company might be worth giving a chance to. Whereas if you claim to be Free Women, then dressed as you are, the Panthers will simply capture and sell you.”

“Very well, Litsia. We’ll claim to be slaves like you,” I said with a haughty sniff.

“Your disguise must seem convincing though, Mistress. Luckily the Master’s satchel contains precisely what we need to complete your deception.” She tapped one of the steel collars lying in the grass with her stick.

“We’re not going to wear slave collars!” I exclaimed. Chloe too looked shocked by the idea.

“But without collars, Mistress, it will be evident to the Panther Girls that you are not really slaves. After all, to have no brand AND no collar… one could be explained, but the omission of both?” She shook her head and tutted.

“We’re not comfortable with the idea of wearing slave collars,” I explained. “It’s bad enough that we have nothing to wear but these slips of silk…”

Litsia nodded sadly as she gazed out towards the forest. “I understand, Mistresses. It was wrong of me to make such a suggestion. Obviously you are proud Free Women who would rather await the inevitable capture, collaring for real, and inevitable sale, stripped naked and bound by your wrists to wooden poles along the banks of the river, sold to the first man who offers a bag of arrow heads for you, then to live a life of harsh slavery in a far away city. Better that fate than to know you had willingly allowed a collar to be placed on your throat for a relatively brief time in order to secure your genuine freedom and safe return home.”

“Wait!” Chloe shouted quickly as Litsia was about to throw the collars away. “Maybe we are too hasty. We would still be free in reality, yes?”

“But of course, Mistress. I would know that you were both free despite the degrading slave silks and collars you might wear. And in truth it would be an inconvenience for but a short time. But still, I applaud your bravery in preferring to face the almost certain risk of genuine slavery instead.”

Again she made to throw the collars away, when I quickly cried out, “I’ll wear a collar!”

“I’ll wear one too!” added Chloe, not wishing to be the only one of us to become a genuine slave for real.

“Are you sure, Mistresses?” Litsia looked uncertain about this. “It is after all no small matter to have a slave collar locked upon your throat. Maybe you were right. Maybe you should remain dignified for a few more hours before the Panther Girls or Outlaw men find you, strip you and rape you as genuine slaves…”

“So soon? We have only a few hours?” Chloe looked very scared now, as did I probably.

“At best, Mistress. Why, even now a Panther hunting band is probably hot on our trail. When they find two Free Women dressed as you are… well… I shall be very sad to see you reduced to slavery when in all likelihood I as a slave will be freed. If only, I will think, I could have spared your enslavement for real…”

“I want a collar! Please Litsia, give me a collar!” I reached out my hands from where I knelt.

“I too!” cried Chloe. “I will wear a collar and pretend to be a slave!”

“Well, now that I think about it, I am not sure you will be able to pretend to be slaves, convincingly enough…”

“We will! We will! I can be very convincing!” said Chloe, and suddenly she was giggling again, trying to stifle her lapse out of character. There was laughter from the men again and many remarks along the lines of 'we can see that,' and 'I bet you can!'

“I suppose I could help you….” Litsia swished her stick in a thoughtful manner. “If you wished I could play a role to correct your behaviour when it seemed like it might betray you as Free Women rather than slaves?”

“Yes, whatever it takes!” said Chloe. Please – the collar!”

“Since you beg for it, Mistress…” she handed a collar to me. “It would not be fitting for the Mistress Tandice to collar herself. You should perhaps do it.”

I took the collar from Litsia’s hands and turned to Chloe who now shrank back fearfully, the enormity of what I was about to do suddenly all too obvious. I laughed at her as I placed the collar to her neck. “This will suit you, Tandice. Women like you belong in collars.” I clicked the steel lock shut with a snap of tumblers. The Lady Tandice now wore a steel slave collar. The key for it lay in the grass beside Litsia’s feet. “Slave slut!” I hissed at her.

Litsia now passed the second collar to the Lady Tandice who held it for a moment for me to see. Now it was her turn to smile. “Beg me for a collar, Candicia, or I will throw it far into the forest where you will never find it. And how I will laugh when you are then collared for real, while Litsia and I are accorded the hospitality and respect of the Panther tribes.”

“Give that to me,” I said angrily. I was about to reach for it when Litsia shouted no.

“You are a Free Woman, Mistress. You cannot collar yourself. Such is a deeply symbolic act on Gor. It would not be right. I cannot collar you, for I am a slave – your property. Only Mistress Tandice can do so.”

“Very well,” I said angrily. “I ask you to collar me, Tandice.”

“With pleasure,” Chloe replied. The steel was cold as it touched my throat. It was held there open for a moment for me to consider what was about to happen, and then with a click it locked shut. The intricate tumblers locked into place. There was a round of applause from the audience as there often is at the collaring scenes. “Slave slut!” hissed Chloe in character as she regarded me.

“The Mistresses both look very pretty,” said Litsia with a smile. She picked up the two keys – one in each hand and winked at the audience. “I think I shall look after these for the time being.”

Chloe and I now knelt now in near identical slave silks with near identical slave collars around our throats. How different we now looked from our earlier dignified and free forms of dress.

“My Mistresses do look very convincing,” said Litsia as she regarded us both. “If I didn’t know better, I would certainly assume you were both pretty little slave girls.”

“We look convincing?” said Chloe softly.

“You do indeed. Now of course for this deception to work, one of us is going to have to be First Girl, with all the trivial and probably inconsequential discipline rights that entails.”

“That will of course be me,” I said quickly as I knelt there in pleasure silks with a steel collar locked about my throat.

“Hardly!” snapped Chloe, as she also knelt there in silks and steel. “It is quite obvious to all that I am best suited to be First Girl.”

“Oh Mistresses,” said Litsia in mock surprise. “Surely you can't be serious? Lady Candicia, Lady Tandice, do you have any idea what you are suggesting?” 

“What do you mean?” I sniffed in an obviously superior way as Litsia paced in front of us both with her switch.

“I too am confused right now,” said Chloe as her eyes followed the sharp switch with growing alarm.

“The role of First Girl, Mistresses, is of course always given to a slave. A natural slave. Surely neither of you fine ladies are natural slaves?”

“Of course not!” I said quickly. There was laughter amongst the men in the audience.

“How ridiculous,” said Chloe. I notice she got more laughter than me, and much more applause.

“Then...” Litsia pretended to be very confused by the suggestions. “Why is it that either of you think it appropriate to be First Girl, which is a natural slave's position? Perhaps one of you is a natural slave after all?”

“No! Of course not!” I shook my head quickly. “That was a mistake. I did not mean that.”

“I too didn't mean that,” said Chloe. “Obviously, as you say, the First Girl is always a natural slave, so it would not be appropriate for me to be First Girl.”

“I see.” Litsia looked thoughtful. “So I suppose I will have to reluctantly be First Girl in this slave coffle with all the discipline rights that entails?”

“But of course,” I said quickly as if this as plainly obvious.

“In fact we insist,” said Chloe, nodding frantically. “We command you to be First Girl over us.”

“It is just as well that I have switch then, isn't it? Of course now that I am First Girl, I suppose you will both need to call me Mistress.”

“Is that really necessary?” I asked.

“It seems a bit much,” said Chloe.

“That is how the First Girl is commonly addressed. I do not want to be First Girl, but someone has to be, and unless one or both of you are natural slaves?” Litsia looked first at me with suspicion.

“I assure you I am not!” I felt a tap on my thigh from the slave crop. “Um, I assure you I am not, Mistress!”

Now Chloe felt a tap on her thigh with the switch. “I am not a natural slave either, Mistress!”

“Excellent. So that's settled then to our mutual satisfaction, my pretty little slaves. But I detect some small details which need to be corrected. You should for example kneel with your thighs apart if you are to appear to be convincing slaves.”

“Never!” Chloe clasped her thighs together tightly. Suddenly she cried out as Litsia brought the slave switch down upon her thighs. Now suddenly she had her thighs apart.

“Very good, Tandi,” said Litsia, renaming Chloe.

“This is intolerable!” Now I too yelped as I was switched. Quickly now I parted my thighs too. We were both positioned on the stage such that the men in the audience could see us quite clearly.

“Very good, Candi,” said Litsia, now renaming me too. “Now, backs straight my luscious little slave girls,” said Litsia as she walked around us both, tapping us on the shoulders.

“She is taking this rather seriously,” I said in a stage whisper to Chloe. “And did you see she referred to me now as Candi – which sounds very much like a slave name!”

“Yes, but perhaps it is necessary to ensure our safety and freedom... Though I too object to being called Tandi, which also could be mistaken for a slave name.”

“I expect it is for our own good,” I said. 

Now Litsia had moved behind us and was rummaging around in the contents of the satchel.

“What is she doing?” I said to Chloe. “I think I can hear the clink of chains?”

“That is strange, for I can hear something like that too,” said Chloe.

Suddenly I cried out as Litsia took my wrists behind my back and snapped slave bracelets on them, confining me in steel.

“What is going on?” said Chloe in a stage whisper to the audience. “I hardly dare turn around for fear of the switch, and yet my curiosity is now very much aroused.”

Then, as she had done with me before, Litsia quickly took Chloe's wrists and snapped slave bracelets on them behind her back.

“I am chained!” I squealed, struggling in my bonds.

“I too am chained,” cried Chloe.     

There was much laughter in the audience as Chloe and I struggled pathetically to free ourselves of the decorative slave bracelets. Oh how we squirmed and moaned in our scandalous pleasure silks as Litsia looked on, until finally, worn out, and sobbing, we ceased trying.

“These are slave bracelets!” I wailed.

“Slave bracelets suitable for slaves! “ added Chloe.

“How exceptionally observant of you, Candi and Tandi.” Litsia motioned us both to our feet with a few taps of the switch. “I can see why you are both so highly regarded in your respective cities.”

“I do not want to be manacled,” I said, stamping my right foot in frustration.

“Nor do I,” added Chloe. “This is intolerable. What is the meaning of this?”

“You should know, Candi, Tandi, that the securing of slaves is routinely recommended by the caste of Slavers. But now it is time for us to move on, my lovely coffle of beauties. For the sun will soon set and we have places to go.” She gave me a playful swipe with her switch, causing me to genuinely yelp, for there was no indication she was about to do that in the script cards I was reading. The audience laughed, sensing that had been unexpected of me.

We circled the stage in that theatrical convention that suggests moving some distance, and then out came a stage hand to hold up a sign that read 'but within minutes the girls return to the very same pool where they were first tricked.'

“How is this possible!” I said as I wriggled with my wrists bound. “We have walked only a dozen or so yards through a screen of trees and found ourselves back at the cool inviting pool at which we were persuaded to shed our clothes!”

“And look!” said Chloe with equal surprise, “there are our bundles of clothes and belongings where we left them when we fled those mysterious men whom we never saw!”

“Why yes,” said Litsia with amusement as she slapped us both on our pretty bottoms with her switch. “What luck that we appear to have simply run around in carefully contrived circles and returned to the very spot where we started.”

“Give us our clothes! Our veils! Our money!” I cried.

“There is no need for us now to be tied and displayed as slave-girls!” said Chloe as she stamped her foot in annoyance.

“Oh, but there is every need, pretty little slave-girls,” said Litsia as she now produced a key to her collar from one of the small bags and unlocked it. Then as the audience cheered, she dressed herself in choice items of our clothing. “How wonderful these clothes feel after so long clad as a slave. Why, I suspect I shall make a much finer Free Woman than either of you two ever did. If I am not mistaken I suspect that the caravan camp that we seemed to blunder away from is but fifty yards in that direction. Time enough then to simply gag you both...” Litsia balled up some lengths of silk and placed one in each of our mouths, securing them in place with strips of leather, “and then onwards! Time to return to our caravan where I shall indulge in some fine refreshments. I do believe there is a travelling metal worker who can brand girls for a copper tarsk bit each. How the wheel turns my sweet little Mistresses. Soon those cold little thighs of yours will have snug little brands to warm them. Onwards! Quick little steps my pretty little sluts! One-two! One-two!” and then then to laughter and cheering from the audience, Litsia made us both quick march off the stage, squealing through our gags as she playfully swiped our already red bottoms with her switch.

Backstage I couldn't remove the makeshift gag in my mouth as my hands were genuinely locked behind the small of my back. I made some muffled sounds that made Litsia laugh as she leant back against one of the stage poles.      

“What's that, Emma? I can't quite make out what you're saying?”

I wriggled and mumbled some more until Litsia untied the leather strip, allowing me to spit the wet piece of silk from my mouth. “You didn't have to whip our bottoms like that!” I said in anguish. “It really hurt! What ever happened to acting and make believe?”

“Oh, stop complaining Emma, it got a good reaction from the audience whenever I put another red stripe on that precious bottom of yours.” Litsia removed Chloe's gag and unlocked the bracelets. Then she turned and freed my wrists too. I glared at her with simmering resentment as I felt my tender bottom.

We took our stage bows one at a time; with Boots sending me back out on stage first. I wore the red pleasure silk as I walked back out with a graceful stride, much like a model on a catwalk in Milan. I turned, pirouetting on the balls of my feet and walked from one side of the stage and back again to a chorus of cheers and Gorean applause. I was quite taken aback by it all, as I did appear to be popular with the crowd. It’s hard not to smile and feel good when you’re the centre of attention like that, and despite my reservations about the demeaning script, I was actually happy. I struck a pose at the centre of the stage with my wrists raised and crossed at the back of my neck as the cheering continued. The men did seem to like me.

And then, as Boots had told me to do, I dropped to my knees, spreading them wide and crossed my wrists before me as if for binding. The applause continued and I laughed, throwing my head back, happy, relieved, and somewhat giddy with the attention. I was pleasing to men! My performance had been pleasing! I didn’t think Boots would whip me now.

Then I rose and, blowing a few kisses to the audience – there were after all one or two men in the front rows who were actually rather handsome, I returned to the rear of the stage so that Litsia could now take her turn.

“Go on, admit it, that was a bit fun, yes?” said Chloe as she adjusted her silks about her body, somehow contriving to make scandalous pleasure silks seem even more scandalous. Boots had accorded her the honour of taking the last individual bow, meaning she was deemed the star of tonight's performance.

“I suppose.” I picked up a cup of water and drank it. It was thirsty work, acting. Behind me now I could hear roars from the men again as Litsia presented herself on the boards. The cheering was even louder than it had been for me.

“They like Litsia,” said Chloe as she ran her fingers through her hair. “How do I look?”

“Sexy,” I said as I dipped the cup back into the rain bucket to help myself to more water. It was true – there was something about Chloe these last few days – she had always been beautiful, but now she seemed to exude sexuality with every step she took. I actually felt a little jealous. “Litsia is an experienced actress, so of course they’re going to cheer loudly for her,” I said.

“Ohh... is Emma jealous of pretty Litsia...” said Chloe in a teasing sing song voice as she checked her eyeliner. It looked a little smudged to me. “Emma, please, can you touch up my makeup before I go out?” begged Chloe.

I laughed and reached for an eyeliner pencil and lipstick. I worked quickly and repaired any damage from the evening’s performance. “You look amazing,” I said as I then put the makeup away. “One last thing.” I picked up a fluffy brush and dusted some powder across her nose, forehead and cheek bones. “You were glowing a bit.”

“I want to do this again!” said Chloe as she checked out what I'd done to her face. She nodded approval at what she saw.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen.” I certainly hoped it wouldn’t. “We’re here in Port Kar for a reason. Then we’re going home, wherever home will be now.” We both wore our collars again, proclaiming us as Simon’s property.

Boots appeared before us, beaming a big smile at Chloe. “A performance worthy of my finest Brigella,” he said as he groped Chloe’s ass cheeks. “Would that your Master might consent to selling you, for you would thrive here in my travelling group of players.”

“It was fun, Master,” said Chloe as she checked herself in the mirror one last time. “But it is not up to me.”

“I suspect your price would be beyond my means any how,” said Boots as he groomed his fine moustaches with the fingers of his right hand. “It is a hand to mouth existence providing fine art to the masses.”

Fine art… I rolled my eyes and gazed up at the roof of the tent. Boots really did think of himself as Shakespeare it seemed.

“Now it is your turn, Chloe. See, Litsia returns, and so the stage is yours. Revel in the applause! Bask in the adoration!” He ushered her out from the wings as Litsia returned beaming from the reception she received. I could only hear Chloe as she strode out, but whatever she did as she walked back on stage produced the loudest cheering and applause so far. Now the men were stamping their feet and calling out her character name and no doubt she was basking in the adulation. There was no doubting that she was the crowd’s favourite tonight.

“You did well enough,” said Boots to me as he picked up a leash chain.

“So I’m not to be whipped?” I said as I looked apprehensively at the whip that hung from a hook set into one of the tent poles.

“I suppose not. Your performance was hardly of a grand nature, but it was adequate considering your lack of training. You were by turns clumsy at first, a little frigid in places, but after a while the magic of my words seemed to inspire even your leaden delivery. Some of the lines you spoke towards the end weren’t too bad at all.”

“Thank you,” I said, wondering whether that really counted as a compliment. Boots clipped and locked the leash chain to my collar ring and walked me to the back of the tent where I now for the first time noticed he had hung two vertical curtains that served to split the rear of the tent into three cubicles. A further set of three curtains had been hung in front of these spaces, though each one was currently open.

“What is going on?” I said as Boots now walked me into the first of these small spaces. I saw thick furs piled on the grass. I saw a long steel bar running horizontally through each of the three curtained areas. The two ends of the bar projected some way outside the tent where they were no doubt fastened to supports that were hammered deep into the ground.

“Kneel in the furs,” said Boots as he looped my neck leash to the horizontal steel bar and padlocked it in place.

I suddenly felt fear as I knelt in the furs. There were three screened compartments. There were three slave girls who had acted in the play.

“My Master said…”

“Oh hush,” said Boots, as he waved aside my protests. “Your Master needs money, and were he here now, and had he seen how much those men ware prepared to pay for your luscious charms, why he would be falling over himself to offer you for use. Boots, my good fellow, he would say…”

“No, please, no…” I scrambled in the furs to the edge of the curtained off space, as far as my neck chain would permit, which wasn’t far. “My Master wouldn’t agree to this. He’s not like that!”

“The theatre cannot survive on the quality of its plays alone,” said Boots as he regarded me. “The after show entertainment is often as rewarding as the official production. Besides, you have no doubt aroused the virile interests of many young men who are even now keen to make your acquaintance in a rather more private capacity. Your secondary audience awaits you!”

I knelt in the furs by dim light of a lamp in my private enclosure for maybe ten to fifteen ehn. Only the thin fabric of the curtain separated my section of the tent from Chloe’s, and beyond her was the small enclosure in which Litsia sat. I could hear a series of excited and rowdy voices outside where Boots had set up a table to receive bids from members of the audience for our use. Soon, very soon, men would pass through the entrance and walk to their allocated girls, one of whom would be me. I pulled at the chain that held me here. Where was Simon! Why hadn't he come for me yet! What was he doing! Didn't he know how dangerous it was to leave his slaves in the care of another man in Port Kar! I was very scared because I had no idea what type of man would come through that tent front. All I knew is he would have paid Boots Tarsk-Bit for my use and would want to get his money's worth out of me. But I didn't belong to Boots Tarsk-Bit! He couldn't do this to me! I belonged to another Master. Where was my Master!

The tent flap opened and I shrank back in fear, but the burly man who entered, he who seemed to be dressed in the clothes of the labourers, he headed towards Chloe's enclosure. He had paid money to have Chloe. I suppose she was the favourite, based on her reception earlier on. But not everyone could have Chloe, and not everyone could have Litsia, which meant someone would have me. I tried to calm myself, but I felt a rising surge of panic such that I hadn't felt in quite a while. Yes I was a slave, yes I was available to men, but not knowing who was going to have me and under what conditions, that scared me.  

I could hear Chloe’s outraged voice in the tent compartment adjoining mine: “I am the Lady Tandice! How dare you touch me!” For a moment my heart skipped a beat and I was sure she was going to be beaten or worse, but then I suddenly realised she was playing the role of her character and it was what the man wanted. He had paid money to enjoy the proud and haughty Lady Tandice, as he had seen her on stage. There was the sound of tearing of silk as the man, spurred on no doubt by the challenge, tore the pleasure silk from Chloe’s body. I heard her squeal in delight.

I looked up at the man who stood above me now. Lost in my thoughts, I hadn't noticed the tent flap open just far enough for him to enter. Chloe had been claimed. Litsia had been claimed. I knew who this man had therefore come for.

“I have your use for half an ahn,” he said, holding up a metal chit stamped with a symbol representing the Boots Tarsk-Bit Revue of Scintillating Marvels. The light was dim by the tent flap for it was dark outside, and the lamps in place were obviously enough set to illuminate the pleasure slaves not the customers. But from what I could see he seemed handsome. I swallowed hard as he came closer. And then I sighed with relief. Yes... he was quite handsome. I shifted in the furs and smiled up at him, feeling perhaps a sense of anticipation now that I could see who had paid for me.

“I am sorry you couldn't afford Chloe or Litsia,” I said softly. I gazed up at him under the fringe of  my hair, my kohl lined eyes watching him softly like the eyes of a tethered cat.

“Oh?” he seemed a little confused as he moved into my corner of the tent and crouched down to place his hand on my thigh.

“I hope I will serve well enough in their place,” I said.

“I think you misunderstand, slave. I did not come to the pleasure tent looking for Chloe or Litsia. I came here looking for you.”

“Oh.” I blushed a little and moved closer to the man. Yes, now that he was in the small pool of light cast by the lamp, I could see he was handsome. Despite my earlier reservations I found myself growing a little excited as his hand continued to move along my leg.      

“Tell me your name, Lady,” he said.

“I am the Lady Candicia,” I replied, seeing immediately from his expression that this was the right response – the one that he was hoping for. “How dare you intrude upon my compartment like this…” I pretended to look aloof, offended, as I pushed back until I felt the horizontal steel bar against my skin. “If you do not leave immediately, I will have you whipped for such impertinence!”

------------------------------------------------------

When the last of the men had dressed and departed, Boots unfastened the curtain fabrics, dismantling the makeshift cubicles. Now I could see Chloe and Litsia lying in their furs close beside me. I rolled onto my side and gazed at Chloe as she lay on her back, the fingers of her hands stroking her leash chain, her knees curled up slightly, a look of contentment on her face.

“How do you feel, Emma?” she said after a while, still gazing up at the roof of the tent.

“Oh God, it was good…” I said as I crawled closer to her. “I feel…”

“Alive? Vibrant? Fulfilled?” Chloe rolled onto her side to face me and we reached out our hands to grasp one another.

I nodded furiously. “I feel so happy right now. There’s this warm glow inside of me. I can still feel the tingles through every inch of my body.”

“Was he a strong Master? Did he make you submit completely?”

Again I nodded furiously. “Oh yes, Chloe. I felt helpless. It was overwhelming. I submitted completely...”

“I’m pleased for you. Emma.” We squeezed one another’s fingers, and I pressed my thighs together where I lay, trying to capture the remaining tingles from the slave orgasm.

“You look good, Emma. A lot more at ease now. You needed this, I think.” Chloe smiled and touched my nose with her finger. “Is Emma of the Sardar a natural slave?”

“Yes, Chloe. God, yes! I’m a natural slave. You were right. I belong in a collar, licking my chains and pressing my lips to the feet of men, begging for their touch.”

“So, Emma is a slut then?” said Chloe, but kindly now.

“The sluttiest of sluts,” I said, laughing softly. “Simon has no idea what a slut he has in his collar! He thinks me better than that. He is so stupid sometimes.” I rolled onto my belly and held my chain, kissing it briefly. “Stupid Simon. How can he look at me and not know what I am? But then what do you expect from a man of Earth? He is weak I suppose, for all his good qualities. He is the sort of man who would let women manipulate him. He…”

“Emma!” something in Chloe’s frightened voice made me stop and, seeing the way she was now looking past me, I rolled onto my back and with a horrible sense of shock, saw Simon standing there in the entrance way of the tent. He looked at me without saying anything as I felt like I wanted to sink deep into the furs and disappear from view. He had heard me! He had heard everything I said!

“Master…” I whispered in fear as I lay at the end of a chain leash.

Simon's eyes narrowed and without a word he left the tent.