First Among Girls - a Chloe Short Story!

First Among Girls

The first of a trilogy of Chloe PoV short stories

Many months ago...

“An excellent vintage,” said the slaver, Linus, as he tasted the goblet of wine offered to him by Shannon. The girl knelt in nadu before the man in one of Master Brinn's great halls in the Sardar foothills as she served from a small engraved tray balanced on three copper legs to the side of the table where Master Brinn sat entertaining the man. “One of the things I look forward to when I visit your estate is to sample your wine cellar. You never disappoint, Captain.”

“I am glad my hospitality continues to impress.” My Master was moody, sullen with the loss of Emma still haunting him, but I could see he was making an effort to be a good host and observe the various rituals associated with welcoming a visitor to his house. I was surprised that I was here, kneeling to the side of the Master, but not serving. Shannon had been selected to pour the wines, offer the savoury finger food and see to the comfort of our guest. I seemed superfluous to the meal, but Brinn had insisted on my presence.

“You do not have your sweetly hipped blonde barbarian with you,” said Linus as he sipped the wine again. “Normally she would be seated with you while we talked.”

“Emma is no longer part of the estate,” said Brinn simply. “She is in another man’s collar now.”

“Oh? That surprises me. There are some who say she was your natural love slave and that you were infatuated with her?”

“She is just a slave,” said Brinn, as if to bring the subject to a close. “I have plenty of others.”

“And lovely ones too,” said Linus as he gazed at Shannon and then me. “She’s Taharian?”

“No, but she likes to pretend she is, don’t you Chloe?”

I smiled at the two men. “I love the fashions and style of Taharian women, Master. I have a passion for such things. But I have never actually been to the Tahari.”

“Taharian women make exquisite slaves,” said the slaver. “They sell well.”

“Chloe is my first girl,” said Brinn which was news to me! I knew nothing about this! I glanced up at him in surprise as he added, “She replaces Emma.”

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

I have a secret, and it's a secret that I don’t dare tell anyone, least of all Master Brinn, but I'm going to whisper it to you now.

The secret is, I don’t really know how to do any of this and I'm secretly scared that one day the other girls are going to suss me out. I feel out of my depth and I wish I was just one of the ordinary slaves on the estate. I wish Emma was here to be first girl instead of me. I never asked to be first girl, but now I am. And Emma made it all seem so easy. She was good at it, a natural, but me? I feel like I’m a fake. Emma has adventures. Emma is the love slave of a powerful master. Emma knows how to do make up. Emma is a trained pleasure slave. I don't think Emma is ever scared or doubts herself.

And what am I? I'm just a slave called Chloe.

And then the Master made me his first girl.

It was raining that day when we returned to the Sardar and the rain seemed to capture Brinn’s mood perfectly. He had lost Emma, his love slave, and he had been betrayed by his closest friend, Simon. Even his captains kept their distance as he rode into the grounds at the head of the armed column that had greeted his approach twenty five pasangs from the mountain range. He rode on a war tharlarion – a monstrous lizard with powerful forearms that could tear its way through a shield wall. I could sense that Brinn was broiling for a fight. He scared me now and like I said, even his men were scared.

Because the Master doesn’t like to lose. Defeat doesn’t come easy to him. But he had lost his love slave. A man who takes anything from Brinn is either very brave or very foolish. And so I sat behind him quietly on the high tharlarion saddle, my legs protected by thick blankets that were secured across the back and flanks of the animal. I held on to Brinn with my arms around his waist and my head against his shoulder blades as he rode through the gates to the loud cheers of his warriors, most of whom had presumed him dead.

His house flag no longer flew over the walls, and I saw it had been replaced by the house standard of his sister, the Lady Cassandra. As we approached the main villa I saw her warriors lined up to greet Brinn and there sat on a curule chair on a raised plinth was the Lady herself, beautifully dressed in full gowns and veils. While her brother had been presumed dead she had inherited his estates. Now that he was alive she would presumably have to surrender them. Bearing in mind what a bitch she was I was looking forward to seeing that.

I don’t know what I was expecting to see really, but as we entered the courtyard where the warriors were assembled Cassandra signalled with her hand and her house guards saluted Brinn with a clash of steel. He dismounted silently, lifted me from the back of the tharlarion and walked slowly towards the plinth while I stood alone, not knowing what I was supposed to do or where I should go.

The Lady Cassandra rose from her chair and proceeded down the steps to meet Brinn. When she was just a few paces from him she dropped to her knees and bowed her head before her brother. Then, taking his right hand in her own she pressed a kiss to the back of that hand, an act of submission to the male of the family. It confirmed to everyone watching that she acknowledged herself subservient to her brother.

My Master motioned for her to stand and then she embraced him. It was genuine, and there were tears in her eyes as she sobbed close to his chest. I had never known until then that the Lady did truly love her brother.

Two of her warriors approached and carried Brinn’s standard, that of the swooping tarn, and Cassandra ordered them to remove her own house banners and replace them with Brinn’s. Soon the swooping tarn was flying over the Sardar estate as if it had never been gone.

“You sold Emma,” said Brinn simply as he held his sister by her upper arms.

“Not now, not here, brother. It would be unseemly. We will talk in private after we have eaten.”

Emma’s children came next. They had been waiting in the wings I suppose and I was surprised to see how much they had grown in the time I’d been away. Marik ran to his father, dressed as always in his small red tunic, delighted that Brinn was in fact alive. Brinn showed the first sign of joy since we had taken our leave of the halls of Samos as he scooped Marik up and pressed his boy to his body. Some words were exchanged but I didn’t hear them clearly. And then came Marik’s sister, Jacinta, and she did not run. She walked slowly towards her father with poise and dignity. She had grown too and wow, she really looked like a miniature Ubara. You could see even then the woman she was destined to grow up to be: a woman who would ultimately launch a thousand ships across the Thassa and watch expressionless as a once great Gorean city was razed to the ground in blood and flames.

Everyone watched Jacinta as she stopped before her father. She was just a child, just six years old and for all her poise and dignity there were tears in her eyes too as she was reunited with a father she thought long since dead.

“How are you, little one?” said Brinn with such warmth and happiness in his voice. He had lost Emma, but he was with his children again and that soothed the deep wounds he would have to learn to bear.

“Papa,” said little Jacinta. “You have to kill that man.” She pointed suddenly at Brandon, the bodyguard to the Lady Cassandra, the enormous warrior who had beaten Emma in front of her daughter in the feasting hall that dark day when Cassandra had declared she would adopt Brinn’s children as her own.

“Why?” said Brinn, his eyes narrowing. “Has he hurt you?” You could hear a pin drop in the courtyard, and I think everyone was taken by surprise by this statement of Jacinta's. No one had been expecting it, least of all Cassandra or Brandon.

“He hurt my mama,” said Jacinta simply. “I want him dead.”

“We do need to talk,” said Cassandra softly as she touched her brother’s sword arm. “Let me prepare you food and wine.” She smiled at Jacinta and added, “you can’t say things like that, my beata. Wait until you are older.”

“When I am older, Amita, I will will kill all the men who ever hurt my mama. All of them.”

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

Since returning to his estate my Master had been reluctant to go into details about Emma with anyone other than his closest confidantes. Visitors were simply told that Emma now belonged to another man and that was the end of it. I suppose the implication was that Brinn had tired of Emma and had sold her. If that sounds cruel it simply reflected the inner pain that Brinn was feeling, and as a proud warrior of Gor he could not rationalise such feelings for a slave. He probably hated himself for having such feelings, thinking of them as weak, and he hated the fact there was little he could do to claim Emma back. Emma could be anywhere by now. We didn’t know where Simon had sailed to or where he made his home. They could be in Ar, Brundisium, Vonda, Laura, Lydius or any one of hundreds of locations. Emma was lost to Brinn and he would have to accept that and move on, but it would take time. For reasons probably associated with his warrior pride he didn’t want to admit that Emma had been taken from him by his closest friend. It was no one’s business to know that. And so he appeared uninterested in Emma’s fate, even though he was probably burning up inside. ‘she was just a girl’ he would say, dismissing their years of being together as if it meant nothing.

“Master, why me? I have no experience or training as a first girl. Candice will be expecting to be appointed first girl. She was first girl while you were away and she is very ambitious. She will not be happy.”

“Candice doesn’t have a say in any of this,” said Brinn. “In fact I’m not even sure who she is.”

That stunned me. The Master did not know which slave girl, Candice was on his estate? Oh, but she would not be pleased to hear that! “She has dark brown hair, Master, and high cheek bones.”

“Has she been in my bed?” asked Brinn vaguely, not even interested really.

“Yes, Master. Several times I think.” He didn’t even remember her! Emma would love to know that!

“Well, she’s not first girl, Chloe, you are. You’ve seen how Emma has run the estate over the last few years. You know how she did things better than any other girl, so I’m appointing you.”

Candice would be furious with me. For a moment I was actually quite scared because I didn’t want to anger Candice, but then I suddenly realised how stupid that fear was – I was first girl now. I could have Candice whipped if she so much as looked darkly at me. In fact I didn’t need to be scared of any girl on the estate.

“Oh” My mind reeled as I considered this sudden change in my status. I saw the way Shannon looked at me now as she knelt in nadu beside Linus. It was a look of respect and obedience that she used to offer to Emma. As I looked back she lowered her eyes, not sure whether she was permitted to look so boldly at me. I was first girl? I was really first girl?

How on earth was I going to do this?

“And so perhaps to business?” suggested Linus as he placed his wine goblet on the low table. “I have with me today a selection of exquisite girls who I’m sure will form the main attraction of my market pitch at the Sardar fair, but today I’m prepared to offer you a private preview of this exquisite stock. No other man has had the chance to buy them yet, such is my high regard for the illustrious Brinn of the Sardar.”

Linus clapped his hands which was the signal for one of his assistants to lead a coffle of seven women into the great hall. They were all naked of course for slaves are commonly exhibited for sale naked. Each girl had her wrists locked in slave bracelets before her belly and each woman wore a coffle chain linking her collar to the collar of the girl to her left. The slaver’s assistant carried a coiled whip with which he prodded the girls into a neat line facing us.

“What's their pedigree?” asked Brinn.

“Allow me to list their points of origin,” said Linus as he rose from the table to walk towards the women. “We have here a blonde and a brunette both from Torcadino. They knew each other when they were free and would train well together. Next we have a sweetly hipped girl of the Tahari, followed by a white and black skinned pair of slaves from the barbarian world, Earth.” He tapped their rumps with his coiled whip and immediately they stood up straighter, sucking in their stomachs as they knew they were supposed to do. “Last but certainly not least, another black girl, this time from Schendi and a rare treasure at the end of our coffle line – an auburn haired beauty called Lady Seraphina Manara of Teletus! She is such a fresh capture that she has not yet even been branded, knows nothing of the whip and still has something of the haughty arrogance of the free woman.” He stopped beside her. I could see her left hip from where I knelt and was surprised to see it clean of any brands. “She is the star attraction of my coffle, and I am proud to have obtained such a rare hair colour for my stock. Introduce yourself to the Master,” he said as he tapped her rump.

“Please kind Sir,” she began, pleading for help, “I am a Lady of Cos! My name is indeed the Lady Seraphina Manara of Teletus. Please save me from this state of bondage!”

I choked back a sudden urge to laugh for I knew only too well the penalty for a slave who laughed openly at a free woman.

“I have no allegiance to Teletus,” said Brinn as he nursed his cup of wine. “I therefore have no interest in your plea.”

“All seven girls would do credit to your halls, noble Captain,” said Linus as he raised each of their chins with a motion of his whip. “Soon they will be openly auctioned on the platforms of the Sardar fair, but you and you only have first option on any or all of them.”

“Chloe?” Brinn turned to me.

“Master?” I wasn’t sure what he wanted. Wine perhaps? But Shannon had been serving so far.

“Should I buy any of them?” Asked Brinn as he sipped his wine again.

The Master was asking me? He wanted my opinion? I seemed surprised and so Brinn added, “You are first girl now, Chloe, and I am going to delegate matters of purchasing slaves to your judgement. You will assess slaves for suitability from now on and I will permit you to decide which ones are suitable for this estate. The prices will then be considered by me.”

I would be in charge of purchasing girls? Even Emma had not been given that status! But I suppose Brinn was in the mood to delegate as much decision making as he could, for he was sullen, unresponsive for the most part ever since the loss of Emma.

“May I inspect them, Master?” I asked respectfully of Linus.

“I suppose so.” The slaver seemed troubled that he now had to market the girls to a slave rather than directly to Brinn.

I walked along the coffle line, knowing that my assessment was being watched by both men and that Brinn would be judging me on what I said, did and recommended. And so I examined the bodies of each girl in turn, checking for signs of damage. They seemed vital, lovely and healthy stock, for Linus could be relied upon to only bring quality stock to Brinn’s estate. The two Earth girls were French and I knew their accents would sound appealing to many of the men. Also, they were both barbarians and I knew that Brinn had a passion for barbarians. It wasn’t just Emma – I knew for a fact that in his days in the Tahari, working undercover for the Priest Kings as Abid of Tor, he had owned a blonde barbarian during his time in the desert. Emma didn’t know this, but one of Brinn’s captains had told me this many months ago. Many men had teased Brinn that he owned a love slave as he seemed to spend so much time taking her in the furs. Then one day when he had his new assignment to infiltrate Kurgus's estate he simply sold her before leaving the Tahari.

He sold her without a second thought after owning and enjoying her for seven years!

Several options crossed my mind. I had to buy the Taharian girl obviously. In the back of my mind I had an idea to fill the slave pens in the estate with as many Taharian beauties as I could acquire. I liked the idea of this estate being a ‘little Tahari’ – an oasis in the middle of the Sardar region. It was unlikely that I would ever be able to acquire enough Taharian girls to make us the majority here, but it would be wonderful if I could make us a significant percentage. Taharian girls so far from home would likely be very loyal to me.

The auburn haired Cosian woman was an exceptional beauty. I lingered next to her and saw the arrogant way she looked at me. She would be expensive and she would need to be broken through training. I had no idea if I could break a free woman into slavery. It wasn’t something Emma had ever had to do either. Perhaps it would be best if I passed on her. I was after all intimidated by free women.

“What are you looking at, slave,” she sneered with disdain as she saw my hesitation and sensed weakness.

I looked away because by now I was conditioned to automatically do so on hearing the haughty command of a free woman. I heard her laugh as she stood there in her wrist bracelets, part of the slave coffle. She was laughing at me...

“How many slaves should I buy, Master?” I asked Brinn.

“You tell me, Chloe. It is your responsibility to restock my estate. We lost a lot of girls when Cassandra sold them.”

Again I was surprised and a little concerned that I had been given such authority. I knew some men would disapprove of a slave being given responsibility of this kind.

I thought about this. I could I suppose buy all the slaves? They were all varying shades of beautiful after all, but if I bought all of them that might suggest I didn’t have the discerning eye that Brinn supposed I had. The truth was, I actually liked the idea that I could rebuild the slave pens on the estate to my own ideas. I could purchase girls who would be good for the overall coffle. I could oversee the training, the punishments, the rewards; I could do what Emma had tried to do and run things well for the benefit of the girls. I could even redesign the slave practices in line with what I knew of Taharian ones, for I loved all things Tahari and dearly wished I lived there. This was too good an opportunity to lose. And so I had to appear selective in my purchases.

“Not her,” I said, discounting the blonde girl from Torcadino.” She looked up in alarm, knowing that meant she would be separated from her friend. I could see that worried them both. “Or her,” I added to the brunette from Torcadino. Let them stay together for as long as possible. I moved up and down the line, looking closer at their bodies, marking out which men I knew might appreciate which features on a girl. The black girl was much needed for we only had one black girl and there were many men who relished dark ebony skin. Black girls were always a good investment this far north. Men lusted after them for their scarcity.

“The two barbarians,” I said with a smile, noting a flicker of interest from Master Brinn. I think he had secretly hoped I would choose them both. “The Taharian girl too. We will be buying Taharian girls in future Master,” I said to Linus with respect.

“Will you now,” said Linus, surprised and not happy to be spoken to by a slave like that.

“If Chloe says we will then we will,” said Brinn. “We can purchase them elsewhere if you prefer?”

“No kind Captain,” said Linus in haste. “I will ensure your first girl sees our prize Taharian stock before anyone else.”

“Good,” said Brinn with a smile. He seemed to be enjoying this.

The black girl. I should pick the black girl.

But then I remembered the mocking laughter just now...

“And finally the Lady from Teletus,” I said without looking at her. I heard her sharp intake of breath behind me. She was being bought on the recommendation of a kajira! I heard her move in anger in her chains.

“We will settle accounts later, Linus. I trust you to give me fair prices and will pay them,” said Brinn as he continued to watch me. I knew I was expected to do more so I walked back and beckoned for the purchased slaves to take a step forward in their collar chains.

“What was your name, slave?” I asked the first Barbarian.

“Mademoiselle Nadine Moreau, Mistress,” she said.

She had spoken respectfully. “You will answer to the name Nadia from now on.” I turned to her friend.

“What was your name, slave?”

“Mademoiselle Lisette Dubois, Mistress,” she said.

I nodded. The accents sounded beautiful. I could see Brinn was already intrigued by them. He stirred slightly in his chair, more alive now than he had been all day. “You will answer to the name Lisa from now on.”

I turned the to the Taharian girl “What was your name, slave?”

“Nalini Asfour, Mistress.”

She was deferential too. That was good.

“You will answer in future to the name Nalini.”

Finally I stood before the free woman from Teletus. “What was your name, slave?”

“I am not a slave!” She glared at me in anger.

I said nothing but I walked towards the slaver’s apprentice and held out my hand. He handed me a slave switch. I then walked back towards the free woman again. Her eyes didn’t leave the tip of the switch as it approached her.

“What was your name, slave?” I asked again.

Now she swallowed and her voice sounded a little fearful. “My name is the Lady Seraphina Manara of Teletus.”

“I didn’t ask what your name is, for you do not know what your name is. I asked what your name was!” I struck her hard on the left thigh with the switch and heard a sharp scream. “Har-ta!” I said as I raised the switch again.

“My name was Seraphina Manara!” She cried out in a distraught voice.

“I nodded. “In future you will answer to the name Urt.” She looked horrified for an urt is a small Gorean rodent.

I should make a speech I thought to myself. Emma always used to make a speech to new girls.

“My name is Chloe,” I said as I paced nervously in front of the four girls I had just agreed to buy. “I am the first girl which means that outside of the Masters my word is the law. You address me as Mistress at all times. Every aspect of your lives is under my control. I will be fair and I will reward good behaviour but I will be firm with discipline when it is needed. Any mistakes you make will reflect badly on me and so I will make sure you never repeat those mistakes again.” I paused before the slave girl called Urt. “You will train hard and you will learn to obey. You are a slave girl now.” I flicked the tip of my slave switch menacingly. This was as much for the benefit of the men as for the girls. Master Brinn had to believe I could do this, otherwise Candice would be first girl instead.

“There may come a time when I have a favourite Master. You will know who that is when it happens. This Master may from time to time call upon any one of you for use. I understand that this will not be your fault. I will not be happy, but I will understand it is not your fault. Men will choose who they want in their furs. If and when this happens you will come to me, you will kneel and you will tell me. I will not be happy, but you will not be punished. But if I ever discover that any one of you tries to ingratiate herself with my favourite Master, you will have the full wrath of Chloe descending on you. You will be number one on my shit list.” These were the things Emma had always said. They seemed appropriate now.

I just hope I had said it as well as Emma used to...

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

The atmosphere in the feasting hall that night was awkward to say the least. Often the hall resounds to the laughter and conversation of up to sixty men, with a roaring log fireplace in winter that is tall and wide enough to stand six men line abreast with shields. This evening though the hall felt oppressive and uncomfortably quiet. The high table capable of seating twelve men had been set for two diners who sat at the furthest ends opposite one another. Places had ben set for the Master and his sister, the Lady Cassandra. The settings themselves were exquisite with gilded ceramic plates, bowls, trays and goblets and a wide array of local food produce that the Master barely touched. He sat there resting his elbows on the table, his fists together under his chin as he brooded. The Lady ate very little too, but occasionally she would remark politely on the quality of the vegetables.

I knelt submissively to the side of the Master, ready to fill his cup as and when required. Brianna, the Lady's first girl, knelt beside her Mistress, ready to offer the same level of service. Occasionally we glanced at each other with the look of mutual understanding that something was about to kick off.

Other than us, the great hall was empty.

The Master had said very little as Brianna and I had quietly served the food. He barely even looked at me. When he did look at anyone it was directly at his sister who was unveiled. This was permitted as she was alone with family.

“Say it,” said the Lady after a time. “Let us not delay the conversation any longer.” She dabbed at the corner of her mouth with a linen napkin that had been folded into the shape of a scallop shell.

“You sold Emma.” Brinn seemed to be a simmering volcano waiting to erupt.

“I regret that now, brother,” she replied. “I underestimated how upset the children would be. I never wanted to hurt them. But you know my feelings regarding the slave. I did not wish to have to look at her every morning. You humiliated me when you decided to breed with her. What you did was unforgivable, and yet I forgave you because you are the head of the family and I love you. But you shamed me almost as much as if you had face stripped me in public.”

Brinn nodded. “I know what I did caused you distress, Cassandra.”

“Distress?!” Her eyes lifted and there was cold fury reflected in her pupils. “I was the laughing stock of Vonda! I bore the insults, snubs and laughter behind my back with dignity for our family name, but there were nights I cried myself to sleep! There is Cassandra, they would say. She is related to a slave girl, you know. Her beloved nephew and niece have a pleasure slave for a mother. The kajira Emma is Cassandra's sister in law! They say the kajira teaches her sister-in-law how to please men in the furs. Perhaps she lends Cassandra some of her slave silks in secret? Do you have any idea, Brinn what it was like? DID YOU even care?”

I see moistness welling in the Lady's eyes as she takes a drink of wine.

Brinn said nothing as he gazed at his sister.

“So yes, I hate the little bitch. I hate the fact that my precious nephew and niece will grow up to be laughed at because their mother wears pleasure silk! You could have had children with a woman of a respectable family from any city in Gor after your heroism! Ubars would have offered their daughters for free companionship! But you had to breed with that filthy slut!” Cassandra threw her goblet across the room and placed her clenched fists on the table. “And so yes, when I thought you were dead, I did what I thought would be best for the children in the long run. I sold the little slut! And other than the pain I then saw in the faces of the children, I did the right thing! How dare you! How dare you give your children such stigma in the eyes of free men and women everywhere! I love Marik and Jacinta and I would do anything to spare them the pain they will suffer in later years when they are not protected by your walls and the swords of your men. How is Jacinta ever going to find free companionship? No man will ever take the hand of a daughter of a pleasure slave! She will never know love! She will never be able to be part of fine society! How dare you do that to her! And how dare you shame me the way you did! And how dare you expect me to welcome a filthy, slutty little bitch of a slave into MY family! Be thankful that I didn't kill her! Oh, I thought about it, brother. It is only out of respect for you that I didn't.”

“Cassandra, I...”

“I will always hate the slut, Brinn. Always. I am glad she is gone. You let her destroy your good name. People laugh at you behind your back! You're just too stupid not to notice it. You're a laughing stock in Cos. Do you know what they say about the House of Assante in Telnus?” The Lady was breathing heavily now in her rage.

“If any man insults you or my children, I will kill them.'”

“You can't kill everyone on Gor!” snarled Cassandra. “The damage is done. And I fear for Jacinta's future. I really do.” She was shaking in fury now. “You know my real nightmare?” She rose from her seat and picked up a silver knife and carried it towards her brother who watched the blade of the knife with no visible degree of alarm. “What if you have ruined her? What if she has inherited Emma's slave belly? What if my beloved niece will discover when it is time for her to bleed that she is a natural slave?!” Cassandra stood above Brinn, glaring down at him. “You could have given Jacinta the breeding of a noble free woman and the blessing of chaste frigidity that comes with that. But she has the inheritance of a pleasure slave! What am I supposed to do if she begins to dream of chains and a collar when she is older?” The Lady gripped the knife tightly.

“That will never happen,” said Brinn, although I could see from his expression he feared that too.

Cassandra embedded the knife point first into the wooden table close to the Master's plate. “See that it doesn't. Whatever it takes, brother. Or I will haunt you for all eternity in the cities of the dead.”

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

Master Brinn took me to his furs that night to 'break in' his first girl. I had been with him many times in the past few years of course for the master enjoyed variety in women and worked his way periodically through all of his slaves, even if he didn't necessarily remember all of their names.

It's safe to say the master is a very vigorous lover and he knows what he wants from a girl. I got little sleep that night for the master tends to wake periodically and with an erection that means you're swiftly awakened too. I suppose this is due to his warrior background and the habit of snatching a few hours sleep at a time on military campaigns when you can never truly relax for fear the enemy might be creeping up on your camp. The master talks to his girls a lot between intercourse. He is genuinely interested in their opinions.

“First girl,” he said to me as I lay there glistening with perspiration from a vigorous tussle in the furs. “You will enjoy the benefits of your position I think.”

I smiled and kissed his hand as it stroked my hair. Emma's life had been very easy when she had been Brinn's first girl. And now that possibility was mine.

“I just have, Master,” I said as I lay in the furs.

“A lot of men will request your use now,” said Brinn. “Men like to use the first girl, but my rule is they can use any girl on the estate as they wish, except for the first girl. Her use has to be requested from me.”

“Oh.” I wasn't sure I liked that idea. I had seen how the men had reluctantly declined to play with Emma during the day. Emma had found that frustrating at times. “Will you grant permission, Master?”

“Sometimes,” he said as he gazed at me. “The use of a first girl has to be earned by my warriors. Your use is a prize to be awarded as I see fit. But do not despair, little slut, I will put you to use myself most nights.”

That was good to hear. I have a very high sex drive, much higher than Emma's. I used to joke with her that now she was a mum she probably didn't want sex any more. I liked the master. He used me well, but I also knew deep down he wasn't my love master the way he was to Emma.

But I had noticed another man on the long journey back to the Sardar from Port Kar. He was part of Brinn's warrior escort, one of his captains – a man called Geralt. There was a spark there when I saw the way he looked at me, and I felt a rare thrill that was more than just the usual submissive need to be used. Something about the way he looked at me ignited the fires in my slave belly. I desperately wanted him to notice me, to speak to me, to use me. It was Geralt I was thinking of when I told the new girls that one day I might have a favourite master of my own.

I had this night imagined that it was Geralt who was using me as the master took his pleasure. I wanted to ask the master about Geralt, but felt too awkward, too shy. I was afraid of making it obvious how I felt.

Morning came and with it the chirping of birds and the inevitable confrontation with Candice that I'd been dreading all night.

“You've taken my position. I'm not going to forget this, Chloe,” she said with controlled anger as her chosen gang of slave girls stood behind her for support. The slave pens of large estates like the Sardar one are highly political. Slaves form social groups often based around the strongest and most charismatic girls. While a first girl has absolute authority, she does well to remember that she sometimes needs the support of these faction leaders if she is going to run the estate without frequent upsets. Candice had been one of the girls Brinn had purchased in the early days of the estate, though he didn't seem to remember her anymore. She had the fortune to be appointed by Cassandra as first girl when Emma was sold, possibly because she had been a rival of Emma's. Now with the return of the master she had lost that lofty position in an instant. She still commanded the loyalty of nine girls though, which made her a formidable power in the hierarchy of the kennels. I needed to come to some sort of understanding with her if I didn't want passive aggressive resistance to my authority going forward.

When a first girl attains her position she has to deal with the various faction leaders, many of whom would like her position for themselves. Some first girls decide to rule by force, crushing any notion of dissent. Other first girls try to bring the most important faction leaders on board – showing them that they have more to gain by being part of the first girl's inner circle than being outside it. Emma had the tendency to use force if she met opposition, though that's not to say she was cruel in any way, just that she isn't a natural diplomat. She would never have done well in politics, and without the unique position of being Brinn's love slave she would never have been picked as a first girl in any slave pen anywhere.

I'm afraid it's true.

I have a lot of love for Emma but I also recognise her failings. I had seen the way she ruled the estate and while it worked for her she could have ruled even better with some degree of give and take. But no, with Emma it was always, “don't fuck with me or you'll be cleaning out the piss pots for the next month, slave girl.”

I was determined to try a different path. My relationship with Candice would be the first test of whether it might work.

So Candice was there with her nine girls, all of whom had lost their privileges the moment Candice had lost her title, and I knew the nine girls were going to make up their mind which way the wind was shifting based on my confrontation with their leader. I had Shannon with me. Shannon had quickly seen her opportunity to elevate her position in the kennels and had done her best to promise me her unwavering support. I was nervous enough that I said yes, because some support made this easier.

“You know it's the Master who decides these things, Candice,” I said. “It was as much of a surprise to me as to you.”

“Oh come on, do you think I'm naïve?” said Candice with a snarl. “You've been alone with Brinn for over two months from Port Kar to the Sardar, whispering sweet nothings into his ear while he fucked you every night. And what a surprise, when you get back he makes you first girl!”

“It wasn't like that...” although yes, there had been a lot of sex on the way back from Port Kar. I was his only slave girl on the journey after all. Had I been subconsciously trying to influence the master? I didn't think I had.

“If you're just going to lie to me then you're basically spitting on me while I'm down! If this was the other way around I'd at least pay the courtesy of being honest with you, Chloe.”

“Okay, yes, I think I do want to be first girl now. I didn't ask for this but I think I can do a lot of good. I have some changes in mind. I can make the pens a better place for everyone.”

“We all think that. It's not that easy. Especially if you don't have support from the girls that matter.”

“I'll make you second girl,” I said. There it was – my opening strategy. Emma would never have said that. Emma would have just told Candice to fuck off.

“Second girl? What's that? There's no such thing.”

“There is now. I'll delegate some authority to you if you'll work with me. Privileges for your girls too,” I said nodding in acknowledgement to them. “This is a large estate – too much for me to micro manage. I'll let everyone know that you have my ear and speak with my authority. I'll meet with you regularly and we'll decide many things together. I'm offering that.”

Candice seemed surprised by this remarkable turn of events. “Will it be genuine power or will I just be your bitch?”

“Genuine power. Provided you support me in public. We can argue in private, that's how these things work, but we put on a public face together. It's a genuine offer, Candice. I need you.” And then I threw in the crafty bit. “Emma would never have made this offer.”

“Emma thought she was so superior to us all. Always swanning around with that air of 'I'm a trained pleasure slave and you're not' attitude.” Candice thought about my offer for a while and then added, “okay. But if you simply ignore out of hand what I say when we're alone together then I'll be walking.”

“I won't, chain sister,” I said as I held out my hand. “I'm not Emma.”

“Okay then. Fuck. You probably will make a good first girl after all.” And then to my utter surprise the uptight and confrontational Candice hugged me. I let out a deep sigh of relief. I had Candice on my side now and that would count for a hell of a lot in the coming days.

My meeting with Candice was one thing, but my meeting later that day with the male work slaves on the estate would be quite another. The master owned more than fifty male slaves who worked in the fields harvesting grain and then grinding it in large millstones powered by raw muscle. This was work that would break slave girls for it required strength and endurance to push the wooden leavers inserted in the circular millstone for many hours at a time. On this estate, as on most estates, the first girl was at the head of all slaves, male as well as female. The male slaves did have their own appointed overseers who operated much as a first girl did, but those overseers were second now to me.

No man on Gor enjoys taking orders from a woman and I could foresee some serious problems with this arrangement.

If the villa itself was the undisputed territory of the female slaves, then the barns and stables were the equivalent territory of the male slaves and pretty much a no go area for kajirae who would be terrified at the prospect of venturing anywhere near that part of the estate. Even Emma didn't venture to the stables or barns alone, and this was the Master's love slave and everyone knew that if a male slave so much as touched her thigh he would have that slave slowly tortured to death along with any other male slaves who had been in the area that had failed to stop or punish the kajirus. Even with that in mind and the fact that she was first girl, Emma always took other girls with her as back up when she had to speak to the kajirus population.

There is a complicated pecking order on Gor, and part of that pecking order is the rivalry between female slaves and male slaves. A male slave is not permitted to touch a female slave, and this gives the average kajira a rare opportunity to tease and torment the men of Gor, knowing that the male slaves dare not do anything in return. But none of them are stupid enough to do that in private in the barns where no one can witness what might happen. Just because a Gorean man is put in a collar doesn't change the fact that he is a Gorean man. His instinct is still to be dominant and he can only be pushed so far. It is a dangerous game we sometimes play with them, though provided there are guardsmen about, we remain safe.

It's worth stressing as well that the average kajira does not want to be used by a male slave. The reasons for this are complex but they generally boil down to the fact that kajirae despise male slaves because they allowed themselves to be enslaved, which is not the sort of thing a man should do. In the eyes of a kajira that makes them less like real men and a kajira generally wants a strong free master, not a man in a collar who has to kneel to the whip. Occasionally a kajira is given to a male slave as a punishment (for her or a reward (for him). When she returns to the girl pens she is mercilessly teased by the other kajirae for submitting to a mere slave.

I had Candice with me and two of her girls. I had asked Shannon to come as well but Shannon begged me not to take her to the stables where the male slaves lived. Candice had to come because she knew the men and would have to inform them of the handover of power to me. We were in no real danger because we had an armed escort of two of Brinn's warriors, but even so, I was terribly nervous. Only two armed men, you might think? There were sixty slaves after all, but this was no ordinary estate – the population of free men were by and large warriors and not just any warriors, some of the very best on Gor. If you served Master Brinn in his shield wall you had to prove to him that you were an experienced warrior with many battles to call your own. If the male slaves attacked the two armed men, they would then have to contend with the one hundred and fifty or so warriors who would come at them with swords and shields. The outcome would never be in doubt. The two armed men were just a reminder of the military might that could suppress any uprising.

“The overseer is a kajirus called Sebastian,” explained Candice as she walked beside me. “I used to meet with him once a week and he would report any problems in the barns and stables. Sebastian is expected to maintain order among his own slaves but he defers to you ultimately.”

“What can you tell me about him?

“He's a man,” said Candice.

“Well obviously What else?”

“Tall, powerful, muscular – he's a work slave after all. Short cropped hair that is receding and thinning. Dark beard. He will obey you in public.”

“In public?” I stopped and gazed at Candice.

“He may test your authority in private. He is a man.”

“And he visits once a week to report to you at the villa?”

“No. I used to meet him once a week at the stables,” said Candice without looking at me. There was something about the way she said that... but I didn't press the issue.

I had seen the stables before, many times in fact when Emma used to take me there as part of her 'gang'. She would be tough with the male slaves, secure in the knowledge that she had the Master's authority behind her. Emma didn't try to win friends amongst the kajirus population. Despite the fact she came from Earth like me, I think Emma disliked male slaves and enjoyed seeing them humiliated in front of her and her girls. This was her revenge for the things men on Gor had done to her in the past. I was going to try a more conciliatory approach. After all, female or male, none of us were free. We all wore collars.

“First girl approaching!” barked a man in a loud voice. He was balding, bearded and strong and I guessed he had to be Sebastian. Upon his command the crowd of male slaves knelt in a form of tower as Candice and I entered the stable enclosure. None of the men looked like they enjoyed kneeling before slave girls, and I could feel the air thick with resentment and barely suppressed rage that they had to do so. Only when the crowd of men knelt did Sebastian also kneel.

It felt strange to have powerful Gorean men kneeling before me. They all wore heavy steel collars – workmanlike and forged from thick brutal steel unlike our own decorative and feminine collars. The men were naked for the most part so as not to dirty their slave tunics while they worked.

“Impressive, aren't they,' whispered Candice as she stood beside me.

I blushed a little, not knowing what to say.

“Tal slaves,” said Candice as she walked along the line of kneeling men. She held a slave switch in her right hand as she gazed down at the surly angry faces that she saw. I didn't see any sign of subservience in any one of those faces. No wonder even Emma didn't dare come here alone. I was reassured though by the presence of two men in red tunics carrying swords who stood nearby watching us.

“Tal, Mistress,” murmured the men in a less than respectful manner back. Candice seemed to accept this response as the best she was likely to get.

“I am here today to formally hand over my switch to the new first girl Chloe.” She indicated me where I was trying hard to stand without trembling. “She is now the chosen girl of our Master, Brinn of the Sardar, and her word in the stables and barns is the law.” Candice returned to where I stood and presented me with her slave switch as indication that she had relinquished her authority to me. She then knelt before me herself and bowed her head, as did her two girls.

I felt incredibly nervous. How did Candice do this? These were Gorean men! Was I really supposed to stand here and dominate them?

“Tal slaves,” I said with all the conviction I could muster.

The half hearted reply came back to me as it had done to Candice. These men remained surly, resentful, not wishing to truly acknowledge my authority.

As soon as I began talking I knew this wasn’t going to be a good speech. I never was much for public speaking and standing there that day facing over fifty men who thought I should be kneeling before them I was petrified. The words came out in a jumble and my voice lacked any confidence or strength of character. I sounded like what I was – a kajira desperately out of her depth.

“Some of you will recognise me if you’ve been on the estate for a few years. I’d come here to the stables with Emma when she was first girl and…” I gazed at the unfriendly faces that made no attempt to lower their eyes submissively. “I mean, I’m not some new girl to the estate, I, um, I know how things are and I’ve seen Emma and how she ran both the villa and here and…”

I put my hands behind my back because they were trembling. Any one of these men could throw me to the ground, onto my belly and bind me. How was it that I was in charge of them all?

“Don’t let them scent your fear,” whispered Candice.

“I want us all to work together. Sebastian…” I turned to face him. “I want you and me to work together. Please stand. You’re the overseer here and so I won’t ask you to kneel before me in public.” I tried to make that sound like a grand gesture of power sharing a bit like my offer to Candice. Sebastian stood up and nodded, but I could see he thought I was weak for allowing him to do so. It was too late now to go back on what I had just said – too late to tell him I’d changed my mind.

“Sebastian will of course oversee the smooth running of the stables and barns and I will leave things mostly to him, and…” I had no idea what to say. I had to say something to stamp my authority here, to make these men respect my authority, but what?

Before I could go any further in saying anything more, one of the men, presumably new to his collar, began laughing. He stared directly at me and laughed as if he was free. There was silence amongst the other men, though I could see a few of them were trying hard to hide mocking grins on their faces. I was being laughed at. There was no way this was good for my authority, but what could I do? Was I supposed to threaten the man? Order him to stop laughing? I looked round at Candice and she nodded her head as if to say I had to do something right now.

“Stop that!” I said sharply. He found that funny too. He must be very new to his collar. Didn’t he understand I could whip him?

I was already holding the switch that Candice had passed to me and so I took two steps forward and brandished it before the man who seemed to find me so amusing. “I told you to be quiet!”

“Shall I whip him for you,” said Sebastian suddenly as he moved to my side. He had a coiled whip clipped to his belt that was heavier and stronger than my switch. But no. I had to be seen to be able to discipline slaves myself. I had to establish my own authority here.

“There is no need, Sebastian. I can whip the kajirus myself.” He nodded and withdrew three steps as I pointed my switch at the kneeling slave. “Raise your hands and grasp the back of your neck!” I ordered, trying to sound the way Emma used to sound when she was angry. “And turn with your back facing me!” Slowly he did so, his laughter turning to a look of anger. I realised that him kneeling like that wasn't a very good whipping position, so I changed my mind and told him to stand, still with his hands behind his neck. Now I could strike his buttocks, his flanks and his back with impunity.

And so it began. I struck him hard about the body and with each strike I laid on his flesh he grunted. That was all. No screams, no piteous pleas for me to stop, just grunts from the sharp impact. After ten strokes I looked at him. He was still standing, obviously in pain, but showing no sign of being broken by the punishment that would have had Candice on her knees howling for mercy. I struck him about the buttocks three more times, but with no additional effect. I could see the red marks on his body from the switch, but he was strong enough to withstand the punishment.

“Do you beg your first girl for mercy?” I said, angry that he hadn’t spoken.

“No,” he said as he stared with resentment at me. Only the presence of the two guards prevented him from doing what would come natural to him.

“I can beat you further!”

“I don’t care, slave,” he said with a scowl.

I could feel the other men looking at me now, looking with barely concealed expressions of contempt for my weakness. What was I doing, lording it over men in my skimpy tunic with a slave switch in my right hand? I didn’t have the strength to really punish these men. I could inflict pain, but they were used to pain in their lives it seemed.

“May I?” asked Sebastian again.

“Very well.” I took a step back, admitting defeat in doing so. I watched as Sebastian uncoiled his heavy slave whip and watched as he moved a clear whip distance from the kajirus. He flexed his wrist and brought the lash down hard, once, twice three times across the man's back. Now he was screaming. Now with the full strength behind that heavy lash, Sebastian brought the kajirus to his knees with the sixth blow. By the time the tenth blow landed, the man was delirious, crawling forwards on all fours as he tried in vain to stand up. The man’s back was savagely cut and bleeding. It looked horrendous.

“Cage him,” said Sebastian as he wiped the blood from the length of the whip with his right hand. He then coiled the whip and returned it to the clip at his belt. “Does anyone else wish to laugh at the first girl?” he asked, staring down the kneeling slaves one by one. None of them spoke a word.

“If you wish to continue?” he suggested to me, adding, “Mistress.”

The male slaves were more attentive and respectful after that.

“Sebastian is...” I searched for the right words as I walked back to the security of the villa with Candice and her girls at my side.

“I know,” said Candice with a smile.

“No, I mean, he's good at keeping order and discipline.”

“Oh. That as well, yes, Mistress,” said Candice. “He makes a good supervisor. You'll rarely have to do anything more than raise issues with him and he'll sort them out. You'll hardly have to go to the stables or barns at all if you don't want to.”

“And yet you visited regularly?” I said, glancing at Candice.

“Once a week, Mistress. We just discussed issues of mutual interest.”

“In the stables?”

Candice smiled. “It's a beautiful day, isn't it Mistress? Look at the butterflies over there.” Candice pointed to some butterflies circling around a fruiting bush.

“I imagine I'll be very busy as first girl,” I said as we approached the safety of the villa. I may have been walking quicker than I normally did as I really did feel nervous in the kajirus controlled part of the estate. Even my first girl status didn't make me feel safe. “You could perhaps continue to meet with Sebastian once a week on my behalf? Part of the delegation of duties? In the, um, stables...”

“Oh. Well, if you're happy with that, Mistress.” Candice smiled softly but didn't look at me. “Anything I can do to make your duties easier.”

“Thank you, Candice. Thank you very much.”

That next night I lay in the Master's furs again, making him happy to the best of my ability. I wasn't Emma. I wasn't a pleasure slave, but I knew what he liked. Emma had often told me. I had that advantage over the other girls on the estate who didn't know the Master's tastes quite so well. I knew the Master could easily tire of girls, and that my status as first girl depended not only on my ability to maintain order on the estate but my ability to be an absolute whore in bed. If I lost the Master's favour I would in time lose my status. As much as I hadn't asked to be first girl, I now didn't want to be demoted. I was beginning to sense the possibilities. I could be a force for good here on the estate, and more than that it meant I could stop a girl being promoted to a position she didn't deserve, who might make all our lives a misery.

And so I watched the Master all the time, trying to learn what little things pleased him during sex. All men are different and Emma had always said the real skill in being a pleasure slave is to read their bodies and figure out what will turn them on before they even know themselves. Emma had told me before that the Master for example loved to be stroked with a soft finger on the underside of his penis while being spoken to in sultry whispers early on in the love making. The effect was hypnotic on him, a bit like stroking a contented cat, and as we all know, a contented cat is content so long as you're doing everything right, but you make one mistake and the claws come out.

Emma said you will always know that your foreplay is working on the Master when he suddenly growls and throws you onto your back without warning, parts your legs and looks deep into your eyes like a wolf before thrusting inside you.

When he has you on your back, he loves to see your arms lie either side of you with the palms exposed. It is a subliminal act of surrender and he doesn't even know he likes it, but he does. I was very lucky. Emma had laid out all the ground work for me and I could press all the buttons that she had spent months working out the hard way. I think he was surprised how well I was in the furs compared to the other girls of the estate. The proof was in the number of times during the week that he chose me.

But all the time I thought of his strong, handsome Captain – master Geralt, and how wonderful it would be to wear that man's personal collar.

I waited a week until things had quite literally 'bedded down' before I began to start making post coital suggestions to the Master for changes I had in mind to the estate. Again, Emma had always said the best time to approach the Master with ideas is when he has had an orgasm. He's far more likely to agree to things when in that state. Controversial suggestions should always be saved for when he's close to an orgasm, but do that too often and he'll think he's being manipulated, which of course isn't what's happening.

“Master, I've been thinking...” I said as I lay next to him, stroking his penis softly after he had come inside me. He likes that too, physical contact after coming. Nothing too obvious – just soft regular strokes from a girl's hand. “There is no uniform policy on piercings among the girls. That's bad for social cohesion. Some of the girls have pierced ears and some do not. It creates sub groups where the non-pierced girls regard themselves as superior to the pierced ear girls. I think...” I kissed him around his neck. He likes that. Especially close to his ears. “I think all the girls should be pierced as estate policy. That removes the current hierarchy. What do you think?”

“Mmm. As you wish, first girl.”

Emma was right. It really does work! “I was thinking... we may as well do nose rings at the same time... you like nose rings on girls, don't you?” I played with my fingers on the underside of his penis where it met his scrotum. He likes that. “And... I want to pierce their navels because I'm thinking of a Taharian theme and there will be Taharian dancing silks and you really need pierced navels for that look...”

“Dancing silks...” said Brinn with a warm smile as he imagined his girls dressed like that. I felt his penis twitching as I moved closer to him, my hand around his shaft.

“Oh yes, Master. Your own harem of desperate, belled, silken Taharian dancers, with jewelled belly buttons and sexy nose rings. Moving seductively in the soft lantern light around your couch. Would you like that?”

“Do it.” he said as I felt his penis rise again.

“The girls will not be happy to begin with. The ones that aren't pierced yet, of course. They think they're superior because of their un-pierced status. They will not want to be pierced.”

“Tell them I've ordered it,” said the Master. “They don't have a choice.” Which is exactly what I wanted. A direct order from the Master, not my own idea.

“Oh yes, Master. I'll tell them. They will submit to what you want. I'll make sure of it!” It was important that it seemed like the order was coming directly from the Master and not initiated by me because one of the many girls not currently pierced was Candice and she would be furious with me if she thought it was my idea.

Politics.

Next morning Candice was crying, as were a number of her girls. Well, wailing was a more accurate description. I'd never seen the tough Candice cry before.

“I know, it's terrible,” I said in sympathy to my second girl as she trembled in fear. “The master has got it into his head that all girls on the estate will now be pierced. What can I do?”

“I can't have pierced ears!” cried Candice. Her other girls cried much the same thing.

“At least all the other girls here will be the same.” I put my arm around her. “You'll get used to it in time. I did.”

“How can I face Sebastian with pierced ears?” she cried.

It was interesting that Sebastian's perception of her was one of her first concerns.

“Or any of the male slaves?” wept Topa, one of Candice's girls. “They will view us as the lowest of slaves now!”

“The Master will make an exception for the second girl, surely?” begged Candice on her knees before me. “The second girl can be spared this?” I looked very sad as I shook my head and watched her cry again, her hands over her face.

There was something of a party atmosphere that afternoon amongst the girls who were already pierced as they gathered with snacks on a raised embankment in the sunshine to watch the un-pierced girls on the estate line up and kneel before the leather worker. He set about with his sterile needles taking the girls one at a time. The already pierced girls cheered and applauded each time one of the un-pierced girls was called up to the workstation. The biggest cheer came for Candice, who I have to say had always been something of a snob towards girls with pierced ears and noses. By the end of the day there were no more artificial divisions between the slave girls and in the weeks to come the old fashioned 'them and us' divide would be a thing of the past.

“Candice has pierced ears! Candice has a nose ring!” sang the previously pierced girls on the embankment as they saw her hurry away, covering her face with her hands. Her ears now had a pair of gold colour hoops secured, and a small ring sat central in her nose. There was the soft sparkle of sunlight from a ring pierced through her navel. They knew their navels too would be pierced by the end of the day, but they were so enjoying the ear piercings that they didn't really care.

A good first girl should always try to break down barriers between her girls. I was doing that today. A little short term pain for a lot of long term gain.

A week later I paused momentarily in the furs with the Master just as I figured he was a minute or so away from coming. The head of his penis was wet and glistening from where my lips and tongue had been drawing things out. I could feel his muscles trembling – he was so close. “Master... I was thinking...” I trailed my soft fingertips on the underside of his throbbing penis shaft and watched him gasp. “Could we employ a Taharian slave trainer? A real one from the Tahari? I have all these new ideas that you're going to love...”

“Yes!” gasped the Master. “You can tell me the details later.”

I smiled softly as I moved my mouth back to the head of his stiff penis once more.

Emma really knew what she was talking about when she told me the best way to make polite requests of Master Brinn...