Dunes of Gor Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten: A Plan is Hatched

Ghadir didn’t rush back to the house of Muud Attar. First he had to place the paperwork he had been given in the hands of a reliable man who owed him a favour. He explained that he feared for his life and that should anything happen to him those papers were to be made public. He had already taken the liberty of adding names to the documents – names that the former slaves possessed prior to being given the names of Tupa and Tepa. Those names of course were clearly the names of the ladies Serafina and Jaleesa. He had also had the papers officially sealed so that they could not be read without breaking the seal. It might be unfortunate for the young ladies if curious eyes scrutinised them. Tor was a city of intrigue and secrets, and papers like that would be worth a considerable sum to any of the great houses who competed with House Shahzad.

In truth he bore the girls no real ill will, but he understood only too well how cruel Serafina could be, and how she might consider him a liability after he freed them both from their current predicament. He had not risen as high as he had in the slave pens without knowing to take sensible precautions. In truth the papers were a double edged sword. If he used them, the truth would be out and he would be as damned as the women themselves. He could not expect a merciful fate for what he had done, but the threat of the papers would be sufficient that they might never need to be used. Of course it would be unfortunate indeed for the two girls if he was to die in a genuine accident. Then their lives would be ruined, even though they had made no move against him. Alas, it is not possible to make a tasty omelette with breaking a few eggs, though Ghadir to himself.  

It occurred to him that the girls might have learned a valuable lesson from today’s events, and Serafina herself certainly deserved some form of punishment after the spiteful punishment she inflicted on Najina. The girl had been in a terrible state when she had finally been pulled from the Box. The poor girl had done nothing wrong, after all. 

So yes, let them enjoy their whip marks and reflect on the subtle whims of fate that had made them suffer so. Perhaps they might reflect on the eternal laws of karma tonight as they cried themselves to sleep in their soft, pampered beds. 

The second thing Ghadir set his mind to was to thoroughly search the garments belonging to the mistresses for money. He quickly found their purses which contained 17 copper tarsks in Jaleesa’s case and 39 copper tarsks in Serafina’s case. A considerable amount of money for simple day time shopping, where a basic bottle of ka-la-na wine might cost 2 tarsk bits (there were 10 tarsk bits to a copper tarsk) and a good quality dress, 3 copper tarsks. Ghadir returned to the house where he stashed the money away in his secret place – under a loose floorboard in a disused out building. It might come in useful one day if he was ever granted his freedom. As for the clothing the women had worn, he bundled it up and placed the bundle in amongst some garbage waiting to be collected to the side of a busy shop. The girls could go home tonight, naked as slaves under their haiks. One last humiliation for their past behaviour.  

While he was at the house he learned that his master was gone and would not be back until late the following day. There were some instructions left for him that Ghadir promised to scrutinise later on that night. 

Sometime later he headed back to Muud Attar’s establishment to arrive a time when he considered the man would almost certainly have finished his examination and documentation of Najina. And yes, there she was, looking naked and lovely, kneeling and chained by her collar to a wall ring inside the main room. She moved and smiled as she saw Ghadir.

But, hold, where the girls, Tupa and Tepa, should have been kneeling beside the wall, there were now only empty spaces.

“Where are Tupa and Tepa, Master?” asked Ghadir as he regarded the loose chains that had earlier secured the girls there.

“Downstairs in my basement,” said Muud as he looked up from his ledger. “Najina’s examination and documentation are concluded by the way. You can take them now.”

“Thank you, Master, but may I ask why Tupa and Tepa are in your basement?”

“Oh, yes, well, they became rather troublesome and agitated after you left. In the end I had to gag them both and then, when they kept mumbling through those gags, took them downstairs for some peace and quiet.”

“Why were they so agitated? Surely they understood I was coming back?”

“Hmm? Oh, it all seemed to start when their Master called in to the shop unexpectedly.”

“Their… Master?”

“Yes, the honourable Babak, from the Narenj café. He happened to call in to settle some accounts from last week, so I told him how well he had done in the blind purchase of those two sluts. He was very impressed when I told him the prices they were likely to fetch on an auction block.”

“I… see. And the girls grew agitated when they saw their… master?”

“Yes. He examined them both, quite thoroughly in fact. He was very pleased.”

“I see. Well, I had better get the girls over to the Narenj then, as I am passing that way on the way back to my Master’s house. If you could bring them back up the shop floor, Master, I will take them off your hands now.”

“Oh, there won’t be any need for you to trouble yourself with any of that, Ghadir. Babak has decided not to keep them. Apparently he has no need for new silk slaves at the moment, and it would be ridiculous to keep such valuable girls as mere kettle slaves. He has asked me to auction them tonight at the Mazad.

The Mazad was the auction that took place in the evening on the third and last day of each week. It was an outdoor auction and popular amongst men who worked during the day. Even if you could not afford to bid on a girl, it made for an interesting and diverting evening to watch the girls being put through their paces on the wooden block. 

“They are going to be sold…” the colour drained from Ghadir’s face. “Tonight….”

“Yes, tonight. So as you see, Ghadir, you don’t need to escort them to the Narenj. They will remain in the basement until I take them to the Mazad personally. It should be a good sale.”

Ghadir had not meant for things to take such an unexpected turn. “May I see the girls? I would like to check on Tupa and Tepa before I leave?”

“I don’t see why not. You know the way, yes?”

Ghadir passed through the curtained doorways and went down the stairs. The basement was gloomy with feeble rays of light that shone through from barred grilles situated on the street near the ceiling of the basement. A couple of lamps were lit granting more illumination, but even so the light was dim.

He heard the rustle of limbs and the jingle of slave bells as he descended, followed by muffled sounds as he emerged onto the basement floor. Two girls, both gagged and bound, stood with their necks enclosed in display collars with short chains locked to iron rings above their heads. The chains were short and did not permit them to sit down. Their wrists were secured in slave bracelets behind their back and they were both still naked.

“Mistresses,” said Ghadir softly. “How are you?”

Muffled complaints issued forth from the sisters, accompanied by much jingling of the slave anklets. 

“Good. I feared you might have been uncomfortable. But I am reassured now by your confirmation that you are enduring things well.”

The girls tried desperately to speak again and perhaps contradict this poor assessment of their current mood.

“We have a problem,” said Ghadir, “and honestly there is no way of breaking this news gently. Are you listening, pretty mistresses?”

They both nodded, with a jingle of bells.

“Apparently you met the Master of the Narenj café earlier on. He has… ah… well, decided to auction you both tonight at the Mazad.”

There was an eruption of wriggling as the girls strained against their short chains, stamped their jingling feet in dismay and mewled piteously through their thick leather gags until Ghadir waved them to silence.

“I know, I know. This was unexpected. Trust me, I am as mortified by this as you are.”

Serafina and Jaleesa didn’t think it was possible for Ghadir to be as mortified about this predicament as they both were, as they were about as upset as it was possible to be. 

“You seem to be desperately trying to tell me something, Mistresses. No doubt from your frantic mewling it is a matter of great importance, but due to the tight and effective gagging, I cannot make out a single word,” said Ghadir. 

Jingle

Jingle

Jingle

“Hopping up and down on the spot, while rather lovely, doesn’t make your remarks any more coherent, gentle mistresses,” he added as the girls squirmed some more. “I suspect you may be trying to tell me that you are both resourceful and clever free women of high status, and that you have already formulated a solution to this problem?” There was much frantic shaking of heads in the negative, which of course set off the ankle bells again. “No? Perhaps then you wish to inform me that I should inform your father of this matter before it is too late?”

The girls now desperately nodded. Their father was the very last resort, but now with all other options gone, they had to turn to their father and damn the long term consequences.

“Alas, Daan Shahzad, may the Priest Kings bless his name a thousand fold, has left the house and will not be back until late tomorrow. I have no way of contacting him before the auction takes place. By the time he returns you will both have been sold.”

Weeping, piteous weeping, now joined the muffled cries and frantic jingling of slave bells.

“But I have an idea. I am prepared to disguise my features with a scarf and attend this auction myself. I have the money from your purses and could bid on you myself? If I buy you then I can swiftly return you to your house with little damage done, except to your dignity. All will be as before, and you will have much to thank me for, yes, kind mistresses?”

The girls nodded furiously. They would be so grateful! They would be incredibly grateful! They would never forget such a rescue!

“Would the gentle mistresses wish me to buy them? I mean, bid upon them with a view to owning them myself?”

They both nodded furiously. Yes! Of course! He had to do that! 

“You would prefer to be bought by me at auction?”

They nodded again.

“To be clear, kind mistresses, you beg to be purchased by me?”

Still more nodding and jingling.

“Well, I suppose I must buy you then, or rather try to buy you at least. I feel it is important then that I am in a position to clearly identify you both when you are brought on to the auction block. With your permission, gentle mistresses, I will examine you both closely so that I will be in no doubt when you are hurried out onto the block by the crack of a slender leather whip. Imagine my distress if I bought the wrong woman by mistake because I wasn’t familiar with your bodies!”

The girls were both startled as Ghadir began to carefully and thoroughly examine their bodies with his hands. They squealed through their gags as he made a professional assessment between their legs, over their breasts, and around their bottoms. Eventually he seemed satisfied. “I feel I will now recognise you on any auction block, anywhere in Tor.”

The girls were fuming as they squeezed their thighs together again. Ghadir wiped his fingers on Serafina’s hair as he commented, “you were a bit sticky, Mistress. Shame on you.” Jaleesa glared at her sister and tried to say something through the gag. 

“So, I shall be present at your auction tonight. There remains one final problem, as I see things.”

The girls pulled at heir neck chains, as Ghadir lowered his voice. What was this final problem?

“Your funds, that is to say, the money from your combined purses amounts to a total of 56 copper tarsks. I recall your values combined are somewhat slightly in excess of that. I will certainly have enough money to purchase one of you, but if I am to successfully win both of you, well, the bidding must not rise too high.”

The girls stared at one another in horror. It hadn’t occurred to them that maybe, just maybe, one of them might be bought by Ghadir and the other bought by another man. In such a case one sister would be free and one sister would be a slave!

“It is a troubling thought, gentle Mistresses, and so the bidding must remain low. This means you must not, under any circumstances whatsoever, present yourself on that auction block as lewd, hot, sexually excitable girls, desperate to crawl to the feet of the auctioneer and kiss his whip. I implore you to act demure, chaste and frigid during your sale tonight. My budget is only 56 copper tarsks after all.”