Lady Marissa's Problem
(a
stand alone Gorean short story featuring a new character from the
upcoming 'Shadows of Gor' novel)
It was intolerable of
course, the way Lady Marissa's favourite Guardsman, Darius, was
doting over his new slave-girl, Sasira. Like many Free Women, Marissa
did not particularly like slaves. Obviously she understood that they
were a useful part of Gorean society, and certainly she couldn’t
imagine a world without them, but nevertheless there was something
about the scantily clad girls that annoyed her. Darius had saved for
many months to purchase a blonde barbarian girl from the pens of
Attius, one of the more respectable slavers in the city of Corcyrus.
The word 'respectable' had limited meaning of course when conferred
upon the caste of slavers, but in this case it meant that Attius
didn’t obviously assess Free Women as if they might be
potential merchandise every time he met one. In contrast to some
other slavers who would be noting down a woman's likely block price
within minutes of meeting her, Attius was always polite and
respectful to women such as Marissa – according them the same
dignity as male customers. This pleased Marissa, because on the whole
she didn’t trust or like slavers – an understandable opinion, and
a sensible one. Even the kindest, most deferential slaver was really
akin to a sleen on a leash. Marissa was intelligent enough to
recognise that a slaver who was polite and respectful within the
confines of a city might act very differently if encountered on the
road if his guards outnumbered one’s own.
