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dancing, they fell back from her.
She danced first among them, their leader.
Then, throwing her head back, she screamed, shaking her clenched fists at the
moons.
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And then, helplessly, she threw herself to the grass within the square,
striking at it, biting and tearing at it, and then she threw herself on her
back and, fists clenched, writhed beneath the moons.
One by one the other girls, too, violently, threw themselves to the grass,
rolling upon it, and moaning, some even within the precincts of the square,
then throwing themselves upon their backs, some with their eyes closed, crying
out, others with their eyes open, fixed helplessly on the wild moons, some
with hands tearing at the grass, others pounding the earth piteously with
their small fists, sobbing and whimpering, their bodies uncontrolled,
helpless, writhing, under the moons of Gor.
I found myself pulling at my bonds, suddenly aching with an inexplicable
loneliness and desire. I pulled at the fiber that bound my wrists, so cruelly
back; my throat pressed against the straps on my throat, almost choking me; my
belly writhed under its strap; my ankles moved again one another, helpless in
the leather confinement of the knotted strap. I looked up at the moons. I
cried out in anguish. I wanted to be free, to dance, to cry out, to claw the
moons, to throw myself on the living, fibrous, flowing grass, to writhe with
these women, my sisters, to writhe with them in the frenzy of their need.
No, I cried out to myself, no, no! I am Elinor Brinton! I am of Earth! No, no!
"Kajirae!" I screamed at them. "Kajirae!"
"Slaves! Slaves!"
There was no fear in my voice, but almost hysterical triumph! "Slaves!" I
screamed at them. "Slaves!" I then knew myself better that they! I was
superior!
I was above them! Though I was bound and branded I was a thousand times
greater and finer than they. I was Elinor Brinton! Though I might be stripped,
though I
might be tied to a slave post, I was greater and finer, and of nobler stock,
than they. They were naught but slaves.
"Kajirae!" I screamed at them. "Kajirae!" Slaves! Slaves!"
They paid me no attention.
I cried out at them hysterically, and then was quiet. My limbs ached,
particularly my arms, tied so cruelly back, but I was not displeased. The
moons fled across the black sky, burning with its bright stars. The girls lay
now quietly on the grass, some still whimpering slightly, many with their eyes
closed, some lying on their stomachs, their face pressed against the grass,
the stain of tears on their cheek, mingling into the grass. It was colder now,
and I
felt chilly, but I did not mind. I was now, though bound and stripped, well
pleased with myself. I had regained my self-respect. I now knew myself
superior to such women, to such despicable things, as these.
At last the girls, one by one, rose from the grass, drew on again their skins,
and took up their weapons.
Then, Verna at their lead, they approached me.
I knelt by the post, very straight.
"It seemed to me," I said, "that your bodies moved as might have those of
slave girls."
My head leaped to the side, stinging, as Verna, with all her might, slapped
me.
Then she looked at me. "We are women," she said.
There were tears in my eyes. I tasted a bit of blood in my mouth, where my lip
had been struck against my teeth. But I did not cry out or whimper. I smiled.
Then I looked away.
"Let us kill her," said one of the girls, she who held my leash before, who
had been he first to enter the circle of the dance.
"No," said Verna.
Verna looked about at the other girls.
They were ready to depart.
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"Bring the slave," said Verna.
"I am free," I told her.
Verna strode from the area wherein was found the circle of the dance.
The other girls followed her, with the exception of the blond girl, who had
held my leash. She untied my hands and then, behind my body, but not behind
the post, rebound them, cruelly. I did not complain. Then she untied the strap
at my ankles, freeing them, and drawing the strap about the post and through
the two rings, released me from the post. By the choke leash she pulled me to
my feet. I
looked at her and smiled. She said nothing, but turned angrily away, and led
me from the post, following Verna and her band.
* * *
Verna suddenly lifted her hand.
"Sleen," she whispered.
The girls looked about.
I was apprehensive. I wondered if it were the same animal which Verna, and one
of the other girls, had detected earlier. The girls, too, seemed apprehensive.
I
hoped that it was not the same animal. If it was, it had been following us.
There are, of course, many sleen in the forests.
The girls remained still for a long time, scarcely breathing.
"Is it still here?" asked one of the girls, the one who had been able to
detect the sleen earlier. Her nostrils were flared, testing the air.
"Yes," said Verna. She gestured in a direction somewhat forward of the band
and to its oblique right. "It is there," she said. I could see nothing but the
darkness of the trees, and the shadows.
We continued to stand still for some time.
Then, after this time, Verna said, "It is gone."
The girls looked at one another. I could tell the difference in their
breathing.
I took a deep breath, and shuddered. I looked again into the darkness, the
trees and shadows, to the right. Then I felt the leather and metal choke
collar again slide shut on my throat and, choking, I followed hurriedly at my
tether.
* * *
After the trek of perhaps an hour we came to a clearing in the forest. In the
clearing, there was a small hut, a stave house, with a single door and window.
Inside there was a light.
I was led to the door of this house.
"Kneel," said Verna.
I did so.
I was apprehensive. I knew this must be the house of the man who had purchased
me.
But I could not be purchased, for I was Elinor Brinton, a free woman, of
Earth.
No matter what bonds I might wear, no matter what transactions in which I
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