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The behavior of slaves affecting the honor of a free person
I knew she would get much work from me as her serving slave. I touched the ship’s collar. It is a hard thing for a girl to belong to a woman. Further, I knew she would wish me to be a demure girl, a fitting serving slave for a lady of wealth and rank, one whose status and image requires that her girls be paragons of shy, perfect obedience, humility and modesty, that they reflect not the least dishonor upon her. Slave Girl Again, the behavior of a slave has potential to dishonor a free "I will not serve you," I said. The small man was there, and the beast, squatting, shaggy, regarding me, and, too, to my surprise, Haakon of Skjern. "I have felt the iron," I said. "I have felt the whip. I will not kill for you. You may kill me, but I will not kill for you." They did not beat me, nor threaten me. They lifted me by the arm, and dragged me to a side room. I screamed. There, his wrists bound by ropes to rings, stood a bloodied man, head down, stripped to the waist. "Eleven men died," said Haakon of Skjern," but we have him." The man lifted his head, and shook it, clearing his vision. "El-in-or?’ he said. "Master!" I wept. I pressed myself to him. He regarded them. Then he said to me, "I am of Treve. Do not stain my honor." By the hair I was dragged from the presence of Rask of Treve, and his head, again, fell forward on his chest. Captive The behavior of a slave affecting a free mans honor The free man trying to save his honor without killing the slave “So, Milo,” said Appanius, “you would make of me a laughing stock?” “No, Master,” said the slave. “One can well imagine him laughing about how he betrayed you with a woman,” said one of the retainers. “It will be the whip, and close chains for you, Milo!” said Appanius. “No,” said one of the retainers. “Let him serve as an example to all such slaves as he!” “Yes!” said another retainer. “Let it be the eels!” said another. “Yes!” said the fourth. “No!” screamed Lavinia. “No!” She leaped to her feet and ran to Milo, to kneel beside him, holding him, weeping. She turned to Appanius. “No, no, please!” she wept. “No! Please!” I took her by the hair and threw her back, away from Milo, to the floor, where she scrambled to her knees and, tears in her eyes, frantic, regarded us. Many estates, particularly country homes, have pools in which fish are kept. Some of these pools contains voracious eels, of various sorts, river eels, black eels, the spotted eel, and such, which are Gorean delicacies. Needless to say abound slave, cast into such a pool, will be eaten alive. I looked closely at Appanius. He was white-faced. As I had suspected, he was not enthusiastic about this proposal. “It must be the eels,” said the first retainer. “Nothing less will expunge the blot upon your honor,” said another. “What blot?” said Appanius, suddenly, lightly. The retainers regarded him, speechless. “What is it to my honor,” asked Appanius, “if I have been betrayed by an ungrateful, worthless slave? It is scarcely worth noting.” “Appanius!” said the first retainer. “Do you wish to buy a slave?” asked Appanius of me, as though lightly. But I saw that he was desperate in this matter. Indeed, I was touched. His problem was a difficult one. He wanted to save both his honor and the life of the slave. As outraged as he might be, as angry, as terribly hurt as he was, even as sensitive of his honor as I supposed he might be, he was trying to save the slave. I was startled by this. Indeed, it seemed he might care for him, truly. That development I had not anticipated. I had thought that things would have worked out much more simply. I had expected him to be outraged with Milo and be ready, in effect, to kill him, at which point I was prepared to intervene, with a princely offer. If he were rational, and the offer was attractive enough, as it could be, as I had a fortune in gold with me, I could obtain the slave. That is the way I had anticipated things would proceed. If Appanius would not sell Milo, then I could simply keep Appanius, and the others, with the exception of Milo, bound and gagged somewhere, say, in the pantry in the back, and use Milo, still the slave of Appanius, to achieve my objective in a slightly different fashion, one then merely involving two steps rather than one. If he would not sell Milo, certainly he would be willing to sell another, one who might, for a time at least, be too dangerous to acknowledge, too dangerous to free, too dangerous to keep. Magicians gorean_librarian@yahoo.com 
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