Rogue of Gor by John Norman Read Free Book Online Page A

myself.
    She rolled onto her belly on the mat. She lay there, the left side of her face against the mat, her small hands at the sides of her head.
    I watched her.
    I saw her small fingers move slightly, and her finger tips touch the fibers of the mat.
    Then, suddenly, I saw her finger tips press down on the mat, and then, suddenly; her fingernails, frightened, dug at it. Her entire body suddenly stiffened.
    "You are awake," I observed
    "What is this on which I find myself?" she asked, frightened.
    "Is it not obvious?" I asked. "It is a slave mat."
    "Where am I?" she asked, lifting her head.
    "In the main room of the inn of Strobius," I said, "in the city of Lara."
    She rose to her hands and knees. I noticed that her breasts were lovely, inside the rag she wore. "What happened?" she asked.
    "You were drugged," I told her.
    She shook her head. She looked at me. I did not think she could yet well focus on me.
    "You should not have drunk my wine," I told her.
    "Where are my clothes?" she asked.
    "I discarded, burned or destroyed your luggage and your things," I said, "with the exception of what you now wear, a Ta-Teera and a collar."
    "I am collared," she whispered, disbelievingly. She tried the steel.
    "It is locked," I assured her.
    I saw her hand, subtly, furtively, touch the side of her Ta-Teera.
    "The key is no longer there," I informed her. "Too, I have tipped away and discarded the tiny pocket which you had had sewn there. Girls are not permitted to carry things in their Ta-Teera. Surely you know that."
    "Where is the key?" she whispered.
    "I threw it away," I told her.
    She shook her head. "I remember you," she said. "You paid for my lodging. You gave me wine."
    "Yes," I said.
    "It was drugged," she said.
    "Of course," I said.
    "Give me the key to this collar!" she-cried, suddenly. She sprang to her feet, her hands pulling at the collar.
    "Do not leave the slave mat," I cautioned her. "I threw the key away," I reminded her.
    "Threw it away?" she said.
    "Yes," I said.
    "But it is a real collar," she said. "I cannot remove it."
    "No," I said, "it has not been designed to be removed by a girl."
    She regarded me with horror.
    "Do not leave the mat," I told her.
    She stepped back more on the mat.
    "Kneel down,” I suggested.
    She knelt, her knees pressed closely together.
    "I found both the Ta-Teera and the collar among your belongings," I told her. "Surely they are unusual objects to be found among the belongings of a free woman."
    She said nothing.
    "Perhaps you are an escaped slave," I said.
    "No!" she cried. "I am not a slave! I am not branded!"
    "Reveal your thigh to me," I said, "that I may see whether or not you are branded"
    "No!" she said. Then she said, angrily, "You put me in the Ta-Teera. You know well I am not branded."
    "That is true," I smiled.
    "Why are you doing this to me?" she asked. "Who are you? Is this some bizarre joke?"
    "No," I said, "it is not a joke.''
    She turned white.
    "Let me go," she said.
    "Are you hungry?" I asked.
    "Yes, terribly," she said, uncertainly.
    I threw her what was left of the crust of bread. It stuck the slave mat before her.
    She reached for it.
    "Do not use your hands," I told her.
    "I am a free woman," she said.
    "Place the palms of your hands down on the mat, and lower your head, and eat," I told her.
    "I am a free woman," she said.
    "Eat," I told her.
    She ate, as I had instructed her, not using her hands. I then placed a pan of water within her reach. "Drink," I told her. She then drank, as she had eaten, not using her hands. I then removed the pan of water from her, threw out the water that had been left and put the pan aside. I then again returned to my place and sat down, cross-legged, behind the small table. She looked at me. I did not think she was displeased to have eaten and drunk.
    "What do you want of me?" she asked. "Who are you?"
    "Spread your knees," I told her.
    Angrily she did so.
    "How is it," I asked, "that a free woman should have among her belongings such