Tal Goreans,
Greetings visitors,

Welcome once again to the Booknotes column.

Last month we were introduced to Tiffany Collins, an Earth girl abducted from her planet and taken to Gor in another variation of the usual pattern. There she found herself installed as the Tatrix of Corcyrus, the Gorean city where she now resides, and she has begun to exercise her office. But it seems as though her natural proclivities may be more those of a slave, and it is unclear exactly what game her First Minister, Ligurious, is playing. If we want the answers, we had better turn at once to Kajira of Gor and begin reading.

Chapter Five

Tiffany is presiding over an audience granted to one Miles of Argentum, an ambassador. It seems that there is a border dispute having to do with silver mines, and Miles is there to present his city’s strenuous protests - although he says that he for his part would as soon be there with an army and a siege train. Tiffany finds him fascinating and unsettling, as yet another powerful, dynamic and masterful man. So, evidently, does her slave Susan, who betrays some physical response to this he-man’s presence, although whether she is guilty of literally “dripping on the tiles” with her “oils of submission” is not altogether clear; this may be only poetic licence.

Ligurious, having advised his Tatrix to leave the affairs of state to him (and as she is illiterate in Gorean and cannot examine the documentation of the dispute for herself) loftily dismissed the complaints brought by Miles. He for his part likens the Tatrix to a slave girl, drawing outrage from the assembly of loyal citizens but a certain excited inquisitiveness from the subject of his affront, especially when he declares her worth a silver tarsk. Offering a deliberate snub in the shape of a consignment of empty tribute chests and declaring the Tatrix worthy of a golden cage, Miles takes his leave.

Tiffany - or “Lady Sheila” as she is presently known - is escorted back to her quarters by the other he-man in this narrative, her guard Drusus Rencius. She discusses her monetary worth with this bold rascal, who matter-of-factly states that she cannot very well be assessed while clothed and volunteers to address this deficiency in private should she will; but meanwhile, allowing for what he can see of her and her untrained state, he opines that fifteen to twenty tarsks of copper would not be unreasonable. She calls him a beast; but he reminds her that as a free woman she is, of course, priceless.

Chapter Six

Having discussed her lack of freedom of movement with Ligurious, Tiffany is now at liberty to tour her city incognito, the only stipulation being that she must always be accompanied by Drusus Rencius. He is an attentive and considerate guide, and arranges all manner of excursions - to musical recitals, to theatrical performances, and even to a Kaissa match, although she is by no means as interested in the game as is Drusus and demands to be taken home early, spoiling his enjoyment at watching Centius of Cos (a living legend in the Game, for whom, see Beasts of Gor). She suspects that she angered Drusus by this, although he dismisses the matter when questioned.

The theatre play concerned a Ubar and his honour, which Tiffany finds hard to relate to, not believing that anyone in the modern age could be greatly concerned with honour; but it is plain that Drusus thinks differently. Of more concern to Tiffany seems to be the brushes she keeps having with female slaves; spotting a girl in a chastity belt here, seeing an approaching slave wagon there, and pestering Drusus for information about them at every opportunity. It is plain that Tiffany has a bad case of the hots for her stolid guard, and indeed at one point throws herself at him, at least to the case of giving him "permission” to kiss her. But he is not under her orders to do so, and he states that he is uninterested in a woman’s permission.

They go for a walk on the battlements (this is where most of the chapter takes place, with several flashbacks) and Tiffany is intrigued by the intermittent sounds of faint metallic clinking coming from somewhere under Drusus’s cloak. She wonders why it has taken Drusus so long to bring her to this excellent vantage point, from which the view is so magnificent, and he gives her a kind of non-answer involving a course of action and the nearby saddled tarns, which she does not understand. After she has requested a tour of a slaver’s house and Drusus has promised to arrange one, she expresses curiosity about the sound, and under orders, he exhibits a “sirik,” a set of slave chains, although he does not explain what this has to do with his apparent preoccupation. They then return to the palace.

Chapter Seven

Drusus Rencius keeps his promise to arrange a tour of the slaver’s, the House of Kliomenes, for Tiffany. This entails her being clad as a slave, albeit with enough modesty to conceal the fact that she is unbranded and also avoid exposing any primary or secondary sexual characteristics to direct observation, and a number of key personnel will be in on the secret that she is actually a free woman, although only she and Drusus will actually know who she really is.

The disguise also involves wearing slave bracelets, and Drusus, strictly as a precautionary measure in case she becomes separated from him and is mistaken for a real slave and raped, has her drink slave wine, the Gorean universal contraceptive prepared from sip root. To her dismay, Tiffany must drink the unsweetened brew as served to actual slaves, and Drusus brushes aside her feeble protests with masterful disregard. Perhaps as a result of this Tiffany finds herself addressing Drusus as “Master,” although she corrects herself amid much red-faced embarrassment and Drusus is polite enough not to make much of it.

Chapter Eight

She finds her tour of the house of Kliomenes intensely stimulating. We see some more of the goings-on in such a place, such as the disciplining of a slave girl who recognises one of the house officials as being an ex-neighbour of hers when she was free, and of course this is all new to Tiffany. She experiences a strong urge to declare herself Drusus’s slave, and by the time they leave the house she can barely walk.

Drusus leads her, still bound, through the streets of Corcyrus, and when they reach the tavern where she is to change into her normal clothing, she kneels at his feet and begs him to have her if he wants her. He plainly finds the appeal alluring but frustrating, bemoaning the fact that she is not a slave; but if his resolve is close to breaking, it is strengthened when he hears noises outside that advertise the outbreak of war between Corcyrus and Argentum. He announces his intention to return her to the palace and assumes that she will want a new guard, but she declares that this duty is still to be his. Angrily he remarks that she well knows how to torture a man.

Chapter Nine

Tiffany is told that the war is going well, but the demeanour of her citizens is a clue that this is not necessarily the whole truth, and when Ligurious comes to report another victory, she cannot help observing that each of the “victories” that he reports has occurred closer and closer to Corcyrus. He claims that this is all part of a cunning plan, but it is open to doubt as to whether Tiffany is entirely convinced.

The slave Susan spills some wine in the Tatrix’s quarters, apparently surprised to see “Lady Sheila” there when she had thought she saw her elsewhere a few moments before. Tiffany is uninterested in punishing her for her carelessness - indeed Susan remarks Tiffany’s kindness to a slave, almost as if she herself had some idea what a slave’s life was like. Naturally Tiffany reacts with becoming angry to this outrageous suggestion, but when Susan is told by Ligurious that she will dance the whip dance before men as a disciplinary measure, Tiffany is curious enough to ask what this entails; little whip, it seems, if the slave is at all assiduous to be pleasing, but plenty of service to lusty rough men. Susan is unperturbed; indeed, having gone without sex for eleven whole days, she seems all for it.

Tiffany gives Susan orders that Drusus Rencius report to her. He, it seems, has asked several times to be relieved of his duty to her and replaced by another, but she will have none of it; and she wishes to learn how things really are in Corcyrus.

Chapter Ten

Her enquiries, seemingly, have gone well; at any rate, an expedition into the city under Drusus’s guardianship, and many anonymous interviews with citizens, have brought her nothing but good reports of the Tatrix. But while she is congratulating herself on this, she and Drusus are attacked by three men, probably slavers. She is quickly bound and gagged, and so does not see the ease with which Drusus repels the assault; he is unharmed, but two of their assailants are wounded, though able to flee.

Tiffany reacts in shock to the realization that she could have been carried off as a slave, prompting Drusus to scold her angrily and urge her to comport herself like a Tatrix and not as a mere woman. But talking of slavery in his arms and clinging to him for support torments him beyond endurance, and he explodes in anger, calling her a “torturing slut.” She is slow to take the hint and asks if he really does desire her enough to treat her as a slave, which he confirms is very much the case; whereupon she loftily bids him remember his place, and hers.

As they are returning to the palace, Tiffany remarks upon the good opinion the citizens have for her. Drusus tells her that this is only because of her spies, who are everywhere - he himself can name seven, but does not know if there are more - and ensure that no disloyal talk is permitted. The business of the city has almost ground to a halt, as merchants have fled; and Tiffany learns to her distress what Drusus already knew, that Ar is now in the war on Argentum’s side.

Chapter Eleven

Unfortunately Ligurious has what is known as a bone to pick with Tiffany. He has learned that she has been abroad with Drusus Rencius, and so he has had Susan whipped for bearing the message and Drusus dismissed as Tiffany’s guard. He now begins to exert his dominance more directly over Tiffany, ordering her to strip herself of her Robes of Concealment and her slippers, although she is still clad modestly enough by Earth standards. He further threatens her with the collar and the brand if she crosses him, and Tiffany, inevitably, finds the prospect as exciting as it is terrifying.

Ligurious puzzled Tiffany by saying that she is so much like “her,” another barbarian (that is, Earth woman) apparently but one who is far removed from Tiffany’s slavelike nature. She asks him why she, an Earth woman, was installed as Corcyrus’s Tatrix; he claims that this was done in pursuit of neutrality and objectivity, but we may be at liberty to doubt him.

Her position as a puppet Tatrix could hardly be made clearer. Spies report to other officials, no doubt Ligurious, and not to her; her concerns at the conduct of the war are dismissed, her request to sue for peace rejected out of hand, and indeed Ligurious explicitly states that he “rules” her. However, as Ar has come to the aid of Argentum, so Corcyrus hopes for the aid of Cos; and meanwhile, Tiffany hopes that she will be safe in the Tatrix’s palace.

We may have grounds for doubting this too, and wonder exactly what Ligurious is up to, since it is scarcely to be questioned that he has fomented this war. But what will become of Tiffany now that Ligurious has started to treat her like something not too different to a slave, and now that she no longer has Drusus Rencius dangling on the end of a string, consumed with passion for his Tatrix but loyally devoted to his duty? Regular readers will know that this is the part where I confess my ignorance, and suggest we both educate ourselves further next month, when we take our next look at Kajira of Gor.

I wish you well,

Socrates