Agents Of Gor: Part 5 free porn video

Agents of Gor: Part 5 A Girl has a Bath and Meets a Stranger by Albedo This is a fan-fiction set in the world of the Gor novels. All rights to the characters and situations of the Gor universe belong to John Norman. This work is written without his express permission. This story is explicitly not to be reposted on any pay sites. The author, Albedo, authorizes the readers to archive it themselves. No other dissemination without the author's permission, please. He can be contacted through his gmail account, albedo404. What Has Gone Before: Armand of Tellus is an Earth-born agent of the secretive Priest-Kings of Gor. He has delivered a female captive, Lila Fischer, a courier agent of the enemy Kurii, to the Sardar, the Priest-Kings home, for interrogation. The Priest-Kings mind-reading machine backfired when Armand attempted to prise some secrets from Lila's brain. Armand is trapped in Lila's body, and Lila is now in possession of Armand's body. Lila takes Armand chained in sirik to a paga hall, where they meet with Lady Serressa. She tries to buy Armand-in-Lila thinking him to be the slave of Armand of Tellus (Lila) and then attacks him with a knife when Lila-in-Armand refuses to sell him to her. Lila foils the attempt to kill Armand and takes Serressa as a slave temporarily as punishment. On their return to Armand's quarters, the two slaves are bathed and then secured for the night. Armand-in-Lila has to listen as Lila exercises her Master's rights over the girl named Lilianne, the temporary slave in the furs. Frustrated and losing hope, he feels strange thoughts welling up from somewhere deep inside him. After intense slave training the next day, Armand collapses and experiences visions of his former existence as a man. Further revelations indicate he is perhaps close to regaining his true male body, but it is by no means certain to happen. Meantime he constructs an alternate personality to present to the world and to Lila, that of a true Gorean kajira. This has its own dangers though, and will it succeed in staving off his fate? -------------------------------------------------------- It turned out Lila's destination was the bath-house, another Sardar establishment the Priest-Kings permitted their human servants to operate in their otherwise-alien mountaintop home. Armand-in-Lila suffered less embarrassment during this public airing than the one the night before as he let Kajira-in-Lila filter out the stares and lascivious glances from the other males they passed in the corridors. The one disruptive incident that occurred during the trip was due to a Free Woman though, not a Gorean male. The Free Woman was veiled and dressed in Robes of Concealment of course, and escorted by a demurely-outfitted female slave in a long grey rep- cloth dress, her blonde hair twisted up in a tight bun. The sight of Lila-in-Armand's coffle of naked silk slaves offended the Free Woman it seemed, and she spoke to Lila as they passed. "Warrior!" she said peretemporily. Lila stopped and turned to her. First Girl Lilianne nearly trod on Lila-in-Armand's heel as she stopped but she managed to bring herself to a halt in time, just. Kajira-in-Lila reacted more quickly and was already descending into a Tower Slave pose before Lilianne figured out what she should do. Lila gave her a hard look as her eyes went wide then she too dropped submissively into Tower. The Free Woman's slave also knelt in Tower behind her mistress, head down, thighs together, her hands demurely folded in her lap. Lila's coffle slaves had their hands chained behind their back, of course. The usual knees-open nadu was a pose slaves commonly held only when men were present. Free Women were not amused by the nakedly sexual invitation of the regular nadu, and slaves owned by men soon learned what was appropriate in any given situation when they and their Masters might interact with Free Women. The regular Tower pose was more modest than the regular nadu, true, but when held by back-braceleted silk-clad slaves it had its own outstanding features that would please most Gorean males. Some Masters preferred the Tower pose to a regular nadu, in fact. The Free Woman sniffed as she peered disgustedly at the two coffled girls kneeling at her feet. "Sleen," she muttered, her hand flexing as though she held a whip and wanted to use it on them. "Lady?" inquired Lila-in-Armand. The woman's head came up; Lila had put some bite into the single word. The lady was talking about her property, after all. "Warrior." The veiled figure gave a slight nod of greeting. "Armand of Tellus, at your service," Lila replied, matching the perfunctory nod. "And if I may be so bold as to inquire...?" "I am Lady Maretha, Warrior Armand," she said in introduction. She swept an arm to indicate the two coffled slaves. "These... things are your property, I suppose?" Lila-in-Armand folded her arms. "That is correct, Lady Maretha." "Why do you permit them to flaunt their sluttish bodies so brazenly in public, Warrior?" Armand-in-Lila couldn't make out any expression through the layered facial veils Lady Maretha wore but if she wasn't red-faced with apoplexy he'd be amazed. Kajira-in-Lila kept his eyes carefully fixed forward, face expressionless. He sensed that Lady Maretha's words were having an effect on Lilianne, the temporarily ex- Free Woman beside him though. Lila-in-Armand affected a dismayed expression. "But my Lady, I do not permit them to do so! Such an act on my part would be unforgivable!" she exclaimed. "Then why..." Lady Maretha started to ask as Lila cut her off, her voice dropping dangerously. "They are dressed like that because I wished it to be so. I do not permit them *anything*." She jerked the leash, causing Lilianne to look up with frightened eyes as her collar was pulled hard up against her jaw. Kajira-in-Lila was already getting to her feet as Lilianne caught her cue and rose out of Tower. Her slow reaction gained her another foul look from Lila-in-Armand as she turned to lead the coffle on their way. "Good day, Lady Maretha," she said in curt farewell as the Free Woman stood stunned at her words. "At least you own only two such filthy rutting beasts," Lady Maretha muttered as her own slave rose behind her. Lila stopped and turned back. "There is space in my coffle for another, Lady Maretha," Lila said harshly, her eyes boring through the Free Woman's veils. "It would be at the end, though, where the newest and most inexperienced slaves are chained." She leant closer to the veiled figure who recoiled at her words. "You can always tell new slaves by the whip-marks on their bodies." "You, you..." Lady Maretha was obviously furious, but Lila's right hand was now on her sword-hilt and she realised she had gone too far. She turned and started to hurry away. "Cynthia! Attend me." Her slave, the one presumably named Cynthia, followed her. "Cynthia!" roared Lila-in-Armand. The girl stopped and turned, then seeing the look on Lila's face, knelt. This time it was not in Tower she knelt but in nadu, even encumbered by the long skirts she wore. The Master's two coffled slaves also knelt, also in full nadu this time, their silks lying brazenly between their wide-spread thighs. Lila reached down and lifted the slave Cynthia's chin, examining her face closely. "Warrior! What are you..." screeched Lady Maretha. "Be quiet, woman," said Lila, cutting her off again. "I'm busy." The veiled figure looked around frantically but there was no-one within sight except Lila-in-Armand and the slaves, no-one to intervene on her behalf. She jittered, thinking to make her escape from danger but unwilling to leave Cynthia, her property in the hands of this ruffian, but if she stayed what would he do to her? "Cynthia, eh? An Earth-girl's name." Lila twisted the girl's head from side to side, then released her. "Pierced ears. Truly from Earth?" She looked down again. "Yes, Master," she said in a quiet defeated voice. "Good!" said Lila. Cynthia's head came up, eyes widening in wonder. "All the best kajirae come from Earth." Lila waved her hand at the coffle behind her. "That girl on the right is from Earth, and she's the one I'm keeping. The other one, hah. Gorean-bred and useless. I'll be glad to see the back of her, and no mistake." Lila slapped her thigh, ignoring Lilianne's brief look of disgust cast in her direction. "She used to be a Free Woman, like your Mistress over there." At her words, Lady Maretha turned to bolt down the corridor. "Stay, my Lady," said Lila, and she stopped as if she was on a collar chain that had just reached its limit. "Come back here, if you please." It was obviously not her pleasure, but she slowly shuffled back to where her slave was kneeling before a Gorean Master in a way the Earth-born slut had never knelt before her. "Stand, girl." The slave named Cynthia stood. "Turn." The girl bit her lip, glancing at her mistress but she obeyed the Master before her. He was not her owner but he was a male, a Gorean male after all... Lila gently pulled at the slave's hair, releasing it from the tight bun and letting it fall about her shoulders. Cynthia shook her head automatically as her fine tresses came free. Lila stroked her fingers through the girl's soft hair, caressing it. An almost-silent sigh escaped her lips at Lila's rough-handed touch. "Face me." Cynthia turned again and Lila squinted at her, looking her up and down. She was quite tall, as many Earth girls brought to Gor as slaves were, and Armand thought she might be quite shapely under the baggy dress her mistress had presumably commanded her to wear in public. The slavers who worked for both the Priest-Kings and the Kurii on Earth had their choice of female flesh and they were very selective, often spending weeks observing and tracking possible candidates for their collars and chains. Who knows how many candidates they rejected after careful scrutiny for failing to meet their high standards because of some small flaw in the girl's physical or mental makeup? Taking a woman as slave was a matter of more import to a Gorean than, say, buying a car might be to an Earthman. Because of the slaver's selfless dedication to their craft, many Gorean men truly believed Earth was filled exclusively with beautiful women, all of them suitable for the collar and brand. Lila nodded and stepped back. "Yes." Suddenly her sword was in her hand, so quickly that Armand-in-Lila blinked in surprise. Lady Maretha screamed and collapsed to the floor, babbling for mercy as a pool of urine trickled from beneath her robes. The Earth-slave Cynthia flinched at the sight of razor-sharp steel but stayed where she was. If this Master meant to kill her, well she was only a slave after all... Instead, to Cynthia's surprise, Lila used her sword-edge to hack off the bottom of her dress. This revealed a rather fine pair of feminine legs to the world. The now-ragged hemline rode high on her thighs. She looked at Lila in wonder. At a gesture Cynthia stepped out of the hoop of fallen cloth as Lila-in-Armand resheathed her sword as abruptly as she had drawn it. "Can you sew, girl?" Lila asked her. She bit her lip, then nodded. "Good. When you get back to your mistress' rooms, tidy that hem up. Understand?" "Yes, Master." Her answer was firm and clear, a tone of voice her terrified mistress had never heard from her. The hard eyes of Armand of Tellus swung back to the shivering heap of soiled robes on the floor. "Lady Maretha." Lila's voice was quiet but it gained her immediate attention. Lila solicitiously offered her a hand up which she took but even though the veils she would not meet Lila's steady gaze, the eyes of a Gorean Master. "It would please me, Lady Maretha, that when we meet again that your slave Cynthia be dressed like this, with her hair like this. Do you not agree?" Lila's gaze remained on her until the veiled figure reluctantly nodded. "She seems an obedient slave." Lila turned to the wide-eyed slave. "You are an obedient slave, are you not?" "This girl is an obedient slave, Master," she said clearly. Lila gripped Cynthia's collar between thumb and forefinger and tugged it gently then reached down and touched the slave brand now exposed on Cynthia's left thigh below the ragged hem of her abbreviated dress. Cynthia nodded. She didn't need reminding of her position in Gorean society. She was an obedient slave. "Is she an obedient slave, Lady Maretha?" Lila asked the shivering figure beside her. "Yes, yes. Obedient." She nodded vigorously. Anything, say anything, do anything, agree with this maniac until she could escape to safety, she thought feverishly. "Good, then there will be no need for you to punish your slave for what has happened here today, yes?" "Of course, of course..." Her nodding was getting frantic. "So if, no, when we meet again I should find no marks on this girl, as if she had been whipped. Yes?" Lila's voice was quiet but even her own slaves shivered at the implied promise in her words. "Yes, ye..." There was a hesitation and the Lady Maretha's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Yes, Warrior." "Good, pleased to hear it. After all I'll have a free space on my coffle by then and I may be looking to fill it. Who knows?" Lila glanced at Cynthia again. "I might even decide to make it a three-girl coffle!" Cynthia said nothing but her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. Lila reached over and slapped her hard on the butt, making her jump. "Now attend to your mistress, obedient girl. She seems to be in some distress, Priest-Kings alone know why." Lila bowed to Lady Maretha, a deep bow that was still somehow almost an insult. "My Lady, I take my leave of you. Until we meet again as I'm sure we will." Lady Maretha's bow in reply was shaky and she stumbled off without another word. Cynthia followed her, only glancing back once but the Master she knew as Armand of Tellus was already on his way, leash in hand, his two silk slaves following him attentively, the chain running between their collars gleaming in the corridor's light. For a moment she saw herself as part of that coffle, a similar chain depending heavily from her own collar down between her naked breasts before it climbed up to disappear under a brunette ponytail to link to the collar of his Second Girl and she, Cynthia wore Red silks, like Armand of Tellus' First Girl... another sigh and then she hurried off after the distressed figure of Lady Maretha, her mistress and her current owner. Then again, who knew what the future held in store for her when there were Masters like Armand of Tellus in the Sardar? Would the inexperienced girl stumbling along behind Cynthia in his coffle be...? She would have laughed but she was a slave and her mistress was close by. No matter, she thought. What will be will be. For the first time since she had been abducted from Earth, brought to the Sardar, collared, branded and enslaved, the kajira named Cynthia had hope. --------------------------------------------------------------- Breasts float. This was news to Armand, even though it was his own breasts that were floating in the bathwater. He glanced around as the male slave turned away from him for a moment. He was in a private bathroom, with a small deep tub filled with warm, if not hot, water. He wasn't the first person to avail themselves of the bathwater but it still felt good, better than the cold water bath he had been subjected to back in Lila's quarters. He lifted himself up slightly, feeling his breasts fall naturally against his ribcage again as they left the water's supporting embrace; odd for that feeling of soft hanging weight to seem the norm for him, but he had now been in this body long enough (too long!) that the shocks of alienness and difference were wearing off. He slumped back down into the water and watched his hated breasts float again. Lila was off somewhere else getting washed and shaved; the bath-house was a lavish establishment, with many public pools, steam rooms and such. The private bathroom he was in was normally used by Free Women. The other more public areas were the domains of Masters and slaves, not fit places for the rather prudish eyes of a Free Woman. Armand imagined Lady Maretha in a public pool area, naked, a chain collar around her throat marking her as one of the pool's public slaves, available for the use of any Master who had paid the admission price, and smiled. He shifted slightly in the tepid water to the ever-present accompaniment of chains clinking. His wrists were braceleted individually to rings on either side of the bath, his collar was short-chained to a ring on the wall. Lila was being careful with her property, as always. She had taken Lilianne with her to the public pools after securing Armand in the tub. Given Lilianne's homicidal inclinations in his direction, separating her two captives was definitely a wise move on Lila's part. Armand doubted that he would have survived sharing the tub with Lilianne. In his previous male incarnation though, it might have made for a pleasant sort of encounter... Instead Armand had been left in the care of a male slave, one of those tresspassers into the Sardar who had been mind-blasted by the Priest- Kings as punishment. Being washed in the tub by him was a strange experience; the man's hands were harsh but oddly dispassionate, rubbing wet cloths carefully over his feminine skin. He had shrunk from the man's dead touch a bit when he had started his labours but it was soon plain that any passion or lust he might have harboured for the chained helpless girl-flesh under his hands was gone. Instead he did what he was commanded to, like a robot, and no more. The slave transferred his attentions to Armand's long brunette hair, rubbing soft soap into the wet strands. Armand tried to relax, closing his eyes against the slight stinging from the trickles of foam running down his face. What was Lila planning? What were her goals? She had to be thinking of escape, back to Earth perhaps, maybe back to the Kurii she had served before. Every day she spent in the Sardar she was threatened with discovery, with a forced return to the status quo -- could Misk return them both to their rightful bodies? He didn't know but he had to believe it was possible. It would be the height of irony if it turned out otherwise, he mused. He remembered the dream he had had, of wearing the red tunic of a Warrior but still being female. How would his fellows react to him in that circumstance? Would they truly regard him as a Warrior or would they decide that his feminine form disqualified him from wearing the red tunic forever? Might they decide the collar locked around his feminine throat was a true substitute for a swordbelt buckled around his masculine waist, a slave brand burned into his thigh... "Kajirus." A voice broke into his thoughts as the male slave washing his hair abruptly stopped. The word "kajirus" meant "male slave" in Gorean, as "kajira" meant female slave. Armand blinked furiously but his eyes were filled with soapy water. He could just make out a male figure standing in the dimly-lit doorway to the bathroom but no more. The voice certainly wasn't that of his own body, Lila-in-Armand's. Who... "Blindfold the girl with a towel." The voice had an accent, he coldn't place it but... he felt thick cloth being wrapped around his head, over his eyes, as the kajirus obeyed the man's command. "Step aside." Armand twisted in the bath, his head jerking fruitlessly in an attempt to dislodge the improvised blindfold before a big hand grasped his jaw firmly, stopping any further movement on his part. Strong fingers dug into his neck in a cruelly calculated and agonising manner. He would have screamed but the Nest gag was, as always, in operation and so he was perforce silent, as always. "Lily Fisher, I presume." Through the pain, the name the man called him registered. He knew Lila! This man knew her real name! He struggled in his grasp but to no avail; the only consequence was that the man's fingers gripped his neck more harshly. "What's wrong, cat got your tongue?" The grip loosened. "You were never this reticent when..." There was a pause then the man let go. "You're not gagged, but... can you speak at all?" Armand hesitated for a second, his mind racing. The man was speaking in English, not Gorean. He knew Lila -- was he an Earth agent too? For the Kurii, most likely then. Could he help Armand back into his rightful body? How could he communicate with him? Writing? That would work, but if he knew the truth then what? And how could he write when he was chained... There was a whisper of steel and Armand felt a thin cold edge at his throat. "Talk, girl, or die. I don't have time to waste." Armand jerked at the touch, then nodded his head. He opened and closed his mouth, miming speech. "So you can't speak. The Priest-Kings did something to you, yes? Destroyed your vocal cords, something like that?" Armand nodded. It was close enough. "Did they get any information out of you?" He shook his head carefully; the blade was still at his throat. His knowledge of Lila's past from the time he shared her thoughts under Misk's damned mind-reading machine was sufficient to indicate that she was an expendable pawn in the eyes of her superiors. If it was thought by them the information she unwittingly carried was known to the their enemies then they would simply kill her, or at least her body, since they didn't know of the mind exchange she and Armand had undergone. "Let's see..." The man rattled off a string of meaningless syllables which struck an odd chord in Armand's mind -- or was it Lila's? They were command codes, he guessed, designed to trigger the recall of the information she carried. He didn't have that information though! He sensed rather than felt the blade at his throat move in preparation to slice though his neck. He mouthed at the unseen figure, as if repeating information. Names, locations, numbers, all fabricated from whole cloth but the man wouldn't know that, maybe. "Stop." Armand obediently stopped his silent recital. "Ah scheiss." The blade's presence vanished and he heard it slide back into its scabbard. He held his attentive pose, guessing that this was how the indoctrinated Lila would have behaved in the same situation under the gaze of her alien overlords. The man sighed heavily. "You know Lila, when I heard you had been taken by the other side I was a bit disappointed. I put in the high bid in for you for when you were to be made slave. I had such plans... and now you're in another man's collar instead." Armand felt fingers lift the steel circlet around his throat and tug at it slightly. "White Silk, still? Your Master must have iron self-control, or maybe he has plans for you too." The hand descended to lightly cup Armand's right breast, then it viciously gripped and twisted. Armand arched upwards, mouth agape but still silent, of course. The hand released his breast and he slumped back into the water again. "So, your silence is not a trick then. I wonder how they manage to keep you quiet? Maybe I should ask around. It sounds like a useful technique, keeps the screams down." Armand desperately tried to reposition himself in the attention pose he guessed Lila's programming demanded but dammit his breast *hurt*, like getting kicked in the balls had in his previous incarnation. He felt hands checking the bracelets locked on his wrists, tugging at the short chain securing his collar to the wall ring. "So, no keys. Can't take you with me..." There was a pause. "Lily, my dear. You're not going to tell anyone about my visit, right? If you do then your usefulness to our cause is at an end and, well, it would be easier to kill you than try and rescue you. Nod if you agree." Armand nodded. "Good girl. Maybe I'll get to buy you after all. Something for us both to look forward to, hey?" The hand cupped Armand's left breast carressingly and it took what was left of his wavering self-control not to flinch at the touch. "Sweet..." His nipple was rolled between thumb and finger, then tugged experimentally. "Rings. I think I'll have your nipples ringed when you're mine. Slaves are very attentive and obedient when they've been ringed. There are so many things you can do with them." The hand fell away from Armand's breast after one last squeeze. "Ah well, back to work." Armand heard sandal-steps receding towards the door but he maintained his pose just in case. "Kajirus, wait thirty heartbeats then remove the girl's blindfold and finish what you were doing," the voice came again, then there was silence. He hadn't realised he was holding his breath until the towel was taken from his face and the light stabbed into his stinging eyes. The kajirus finished rinsing his hair then started rubbing it dry with the towel. Armand glanced around, but there was no sign the mysterious stranger had ever been in the room, except for the faint finger-bruising on the skin of his right breast. *Now what?* He stared, unseeing, at the far wall, ignoring the tugging at his long hair. This was another factor to deal with, as if he didn't have enough on his plate. What was it with Goreans and their desire to slit his throat? Well, Lila's throat. She seemed to be the type that made enemies easily, and now those enemies were his enemies through no fault of his own, and it'd be his throat that got slit... Arggh. This guy, call him Mister X... Armand tried to recall the man's exact words as best he could. Mister X worked for the Kurii, that was clear. So what was he doing in the Sardar, where few were invited and none allowed without permission? Mister X was a double agent, it seemed. His English was too good, so he was almost certainly another import from Earth, like Armand and Lila. Something gnawed at his memory, what had the man said when he swore? "Scheiss", was it? That was German, for shit, wasn't it? So Mister X was German, or Austrian or maybe Swiss, from somewhere like that in Europe. Useful to know. The rest added up to convincing Armand that Mister X was not a Nice Man, even excluding his breast-twisting habit. It would not be good for him if he fell into their hands, he decided, even if he could persuade Mister X and his associates that it was all a big mistake, that they had the wrong man, uh person even if the outward appearance matched. He doubted that the Kurii and their human servants would make any effort to restore him to his proper body; he was after all still an agent of the Priest-Kings, in mind if not in body (at least temporarily). Hell, Mister X might well get a perverted kick out of owning Armand-in-Lila, knowing that the physical body of the female slave at his feet (or on his furs) contained a male essence, the essence of an enemy agent at that. He shivered at the thought of what could happen to him. Rings in his nipples -- he shivered -- might be the least of it. What to do? If he kept silent about the visit of Mister X, then the mysterious figure could develop his plans to kidnap Armand-in-Lila at leisure. He might well have accomplices to help him; a sword-thrust to deal with Lila-in-Armand in a deserted corridor, a slave-hood over his head, a tarn waiting in the high tower to transport a female slave away from the Sardar and then... he shook his head. No. By the time Lila-in-Armand came back to the bathroom to collect her property he had decided to tell her everything. The only problem was that he was still Nest-gagged and unable to speak. "So, my little talender..." Lila was rubbing her freshly-shaved chin as she entered the bathroom, but she stopped when she saw Armand thrashing around wildly in the bathtub, mouth gaping. The kajirus stood off to one side, emotionless as ever. Lila blinked at the display of chained fury. "What's up, Lassie? Little Timmy fallen down the old mineshaft?" Armand's anger flared at her stupid quip, then he redoubled his efforts, jerking at the restraints holding him in place and splashing tepid water onto the bathroom floor with his kicking legs. "Hey, it wasn't that bad." Lila moved forward, fumbling in her pouch. Armand stopped his thrashing but continued to mouth at her. Would she understand...? "Something you need to tell me?" Armand nodded. "Urgently?" He nodded harder. Lila glanced at the kajirus. "You, out. Close the door after you." She watched as the slave left obediently and waited until the door was shut before pulling the control egg from her pouch. She regarded Armand suspiciously for a second, anticipating some kind of trick, but finally pushed the golden button. There was that tiny click in his throat again, and then he coughed. "Thanks." It was odd to hear his own voice again, or rather Lila's own voice, after so long. "Thank you Master, you meant to say. Then again you think this is urgent so forget about that crap for the moment." She tapped a finger on the egg impatiently. "Thank you Master. Uh... I had a visitor while you were away." Armand summarised the recent events, giving Lila as much detail as he could recall about Mister X and what he had said. She winced when he described the man's assault on his breast. "Owch." After he had finished, Lila sat down on a stool nearby and pondered the situation, absently turning the control egg in her fingers. "Shit," was her eventual pronouncement. "That's what he said, but in German." Armand commented. "Uh, any chance you could unlock me so I can get out of this tub? I'm getting a bit wrinkled in here." He held up his braceleted wrists as far as the short chains would permit. "Master." "Uh, sure," said Lila. She went to the door and told the kajirus standing outside to come in, then she put the control egg down on the stool as she dug the bracelet keys from her pouch. As she did so the egg rolled off the stool and dropped to the floor. Armand-in-Lila's body jerked in the bathtub as if hit by an electric shock. When he came to, His heart was pounding as stars flashed in his eyes. What the... He looked around muzzily. "Sorry about that, kid. The control must have landed on some of the buttons. You OK? You spazzed for a bit there." Armand tried to speak but it seemed the Nest gag was operational again. He nodded slowly. "Gagged again?" He nodded again. "Can you move?" He lifted his arm, as far as the bracelet chain would permit. "OK, so it didn't land on the paralysis button then. What about the others -- the red one, or the silver one?" Armand shrugged. If he had to guess, it had been both at the same time. It had been a truly weird feeling, one he really hoped he'd never experience again but any experience courtesy of the control egg was something he'd rather give a miss given the opportunity. "Okay, let's get you out of there." Lila made short work of the restraints holding Armand in place and solicitiously helped him step out of the tub. "Ah, Venus arising from the waves." Armand gave her a dirty look but could do nothing more than that, the Nest gag being operational again even if by accident. The kajirus stepped forward with a large towel and made short work of drying the female figure in front of him. *Damn* Armand thought to himself as an idea flashed into his mind. *The control codes!* Mister X had tried to control Armand-in-Lila with those meaningless syllables. They hadn't worked on him since he wasn't actually Lila, but they might have worked on Lila-in-Armand! Could he remember them? He racked his brains to remember them; there were a dozen syllables, or was it thirteen or fourteen? AAAAH! Twelve, yes, twelve. It started with... Lila's finger touched the small of his back, and he automatically turned and presented his wrists to Lila to be back-braceleted. Was it "ta" or "tha" in the third position? Two light taps on his wrist caused him to turn his hands palms-out. Click-click. The fourth syllable was "der", he was sure, so it was "ta-der" or "tha-der". Would it make a difference? "Lift your arms, girl." Armand did so as Lila tied a length of binding fibre snugly round his narrow waist before picking up the length of White Silk on the floor beside the bath. Redundancy. The code had to be redundant to some extent since the speaker might have an accent, the listener might not be able to hear clearly because of noise or other impediments. He squirmed a little as Lila tugged the length of semi-transparent silk snugly into his crotch, threading it under and over the binding fibre around his waist and tugging it level. Could he get enough of the syllables right enough for Lila to fall under his control? He might only get one shot at it before he was gagged forever if Lila figured out what he was trying to do. She'd never permit him to speak out ever loud again... He ran through the reconstructed sequence of syllables in his mind, knowing that repetition would overwrite the original memory of Mister X's words but he had to remember it. He had to! This might be his chance to escape, maybe his only chance! If Lila was compelled to obey him then he could make her confess in public, get her to persuade Misk to reverse the mind-exchange! A touch on his chin caused him to lift it unwittingly as Lila's fingers worked at the front of his collar. Finally, he could be free of this body, free of the slavery and the ever-present chains, and it would be Lila's turn to be the kajira, and then what a revenge he'd have! What he'd do to her! Visions danced in his brain... there was a familiar click and a light tug at his neck. He blinked, suddenly back in the real world. Lila held a leash chain that ran to his collar. His hands were pulled behind his back, palms out, in slave bracelets. He was in White Silk yet again, and still Armand-in-Lila, a trained kajira, gagged and unable to carry out his wonderful plan. Despair washed over him And he abandoned himself, letting Kajira-in-Lila reappear. "Come on, girl. Time to go." Kajira-in-Lila followed her Master obediently from the bathroom. Armand-in-Kajira-in-Lila consoled himself with the thought that there would be a chance of freedom, a real chance soon enough. Now there was real hope, he felt he could withstand the hours or even days to come in Lila's body, no matter what shedid to him, maybe even if she did... Soon, soon! he told himself as he stared at Lila's broad back. All he had to do was stay alive, avoid being abducted by Mister X, prevent Lila from being stabbed in the back, prevent that homicidal bitch Sarressa from doing the Kurii's work for them, prevent Lila from deflowering him on the furs, persuade the Priest-King Misk of the mindswap, get him to reverse it... despair welled up in his mind again, butit wasn't as black and as deep as it had been before. He had a plan. Who knows, it might even work! The leash tightened. "Don't dawdle! We've got an appointment at Tisoch's place and I've still got to collect Lilianne!" Lila's voice came back over her shoulder. She held Armand's leash in her left hand, he noticed, her right hand resting on her sword-hilt. So she had taken his warnings to heart, but they were vulnerable, so vulnerable, him most of all, as a braceleted and nearly- naked kajira, someone who was forbidden to handle weapons... he hurried his pace. The sooner they were gone from here, the better. Behind them the kajirus mopped the floor of the bathroom, then he slowly bailed the cold dirty water from the tub with a bucket, pouring it into a drain in the floor. The towels went in a basket ready for laundering. When a small device wedged in a crack in the wall emitted a pop and a curl of smoke as it self-destructed, he took no notice as it was not part of his duties to notice such things. By the time the room was ready for the next customer the device was an unrecognisable lump of slag, unidentifiable even (it was hoped) to the science of the Priest-Kings. In a room not far away a man called Bertram removed an earpiece from his ear and packed it away in a small case along with its receiver. He was reluctant to use such devices, especially in the heart of the Priest- King's power, but he had been told directly by one of his Kurii overlords that the spy-device was indetectable even by Priest-Kings. "Tisoch's place, eh?" He scratched his bearded chin. "Hah. Lots of girls there. Time enough to deal with precious Lily, I think. She's not going anywhere in a hurry by the sounds of it. Let's find out some more about her Master first, shall we?" The other occupant of the room, a small weasel-faced man nodded. He'd rather the job was over, the promised gold in his pouch and he was on his way safely out of the Sardar but Bertram was in charge of this operation and he was not a man to be crossed lightly. Earthmen were like that, he mused. "I thought you told the she-sleen to keep quiet," he pointed out as the walked towards to door. "She told her Master everything." The man called Bertram raised an eyebrow. "I couldn't stop her talking except by killing her, and the information she's got locked up in her pretty little head is way too valuable, assuming the Priest-Kings haven't got it yet. The only command I know that works on her makes her spill the information she carries, a simple memory trick. I don't think there's a way of forcing people to obey unconditionally by simple conditioning." He shrugged. "Maybe that's for the best. Using the whip is much more enjoyable, don't you think?" The weasel-faced man said nothing. He was Gorean, but even so he found Bertram's delight in the pain and degradation of others, especially kajirae, not to his tastes. There were better things you could do with a girl than beat her just because you enjoyed doing it. "By forbidding her to talk, I just made sure she would tell him everything. Lily's quite predictable." Bertram continued as they left the room, heading for Tisoch's tavern. "That way I could eavesdrop on their discussion afterwards." He mentally replayed the conversation he had overheard as he walked, thinking furiously. There was something not quite right between those two, it was plain. Lily didn't sound like the same gold-digging bitch he remembered from their few previous encounters on business for their alien masters. Even her accent had changed. As for her Master, Armand, he sounded more like South London Lily than she did. Weird... He shrugged. Now that he had the targets located he could glean more information from spies and other sources before he decided on the next step. First though, he planned to observe the subjects at first hand at the tavern. He smiled; he'd get another good look at his slave-to-be too, if he wasn't mistaken. "Mister X, huh? By the time I'm finished with you, Lily, you'll be calling me *Master* and glad to do so."