The Leash

Drawing by Pierre Paul Prud'hon,1923
Image courtesy ArtToday.com

The Leash

"I shall use the leash after dark," I told her. The use of leashes differs among masters. Some masters use leashes for little more than tethering a girl. Others, of course, use them liberally as leading devices. The are often used with a proud, rebellious, recalcitrant girl, sometimes to publicly humiliate her. After being led on a leash it is not unusual for a girl to beg her master to be permitted to heel for him, following him deferentially in her proper place. Leashes are generally used in cities, or in crowds. A loose slave can be a nuisance. They may be useful too, of course, in broken or wooded areas, where a fleeing girl might attempt to find cover, or in dangerous places, where she might be stolen. A leash, it might be mentioned, aside from its convenience in controlling a slave, particularly the choke leash, is an extremely useful training device. Many trainers, the leash loop about their wrist, hold the leash in their left hand and their training whip in their right. Girls too, can be taught to use the leash to enhance their seductiveness, appearing to draw away, then approaching, using it about their body, kissing it, taking it in their mouth, fingering it, and so on. A test for slave potential used by some slavers is to leash a new girl and see if she, in her apparent rebellion and defiance, actually, subtly, perhaps in the beginning unconsciously, uses the leash to enhance her desirability and beauty. This indicates that she, in her heart, is not displeased to wear the leash of the master. Indeed, the leash, not uncommonly, can cause a woman to sexually blossom. This is presumably a function of such things as its actual restraint, which is quite real; its message to her that she is an animal, a slave; and its making clear to her, by a device, such as a bracelet, a brand or collar, what is the order of nature, who it is who controls her and who it is whom she must obey, who is the slave and who is the master. A leash, even apart from questions of training, of course, can have powerful emotional impact on a girl. It is a very useful way of convincing a girl that she is slave; similarly it can always serve as an effective reminder. Some girls do not seem to believe they are slaves until they have been leashed. But after that, and after having been put through 'leash paces,' there is seldom any doubt in their mind. Some girls beg to be leashed, sometimes crawling to their masters, their leash held between their small, fine teeth. Most masters use the leash at one time or another. A Gorean saying has it that a leashed slave is a hot slave."
John Norman, Fighting Slave of Gor

"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer

In the first year that arani spent in Gor, she used to see slaves being led around on leashes by their Masters, usually as they went from one tavern to another. On the one hand, she was repulsed by it--this seemed rather extreme to her. A part of her still clung to her former belief, that a woman should not allow herself to be so degraded. She was frankly grateful that her Master did not treat her so and, when she saw one of these slaves she would say to herself, "Not this chick." And yet, a small part of her was fascinated by such a thing. Even then, deep down, she was beginning to feel the truth in her belly.

After arani had belonged to her second Master, as a tavern slave, for a couple of months, she found out what it felt like to be leashed. One evening, she was entering the Inn and saw Him escorting His personal slave from the Inn on a leash. arani playfully sent her sister a private message, and teased her about the leash. (As she recalls, the words she used were, "Lucky you," or something to that effect, said sarcastically.)

Well, unbeknownst to arani, her sister tattled on her. After a while, the Master called this one to Him and, as she was kneeling at His feet, said to her, "I understand you want to be leashed." With that, He reached down and clipped a leash to her collar.

arani was rather shocked, to say the least. She had never been leashed, but it was as if she really COULD hear the click as it had been fastened to her collar. Her heart almost stopped. The sensations that roared through her body, and the thoughts that raced through her mind were indescribable. Suffice it to say that she had never felt anything like it. And she LOVED the feeling. She had never before felt so totally at the mercy of a Master. One tug of the leash could either pull her to Him, or strangle the life out of her.

Before arani had a chance to get used to the feeling, the Master ordered her to serve Him. As she went about her task, He played out the leash just enough to allow her to move, but with enough tension to remind her of its presence. Every so often He would jerk on the leash as if to remind her further of the line that physically connected her to Him. After she completed the serve, and brought Him the drink, He led her around the room so that she could greet all the Guests, keeping her at a close heel.

When this had been accomplished, the Master led arani to the Inn's other Owner and fastened her leash to His slave ring. Upon doing so, He returned to His own furs. Upon later consideration, this one realizes why He did this. After being pushed so far down into her submission, this one wanted so badly to be near the One who owned her heart, to serve Him fully. But she was a tavern slave, she existed not only for His pleasure, but for the pleasure of all. This girl knelt at a distance from Him and pondered what she had just been shown, and she learned and grew as a slave.

Now arani welcomes the leash. It is a very tangible reminder of what she is. Oh, the collar shows that all too well. It signifies to her, and to all of Gor, that she is owned. But the leash is an even more outward reminder of the level of control that the Free have over her. And, as she learned this lesson, her heart took wing and soared. She felt the freedom of total submission, of turning her life completely over to One. No, not to One, but to All.

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