The Promise of Pearls

An odalisque, by definition, is not a whore. She is not in the business of offering sex for reward. Any tendency in a slavewoman to seek rewards for her services should be discouraged and trained out of her. But Code d' odalisque does, all the same, make provision for a prize to go to odalisques of distinguished service - a string of black pearls. A Slavekeeper may make a 'Promise of Pearls' to his slave, usually consisting of a series of set "ordeals", and if the slavewoman completes them to her Master's satisfaction, then she is rewarded with a necklace of black pearls which, thereafter, is an emblem of her accomplishments and expertise.  

This is not an obligatory feature of play under the Code, but it provides a useful framework for creative slavekeeping and invokes a certain erotic symbolism that is typical of Code d' Odalisque. A "black pearl" is, in some archaic slang, a description of a woman's vaginal orifice (her "hole"). A string of black pearls therefore carries a corresponding sexual connotation. It signifies, to put it crudely, that a woman who wears a string of black pearls has opened her hole many times. We see this symbolism featuring in the erotica of the 1920s and 30s. 

Some of the relevant articles from the slavecode are reproduced below:

2.14 - Aspiring for pearls 

A Keeper may set his odalisque a program of sexual Ordeals to be endured during her slavery under him and promise her a string of black pearls if she completes them to his satisfaction. An odalisque aspires to wear her Keeper's pearls.

11.13. - The right to challenge an odalisque 

A Keeper may challenge his odalisque with a program of sexual Ordeals for her to endure, and promise her a string of black pearls if she completes them to his satisfaction.

18.1. - Reward for long and faithful service 

An odalisque’s reward for long and faithful service is a string of black pearls.113 Ordinarily, her Keeper will require her to submit to a series of sexual Ordeals and complete them to his satisfaction in order to win her pearls. 

18.5. - A Written Program of Ordeals 

A Keeper may set his program of Ordeals in writing to his slave along with a promise that upon completion of the program she will be awarded a string of pure black pearls as an emblem of her accomplishments. 

18.6. - A Promise of Pearls 

A document setting out a program of Ordeals, as well as the program itself, is formally called a 'Promise of Pearls'. The terms of the contract shall be that the odalisque shall aspire to win her pearls by demonstrations of her sexual prowess and the depths of her service to her Keeper's satisfaction.