'Yes, yes!' he cried.
'And,' I said, 'Farnacium, and Hulneth and Aperiche! And Anango and Ianda, and Hunjer and Skjern and Torvaldsland! And Lydius and Helmutsport, and Schendi and Bazi!'
'Yes,' he cried. 'All are going to attack.'
'And Port Kar!' I cried.
'Yes,' he raved, 'Port Kar, too! Port Kar, too!'
With disgust I guestured for the slaves to pull the pins releasing the windlasses.
With a ratle of cork and chain the wheels spun back and the thing on the rack began to jabber and whimper and laugh.
By the time the slaves had unfastened him he had lost consciousness. 'There was little more to be learned from that one,' said a voice near me. It might have been a larl that had spoken.
I turned.
There, facing me, his face expressionless, was one who was well known in Port Kar.
'You were not at the meeting of the council this afternoon,' I said to him. 'No,' he said.
The somnolent beat of a man regarded me.
He was a large man. About his left shoulder there were the two ropes of Port Kar. These are commonly worn only outside the city. His garment was closely woven, and had a hood, now thrown back. His face was wide, and heavy, and much lined; it, like many of those of Port kar, showed the marks of Thassa, burned into it by wind and salt; he had gray eyes; his hair was white, and shortcropped; in his ears there were two small golden rings.
If a larl might have been transformed into a man, and yet retain its instincts, its heart and its cunning, I think it might look much like Samos, First Slaver of Port Kar.
'Greetings, noble Samos,' I said.
'Greetings,' said he.
It then occured to me that this man could not serve Priest-Kings. It occured to me then, with a shudder which I did not betray, that such a man could serve only the Others, not Priest-Kings, those Others, in the distant steel worlds, wh osurreptitiusly and cruelly fought to gain this world and Earth for their own ends.
Samos looked about, gazing on the various racks, to many of which there were still fastened prisoners.
The torches lit the room with unusal shadows.
'Have Cos and Tyros been inplicated?' he asked.
'These men will confess whatever we wish,' I said dryly.
'But there seems nothing genuine?' he asked.
'No,' I said.
'I suspect Cos and Tyros,' he said, gazing at me, evenly.
'I, too,' I said.
'But these minions,' he said, 'they will know nothing.'
'It appears so,' I said.
'Would you,' asked Samos, 'reveal your plans to such as these?'
'No,' I said.
He nodded, and then turned, but stopped, and spoke over his shoulder. 'You are the one who calls himself Bosk, are you not?'
'I am he,' I told him.
'You are to be congratulated on taking the leadership this afternoon,' he said. 'You did the council good service.'
I said nothing.
Then he turned. 'Do you know who is senior captain of the council?' he asked. 'No,' I said.
'I am,' said Samos, of Port Kar.
I did not respond.
Them Samor addressed himself to the Scribe near the rack. He gestured toward the other racks. 'Take down these men,' he said, 'and keep them chained. We may wish to question them further tomorrow.'
'What do you expect to do with them eventually?' I asked.
'Our round ships,' said Samos, 'require oarsmen.'
I nodded.
So they would be slaves.
'Noble Samos,' I said.
'Yes,' said he.
I recalled the note I had received before Herak had burst in upon the council, crying that there was fire in the arsenal. I had thrust the note in the wallet I wore at my belt.
'Earlier today,' I asked, 'did Noble Samos send word to me that he wished to speak to me?'
Samos looked at me. 'No,' he said.
I bowed my head.
Then Samos, who was senior captain of the Council of Captains of Port Kar, turned and left.
'Samos,' said one of the scribles nearby, 'only made landfall in Port Kar this night, at the eighteenth hour, from Scagnar.'
'I see,' I said.
So who then, I asked myself, would write such a note? Apparently there were others then in Port Kar who would have business with me.
I was near the Twentieth Hour.
Lysias, captain, client of Henrius Sevarius, spoke before the council. He stood before the thrones of the Ubars, before even the large table, which now, on its upper face, was marked by sword cuts and the apertures splintered open by the passage of crossbow quarrels earlier this afternoon.
The Hall of the Council, this night, was surrounded by the men of the captains, who, too, patrolled the rooftops and the walks beside the canals for a full pasang on all sides.
The hall was lit by torches, and by many lamps with candles, set on tables between curule chairs.
As Lysias spoke he walked back and forth before the table, his cloak swirling behind him, his helmet, with its captain's crest of sleen hair, in the cook of his arm.
'And so,' concluded Lysias, 'I bring you all amnesty in the name of the Ubar of Port Kar, Henrius Sevarius!'
'Henrius Sevarius the Captain,' said Samos, speaking from his curule chair, in the name of the council, 'is most kind.'
Lysias dropped his head.
'Henrius Sevarius, the Captain,' said Samos, in measured words, 'may, however, find that the council is less inclined to lenience that he.'
Lysias lifted his head in alarm.
'His power is greater than any of yours!' he cried. And then he spun about to face the Ubars, each, with men about him, on his throne. 'Greater even than any of yours!' cried Lysias.
I gazed upon the Ubars, squat, brilliant Chung; narrowfaced, cunning Eteocles; tall, long-haired, Nigel, like a warlord from Torvaldsland; and Sullius Maximus, who was said to write poetry and be a student of the properties of various poisons.
'How many ships has he?' asked Samos.
'One hundred and two!' said Lysias proudly.
'The captains of the council,' said Samos, dryly, 'have some one thousand ships pledged to their personal service. And further, the council is executor with respect to the disposition and application of the ships of the city, in the number of approzimately another thousand.'
Lysias stood scowling before Samos, his helmet in the crook of his arm, his long cloak falling behind him.
'The council commands,' summarized Samos, 'some two thousand ships.' 'There are many other ships!' cried Lysias.
'Perhaps,' asked Samos, 'you refer to those of Chung, and Eteocles, and Nigel and Sullius Maximus?'
There was upleasant laughter in the council.
'No!' cried Lysias. 'I refer to the ships of the minor captains, in the number of better than twenty-five hundred!'
'In the streets,' said Samos, 'I have heard the cry 'Power to the council! ' 'Proclaim Henrius Sevarius sole Ubar,' said Lysias numbly, 'and your lives will be spared, and you will be granted amnesty.'
'That is your proposal?' asked Samos.
'It is,' said Lysaias.
'Now hear,' said Samos, 'the proposal of the council, that Henrius Sevarius and his regent, Claudius, lay down their arms, and divest themselves of all ships, and men and holdings, all properties and assets, and present themselves, stripped and in the chains of slaves, before the council, that its judgement may be passed on them.'
Lysias, his body rigid with fury, his hand on the hilt of his sword, stood not speaking before Samos, First Slaver of Port Kar.
'Perhaps,' said Samos, 'their lives may be spared, that they may take their seat on the benches of the public round ships.'
There was an angry cry of affirmation, and a shaking of fists, from those of the council.
Lysais, looked about himself. 'I claim the immunity of the herald!' he cried. 'It is yours,' said Samos. Then he spoke to a page. 'Conduct Lysias, Captain, to the holdings of Henrius Sevarius,' said Samos.
'Yes, Noble Samos,' said the boy.
Lysias, looking about himself, his cloak swirling, followed the boy from the room.
