'Of the Council of Captains?' he asked.
'Yes,' I answered.
I thought I saw fear for a moment flicker in his blue eyes.
'Who are you?' I asked.
He looked down. 'Only a slave,' he said.
'Show me your hands,' I said.
Reluctantly he did so. They were smooth.
'Is he branded?' I asked one of the men-at-arms who had been with the boy. 'No,' said the man-at-arms.
'What is your name?' I asked.
He looked down again.
'Since we bought you from the canal,' I said, 'we will call you Fish.' And I added, 'And since you are a slave, you will be marked and collared, and taken to my holding.'
He looked at me angrily.
I gestured for one of the men-at-arms to take him up and carry him away, which he did.
I then dismissed the men who stood near me, except Thurnock and Clitus. That boy, I thought, may well prove useful to me If he fell into the hands of the council he would doubtless be tortured and impaled, or, perhaps, condemned to a seat on the rowing benches of the arsenal round ships. In my holding, his identity could be kept secret. In time, I might find a use for him. There was surely little to be gained in turning him over to the council.
'Who is he?' asked Thurnock, looking after the boy, wrapped in the warrior's cloak, who was being carried away into the darkness.
'He is, of course,' said I, 'Henrius Sevarius.'
13 How Bosk Came to be Pirate
'Paint my ships green,' I had said.
It was now within the Fifth Passage Hand, some four months after the unsuccessful coup of Henrius Sevarius in the city of Port Kar.
By this time, the Fifth Passage Hand, the flag of Bosk, pirate, had come to be much feared on Thassa.
How this came about I shal now relate.
Some four months ago I, in my swiftest ram-ship, accompanied by my two other ram-ships, and escorted, as well, by five ram-ships of the arsenal, heavy class, had come ot the vast, wall-encircled harbors of Telnus, which is the capitol city of the Ubarate of Cos. There are four major cities on Cos, of which Telnus is the largest. The others are Selnar, Temos and Jad.
I took a longboat ashore, and sent the boat back to my galley.
I would go before the thrones of the Ubars of Cos and Tyros alone.
This was my wish, and part of my plan.
I recalled standing before the thrones, in the towering throne room of Cos. I put to them, the Ubars of Cos and Tyros, as well as I could, the proposals of the Council of Captains of Port Kar, that there would be concord, and doubtless an opening of commerce, between the two Ubarates and the maligned city in the Vosk's delta, my own Port Kar.
As I spoke, the Ubar of Cos, Lurius of Jad, and the Ubar of Tyros, Chenbar of Kasra, the Sea Sleen, who was visiting Lurius on matters of state, sat unspeaking upon their thrones. They asked no questions. They merely regarded me. Kasra is the capitol of Tyros; its only other major city is Tentium. To one side, in a silken veil, richly robed and jeweled, sat Vivina, the ward of Chenbar. It was not a coincidence that she was now in Cos. She had been brought to Cos that Lurius might look upon her and, should he find her pleasing, be proclaimed as his future companion of state. It was her body taht would serve to link the two island Ubarates. Her veil was diaphanous, and I could see that she was very beautiful, though she was also very young. Ubar of Cos, who, like a great bag of meat, slouched swollen between the arms of his throne. Such, I thought to myself, are the affairs of state. Chenbar of Kasra, Ubar of Tyros, on the other hand, was a lean, large-eyed man, with nervous hands. I had little doubt that he would be highly intelligent, and skilled with weapons. Tyros, I told myself, has an efficient, and dangerous Ubar.
Lurius and Chenbar listened most patiently to my discourse.
When I had finished, Chenbar, with a look to Lurius, rose to his feet and said, 'Seize his ships.'
'I think you will find,' I said, 'that my ships have already withdrawn from the harbor of Telnus.'
Corpulent Lurius sprang to his feet, paunch swinging. He shook his fist at me. 'Tharlarion!' he cried. 'Tharlarion of Port Kar!'
'I gather,' I said, smiling, 'that our terms of peace are rejected.' Lurius sputtered.
'Your surmise is correct,' said Chenbar, who had now sat again upon his throne. 'I shall then take my leave,' I said.
'I think not,' smiled Chenbar.
'Put him in chains!' screamed Lurius.
I regarded them. 'I claim,' I said, 'the immunity of the herald.'
'It is denied!' screamed Lurius, his wide, bloated face scarlet with rage. I extended my wrists, to the sides, and felt manacles, with leashes, snapped on them.
'You have been offered peace,' I told them.
'And we have refused it!' screamed Lurius.
I heard the laughter of the girl, Vivina, who seemed amused. Several of the others in the court laughed as well.
Lurius settled himself, breathing heavily, again in his throne.
'Put him in a market chain,' said Lurius, 'and sell him at the slaves' wharf.' The girl laughed.
'When,' snarled Lurius, 'you find yourself chained in the rowing hold of a round ship, you may, my fine captain of Port Kar, bethink yourself less brave and clever than now you do.'
'We shall see,' said I, 'Ubar.'
I felt a movement on the chains, and turned to leave the presence of the two Ubars.
'Wait,' I heard. It was Chenbar, who had spoken.
I turned again to face the Ubars.
The hall was high about my head. Broad tiles lay beneath my feet.
'May I present,' asked Chenbar, indicating the veiled, robed girl sitting to one side, 'the Lady Vivina?'
'I do not wish to be presented to a tarks of Port Kar.' hissed the girl. 'Let us not forget our manners, my dear,' smiled Chenbar.
She rose to her feet, and, small gloved hand in the hand of Chenbar, descended the steps of the dais on which sat the thrones of Lurius and Chenbar, and stood before me.
'May I present, Captain,' said Chenbar, 'the Lady Vivina?'
She dropped her head, and then lifted it.
'I am honored,' I said.
'Tharlarion,' she said.
The girl turned and was escorted, again by Chenbar, her gloved hand in his, to her seat on the dais.
When she had regained her seat, I said, 'You extraordinary beauty, High Lady, which, forgive me, you veil but scarcely conceals, is indeed worthy of a Ubar of Cos-'
Lurius grinned. The girl herself permitted herself the smallest of smiles. 'Or,' I added, 'a collar in Port Kar.'
Lurius sprang to his feet, his fists clenched. The girl, eyes flashing, scarlet beneath the white silken veil, too sprang to her feet. She pointed her finger at me. 'Slay him!' she cried.
I heard two swords leave their sheaths behind me.
But Chenbar laughed. He motioned the men behind me to resheath their weapons. Lurius, furious, returned to his throne. The girl, enraged, took again her seat on the dais.
'Doubtless, stripped,' I said, 'you would be even more beautiful.'
'Slay him!' she hissed.
'No,' said Chenbar, smiling.
'I meant only,' I said, 'that your beauty reminded me of that of a girls, serving slaves, nude and double chained in the paga taverns of Port Kar. Many of them are very beautiful.'
'Slay him! Slay him!' she begged.
'No, no,' smiled Chenbar.
'Do not speak of me as though I were a slave girl,' said the girl.
'Are you not?' I asked.
'The impudence!' she screamed.
I nodded my head toward Lurius, swollen in the chair of the Ubar of Cos. 'I own women,' I said, 'who are more free than you.'
'Tharlarion!' she cried. 'I will be Ubara!'
'I wish you happiness, High Lady,' I said, dropping my head.
She could not speak, so furious was she.
'Here,' I said, 'you will be Ubara. In my house you would be Kettle Slave.' 'Slay him!' she screamed.
'Be silent,' said Chenbar.
