who is being served.
'Second slave,' said the slave of Aemilianus.
'Yes, Mistress,' said the girl in bluish gauze. She was extremely careful not to spill a drop. Black wine, except in the vicinity of Thentis, where most of it is grown on the slopes of the Thentis range, is quite expensive. Also, of course, clumsy slave girls are often whipped. The expression 'second slave,' incidentally, serves to indicate that one does not wish creams or sugars with one's black wine, even if only one girl is serving.
'Where is Krondar?' I asked Miles of Vonda.
'On his way to Ar,' said Miles.
'To Ar?' I asked.
'He fought well with us,' said Miles. 'I freed him.'
'Excellent,' I said, 'he is a splendid fellow.'
'And I gave him portions of my share of the spoils, from the holding of Policrates.'
'Excellent,' I said.
'Do you remember that luscious little brunet, Bikkie, from the holding?'
'Of course,' I said. 'She was allotted to you, with Florence, in the division of the spoils.'
'I gave her to Krondar,' said Miles.
'Superb,' I said. 'He will make her writhe well.'
'That is certain!' laughed Miles.
'How you men speak of us!' protested Florence.
'Be silent, Slave,' said Miles.
'Yes, Master,' she said, putting her head down, shyly. I smiled. Obviously she, too, was not averse to being made to writhe by her master.
I saw the two slaves returning now to the kitchen.
'Why is Krondar going to Ar?' I asked.
'He intends to purchase fighting slaves,' said Miles, 'and then free them, and organize matches among free men. Have you ever heard of such a thing?'
'There are perhaps places where such things are done,' I said.
'Free men fight with weapons,' said Miles. 'They are not animals.'
'Warriors are trained in unarmed combat,' I said.
'But only as a last resort, only for emergencies,' said Miles.
I shrugged. There were surely those at the table who knew more of such things than I.
'It is difficult to kill a man with your bare hands,' said Miles.
'There are several ways in which it may be done, easily,' said Callimachus.
'Yes,' I said.
'Yes,' said Calliodorus.
'Yes,' agreed Aemilianus.
'Oh,' said Miles of Vonda.
'Are you enjoying your supper?' I asked Calliodorus, who had been rather subdued most of the evening.
'Yes,' he said. 'It is very nice.'
'I see that you have brought no slave with you,' I said.
'No,' he said.
Calliodorus, as we knew, had once wooed a maid in Port Cos. The companionship, however, had never materialized. The maid, it seems, before the ceremony, had fled the city.
'You should have a slave,' I said. 'They are marvelous in contenting a man.'
'There is only one woman,' he said, 'on whose lovely throat I ever wanted to lock a slave collar.'
I lifted the tiny silver cup to my lips and took a drop of the black wine. Its strength and bitterness are such that it is normally drunk in such a manner, usually only a drop or a few drops at a time. Commonly, too, it is mollified with creams and sugars. I drank it without creams and sugars, perhaps, for I had been accustomed, on Earth, to drinking coffee in such a manner, and the black wine of Gor is clearly coffee, or closely akin to coffee. Considering its bitterness, however, if I had not been drinking such a tiny amount, and so slowly, scarcely wetting my lips, I, too, would surely have had recourse to the tasty, gentling additives with which it is almost invariably served.
'Master, may I have that pastry?' asked Florence, indicating the one she desired.
'No,' he said.
She knelt back.
But I noticed that, in a moment, he had given it to her, and she knelt back on her heels, her knees closely together, holding it with two hands, eating it.
I watched Aemilianus' slave emerging from the kitchen. I listened to the unobtrusive music of the musicians, who were sitting on a rug a few feet in front of, and to the left of, the table. I took another sip of the black wine.
The voluptuous blond slave began to lower certain of the lamps.
'What are you doing?' I asked her.
'Forgive me, Master,' she said. She then hurried again to the kitchen. As she had done this work the light in the room was romantically softened, but an area, soft as well, of greater illumination had been left before the table. When she had left the room, the musicians, too, had stopped playing. This seemed interesting.
'What is going on?' asked Miles of Vonda.
'I do not know,' I said.
'Is it an entertainment?' asked Glyco.
'Perhaps,' I said.
The blond slave of Aemilianus then re-entered the room. She placed a large, folded square of sparkling white linen at the bottom of the table. She then lit a wide, large, low candle and placed this candle, on a plate, on the soft, wide square of folded linen. She then withdrew to the side.
I looked at the white linen, and the candle, in the half darkness.
I was startled.
What memories this stirred in me!
The musicians then began to play, softly. The girl emerged from the kitchen.
There were sounds of pleasure, and surprise, from those about the table.
'She is beautiful,' said Tasdron.
'What manner of garments are those?' asked Glyco.
The dark-haired girl, exquisite and lovely, stood in the light, on the tiles, back from the foot of the table, that we might well see her. Her hair was drawn severely back on her head. She wore what seemed to be a svelte, satin, off-the-shoulder, white sheath gown. Twisted about her feet, over and under, were golden straps.
'I do not understand this,' said Miles of Vonda. 'Is this meaningful?'
I was almost overwhelmed. 'It is very meaningful to me,' I said. 'Permit me, my friends, to explain. First, Glyco, in answer to your question, the garments she wears are much like, and are meant to suggest, the garments which a free woman may wear on Earth.'
'But they are slave garments,' said Glyco. 'See! The arms and the shoulders are bare!'
'Nonetheless,' I said, 'on Earth free women may wear such garments.'
The girl then turned gracefully before us, displaying the garments. I saw that her hair, severely drawn back on her head, was fastened behind the back of her head in a bun. I had known it would be. I had not forgotten.
'They are slave garments,' said Glyco.
'True,' I said, 'but to understand what she is doing, you must understand that such garments, on Earth, are understood to be exquisite and lovely free-woman's garments.'
'Very well,' said Glyco.
'Too,' I said, 'they are, in this case, meant to remind me of, and resemble, the garments which she once wore, as a free woman, to a meeting with me. That is important.'
'I understand,' said Glyco.
