'That post is yours, my friend, Calliodorus,' said Glyco.
'My thanks!' said Calliodorus.
We applauded him, congratulating him and expressing our approval of the wisdom of the appointment. On her knees beside him, her hands tightly bound behind her back in the black binding strap, Lola pressed her lips fervently against his leg, and looked up at him. Her eyes shone, too. How proud, too, she was of her master!'
Tasdron reached into his pouch. 'I am sure that you recognize this,' he said. He held, in his hands, two pieces of rock.
'The topaz!' said Aemilianus.
'The topaz!' said Calliodorus.
'What you do not know,' said Tasdron, 'is that long ago, over a century ago, this stone, unbroken, was the Home Stone of Victoria.'
We were startled. There was silence in the room.
'Over a hundred years ago,' said Tasdron, 'it was carried away by pirates, and broken. Since that time Victoria has not had a Home Stone. What had once been our Home Stone served then as nothing more than a pledge symbol among the buccaneers of the river. In a few days we of the council of Victoria will go down to the river. There, from the shore of the Vosk, we shall select a common stone, not much unlike others. That, then, shall be the new Home Stone of Victoria.'
There were tears in my eyes.
'What of the topaz?' asked Aemilianus.
'It has been broken,' said Tasdron. 'No longer may it serve as a Home Stone.'
'Why have you brought it here?' asked Calliodorus.
'Ar's Station and Port Cos,' said Tasdron, 'are mighty powers on the river. I brought it here that I might give one half to you, Aemilianus, and one half to you, Calliodorus. In all that may later ensue, whatever it may be, do not forget that you once fought together, and once were comrades.'
Tasdron then gave half of the topaz to Aemilianus and the other half to Calliodorus.
'My thanks,' said Aemilianus.
'My thanks,' said Calliodorus.
Then Aemilianus looked at Calliodorus. 'Let us never forget the topaz,' he said.
'We will not,' said Calliodorus.
We then went to the door, and, as pleasantries were exchanged, our guests, one by one, began to take their leave. Miles of Vonda left first, heeled by his curvaceous, auburn haired beauty, Florence, once, too, of Vonda. On the street, below, at the foot of the stairs, he ordered her to precede him. She then did so, well exposed in the shreds of the tunic, the delicate lyre slung behind her left hip, her wrists fastened behind her, with Gorean efficiency, in her master's steel. She walked before him, her shoulders back, her head high; she walked before him, happily, beautifully, a loved, paraded slave. Aemilianus next left, heeled by Shirley. Following him, Glyco and Calliodorus, both of Port Cos, left, the pair being heeled by Lola.
Tasdron and Callimachus paused at the door.
'Tasdron,' said I, 'when the council arrives at the shore of the Vosk, it is my hope that I may be there.'
'It is our hope, too, that you will be there,' said Tasdron, 'with the others of Victoria.'
We clasped hands. Tasdron then left. He carried with him the brief white tunic which Peggy had worn, and the collar which he had taken from her throat. They would fit other girls.
'Congratulations, again!' I said to Callimachus.
'Thank you,' he said. 'I shall, of course, need strong men, men from the various towns, men tried and true.'
'Doubtless you will find them,' I said. 'The finest swords on the river will be eager to place themselves in your service.'
He then casually thrust Peggy ahead of him through the door, and she hurried, bound, down to the first landing of the stairs, some yards above the street. Callimachus followed her a step or two, and then he turned, and faced me.
'The temporary headquarters of the forces of the Vosk League,' he said to me, 'will be in the private serving room of the tavern of Tasdron. You know the place.'
'Of course,' I said. We had met there, many times.
'In five days,' said Callimachus, 'you will report to me there.'
'Report?' I asked.
'I have selected you as my second in command,' he said.
'Callimachus!' I cried.
'Or do you, now that you are rich, fear the travail of the service, the offices of such a guardsman?'
'No!' I cried.
'Then you have your orders,' he said.
'Yes, Captain!' I said.
He then went down one or two stairs, and then turned, and again faced me. 'We might discuss this at greater length, but, as you might understand,' he said, jerking a thumb at the nude, bound Peggy, waiting for him on the landing, 'I am in a hurry to get this slave home, and use her.'
'Yes, Captain,' I grinned.
He then joined Peggy on the landing. He regarded the lovely, bound slave. She drew back. 'Am I not to heel you, my Master?' she asked.
'Precede me,' he said.
'Yes, Master,' she said.
'Thus,' said he, 'should any of Victoria be abroad at this hour they may observe the value and the quality of the animal, this lovely gift, which I have been given.'
'Yes, Master,' she said.
'And, too,' he smiled, 'I wish to anticipate the pleasures which I am shortly to derive from you.'
'Yes, Master,' she laughed, and hurried down the stairs ahead of him.
I then closed the door, and threw the bolts and bars in place. I then turned and looked at the small slave standing near me. 'Go to a place near the table,' I said, 'and kneel there on the tiles, with your head bowed, deferentially.'
'Yes, Master,' she said, and hurried to obey. I then went about the house, locking and securing it. The dancers, and their master, of course, had gone long ago. I had made many improvements in the house. I set the bars and bolts in place at the back door; leading from the kitchen. I attended, too, to the windows. When I returned to the vicinity of the table the house, in effect, had been transformed into a small fortress.
I looked at the small slave, kneeling, head down, on the scarlet tiles, in the light of the lamps.
'We are alone,' I said.
'Yes, Master,' she said.
'You may lift your head,' I said.
'Yes, Master,' she said.
I walked about her, examining her. She was very beautiful.
'May I speak, Master?' she asked.
'Yes,' I said.
'You brought three binding straps to the table,' she said.
'Yes,' I said.
'But you brought none for me?'
'No,' I said.
'Ah,' she said.
'Your gift to me, your performance, during the course of the black wine,' I said, 'was very beautiful.'
'Thank you, Master,' she said. 'But it was not a mere entertainment. I had long fantasized stripping myself before you, and offering myself to you as your slave.'
'Really?' I said.
'Yes,' she said. 'And in many fashions, and ways.'
'You shall enact these for me in the future,' I said.
