"I am acting first captain," said Calliodorus. "But it would be my hope that Callimachus, who was once first captain, may be prevailed upon to resume that post."

The two slaves had now left the pastries and custards upon the table, and had returned to the kitchen. They would there presumably be relieved of their chains and would return with the black wine.

"The citadels of Policrates and Ragnar Voskjard have been burned, I heard," I said.

"Yes," said Tasdron. The citadel of Ragnar Voskjard had been fled by its defenders, after the news of the battle at Victoria reached them, they knowing themselves too few to defend it against a concerted siege.

"They might have been useful as bastions for the Vosk League," I said.

"The Vosk League," smiled Tasdron, "is a simple league, whose intent it is merely to control piracy on the river."

"That was the original intent, too, as I understand it," I said, "of the league on the Olni which became the Salerian Confederation."

"We did not want trouble with Cos and Ar," said Tasdron.

"Not while we are weak," said Glyco.

"I see," I said.

"Not only have they been burned," said Tasdron, "but they will be dismantled. We have taken proposals on this work from stone merchants."

"And salt will be cast upon the ashes," said Glyco.

"Salt," I said, "can be a sign of life, and luck."

"True," smiled Tasdron.

"The headquarters of the Vosk League, as I understand it," I said, "is to be located in Victoria."

"Yes," smiled Tasdron. "The choice seemed judicious."

"Victoria was centrally involved in the resistance to the pirates," said Aemilianus.

"And it was here that the decisive victory was won," said Calliodorus.

"And in this fashion," grinned Aemilianus, "the headquarters of the league is not in Port Cos."

"And, similarly," smiled Calliodorus, "it is not at Ar's Station."

There was laughter at the table.

The two slaves, their chains removed, now returned, and began to serve the black wine. The voluptuous slave of Aemilianus, whom he had not yet named, placed the tiny silver cups, on small stands, before us. The lovely little slave in bluish gauze, whom I had not yet named, holding the narrow-spouted, silver pouring vessel in a heavy cloth, to retain its heat and protect her hands, poured the scalding, steaming black fluid, in narrow, tiny streams, into the small cups. She poured into the cups only the amount that would be compatible with the assorted sugars and creams which the guest might desire, if any, these being added in, and stirred, if, and as, pertinent, by Aemilianus' slave, who directed the serving.

"Have the pirates been disposed of, suitably?" I asked Tasdron.

"Yes," said Tasdron. "We divided them among various wholesalers, with the understanding that no more than one of them will be sold in any given market, in any given city or town, or village or fair. Thus they will be well scattered, and distributed, over all known Gor."

"I see," I said. Policrates, Kliomenes and Callisthenes, and such men, branded and collared, would soon be owned slaves, laboring for masters. There are many uses for such slaves. They can be purchased for work chains, to be rented out by their masters, sometimes marched between cities, depending on the seasons and the work available. They can serve, too, in such places as the mines, the quarries and great farms.

"Master?" asked the girl in yellow gauze, who had been Shirley and now belonged, for the moment nameless, to my friend Aemilianus, of Ar's Station.

"Second slave," I told her, which, among the river towns, and in certain cities, particularly in the north, is a way of indicating that I would take the black wine without creams or sugars, and as it came from the pouring vessel, which, of course, in these areas, is handled by the "second slave," the first slave being the girl who puts down the cups, takes the orders and sees that the beverage is prepared according to the preferences of the one 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.