"Oh. There are pleasure houses run by freedmen. Slaves go there when given leave, or in groups by appointment. Their mistresses give them coins to purchase the service, much in the manner of any other market."
"Take what coins you need," she said. "Go there when- when you need to."
"Mistress, I can't leave you. Someone would see me go, and know that you were not properly guarded."
This was every bit as difficult as she had feared it would be. "I am prepared to risk it. I want you to be-be taken care of, and I just can't-do this particular thing for you myself. Please go, Faro."
He was silent a moment. "Mistress, I thank you sincerely for your offer. But I could not enjoy myself anywhere if I knew you were left vulnerable. I must not leave your side. So I beg you, think no more of this matter."
"I can't put it aside," she said. "You have risked your life to protect mine, and you are making it possible for me to repay my debt of gold. I must give you some-"
"Mistress, I'm sure you don't want to walk with me to such a house," he said, laughing.
"Walk there with you," she said thoughtfully. "Yes, I could do that. Is it safe in their-their antechamber?"
"Certainly. They have women from other cultures, ones without magic, and they guard them well. But-"
"Tomorrow," she said. "Tomorrow we shall go there. There is one close by?"
"Such houses are everywhere. They do not advertise their presence, but all slaves know their location. There is one near."
"Tomorrow we go," she repeated with determination.
And the next day they did. The house turned out to be unpretentious. In fact it seemed to be a knickknack store, with slaves entering and departing fairly constantly. That was its cover. Its real business was in the several chambers in back. Faro showed her to a door that seemed to lead to a store room, but beyond it was a waiting room where several slaves sat. They sprang to attention the moment Xylina entered, looking alarmed. One was armed with a staff.
"Be at ease," Faro said quickly. "My mistress merely wishes to know the nature of the establishment I might visit. She has no concern about you."
A freedman appeared, readily identified by his costume and attitude. "I am Bulmer, the proprietor. Is there a problem?"
"My mistress feared I might be cheated or waylaid," Faro said smoothly. "So she came to see the establishment for herself, as is her right."
"Come into my office," Bulmer said.
They followed him to a small private chamber. The freedman turned to Xylina. "Is this a surprise inspection? I assure you we are in order."
Xylina decided to tell him the truth. "I depend on Faro for protection. There have been incidents. He is concerned that if he leaves the house, I will be vulnerable. So I came here, so that he need not be concerned about his absence. Are your premises safe?"
Recognition came. "You must be the Lady Xylina! And Faro is your trainer. The neighborhood knows of you, and respects you. This is the type of generosity you show."
"Yes. I want him to-to be able to visit here."
"But we can not have a lady such as yourself being seen at a place like this!" Bulmer protested. "Someone might misunderstand."
"Misunderstand?" she asked blankly.
"He means someone might take you for one of their women," Faro said. "He's right; you should not be here, mistress."
"But this problem is readily solved," Bulmer said. "We can send a woman to your estate. The cost would be more, but the convenience-"
Faro shook his head. "Cost is a concern. I do not wish to deplete my mistress's exchequer frivolously."
Bulmer considered. "It occurs to me that my guards could use the kind of training I understand you do. Suppose I send a woman with a guard, and you would train the guard, and the woman would remain until you had time to train her privately? I would consider this a fair exchange on an indefinite basis."
Faro looked at Xylina, surprised. "If my mistress agrees-"
"I agree," Xylina said, relieved. This would handle the matter without costing her precious coins.
"Then we shall give you your choice of women now," Bulmer said. "Sheel is free at the moment, but soon there will be others for your selection. Sheel is typical of my girls. She is from the Stripe culture, some distance from Mazonia, and all of them are known for discretion."
"I'm sure Sheel will do," Faro said.
Bulmer snapped his fingers. In a moment a woman appeared-such as Xylina had never seen before. She was human, and shapely, but her skin was striped black, white, and blue, vertically. The stripes carried from her hair down across her face and on through her neck to her bosom. It looked like paint, but Xylina suspected it wasn't.
"Show yourself, Sheel," Bulmer said.
The woman opened her robe, showing her bare torso beneath. The stripes carried all the way down to her feet.
"She will do," Faro said.
Bulmer snapped his fingers again. The slave with the staff appeared. "Sheel is making a house call," Bulmer told him. "You will guard her there, and bring her back when she is done. You will be trained there by this man." He indicated Faro. "The financial arrangements have been made. You will not speak of this matter elsewhere."
The slave nodded. Sheel closed her robe. Bulmer showed them out by another door. Just like that, they were on their way home.
Thereafter Sheel came regularly to the house, accompanied by one guard or another. Xylina gave word to the hired guards to ignore them. She did not inquire herself into the scheduling of the training sessions or pleasure sessions. She pretended to be unaware, and there was never any awkwardness. In fact she soon was oblivious to the arrival of the striped woman, because she was just one of many who came and went in the course of a typical day. Sheel normally wore man's clothing outside, with a brimmed hat that shaded her face. She looked like a youthful slave, and sometimes she carried a package. Thus it was easy to take her for a delivery boy. There was no embarrassment.
Except for the first night, when Faro laid his bed across Xylina's doorway. "Thank you, mistress," he said. For a reason she chose never to explore, that left her blushing in the darkness. But she knew she had done right.
One year after signing the contract with the Lady Hypolyta, she found out just how mistaken she had been in her optimism. Faro had finally had a chance to do the accounts, and the result was not good.
He brought Xylina the books, and the bad news. She stared at the page with dismay, as it lay on the desk in front of her. "I thought we were doing better than that," she said after a long moment. "We have so many contracts-"
"If we had not been forced to hire those additional guards, we would have had a substantial profit," Faro said wearily. "If the city hadn't found a way to tax everything we do here except eat, sleep, and breathe, we would still be all right. As it is, though, after we paid all the taxes the city found to levy on us and after we paid to hire those guards- this is what is left. You need forty-five coronets for your payment. We have thirty-five."
"If we had forty-four it would still not be enough," Xylina replied gloomily. "It must be the full payment or nothing. That is the stipulation in the contract. A partial payment is the same as a default." Her stomach knotted, and her temples began to throb.
Faro's expression hardened. "Perhaps if we sell something-"
"There is nothing to sell," she pointed out. "We must have the house to continue the training contracts we still have. The furniture is rented. I don't actually own anything except the house and land." She did not mention the fact that she owned Faro; selling him was not an option either. She put her hands over her temples as the pain of a terrible headache overcame her. "I can think of nothing-if only I had time-"
"I should have done the accounts sooner," Faro said, fists clenching. "If we'd known-"
"You did them just last week," she reminded him. "We were fine right up until the tax-collector came with that tax on private schools. We would have it, if it hadn't been for that. If only I had time to think of something!"
But there was no time. One of the hired guards came to the room with word that Hypolyta's manservant was at the gate. There could be doubt of what he wanted.
Xylina's options had abruptly run out.