I do not think that this displeased him. Indeed, such information can be of great use in managing a girl.
Aemilianus, puzzled, lowered the point of his sword. He looked at us.
"We mean you no harm," I told him. "This is not a trap?" asked Aemilinaus. "No," I told him.
"Callisthenes," said Callimachus, turning to thecaptain of Port Cos, "is it your intention to stsrke me with your sword." "No," sid Callisthenes, "Of course not."Then put up your sword." said Callimachus.
Callisthenes sheathed his sword. A moment later the sword ofAemilianus too rested in its sheath.
"Come and sit at the table," said Tasdron. "We have much to discuss." We all then sat about the table.
"Fix your silk," said Tasdron to Peggy, " and go to the side of the room. Kneel there. If we need anything, you will be summoned." "Yes Master," she said."Do you wish her, instead, to remove her silk and to lick and serve you as we eat and talk?" inquired Tasdron of Aemilians.
This sort of thing is sometimes done at Gorean suppers. Each male has a naked slave girl who is in attendance on him during the supper. She licks and kisses him, and fetches for him, and may even put foot in his mouth. It is not unpleasant to be served by a naked, collared beauty in this fashion.
"We are not to be all so served, I gather," said Aemilianus. "I do not think that would be wise," said Tasdron.
"Then I shall myself, of course, forgo the pleasure," said he. "That is best," admitted Tasdron, "for there are serious things of which to speak.
I smiled to myself. It was true that slave girls were often distractive. It is difficult for a man to keep his mind or his hands off of them. They are, of course, imbonded, easily the most desirable of women.
"How much does she know?" asked Aemilinaus.
"Very little," said Tasdron. "Keep her ignorant," said Aemilianus.
"Of course," said Tasdron.
I looked to Peggy at the side of the room, serveral feet away. She had not closed her silk. She moved slightly and there was a sound of bells. Then she knelt very still, that she did not attract attention to herself.
"Speak softly," said Tasdron. "Very well," said Callisthenes. "Very well, "SAid Aemilianus. Peggy was very beautiful. She could not overhear our conversation. She would be kept in ignorance. She was a slave.
29. The Sea Gate: I am Again Within the Holdings of Policrates:
"Had we the support of others, in fuller extent, we could carry this project through," said Callimachus. "As it is, I fear we must fail."
The dock of the low river galley shifted beneath our feet, as the ship nosed through the inlet waters toward the secluded stronghold of Policrates. It lies some two pasangs from the river itself.
"Your original plan," said Callimachus, "was an excellent one, but now in its alteration, I fear we must fail."
Callimachus and I stood on the foredeck of the galley. I wore the mask which I had worn while pretending to be the courier of Ragnar Voskjard. I knew the signs and countersigns for entry into the stronghold through the sea gate. Those had been given to me that I could convey them to Ragnar Voskjard, that he might use them in his entry into the stronghold. It had been my plan to gather sufficient ships, primarily from Port Cos and Ar's Station to simulate the fleet of Ragnar Voskjard, who would be expected by Policrates. It would have seemed simple enough, then, to have brought enough men into the stronghold, posing as the men of Ragnar Voskjard, to take Policrates by surprise. He himself had never met Ragnar Voskjard, no had Voskjard met Policrates. The plan, indeed, was bold, but it had seemed to me sound.
Callimachus, who was experienced in matters of war, had liked the plan, and had concurred. Glyco and Tasdron, too, neither of whom could be tkane as rash fellows, had been taken by the plan. Interestingly enough, it had been the warriors, Callisthenes and Aemilianus, who had tended to regard the plan as dangerous and barren. Callisthenes in particular had been outspoken against it.
It was now near the 20th Ahn, the Gorean midnight. The sky was cloudy. The three moons were high over the trees, bordering the shadowy inlet. I could see the high, dark walls of the stronghold of Policrates in the distance, with its lofty sea gates, with its heavy latticework of iron.
"The fleet of Ragnar Voskjard," had said Callisthenes, "can never join with the fleet of Policrates. It will be prevented from doing so by the chain."Why then," had asked Glyco, "are you so concerned that the topaz never reach Policrates."
"The matter was important to the Merchant Council," said Callisthenes, "I merely do my duty. Some of them are uncertain of the effectiveness of the chain."And I am one of them, " said Glyco.
"That is known to me, " said Callisthenes.
"Has the chain now been placed?" asked Glyco. "Yes," said Callisthenes. "It is now in place."
"This work was done in secrecy, was it not?" I asked. I had not heard of it in Victoria, nor had Callimachus or Tasdron.
"Supposedly," said Callisthenes, "though its existence is now doubtless known to the western towns."It was forged in Cos, in a thousand links," said Glyco, "and brought overland around the delta and on galleys east from Turmus. Its mountings and pylons were mostly done at night. It lies west of Port Cos, that we many be protected from the pirates."It would also allow Port Cost to control trafffice on the river from the west," pointed out Tasdrn, irritably.
"We are under pressure from Cos," said Glyco. "I am not personally in favor of the chain. As a merchant I think a freer trade lies in our best interest. Too the chain will not make Port Cos popular with her sister cities."
"That is certain," said Tasdron. "Victoria, hitherto at least, has been primarily Cosican in her sympathies."
"We of Ar's Station would not have mounted such a chain," said Aemilianus, unnecessarily in my opinion."Possibly you do not have the vision or the resources," said Callisthenes."Our concerns, Captains," said Callimachus, "must now be with ourselves and our immediate dangers, not with the politics of Cos and Ar."Politics?" inquired Callisthenes. "Cos and Ar are at war." "Neither Ar nor Ar's Station, Captain," saidd Aemilianus, "are at war with Port Cos."
"This is true," said Tasdron, hurriedly. It was true. The typical colonizing situation among Gorean politics tends to resemble classical colonization, and not the typical colonization of nation states, in which the colony, in effect, is held subject to alien domination. When a Gorean city founds a colony, usually as a result of internal overpopulation or political dissension, the potential colonists, typically, even before leaving the mother city, develop their own charter, constitution and laws. Most importantly, from the Gorean point of view, when the colony is founded, it will have its own Home Stone. The Home Stone of Port Cos, significantly, was not the Home Stone of Cos. Ar's Station on the other hand did not have its own Home Stone, but its Home Stone remained that of Ar. This is not to deny of course that the colonly will not normally have a close tie with the mother city. It usually will. There are not too many bonds, cultural and historical, between them, for this not to be the case.
"The chain was inordinately expensive," said Glyco, "and, I am certain, it will prove ultimately ineffective." "It was forged in Cos," said Callisthenes. "We shall be expected, in the long run, to bear its expense," said Glyco. "That is probably true," said Callisthenes, "but then too, it is we who will be the direct recipient of its benefits." "If there are any benefits," said Glyco, glumly.
"Surley Port Cos will find some benefits in eing spared the predations of pirates," said Callisthenes. "The chain will surely be ineffective," said Glyco. "That is why I came to Victoria, to seek out Callimachus, that he might, in these dark times, with the topaz in transit, lend us his council and his blade."
"The topaz, given the existence of the chain," said Callisthenes, "is now meaningless, though to be sure, I am charged with the attempt to intercept it, a charge in which I have, thanks to our young friend here, failed," Callishenes glanced meaningfully at me. "To have actually delivered thetopaz to Policrates," he said, "was little short of an act of idiocy."I shrugged. "You have herad my plan," I said, "that we muster ships and under the cover of darkness posting as the fleet ofRagnar Voskjard, enter and take the stronhold of Policrates."