With the exception of two men, one sitting at either end of the table, all the occupants of the room were without weapons.
The man sitting at the head of the table was the same who had admitted Rapas and me the evening before. I learned later that his name was Hamas, and that he was the major-domo of the establishment.
The other armed man was Phystal. He was in charge of the slaves in the establishment. He also, as I was to learn later, attended to the procuring of many of them, usually by bribery or abduction.
As I entered the room, Hamas discovered me and motioned me to come to him. “You will sit here, next to me, Vandor,” he said.
I could not but note the difference in his manner from the night before, when he had seemed more or less an obsequious slave. I gathered that he played two roles for purposes known best to himself or his master. In his present role, he was obviously a person of importance.
“You slept well?” he asked.
“Quite,” I replied; “the house seems very quiet and peaceful at night.”
He grunted. “If you should hear any unusual sounds at night,” he said, “you will not investigate, unless the master or I call you.” And then, as though he felt that that needed some explanation, he added, “Fal Sivas sometimes works upon his experiments late at night. You must not disturb him no matter what you may hear.”
Some more slaves were entering the room now, and just behind them came Zanda. I glanced at Hamas and saw his eyes narrow as they alighted upon her.
“Here she is now, Phystal,” he said.
The man at the far end of the table turned in his seat and looked at the girl approaching from behind him. He was scowling angrily.
“Where were you last night, Zanda?” he demanded, as the girl approached the table.
“I was frightened, and I hid,” she replied.
“Where did you hide?” demanded Phystal.
“Ask Hamas,” she replied.
Phystal glanced at Hamas. “How should I know where you were?” demanded the latter.
Zanda elevated her arched brows. “Oh, I am sorry,” she exclaimed; “I did not know that you cared who knew.”
Hamas scowled angrily. “What do you mean by that?” he demanded; “what are you driving at?”
“Oh,” she said, “I wouldn’t have said anything about it at all but I thought, of course, that Fal Sivas knew.”
Phystal was eyeing Hamas suspiciously. All the slaves were looking at him, and you could almost read their thoughts in the expressions on their faces.
Hamas was furious, Phystal suspicious; and all the time the girl stood there with the most innocent and angelic expression on her face.
“What do you mean by saying such a thing?” shouted Hamas.
“What did I say?” she asked, innocently.
“You said—you said—”
“I just said, ‘ask Hamas.’ Is there anything wrong in that?”
“But what do I know about it?” demanded the major-domo.
Zanda shrugged her slim shoulders. “I am afraid to say anything more. I do not want to get you in trouble.”
“Perhaps the less said about it, the better,” said Phystal.
Hamas started to speak, but evidently thought better of it. He glowered at Zanda for a moment and then fell to eating his breakfast.
Just before the meal was over, I told Hamas that Fal Sivas had instructed me to select a slave.
“Yes, he told me,” replied the major-domo. “See Phystal about it; he is in charge of the slaves.”
“But does he know that Fal Sivas gave me permission to select anyone that I chose?”
“I will tell him.”
A moment later he finished his breakfast; and as he was leaving the dining room, he paused and spoke to Phystal.
Seeing that Phystal also was about ready to leave the table, I went to him and told him that I would like to select a slave.
“Which one do you want?” he asked.
I glanced around the table, apparently examining each of the slaves carefully until at last my eyes rested upon Zanda.
“I will take this one,” I said.
Phystal’s brows contracted, and he hesitated.
“Fal Sivas said that I might select whomever I wished,” I reminded him.
“But why do you want this one?” he demanded.
“She seems intelligent, and she is good-looking,” I replied. “She will do as well as another until I am better acquainted here.” And so it was that Zanda was appointed to serve me. Her duties would consist of keeping my apartments clean, running errands for me, cleaning my harness, shining my metal, sharpening my swords and daggers, and otherwise making herself useful.
I would much rather have had a man slave, but events had so ordered themselves that I had been forced into the role of the girl’s protector, and this seemed the only plan by which I could accomplish anything along that line; but whether or not Fal Sivas would permit me to keep her, I did not know. That was a contingency which remained for future solution when, and if, it eventuated.
I took Zanda back to my quarters; and while she was busying herself with her duties there, I received a call summoning me to Fal Sivas.
A slave led me to the same room in which Fal Sivas had received Rapas and me the night before, and as I entered the old inventor greeted me with a nod. I expected him to immediately question me concerning Zanda, for both Hamas and Phystal were with him; and I had no doubt but that they had reported all that had occurred at the breakfast table.
However, I was agreeably disappointed, for he did not mention the incident at all, but merely gave me instructions as to my duties.
I was to remain on duty in the corridor outside his door and accompany him when he left the room. I was to permit no one to enter the room, other than Hamas or Phystal, without obtaining permission from Fal Sivas. When he left the room, I was to accompany him. Under no circumstances was I ever to go to the level above, except with his permission or by his express command. He was very insistent in impressing this point upon my mind; and though I am not overly curious, I must admit that now that I had been forbidden to go to any of the levels above, I wanted to do so.
“When you have been in my service longer and I know you better,” explained Fal Sivas, “I hope to be able to trust you; but for the present you are on probation.”
That was the longest day I have ever spent, just standing around outside that door, doing nothing; but at last it drew to a close, and when I had the opportunity, I reminded Fal Sivas that he had promised to direct me to Ur Jan’s headquarters, so that I might try to gain entrance to them that night.
He gave me very accurate directions to a building in another quarter of the city.
“You are free to start whenever you wish,” he said, in conclusion; “I have given Hamas instructions that you may come and go as you please. He will furnish you with a pass signal whereby you may gain admission to the house. I wish you luck,” he said, “but I think that the best you will get will be a sword through your heart. You are pitting yourself against the fiercest and most unscrupulous gang of men in Zodanga.”
“It is a chance that I shall have to take,” I said. “Good night.”
I went to my quarters and told Zanda to lock herself in after I had left and to open the door only in answer to a certain signal which I imparted to her. She was only too glad to obey my injunction.
When I was ready to leave the building, Hamas conducted me to the outer doorway.
Here he showed me a hidden button set in the masonry and explained to me how I might use it to announce my return.
I had gone but a short distance from the house of Fal Sivas when I met Rapas the Ulsio. He seemed to have forgotten his anger toward me, or else he was dissimulating, for he greeted me cordially.