We continued along the docks of Lydius, satisfying our curiosity as to
the port.
We passed some fortified warehouse, in which space is available to merchants.
.. We passed another paga tavern. I licked my lips.
Hunters
It was now near noon.
"Let us return to some paga tavern near the ship," I suggested.
"Good," said Thurnock.
This very afternoon I wished to begin to purchase supplies.
We, with Rim, turned about. I was anxious to be on my way.
Two warriors passed, proud of their red.
Hunters
Description of the tavern of Sarpedon
Musicians in the tavern of Sarpedon The music of the musicians was quite good. I reached to my pouch, to take
from it a golden tarn and throw it to them.
Hunters
Low tables where men sit cross-legged
Kaissa tables available for customers to play I looked to one side. There, lost to the bustle in the tavern, oblivious
to the music, sat two men across a board of one hundred red and yellow
squares, playing Kaissa, the game. One was a Player, a master who makes
his living, though commonly poorly, from the game, playing for a cup of
paga perhaps and the right to sleep in the taverns for the night. The
other, sitting cross-legged with him, was the broad-shouldered, blond
giant from Torvaldsland whom I had seen earlier. He wore a shaggy jacket.
His hair was braided.
Hunters
Low wall where slaves may be chained in reserve for use in an alcove She moved to dart away. Quickly, he took her by the hair and pulled her
quickly, bent over, to a low, sloping side of the room. "Key" he called
to the proprietor, pointing toward the side of the room. The proprietor
hurried over, in his apron, and handed Rim a key. It was number six.
Rim, taking the key in his mouth, put the girl down rudely on her
knees, her back to the low wall, took her hands back and over her head
and snapped them into slave bracelets, dangling on a chain, passing
through a heavy ring set in the wall. He then took the key, which could
open the bracelets, and dropped it in his pouch. She looked up at him,
in fury. It is a way of reserving, for a time, a girl for yourself.
"I shall return shortly," he said.
She knelt there, in the darkness of the side of the room, in her yellow
silk, her hands locked above and behind her head.
Hunters
Narrow iron ladder to alcoves He unfastened her, and she preceded him across the floor, between the
tables. As Rim passed the proprietor, in his apron behind the paga-stained
counter, he tossed him the key. The girl climbed the narrow, iron ladder
to the sixth alcove. Rim followed her.
Thurnock then began to negotiate with the proprietor. I had had Thurnock
give me some coins, which I had placed in my tunic. I did not wish to be
embarrassed by not having the price of a cup of paga. The coins were
from the profit taken on Tana and Ela. The proprietor slopped out from
behind the counter, and Thurnock, impatiently, stamped about. In a few
moments, I saw the luscious, short-bodied dancer, in pleasure silk,
hurry from the kitchen and climb to the eighth alcove.
Hunters
Small alcove lit by tiny lamp
Ventilating hole above it "What are you going to do with me?" she asked.
"I have paid the price of a cup of paga," I told her.
I regarded her in the shadows of the small alcove, lit by the tiny lamp,
its draft carried by the tiny, ventilating hole above it.
She still wore the chains I had put her in. The bit of yellow silk,
crumpled, soaked with sweat, lay to one side.
"How does it feel to be a paga slave?" I asked.
She turned her head to one side.
I had exacted the full performance of the paga slave from her.
Hunters
Serving in the tavern of Sarpedon
In this tavern, paga slave kneels beside the customer at the table, offering
paga
Bread, bosk and grapes are available
There was a flash of slave bells at my side, and a dark-haired, yellow-silked
girl, a paga girl, knelt beside us, where we sat cross-legged behind the
small table. "Paga, Masters?"
"For three," said I, expansively. "And bring bread and bosk, and
grapes."
"Yes, Master."
Hunters
In this tavern paga is served in goblets and cups "Her ear," I said. "Her ear was notched."
Rim and Thurnock laughed. "A thief," said Thurnock, swallowing a mouthful
of bosk and reaching for the paga goblet.
Hunters
The proprietor had now returned behind his counter, and was polishing
paga goblets.
I smiled.
To one side, the Player and the fellow from Torvaldsland, with the ax,
were still engaged in their game. Neither had left the board to
investigate the commotion which had, shortly before, taken place outside.
They, perhaps, had been oblivious of it.
I was served a cup of paga, and I drank it slowly, waiting for Rim and
Thurnock.
They would not hurry. Gorean men do not.
I looked down into the paga cup, and swirled the liquid slowly, and again
drank.
Hunters
Paga is refilled with a vessel brought to the table
"Send that slave to me," I said.
"Yes, Master," he said.
I waited.
In moments, the girl approached, carrying her vessel of paga.
She knelt before me.
"Paga," I said.
Elizabeth Cardwell poured me paga.
Hunters
The slaves of the tavern of Sarpedon
In this tavern, chained slave is dancing in the sand. We were just passing a paga tavern. Within it, dancing in the sand, chained,
was a short-bodied, marvelous female slave.
Hunters
The dancing girl is wearing only chains and her collar.
We took a table, an inconspicuous one, near the rear of the paga tavern,
yet one with an unimpeded view. The short-bodied girl was indeed superb.
Aside from her chains, confining her wrists and ankles, she wore only
her collar.
Hunters
In this tavern, the paga slaves are wearing yellow silks with slave bells. There was a flash of slave bells at my side, and a dark-haired, yellow-silked
girl, a paga girl, knelt beside us, where we sat cross-legged behind the
small table. "Paga, Masters?"
Hunters
There were the men at the tables, the girls, in slave bells, and yellow
silks, serving them. She came through the kitchen door, in the tiny slip of diaphanous yellow
silk allotted to paga slaves, bells locked on her left ankle. She was
doubtless returning to the floor after her rest, to freshen her for further
service. I had not seen her before. She carried a vessel of paga. She
was barefoot on the tiles.
Hunters
In this tavern, when not dancing the girls put on silks and serve also
I noted that Tendite now, again, served in the tavern. I noticed, too,
that, clad in yellow silk, belled on the left ankle, as another paga
girl, the dancer, she whom Thurnock had sported with, too, carried a
vessel of paga about. When she was not dancing, Sarpedon, I gathered,
used her as a common paga slave, not unlike the others. It was more
economical, I supposed, to do so.
Hunters
In this tavern, the dancers do not cost extra for use in the alcoves Both men seemed well relaxed.
I nodded with my head toward the dancer, now serving as a common paga
slave. I did not wish my men to be cheated. "How much did she cost you?"
I asked Thurnock.
"Since, when not dancing, she serves with the common slaves," said
Thurnock, "she came, like the others, for the price of a cup of paga."
"Good," I said. Thurnock had not been cheated.
Hunters
Proprietor checking to ensure his customers are pleased. "All my girls," said Sarpedon, "come with the cup. Even the
dancers." He grinned. "It is house policy," he said proudly. He looked
at us. "Did masters enjoy themselves?"
"Yes!" boomed Thurnock.
"How was Tendite?" asked the proprietor.
"Exquisite," said Rim. "She taught me a couple of things. I must now,
when I return to the ship, teach them to my own slave, Cara."
I recalled the slender, beautiful Cara, on the Tesephone, Rim's slave,
clad in the brief slave tunic of white wool, her hair bound back with
the woolen fillet.
"How was Tana," inquired the proprietor.
"Quite good," I told him.
"She is one of my most popular girls," said the proprietor. "A little
beauty."
Hunters
Paga Tavern of Sarpedon in Lydius
