I had failed them all.

"Bring Portus!" called Cernus.

The Slaver who had been chief competitor to the House of Cernus was brought forward, doubtless from the dungeons of the Central Cylinder of Ar, on order of its Ubar, Cernus, once of the Merchants, now of the Caste of the Warriors.

Portus, half wasted now, his skin hanging about his frame, was brought, manacled, stripped to the waist, to the square of sand.

His manacles were removed and a naked hook knife was thrust in his trembling hand.

"Please oh mighty Cernus!" he whined. "Show mercy!"

The slave whom I had originally seen victorious in the sport of hook knife sprang to the sand and began to stalk Portus.

"Please, Cernus!" cried Portus as a long line of blood burst open across his chest. "Please! Please! Caste Brother!" he cried, as the slave, swift, eager, laughing, struck him again and again, with impunity. Then Portus tried to fight but, weakened, unskilled, clumsy, he stumbled about, being again and again streaked with blood, no cut mortal. At last he fell into the sand covered with blood at the feet of the laughing slave, quivering, whining, unable to move.

"Feed him to the beast," said Cernus.

Whimpering, Portus was dragged from the sand, leaving blood across the tiles, and was taken from the hall.

"Bring the Hinrabian!" called Cernus.

I was startled. The entire Hinrabian family, in caravan, had been ambushed, months ago, shortly after leaving the vicinity of Ar enroute to the desert city of Tor. It was assumed the entire family had been destroyed. The only body not recovered had been that of Claudia Tentia Hinrabia, who had been originally the unfortunate victim of the intrigues of Cernus, the means whereby was brought about the downfall of the house of Portus.

I heard, far off, a weird scream, that of Portus, and a wild, savage cry, almost of roar.

Those in the hall trembled.

"The beast has been fed," said Cernus, chuckling, drinking wine, spilling some of it down his face.

A slave girl was brought, a slim girl, in yellow Pleasure Silk, with short black hair, dark eyes, high cheekbones.

She ran timidly and knelt before the dais.

I gasped, for it was Claudia Tentia Hinrabia, once the spoiled daughter of a Ubar of Ar, now a rightless wench in bondage, not unlike thousands of others in Glorious Ar.

She looked about herself, with wonder. I doubted that she had been before in that room.

"You are the slave girl Claudia?" asked Cernus.

"Yes, Master," said the girl.

"Do you know what city you are in?" asked Cernus.

"No, Master," whispered the girl. "I was brought hooded to your house."

"By what men?" inquired Cernus.

"I do not know, Master," whispered the girl.

"It is said you claim to be Claudia Tentia Hinrabia," said Cernus.

The girl lifted her head wildly. "It is true!" she cried. "It is true, Master!"

"I know," said Cernus.

She looked at him in horror.

"What city is this?" she asked.

"Ar," said Cernus.

"Ar?" she gasped.

"Yes," said Cernus, "Glorious Ar."

Hope sprang in her eyes. She almost rose to her feet. There were tears in her eyes. "Ar!" she cried. "Oh free me! Free me!" She lifted her hands to Cernus. "I am of Ar! I am of Ar! I am Claudia Tentia Hinrabia of Ar! Free me, Master!"

"Do you know me?" asked Cernus.

"No, Master," said the girl.

"I am Cernus," said he, "Ubar of Ar."

She gazed upon him, thunderstruck. "Noble Cernus," she whispered, "if you be my Master, free me, free me!"

"Why?" asked Cernus.

"I am Claudia Tentia Hinrabia," she said, "of Ar!"

"You are a slave girl," said Cernus.

She looked at him in horror. "Please, Ubar," she wept. "Please noble Cernus, Ubar of my city, free me!"

"Your father owed me monies," said Cernus. "You will remain my slave."

"Please!" she wept.

"You are alone," said Cernus. "Your family is gone. There is no one to protect you. You will remain my slave."

She buried her head in her hands, weeping. "I have been in misery," she wept, "since I was stolen by the men of the house of Portus and enslaved."

Cernus laughed.

The girl looked at him, not understanding.

"How could the men of Portus enter the Central Cylinder and carry you away?" he inquired.

"I do not know," she admitted.

"You were hooded and abducted by Taurentians," said Cernus, "the palace guard itself."

She gasped.

"Saphronicus, their Captain," said Cernus, "is in my hire."

She shook her head numbly.

"But the House of Portus-," she said. "I saw the collar on a slave girl-."

Cernus laughed.

He strode from the dais to stand over her.

"Stand, Slave," said he.

The Hinrabian did so.

She regarded him with horror. He parted the Pleasure Silk and threw it from her.

He then took the heavy chain with its medallion from the neck of Elizabeth Cardwell and placed it about the throat of the Hinrabian girl.

"No! No!" she cried, throwing her hands to the side of her head, and fell screaming and weeping to her knees at the feet of Cernus.

He laughed.

She raised her horror-stricken eyes to him. "It was you!" she whispered. "You!"

"Of course," said Cernus. He then took back from her his medallion and chain, and placed it about his own neck. He then returned to his place on the dais.

The room roared with laughter.

"Bind her arms and wrists tightly," said Cernus to a guard.

This was done to the Hinrabian girl, who, stricken with horror, seemed scarcely able to move.

"We have another surprise for you, my dear Claudia," said Cernus.

She looked at him blankly.

"Bring the pot wench," said Cernus to a subordinate and the man, grinning, sped from the room.

"Claudia Tentia Hinrabia," said Cernus to those assembled, while he quaffed yet another goblet of Ka-la-na, "is well known throughout Ar as a most strict and demanding mistress. It is said that once, when a slave dropped a mirror, she had the poor girl's ears and nose cut off, and then sold the then worthless wench."

There were shouts of commendation from the men at the tables.

Claudia was held on her knees by two guards, her arms and wrists tied tightly behind her. Her face began to turn white.

"I searched long in the kitchens of Ar until I found that wench," said Cernus.

I recalled that in his kitchen, seemingly months ago, though only a handful of days past, I had seen a mutilated girl.

"And purchased her," said Cernus.

There was a shout of pleasure from the tables.

Claudia Tentia Hinrabia, in her bonds, seemed frozen, horror-stricken, unable to move.

A girl came in from the kitchens, followed by the man who had gone to fetch her. It was the girl to whom I had, some days ago, on the evening of my capture, tossed a bottle of paga. Her ears had been cut from her, and her nose. She might otherwise have been beautiful.

When the girl entered the room Claudia was turned by her guards, still on her knees, bound, to face her.

The girl stopped stunned. Claudia's eyes regarded her, wide with horror.

"What is your name?" asked Cernus of the girl kindly.

"Melanie," said she, not taking her eyes from the Hinrabian, startled, astonished that she should so find her former mistress.

"Melanie," said Cernus, "do you know this slave?"

"She is Claudia Tentia Hinrabia," whispered the girl.

"Do you remember her?" asked Cernus.

"Yes," said the girl. "She was my mistress."

"Give her a hook knife," said Cernus to one of the men near him.

A hook knife was pressed into the hands of the mutilated girl.

She looked at the knife, and then at the bound Hinrabian, who shook her head slightly, tears in her eyes.

"Please, Melanie," whispered the Hinrabian, "do not hurt me."