"No," said Boots, "we shall, for the time, cross it off our itinerary."

"Good," said Andronicus.

"It is their loss," said Boots.

"True," agreed Lecchio.

"I trust you are all well, and are soon to be about your business," I said.

"Yes," said Boots, "but I suspect we may soon have to find another brawny fellow, another chap of great strength and modest talent, to help us set op the platform and tents."

"I think so," I smiled.

"Perhaps I could take over the knife-throwing act," said Boots.

Rowena and Telitsia turned white.

"But who would pay to see knives thrown at a slave?" asked Chino.

"That is true," said Boots.

The slaves visibly relaxed.

"We shall miss you," said Andronicus.

"I shall miss you, too, all of you," I said.

"Doubtless we shall have to locate another player, too," said Boots.

"Yes," smiled Scormus of Ar. "I am returning to Ar."

"And doubtless a Bina, too," moaned Boots.

"Yes, Master," said Bina, kneeling beside Scormus.

"Do you think you will enjoy wearing your collar in Ar?" he asked her.

She looked up at him. "As long as you are my master," she said, "I would wear it joyfully in Torvaldsland or Schendi."

"Rowena! Telitsia!" said Boots.

The two slaves immediately knelt before us.

I regarded them, Rowena, with her long, yellow braids, and dark-haired, shapely Telitsia, once of the scribes, now merely a girl of Boots Tarsk-Bit.

"Are they not lovely?" said Boots.

"Yes," I said.

"Rowena," said Boots, "had the making of a marvelous Golden Courtesan and Telitsia, here, I am certain, will become my finest Brigella."

"Thank you, Master," said Rowena.

"Thank you, Master," said Telitsia.

"This slave here," said Boots, "the well-formed brunet," indicating Telitsia, "has begged permission o record our plays, to write them down. Is that not absurd?"

"Why would it be absurd?" I asked.

"Because they constantly change, being continually improved and refined, and because they are often being adapted to different venues and are often topical," he said. "Too, how could a mere literary image capture the essence of the living drama?"

"Too, they are not worth writing down," said Lecchio.

"I know you do not value my opinion in these matters," I said, "but I must disagree with Lecchio."

"You are more inclined to agree with me, then?" asked Boots.

"Yes," I said.

"Your opinion, the," said Boots, "is not without value."

"Even if these plays are not great dramas," I said, "of the sort of which perhaps Andronicus dreams, they are a genuine part of the vital and living theater. They are a place, whether at a crossroads or in a ubar's hall, where theater exists. In this sense they are not only a part of its tradition and history, but are, humanly, for all their vulgarity and bawdiness, rich and precious. It would be a tragedy if they were not, in one sense or another, however unworthily or inadequately, remembered."

"It is impossible that they should be lost," said Boots.

"I know of a world where they were," I said.

"At any rate," said Boots. "I did give her permission, and the materials, too, to make at least a few jotting pertinent to these matters."

"Excellent," I said.

"Do you think me weak?" asked Boots.

"No," I said. "It is a good idea." I looked to Telitsia, kneeling with Rowena before us. "Why did you want to do this?" I asked her.

"I have learned to love them," she said. "I found them precious. I did not wan them to perish."

"If giving her our permission in this matter bothers you," I said, "seeming to you perhaps a bit too indulgent, there exists an obvious remedy wherewith you may assuage your qualms."

"What is that?" asked Boots, interested.

"Simply command her," I said. "As she is a slave, she must then obey promptly and perfectly, and will be subject to any disciplines which you might care to impose on her."

"A very good idea," said Boots. "Telitsia!"

"Yes, Master," she said.

"Keep some notes, or jottings, or records of some sort, now and then, on some of our plays, or some of those of others, as you might come on the, that sort of thing," he said.

"Yes, Master. Thank you, Master," said Telitsia, once of the scribes.

I looked down at Rowena and Telitsia, and though they were slaves, they lowered their eyes, blushing at my glance. "an excellent brace of sluts," I said.

"Yes," agreed Boots, proud of his chattels.

"You are fortunate," I said. "Not only do you have two fine actresses here but tow superb tent girls."

"True," said Boots. He was indeed fortunate. Both girls were so beautiful that the mere sight of them, chained by the ankle to the stake in their tents, could drive men mad with desire.

"I shall miss the, as I will all of you," I said.

"We, too, will miss you, all of us," said Chino.

"Scormus," I said.

"Yes," he said.

"I gather that Andronicus gave you the papers from Brundisium, the keys to certain ciphers," I said.

"Yes," he said.

"I hope they proved pertinent to the other papers I left with you, those originally obtained from she who was once the Lady Yanina."

"They did," he said, "as we had surmised they would." He handed me a sheaf of papers. "I have written out the decipherings for you. There was no difficulty, given the keys. I did them last night. They are all here."

I took the papers. "I am grateful," I said. To be sure, my primary motivation in entering Brundisium had been to investigate my own business, to try and discover who or what it was that had been responsible for the attack on me in Port Kar. I had learned, of course, to my surprise, that it had been neither Priest-Kings nor Kurii, but Lurius of Jad, Ubar of Cos. This information, and I did not doubt but what it was sound, I had had from Flaminius, he of Ar, though seemingly traitor to that city. "What is their purport?" I asked.

"Treason to Ar, betrayal of the alliance," he said. "Cos, abetted by Tyros, moves against Ar. Thousands of men, trained to perfection in both Cos and Tyros, embark upon vessels. n Brundisium's harbor, the joint invasion fleet is to be peacefully received. Indeed, for months Brundisium has been being secretly stocked with provisions and materials of war. It is serve as a staging area for the subsequent penetration of the continent.

"In the light of such considerations," said Boots, "it is little wonder that those of Brundisium should seem somewhat concerned over matters of security."

"There were fires in the city," I said. "Perhaps those stores intended to support the invasion were damaged or destroyed, thus forcing a delay."

"On the supposition that the housing of such stores was near the harbor," said Scormus, "I would regard it as unlikely. The flames, as I understand it, from Andronicus and others, were not in the harbor area."

"That is true," I said.

"Many things now come together," said Scormus. "Even so small a thing as the presence of Ta grapes, generally associated with the terraces of Cos, at the banquet of Belnar now seems significant."

"Most significant, perhaps," I said, "was the presence of Temenides in Brundisium, at a high table, obviously enjoying the favor of Belnar."

"Perhaps he was a courier," speculated Boots. "Players may come and go much as they please."

"I suspect his station was higher than that of a simple courier," said Scormus. "Such fellows, at any rate, would seldom travel with an escort of Cosian spearmen."

"You suspect his presence there indicated some advance in this business, that perhaps some important juncture was at hand?" I asked.

"I think so," smiled Scormus.

"Ar," I said, "has the finest land forces on Gor. Cos and Tyros are mad to challenge her on the land."

"Marlenus, Ubar of Ar," said Scormus, "is not in Ar. He is, as I understand it, in the Voltai, concerned with a punitive expedition against Treve."