Assassin of Gor Read Online Free Page A

the city," said Kuurus.
     
    "Yes," said Portus, "but they do little - they are well paid, more than twice what was done before, but they spend the mornings in practices with arms, and the afternoons and evenings in the taverns, the gaming rooms and baths of the city."
     
    "There are swords for hire?" asked Kuurus.
     
    "Yes," said Portus, "and the rich Merchants, and the great houses, those on the Street of Coins, and on the Street of Brands, hire their own men." He smiled. "Further," said he, "Merchants arm and train squads of such men and rent them, for high wages, to the citizens of given streets and cylinders."
     
    Kuurus lifted his paga bowl and drank.
     
    "What has this to do with me?" he asked.
     
    "For whom do you wear on your forehead the mark of the black dagger?" queried Portus discreetly.
     
    Kuurus said nothing.
     
    "Perhaps I could tell you where to find him," proposed Portus.
     
    "I will find him," said Kuurus.
     
    "Of course," said Portus. "Of course." The heavy man, sitting cross-legged, opposite the Assassin, began to sweat, fiddled with the damp blue and yellow silk covering his knee, and then with a nervous hand lifted a shaking bowl of paga to his lips, spilling some down the side of his face. "I meant no harm," he said.
     
    "You are alive," said Kuurus.
     
    "May I ask, Killer," asked Portus, "if you come to make the first killing----or the second?"
     
    "The second," said Kuurus.
     
    "Ah!" said Portus.
     
    "I hunt," said Kuurus.
     
    "Of course," said Portus.
     
    "I come to avenge," said Kuurus.
     
    Portus smiled. "That is what I meant," he said, "that it is good those in the black tunic are once again amongst us, that justice can be done, order restored, right upheld."
     
    Kuurus looked at him, the eyes not smiling. "There is only gold and steel," said he.
     
    "Of course," hastily agreed Portus. "That is very true."
     
    "Why did you come to speak with me?"
     
    "I would hire a sword such as yours," said Portus.
     
    "I hunt," said Kuurus.
     
    "Ar is a vast city," said Portus. "Perhaps it will take you time to find he whom you seek."
     
    Kuurus' eyes flickered.
     
    Portus leaned forward. "And meanwhile," he said, "you might earn considerable sums. I have work for such men as you. And much of the time you would be free, to hunt as you wished. Matters might well work out to our mutual advantage."
     
    "Who are you?" asked Kuurus.
     
    "I am that Portus," said he, "who is Master of the House of Portus."
     
    Kuurus had heard of the House of Portus, one of the largest of the slave houses in the Street of Brands. He had known, of course, from the gown of blue and yellow silk that the man was a slaver.
     
    "What is it that you fear?" asked Kuurus.
     
    "There is a house greater than mine, or any on the Street of Brands," said he.
     
    "You fear this house?" asked Kuurus.
     
    "Those of this house stand near the Administrator, and the High Initiate," said Portus.
     
    "What do you mean?" asked Kuurus.
     
    "The gold of this house is heavy in the councils of the city."
     
    "The Administrator and the High Initiate," asked Kuurus, "owe their thrones to the gold of this house?"
     
    Portus laughed bitterly. "Without the gold of this house, how could the Administrator and the High Initiate have sponsored the races and the games that won them the favor of the lower castes?"
     
    "But the lower castes do not elect the Administrator or the High Initiate," said Kuurus. "The Administrator is appointed by the High Council of the City and the High Initiate by the High Council of the Initiates of the City."
     
    "These councils," said Portus scornfully, "know well the way the lower castes yelp in the tiers." He snorted. "And there are many in the High Councils of the City who, if forced to decide between the steel of the hook knife and the feel of gold in their pouch, will choose gold to steel." Portus winked at Kuurus. "There is only gold and steel," he said.
     
    Kuurus did not smile.
     
    Portus