Results

Cernus

Book 5. (498 results) Assassin of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
15	358	My own duties during these months in the House of Cernus remained light, consisting of little more than accompanying Cernus on infrequent occasions on which he left the house, a member of his guard; in the city Cernus traveled in a sedan chair, borne on the shoulders of eight men.	10
17	195	While the men of Cernus did their work in the paga taverns, and on the streets and in the market squares, and on the ramps and in the tiers of the games and races, the gold of Cernus, and the steel of Cernus, was apparently plied elsewhere.	10
4	2	Cernus of Ar, of the House of Cernus, studied me, his large face impassive, his eyes revealing nothing, like gray stones.	10
4	11	"I am the first sword in the House of Cernus," said Cernus.	10
4	19	Cernus wore about his neck, on a golden chain, a medallion which bore the crest of the House of Cernus, a tarn with slave chains grasped in its talons.	10
4	36	In the House of Cernus, after the sheet, bracelets, leash and collar had been removed, agents of the House of Cernus had checked her fingerprints against those on the papers.	10
4	45	"May I ask," inquired Cernus, "for whom you wear on your forehead the mark of the black dagger?" I would speak of these things, to some extent, with Cernus, for it was important, though perilous, that he should understand what purported to be my mission.	10
4	185	"I had a Tuchuk girl once," said Cernus, "a wild girl of the wagons, of whom I was fond, but when she tried to kill me, I strangled her in the chain of the House of Cernus".	10
7	25	"You will see," said Cernus, "that the house of Cernus is indeed generous, and more generous than you have thought to dream.	10
7	102	Almost immediately the first man, he who wore the tiny Thief's brand, returned to the panel and crouching down, held out a small, obviously heavy box, to Cernus, who, in spite of the fact that he was the master of the House of Cernus itself, took it in his own hands.	10
9	1	I Learn of the House of Cernus Ho-Tu, as Elizabeth had suggested, was only too willing to show me about the House of Cernus.	10
9	24	Although there are some private show and sales rooms in the House of Cernus, and private auctions and exhibitions, intended to interest prospective clients, are held, most slaves, of the House of Cernus and others, are sold in one of the five public auction houses, licensed and taxed by the Administ...	10
14	1	The Prisoner When I had returned to the House of Cernus I passed the heavy, bolted door which led to the hallway off which was the luxurious cell in which Cernus was accustomed to keep his Special Captures, which cell had been shown to me earlier by Ho-Tu.	10
14	116	To my surprise at the door I encountered none other than Cernus, Master of the House of Cernus.	10
15	1	Portus Comes to the House of Cernus I observed Phyllis Robertson performing the belt dance, on love furs spread between the tables, under the eyes of the Warriors of Cernus and the members of his staff.	10
15	365	But perhaps more importantly he had been spreading rumors throughout the city of the desirability of trained barbarians, of which he now had several in training, those who had been brought to Gor with Virginia and Phyllis, some who had been brought to the pens earlier and not sold off immediately, a...	10
15	432	"I do not know!" Then, piteously, Portus lifted his hands to Cernus, Master of the House of Cernus.	10
16	3	The men of the House of Portus, who had been Slavers and mercenaries the equals of those of the House of Cernus, had now been disbanded, some leaving the city, some taking their gold from new masters, some even hiring their swords to the House of Cernus.	10
16	32	It was also the day that, before the High Council and the Administrator, Cernus, of the House of Cernus, accepted the red of the Warrior from the hands of Saphronicus, Captain of the Taurentians.	10
17	159	Meanwhile the intrigues of Cernus, of the House of Cernus, threaded their way through the days and events of the spring and summer in Ar.	10
17	162	"Cernus, of the House of Cernus," said the disguised guard, "is a Warrior".	10
17	181	I turned and left when I heard the men at the table, led by the guard, lifting their cups to Cernus, of the House of Cernus.	10
17	182	"May Cernus, of the House of Cernus," said they, "become Ubar of Ar!" I saw one other man rise up when I did, and also leave the tavern.	10
17	233	Caprus, who had become more affable, and apparently somewhat bolder, following the enthronement of Cernus, perhaps because Cernus was less often then in the House, informed me that he had made contact with an agent of Priest-Kings.	10
17	400	I saw that even Cernus had now looked up from his board and was roaring with laughter, the first time I had ever seen such amusement in the person of the Master of the House of Cernus.	10
17	693	When the father of Cernus was poisoned and Cernus, then the lesser, placed upon his neck the medallion of the House, Ho-Tu protested.	10
18	466	Standing in the doorway, four guards armed with crossbows with him, stood Cernus, of the House of Cernus.	10
19	15	In the House of Cernus, however, to all, he had been known simply as Caprus, having been introduced to the staff and guards in this fashion by Cernus.	10
19	50	This was the evening of the fourth day of the Love Feast, the climax of the feast insofar as the sales of slaves was concerned; this was the night Cernus would put his barbarian beauties on the block; tomorrow would be the concluding races and games, wild, dizzying hours in the Stadium of Tarns and ...	10
19	193	Yet when he persisted, there were some token offers, perhaps by men who wished to obtain a kettle girl for next to nothing; I was not surprised to note that each time a legitimate offer was made, though small, it was topped slightly by a fellow in the robes of the Metal Workers, whom I knew to be a ...	10
20	27	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.	10
20	76	"Noble Cernus," she whispered, "if you be my Master, free me, free me!" "Why?" asked Cernus.	10
20	80	"Please noble Cernus, Ubar of my city, free me!" "Your father owed me moneys," said Cernus.	10
20	173	"Since I am Ubar of Ar," said Cernus to me, "and of the Caste of Warriors—" There was mirth at the tables, but a look from Cernus silenced it in a moment.	10
20	258	"Qualius the Player," called Cernus, "you are once again in the House of Cernus, who is now Ubar of Ar".	10
20	297	He stood before the table of Cernus and though Cernus was Ubar of his city he merely lifted his hand in common Gorean greeting, palm inward.	10
20	361	"Would you not care," asked Cernus of the boy, "to inform the prisoner of your name?" The handsome boy looked down from the chair of Cernus on me.	10
20	366	My champion was Hup, a Fool, that of Cernus was the brilliant, fiery, competitive Scormus of Ar, the young, phenomenal Scormus, who played first board of the city of Ar and held the highest bridge in the city as the province of his game, the master not only of the Players of Ar but doubtless of Gor ...	10
22	124	Some seventy or eighty yards away I saw the box of the Ubar and, upon the throne of the Ubar, Cernus, of the House of Cernus, in the imperial purple of the Ubar.	10
22	146	He was the man who had reported my presence to Cernus, he to whom Cernus had issued an order.	10
23	1	I Finish My Business in the House of Cernus I waited in the hall of Cernus, on his own great chair.	10
2	317	"The House of Cernus," said Portus.	10
2	320	"Good!" "By the House of Cernus," said the Assassin.	10
2	349	It bore the legend: I am the property of the House of Cernus.	10
2	351	"Unfortunately," said she, "the key reposes in the House of Cernus".	10
2	353	"You had best call me Vella," said she, "for that is the name I am known by in the House of Cernus".	10
4	1	Cernus "Place your first sword before me," I said, "that I may kill him".	10
4	5	Cernus of Ar wore a coarse black robe, woven probably from the wool of the bounding, two-legged Hurt, a domesticated marsupial raised in large numbers in the environs of several of Gor's northern cities.	10
4	7	The House of Cernus, I had heard, had interests in several of the Hurt Ranches near the city.	10
4	8	The black of the garment of Cernus was broken only by three stripes of silk sewn lengthwise on his left sleeve, two stripes of blue enclosing one of yellow.	10
4	9	When I had spoken several of the men-at-arms of Cernus had shifted uneasily.	10
4	12	The room in which I stood was the Hall of the House of Cernus.	10
4	18	It reminded me, in its way, of a room in a prison and such, in its way, it was, for it was a room in the House of Cernus, greatest of the slave houses of Ar.	10
4	20	Behind Cernus, on the wall, there hung a large tapestry, richly done in red and gold, which bore the same sign.	10
4	21	"I have come," I said, "to rent my sword to the House of Cernus".	10
4	22	"We have been expecting you," said Cernus.	10
4	24	"It is understood by me," said Cernus, evidently relaying certain reports which had reached him, "that Portus, of the House of Portus, sought to hire your sword in vain".	10
4	26	Cernus smiled.	10
4	30	After a bit of cold bosk, some water and a handful of peas, I had come to the House of Cernus.	10
4	33	It was Caprus of Ar, Chief Accountant to the House of Cernus.	10
4	37	She had then been examined thoroughly by the Physicians of the House of Cernus.	10
4	39	Then she had submitted herself to the House of Cernus, kneeling before one of its agents, lowering her head, extending her arms, wrists crossed.	10
4	42	There had been no difficulty, it seemed, in placing Vella in the House of Cernus.	10
4	51	"In this city," said Cernus, "Tarl Cabot, he of Ko-ro-ba, is known as Tarl of Bristol".	10
4	53	"I have heard sing of him," said Cernus.	10
4	58	"I regret to hear it," said Cernus, at last.	10
4	61	"Who could kill Tarl of Bristol?" cried out a man-at-arms, not even thinking that Cernus had not acknowledged his right to speak.	10
4	89	Now, in the Hall of the House of Cernus, my thoughts became bitter.	10
4	94	"Why," asked Cernus, breaking into my reverie, "did not Warriors of Ko-ro-ba come to Ar, to search out the killer?" "It was not an act of war," said I.	10
4	97	"Do you know the name of the man whom you seek?" asked Cernus.	10
4	99	"It is a faction patch," said Cernus.	10
4	102	"This house itself," said Cernus, "is allied with the faction of the Greens, as certain other houses, and various of the establishments of the city, are associated with other factions".	10
4	103	"I know," I said, "that the House of Cernus is allied with the Greens".	10
4	104	"I now see," said Cernus, "that there is more reason than I suspected in your desire to rent your sword in this house".	10
4	106	"It is unlikely though," said Cernus, "for those who favor the Greens are numbered in the thousands and come from all the castes of Gor.	10
4	109	"But you are welcome in this house," said Cernus.	10
4	112	"I will upon occasion," said Cernus, "have commissions for you".	10
4	116	"You will be shown to your quarters," said Cernus, gesturing to a nearby man-at-arms.	10
4	122	"Four pieces of gold," said Cernus, "double tarns, will be sent to your rooms".	10
4	124	"Also," said Cernus, "it is understood by me that you picked up one of my girls on the street".	10
4	126	"What was her number?" Cernus was asking Caprus, who stood near him.	10
4	128	I had anticipated that there would be some mention of Vella, for it was unlikely that Cernus would be unaware of my contact with her.	10
4	129	Indeed, I had instructed her, when she had returned late to the House of Cernus, to bewail and protest what had theoretically happened to her in no uncertain terms.	10
4	130	Accordingly, I was not surprised that the Scribe had her number ready for Cernus.	10
4	131	Moreover, he probably knew it anyway, as she had been assigned to his staff, primarily to run errands in the city, for Caprus, it was said, seldom cared to leave the House of Cernus.	10
4	132	I wished to be able to work closely with Vella in the House of Cernus.	10
4	135	Cernus smiled.	10
4	138	Cernus chuckled.	10
4	146	She ran rapidly to a place before the stone platform, before the curule chair of Cernus, where she fell to her knees in the position of pleasure slave, head bowed.	10
4	152	"Lift your head, Girl," said Cernus.	10
4	153	She did so, and I gathered it was the first time she had actually looked on the face of the master of the House of Cernus.	10
4	155	"How long have you been with us?" asked Cernus.	10
4	157	"Do you like it here?" asked Cernus.	10
4	159	"Do you know the penalty for lying?" asked Cernus.	10
4	161	One of Cernus' men-at-arms looked at him, to see if he wished him to secure her to one of the slave rings in the base of the platform for punishment.	10
4	162	Cernus, with a finger, indicated negativity.	10
4	163	"Lift your head, Little Slave," said Cernus.	10
4	165	"Remove your clothing," said Cernus.	10
4	167	"You are very pretty, Little Slave," said Cernus.	10
4	171	"No," said Cernus, "what name would you like to be called by?" "Vella," said she, "if it pleases Master".	10
4	174	"I see," said Cernus, "that you wear the brand of the four bosk horns".	10
4	181	"He is a fool," said Cernus.	10
4	189	"How came you to Thentis?" asked Cernus.	10
4	194	A year later, by slave wagon, I reached the fair of Se'Var near the Sardar, where I was sold to the House of Clark, from which house I and many others were fortunate enough to be purchased by the House of Cernus, in Glorious Ar".	10
4	195	Cernus leaned back again, seemingly satisfied.	10
4	202	"It will not hurt much the second time," said Cernus.	10
4	204	Cernus turned to Caprus, who stood near him.	10
4	208	"Slave," said Cernus.	10
4	212	"Turn slowly," ordered Cernus.	10
4	214	Cernus turned to Caprus.	10
4	218	"Excellent," said Cernus.	10
4	221	"Let her be fully trained," said Cernus to Caprus.	10
4	223	"Yes," said Cernus, "fully".	10
4	228	On the other hand it would be done presumably in the House of Cernus.	10
4	230	During this time, since Elizabeth was nominally of the staff of Caprus, we could surely find time to be about our work, for which purpose we had arranged to enter the House of Cernus.	10
4	231	"Are you not grateful?" inquired Cernus, puzzled.	10
4	234	Then Cernus pointed to me, indicating that the girl should turn.	10
4	238	"Who?" inquired Cernus, innocently.	10
4	242	"It is he, the Assassin, who forced me in the streets to accompany him to the tavern of Spindius! Protect me, Master! Please, Master! Protect me, Master!" "Is this the slave," asked Cernus sternly, "whom you forced to accompany you to the tavern of Spindius?" "I think she is the one," I admitted.	10
4	244	"You are only a poor little slave," said Cernus.	10
4	248	"Would you like me to punish him, for you?" asked Cernus, kindly.	10
4	251	"Please, oh Master! Punish him! Punish him!" "Very well," said Cernus, "I will punish him by sending to his quarters an untrained slave girl".	10
4	253	Cernus turned to Caprus.	10
4	257	"Please Master! No! No!" "Perhaps," said Cernus, "if your training proceeds rapidly and favorably you may, after some months, find other quarters".	10
4	259	"Let that be an incentive to be diligent, Little Slave," said Cernus.	10
4	260	I threw back my head and laughed, and Cernus threw back his head and laughed, pounding on the arms of the curule chair, and the men-at-arms, too, roared with laughter.	10
5	1	In the House of Cernus Kneeling back on her heels in my quarters, in the traditional fashion of Gorean women, Elizabeth laughed merrily and slapped her knees, so pleased was she.	10
5	31	The door to my compartment, however, in the House of Cernus, did not have a lock.	10
5	37	Further I was confident that the lock would be placed, for Cernus would insist, by one of his own smiths, and thus that the nature of the lock would be known to him and that a duplicate of its key, in spite of the injunction against such, would doubtless be his.	10
5	451	"The House of Cernus in Ar," said Misk.	10
5	496	"It will be arranged," said he, "that you will be placed as a slave in the House of Cernus, as a member of the staff of Caprus.	10
5	497	Papers will be prepared on you and you will be transmitted to the House of Clark in Thentis, whence you will be taken by tarn caravan to Ar, where you will be sold privately, your purchase to be effected by the agents of the House of Cernus, under the instructions of Caprus".	10
5	499	"I shall follow her," I said, "probably as a mercenary tarnsman, and attempt to take service with the House of Cernus".	10
5	615	If all went well, we expected she would be in Ar, and perhaps in the House of Cernus, by the end of En'Var.	10
5	617	I had decided to wait until the Fourth Passage Hand, that following En'Var, and then take tarn for Ar, where I would pose as a mercenary tarnsman seeking employment in the House of Cernus, but when the Warrior from Thentis, who resembled me, was slain early in En'Var, I decided to go to Ar in the gu...	10
5	638	Also, as she was, legally, having submitted in the House of Cernus, a slave girl, any small thing she had or could do which was her own was doubtless rather precious to her.	10
5	697	"When you returned to the House of Cernus," I asked, "and told the Keeper what had theoretically happened to you, as I instructed you, what happened?" Elizabeth smiled.	10
5	735	About his neck he wore a rude ornament, a loose iron chain bearing, also in iron, a medallion, the crest of the House of Cernus.	10
5	761	At that moment a bar, struck in a certain pattern by an iron hammer somewhere in the house, rang out, the sound taken up by other bars, also struck, on various floors of the House of Cernus.	10
5	765	"Cernus," said he, "requests your presence at table".	10
6	1	I Sit Table with Cernus I observed the two men, collared slaves, squaring off against one another in the sand.	10
6	6	"These men are the champions among male slaves at hook knife," said Cernus.	10
6	10	Cernus had paid me little attention, being absorbed in the game.	10
6	13	Cernus was well in command of the board.	10
6	18	Without being asked I had taken a position at the table of Cernus himself.	10
6	21	The table of Cernus itself, of course, was regarded as being above the bowls.	10
6	26	I heard the odds changing rapidly at the tables as the men of the house of Cernus revised their betting.	10
6	27	I heard Cernus announce "Capture of Home Stone," and turned to see Caprus sit back in defeat, staring at the board.	10
6	28	Cernus began to arrange the pieces once more on the board.	10
6	30	Cernus laughed with pleasure, turning the board.	10
6	33	Cernus looked at me eagerly.	10
6	41	The food at the table of Cernus was good, but it was plain, rather severe, like the master of the House.	10
6	49	Following the meal, I understood, in the House of Cernus, is a time for the pleasure and recreation of the men.	10
6	51	Paga and Ka-la-na are then, when Cernus would leave, brought forth.	10
6	103	"Capture of Home Stone," announced Cernus, moving his First Tarnsman to Ubara's Builder One, where Caprus had, at that point in the game, been attempting to protect his Home Stone.	10
6	105	Cernus arose and stretched, leaving Caprus to gather up the pieces.	10
6	106	"Let paga and Ka-la-na be served," said Cernus, to a cheer, and turned and left the table, disappearing through a side door, the same through which the shackled slave had been led.	10
6	107	Caprus, soon after, carrying the game pieces and board, left also, but he made his exit through a door other than that which had been used by the slave and his guards, and Cernus.	10
7	2	I, and Cernus and Ho-Tu, and others, stood in the lonely darkness of a recessed ledge on a high peak in the Voltai, some pasangs northeast of Ar.	10
7	7	I did so, and we climbed a long spiral staircase until we came to the roof of the House of Cernus.	10
7	8	Though doubtless Ho-Tu was well known to the guards at the tarncot, he nonetheless showed them a small, flat rectangle of glazed clay, white in color, marked with the sign of the House of Cernus.	10
7	9	On the roof we met Cernus and others.	10
7	12	Cernus had looked at me.	10
7	14	"It is not necessary," I said, "it is well known the House of Cernus is generous".	10
7	15	Cernus smiled.	10
7	18	"I am much the same," said Cernus.	10
7	22	Cernus laughed.	10
7	29	"Serve me well," said Cernus, "and in time I will make you the Ubar of a City".	10
7	31	"Ha!" laughed Cernus.	10
7	32	"So even the equanimity of an Assassin can be shaken! Yes, the Ubar of a city, and you may choose the city, any save Ar, on whose throne I, Cernus, will sit".	10
7	39	"Good," said Cernus, indicating one of the tarn baskets.	10
7	41	Cernus and Ho-Tu rode together in another basket.	10
7	45	The basket of Cernus and my basket both had guidance attachments, similar to those of the common tarn saddle, a main basket ring corresponding to the main saddle ring, and six leather straps going to the throat-strap rings.	10
7	49	At a gesture from Cernus the birds took wing, and I felt my basket on its heavy leather runners slide across the roof for a few feet and then drop sickeningly off the edge of the cylinder, only to be jerked up short by the ropes, hover for a moment as the tarn fought the weight, and then begin to sa...	10
7	67	Cernus now, from beneath his cloak, removed a small, flat box, and with his finger pressed a button on this box.	10
7	76	Cernus looked at me.	10
7	81	"The trip was uneventful, I trust," said Cernus, putting the signal apparatus back in his robes.	10
7	85	"Look," said the man to Cernus, leading him about the side of the ship.	10
7	88	"You are fortunate," said Cernus.	10
7	90	"Have you brought the apparatus?" asked Cernus.	10
7	94	Indeed, I suspected that other than Cernus there were none who truly understood the nature of the ship and its mission, and perhaps he only incompletely.	10
7	95	I myself, from my conversations with Misk, probably suspected more of its role and purposes than any other on that shelf, with the exception of Cernus himself.	10
7	96	"What do you think?" asked Cernus, turning to me, pleased.	10
7	97	"The power of the House of Cernus is great indeed," I said, "greater than I had dreamed".	10
7	98	Cernus laughed.	10
7	103	Cernus returned to his carrying basket, holding the small box heavily before him.	10
7	105	Then receiving the box from Cernus, he placed it carefully in the basket.	10
7	106	Cernus then himself climbed into the basket.	10
7	109	Then, using the one-strap on the basket ring, Cernus signaled the tarn.	10
7	111	I saw the basket containing Cernus and Ho-Tu flying toward Ar.	10
7	112	I gathered that the main cargo, whatever it was, had already been unloaded, that it reposed in the small, heavy box, and that it was now on the way to the House of Cernus.	10
7	141	It was undoubtedly such gold which permitted the House of Cernus to gain significant influence in the city, sponsoring races and games, as well as permitting the house to undersell, when it pleased, other Merchants.	10
7	186	"We return to the House of Cernus," said a man-at-arms, and I, and the others, entered our baskets or mounted our tarns.	10
8	72	"What did you learn," she asked, "of the House of Cernus last night?" "I will tell you," I said, coming close to her and sitting down cross-legged.	10
8	79	She was generally intrigued, though frightened when I spoke of the thing called the beast, and distressed when I mentioned the girls brought from Earth, to be sold as slaves from the House of Cernus.	10
8	81	"It is to learn more of the House of Cernus," I said.	10
9	4	The House of Cernus was more than thirty generations old.	10
9	6	The breeding lines of the House of Cernus were recognized, with those of the House of Portus, and certain other of the large slave houses, throughout known Gor.	10
9	15	I suspected that the House of Cernus was attempting to create a need for barbarian girls, if only to add variety to a rich man's Pleasure Gardens—girls of a sort it seemed it could supply in numbers not possible to competing slavers.	10
9	17	On the other hand, such girls might be trained, and I suspected that Cernus might have in mind some such experiment with Elizabeth.	10
9	18	The House of Cernus, which is a broad, many-storied cylinder, has a number of facilities which any large slave house must have.	10
9	19	The only difference between these facilities in the House of Cernus and such facilities in other houses would probably have been in size, numbers of staff and lavishment of appointment.	10
9	20	I have already mentioned the baths in the House of Cernus, which can rival some of the pools in the gigantic Capacian Baths, the finest of known Gor.	10
9	21	Less impressive perhaps but even more essential to the operation of the House were its kitchens, its laundries, commissaries and storerooms; its medical facilities, in which dental care is also provided; its corridors of rooms for staff members, all of whom live in the House; its library, its record...	10
9	33	I looked into one of the private salesrooms in the House of Cernus.	10
9	52	The common thread in these various matters was that the House of Cernus was involved, either in presenting the sale or in sponsoring the races or games.	10
9	136	"Is there more to the House of Cernus?" I asked, turning away.	10
10	13	"Sometimes," he added, "Cernus amuses himself with the women kept in this room, leading them to believe that if they serve him well they will be well treated".	10
10	17	"Then," said Ho-Tu, "they are strangled in the chain which bears the crest of the House of Cernus".	10
10	19	"Cernus," said Ho-Tu, "does not like to lose".	10
10	21	"When using a woman," said Ho-Tu, "Cernus is in the habit of placing the chain about her neck".	10
10	25	"You do not seem much pleased with the House of Cernus," observed Ho-Tu.	10
10	39	"It is an idea of Cernus," said Ho-Tu.	10
10	49	"Or perhaps even by En'Kara?" "Should the experiment be successful," I said, "it seems the House of Cernus will have the largest supply of such girls".	10
10	93	Cernus, as before, was lost in his game with Caprus, this time lingering at the board even long after paga and full-strength Ka-la-na were served.	10
10	104	I indicated the door to one side through which, the night before, the shackled slave had been led, through which Cernus had left as well.	10
10	118	"Cernus, and certain others," said he, "can look upon it—they alone".	10
10	130	"Fear of the beast keeps good order in the House of Cernus," said Ho-Tu.	10
11	2	In the cylinder there are several varieties of retention areas, ranging from the luxuriousness of the cell shown to me earlier by Ho-Tu, in which Cernus was accustomed to keep Special Captures, to the iron pens.	10
11	391	"That is the hope of Cernus," said Ho-Tu.	10
11	393	"Few of the hopes of Cernus are disappointed," he said.	10
11	398	"Cernus will see," said he, "that there is such a demand".	10
12	63	When I had left the House of Cernus I had removed the livery of the black caste and had washed the sign of the dagger from my forehead.	10
12	157	The girls were neither of the House of Cernus nor of Portus, but of one of the several lesser houses on the Street of Brands.	10
12	163	It was my intention to relax at the Capacian Baths, have a leisurely supper at some paga tavern and then return to the House of Cernus.	10
12	165	By the time I returned to the House of Cernus Elizabeth would have finished her slave porridge and be in the compartment, and I would hear about her day, and she would hear about mine, or most of it.	10
12	186	Flaminius, apparently moved by their entreaties, told them he would speak to Cernus, master of the house, and to Ho-Tu, Master Keeper.	10
12	187	He did not return until late the next day when the girls, with tears of relief, heard that Cernus, who was moved to kindness, would permit them an opportunity to train; they were sternly warned, however, that if their training did not proceed well, they would be promptly returned to the kennels.	10
12	213	She wore a yellow collar, that of the House of Cernus, and yellow Pleasure Silk.	10
12	241	"How does Cernus expect me to train barbarians?" she asked.	10
12	313	He indicated Elizabeth's yellow enameled collar, bearing the legend of the House of Cernus.	10
13	379	In a few Ehn I had left the cylinder and was returning to the House of Cernus.	10
14	5	It is a rule in the House of Cernus that all slaves, save those who may be on house business, be secured by the eighteenth bar.	10
14	18	I think it was not so much I minded an occasional bit of silk lying on the floor as that I derived great pleasure from the fact that the lovely Miss Elizabeth Cardwell, slave in the House of Cernus, must keep my quarters.	10
14	41	"He tells me," said she, "that he has at last bribed the chamber slave in the compartments of Cernus to allow him access to the compartments at given times.	10
14	55	The reason that Elizabeth and I had been placed in the House of Cernus had been because Caprus, according to report, could not obtain the documents we believed must exist in the house.	10
14	71	Also he fears there may be spies of Others in the Sardar itself who, if they found out about the information being sent from the House of Cernus, would investigate and, doubtless, find us".	10
14	104	I left the compartment and walked the halls of the House of Cernus, lost in thought.	10
14	111	I supposed that it was thought by Others that the materials were safe in the keeping of Cernus.	10
14	118	About his neck hung the golden medallion of the House of Cernus, the tarn with slave chains grasped in its talons.	10
14	123	"I thought those of the black caste slept the soundest of all men," said Cernus.	10
14	125	"Of course," said Cernus.	10
14	127	"Oh," said Cernus.	10
14	129	Cernus laughed.	10
14	134	I knew the House of Portus was the greatest remaining rival to the House of Cernus, fighting it for the control of the slave trade in Ar.	10
14	137	"Follow me," said Cernus, leading the way through the door which the guards had thrown open for him.	10
14	139	I was not clear as to the meaning of the remark of Cernus.	10
14	145	"Behold the downfall of the House of Portus," said Cernus.	10
14	151	"I want her," said Cernus, "to feel steel on her wrists, the weight of a chain".	10
14	176	Outside Cernus gestured for the kitchen slave not to leave.	10
14	179	Cernus then drew my attention again to the interior of the cell.	10
14	183	"I have plans for this girl," said Cernus, regarding the prisoner through the glass.	10
14	189	"Her hair is very beautiful, is it not?" asked Cernus.	10
14	191	"I expect she is quite vain about it," speculated Cernus.	10
14	193	"I will have her hair shaved off," said Cernus, "and have her bound and hooded and sent by tarn to another city, Tor perhaps, where she will be publicly sold".	10
14	195	"No," said Cernus, "it must be public".	10
14	197	Cernus laughed.	10
14	203	Cernus gestured for the kitchen slave to approach, and she did so immediately.	10
14	204	"Look at her collar," said Cernus.	10
14	207	"She will find her way back to Ar," said Cernus.	10
14	210	"She is, of course," said Cernus, "Claudia Tentia Hinrabia".	10
15	5	Cernus, as usual, was engaged in a game with Caprus, and had eyes only for the board.	10
15	10	He would not inform me of the location of the maps and papers and I did not feel that any direct attempt to steal them and carry them away would be likely to be successful; further, if simply stolen, the Others, through Cernus, would doubtless be informed at the first opportunity and alternate plans...	10
15	49	Her hair was now about three inches longer than it had been when she had come to the House of Cernus.	10
15	56	"Capture of Home Stone," I heard Cernus say to Caprus, who spread his hands helplessly, acknowledging defeat.	10
15	65	Cernus had watched the ending of the dance, his game having been finished.	10
15	67	"Give her a pastry," said Cernus.	10
15	120	These girls, under the instructions of Cernus, were extremely deferential, save that they were continually to amuse themselves at the prisoner's expense, making sport of her shaved head, laughing and joking about it among themselves.	10
15	122	After two months of such treatment, Cernus, perhaps because he wearied of her body, or because he felt she was now ready, now at the height of her hatreds and miseries, ordered her sent to Tor, where, I heard, she was collared, marked and publicly sold during the ninth passage hand, that preceding t...	10
15	125	If he were not convinced of her story one of the agents of Cernus would make a good offer for the girl, pretend to be convinced of her identity and hastily return her to Ar.	10
15	145	They seemed likable, capable young men, something above the average cut of the men in the employ of Cernus the Slaver.	10
15	150	I knew that Cernus intended to market Elizabeth, and the two other girls, on that feast.	10
15	256	"It is apparently the plan of Cernus," I said.	10
15	348	Elizabeth would regularly bring her efforts back to the compartment, and the nights were not infrequent when I longed for the simple fare at the table of Cernus, or perhaps a bowl of Ho-Tu's gruel.	10
15	353	One thing that I thought was nice was that Elizabeth had asked Sura about the dance she had begun to perform but could not finish, when we had first come to the house of Cernus, the dance which is accompanied by the Tuchuk slave song.	10
15	360	The night that Phyllis Robertson, under the torches in the hall of Cernus, while we supped, performed the belt dance, was the last day of the Eleventh passage hand, about a month before the Gorean New Year, which occurs on the Vernal Equinox, the first day of the month of En'Kara.	10
15	362	Many houses would doubtless have put them up for sale in En'Kara, but Cernus, as I had heard, was saving them for the Love Feast, which occupies the five days of the fifth passage hand, falling late in the summer.	10
15	367	Also, as Cernus doubtless intended, the delay would give his delicately seeded rumors, pertaining to the desirability of barbarians, time to circulate, time to stimulate the imagination and inflame the curiosity of potential buyers.	10
15	370	It was rather late in the evening, but Cernus had remained long at table, playing game after game with Caprus the Scribe.	10
15	375	Cernus listened, and once again turned to his game.	10
15	377	Again Cernus listened, and smiled, and then returned to the study of the board.	10
15	393	The first two guards were holding between them a heavy man, with a paunch that swung beneath his robes, wild-eyed, his hands extended to Cernus.	10
15	397	"Caste sanctuary!" cried Portus, shaking himself free of the guards and stumbling forward and falling on his knees before the wooden dais on which sat the table of Cernus.	10
15	398	Cernus did not look up from his game.	10
15	407	"Caste sanctuary!" again pleaded Portus, on his knees before the table of Cernus.	10
15	410	It seemed incredible to me that Portus had come to the House of Cernus, for much bad blood had existed between the houses.	10
15	411	Surely to come to this place, the house of his enemy, must have been a last recourse in some fearful set of events, to throw himself on the mercies of Cernus, claiming Caste Sanctuary.	10
15	415	My house is confiscated by the state! I am nothing! I am nothing!" Cernus meditated his move, his chin on his two fists, one above the other.	10
15	418	I beg of you!" The hand of Cernus lifted, as though to move his Ubar, and then drew back.	10
15	421	"I give you the trade of Ar! I want only my life! Caste Sanctuary! Caste Sanctuary!" Cernus smiled at Caprus and then, unexpectedly, as though he had been teasing him, he placed his first tarnsman at Ubara's Scribe Two.	10
15	423	Cernus now, while Caprus replaced the pieces of the game, regarded Portus.	10
15	434	"Put him in chains," said Cernus, "and take him to the cylinder of Minus Tentius Hinrabius".	10
15	436	Cernus stood up behind the table, ready now to retire.	10
16	1	The Tarn Less than a month following the downfall of the House of Portus, Cernus had become the undisputed master of the slave trade in Ar.	10
16	4	I would have expected the price of slaves to rise in Ar, but Cernus did not permit it, but continued, when necessary, to undersell the minor houses to keep the general prices in the range he wished.	10
16	6	Further, because of his services to the state, including the sponsorship of games and races, Cernus was, upon the petition of Saphronicus, Captain of the Taurentians, invested in the scarlet of the Warrior, thus honoring him with High Caste.	10
16	7	He did not, of course, give up the House of Cernus nor any other of his widely ranging interests in Ar and beyond it.	10
16	8	I do not suppose the Hinrabian Administrator much cared to approve this raising of caste in the case of Cernus, but he lacked the courage to go against the wishes of the Taurentians, and of the city generally.	10
16	10	That he was now of the Caste of Warriors did not change much with Cernus, of course, save that a strip of red silk, with those of blue and yellow, now adorned his left sleeve.	10
16	11	I did know that Cernus had been, for years, trained in the use of weapons.	10
16	15	Cernus celebrated his investiture by sponsoring the first games and races of the new season, which began in En'Kara.	10
16	19	On the first day of the Waiting Hand, the last five days of the old year, the portals of Ar, including even that of the House of Cernus, had been painted white, and in many of the low-caste homes had been sealed with pitch, not to be opened until the first day of En'Kara.	10
16	20	Almost all doors, including that of the House of Cernus, had nailed to them some branches of the Brak Bush, the leaves of which, when chewed, have a purgative effect.	10
16	23	Rations even in the House of Cernus were halved during this period.	10
16	31	Even the slaves in the iron pens in the House of Cernus received that day a small cake with oil and had their troughs filled with water mixed with paga.	10
16	33	The following day would begin the races and games sponsored by the House of Cernus.	10
16	34	On the first day of En'Kara much of the old year had been forgotten, but there were three who could not forget it; Portus, who lay chained in the dungeons of the Central Cylinder; Claudia Tentia Hinrabia, now free, but who had endured the shame of slavery, and would perhaps never again permit hersel...	10
16	36	But he had assured me that just recently Cernus had received a large batch of new documents and maps, which were perhaps crucial, and that the Priest-Kings would surely be angry if he did not obtain copies of them as well; moreover, he reminded me, he would refuse to let any documents leave the hous...	10
16	48	According to Ho-Tu, whom I had once asked about this, there were two main reasons for this; first, their training was peculiarly full and intensive; second, the prospect of being permitted to leave the house, particularly attractive to Virginia and Phyllis, who had known nothing of Gor save the Hous...	10
16	88	There was a metallic snap and Virginia Kent, the slave girl, had been leashed by Relius, guard in the House of Cernus, Slaver of Ar.	10
16	94	Then, together, we left the House of Cernus, leading our girls.	10
16	95	Outside the House of Cernus, and around the first corner, I took the bracelets and leash from Elizabeth.	10
16	144	"If she escapes," I said, "Cernus will doubtless have you impaled".	10
16	159	"Look," I said, "Cernus would not be much pleased if she were slain or disfigured.	10
17	25	I decided I had better return to the House of Cernus.	10
17	152	I gathered that it had not been coincidence that had brought them to the House of Cernus.	10
17	167	"My admission to the races," said another man, a Miller, "has been paid a dozen times by the House of Cernus".	10
17	168	He referred to a practice of handing out passes, dated ostraka bearing the print of the House of Cernus, outside the gate of the Slaver's house, which were dispensed on a first-come-first-served basis, a thousand a day, each day of the races.	10
17	169	Some men spent the night at the walls of the house of Cernus, that they might obtain their ostrakon at dawn.	10
17	170	"I say," said the disguised guard, "Ar could do worse than have such a man as Cernus on the throne!" To my amazement, several about the table, who were undoubtedly common citizens of Ar, began to nod their heads.	10
17	171	"Yes," said the Silversmith, "it would be good if a man such as Cernus were Administrator of the city".	10
17	177	"I say," said the guard, "Cernus should be Ubar of Ar".	10
17	189	"It seems he was on the business of Cernus," I said.	10
17	191	"Did you hear them speak of Master Cernus," I asked, "as a possible Ubar?" Ho-Tu looked at me sharply.	10
17	192	"Cernus," he said, "should not be Ubar".	10
17	197	Then, with great reluctance, claiming need, Cernus petitioned for the repayment of certain minor, but significant, portions of his loans.	10
17	200	The name of Cernus, as patron and benefactor, was now what appeared on the placards and the boards of announcements.	10
17	202	Two members of the High Council, who had spoken out against the influence of Merchants in the politics of Ar, presumably a veiled reference to Cernus, were found slain, one cut down by killing knife and another throttled and found dangling from a bridge near his home.	10
17	204	He had shortly before expressed reservation concerning the investiture of Cernus in the Caste of Warriors.	10
17	211	The demands of Cernus for repayment of moneys owed to him by the Hinrabians became increasingly persistent and unavoidable.	10
17	227	Cernus had been proclaimed, as the Taurentians lifted their swords in salute and the members of the High Council had stood on the tiers of the Council Chamber and cried out and applauded, Ubar of Ar.	10
17	229	I saw more in this, of course, than the work of Cernus.	10
17	247	I was further cheered by the thought that Caprus had informed me his work was coming along very well and he hoped to have the documents and maps copied by the beginning of Se'Kara; I gathered that now with Cernus spending much of his time in the Central Cylinder as Ubar, Caprus' opportunities for wo...	10
17	261	* * * * Cernus, upon occasion, though Ubar of Ar, would return to sit table in his own house, where, as he had invariably done before, he would play with Caprus, losing himself in the movements of the red and yellow pieces on the large board of red and yellow squares.	10
17	263	There was much hilarity in the hall of the House of Cernus, and, though it was early in the evening, paga and full-strength Ka-la-na were flowing.	10
17	277	"I would be served!" Virginia Kent, with her pitcher of Ka-la-na, ran light-footedly to Relius, guard in the House of Cernus.	10
17	336	I heard Caprus say, as though marveling, "I shall capture your Home Stone in three moves!" Cernus grinned and clapped his hands on the Scribe's shoulders.	10
17	372	Even Cernus looked up from his game and smiled.	10
17	401	Then, to my horror, I saw Elizabeth, her back straight, her step determined, walk straight to Cernus and then, slowly, as his mouth flew open and he seemed scarcely to understand what was occurring, pour the rest of the contents of the vessel of Ka-la-na directly on his head.	10
17	405	Then all at the tables, and even the slaves who served, stood and lifted their hands, laughing, saluting Cernus.	10
17	407	And I, too, though the words nearly stuck in my throat, so acclaimed Cernus.	10
17	409	The face of Cernus relaxed, and he leaned back.	10
17	413	Revel filled the hall of the House of Cernus.	10
17	466	You must make a good showing for the House of Cernus".	10
17	470	"Tomorrow, White Silker," she said, "you will be sold but Lana will still be in the House of Cernus".	10
17	496	"To the Waiting Cells!" Virginia Kent, who had taught classics and ancient history in a college on Earth, leaped to her feet and, barefoot, a slave girl, raced from the room, hurrying to the Waiting Cells, whence at dawn, with others, she would be sent to the Curulean, where, in the evening, she wou...	10
17	508	The woman stumbled to the place before the table of Cernus, where she stood.	10
17	510	"Kajuralia, Sura," said Cernus to the woman.	10
17	516	"She will be reminded," said Cernus, "that she is only a slave".	10
17	518	"It is denied," said Cernus.	10
17	521	Sura knelt before the table of Cernus, her head down.	10
17	527	It was merely another of the turnabouts of Kajuralia, but in it was perhaps more; Sura's pride and her position in the House, though she was slave, had been resented by many of the men and staff; perhaps even Cernus felt she had overstepped herself; surely he seemed pleased that she would now be hum...	10
17	552	I turned to face Cernus.	10
17	564	I heard Cernus laugh.	10
17	565	"I have heard," jeered Cernus, "that the Killer knows well how to use slaves!" Sura stopped at that moment, and put her head back, though she did not turn to face him, and then she hurried through the door.	10
17	571	Sura preceded me through the halls of the House of Cernus, and then we passed through her training room, and entered her own quarters where we stopped.	10
17	583	Her black hair was quite marvelous, long and unbound, falling as it did over her shoulders; her eyes were dark and deeply beautiful; her body, as the slave masters had intended, was tormentingly magnificent; the features of her face and lips showed to my eye, which had become more discerning in the ...	10
17	659	"When Cernus remembers," she said.	10
17	692	He was devoted to the father of Cernus.	10
17	814	"The Master Keeper in the House of Cernus?" I asked, smiling.	10
17	819	"But in the time of the father of Cernus," she said, "when hook knives were sheathed".	10
17	832	"Anyone who displeases Cernus might be given to the beast.	10
18	234	"I left the Cylinder of Physicians and the next day took service in the House of Cernus, where I have been for many years.	10
18	259	My steps, as I was lost in thought, brought me back to the hall of Cernus, in which we had sat table.	10
18	300	It was Cernus saying to me, outside the Cell for Special Captures, "You, Killer, would not make a Player".	10
18	302	But as I walked the halls it seemed to me that, on the whole, things were not proceeding badly, though I regretted the amount of time lost, apparently necessarily, in the House of Cernus.	10
18	304	And Caprus, now that Cernus was often in the Central Cylinder, attending to the numerous duties of Ubar of the city, had more time for his work.	10
18	315	I turned suddenly into the kitchen in which the food for the hall of Cernus is prepared.	10
18	351	"It is I, Kuurus, of the black caste," said I, "on the orders of Cernus bringing paga to prisoners on Kajuralia!" "But there is only one prisoner here," said he, puzzled.	10
18	456	"It was before I came to the House of Cernus," I said, my voice trembling.	10
18	471	"Do not draw your weapon," said Cernus.	10
18	480	"You, Killer," said Cernus, mocking, "would never make a Player".	10
18	482	"Chain him," said Cernus.	10
18	486	"May I introduce to you, Caprus," said Cernus, looking down at the piteous chained figure by the wall, "Tarl Cabot of Ko-ro-ba?" I stood stunned.	10
18	488	"No," said Cernus, "the Warrior Sandros of Thentis was slain in Ko-ro-ba".	10
18	490	"Sandros thought he was to be your Assassin," said Cernus.	10
18	493	His resemblance to a certain Koroban Warrior, perhaps Tarl Cabot, would make it seem clear, in the darkness of the night, that the knife had been intended for that Warrior, and a convenient clue, a patch of green, would lead to Ar, and doubtless then to the House of Cernus".	10
18	495	"Sandros was a fool," said Cernus.	10
18	498	"Let us not jest, Tarl Cabot," said Cernus.	10
18	503	Cernus smiled.	10
18	506	Cernus laughed.	10
18	509	Cernus threw back his head and laughed.	10
18	511	Cernus looked on me, unpleasantly.	10
18	524	"I have an amusing fate in store for you," said Cernus, "which I have considered these many months".	10
18	526	"But first," said Cernus, "we must not forget the little beauty".	10
18	532	"I expect," said Cernus, "that she will put on an excellent performance".	10
18	534	"It should be worth seeing," said Cernus.	10
18	537	"What is the matter?" asked Cernus, concerned.	10
18	538	"Do you not wish to see the little beauty presenting herself on the block? I expect she, with the others, will bring much gold to the House of Cernus, which we may then invest in our cause".	10
18	542	I hurled myself at Cernus but two men seized me, threw me back, then held my arms.	10
18	543	"You, Tarl Cabot," said Cernus, "would never make a Player".	10
18	545	"Kajuralia," said Cernus, smiling, and turned and left the cell.	10
19	1	The Curulean The sale of Elizabeth Cardwell, Virginia Kent and Phyllis Robertson, with that of Cernus' other trained barbarians, did not take place on the first night of the Love Feast, though they had been transported to the cages of the Curulean early in the first day.	10
19	4	Cernus, sensing the temper and curiosity of the crowds, had determined to make them wait for his surprise delights, over a hundred of them, whose supposed qualities of beauty and skill, enhanced by the mysterious aura of barbaric origin, had been for months the object of ever more eager rumors and e...	10
19	9	It was on the evening of the fourth day of the Love Feast that Cernus decided to bring Elizabeth Cardwell, Virginia Kent and Phyllis Robertson, with his other barbarian slave girls kidnapped from Earth, before the buyers, not only of Ar but of all the cities of known, civilized Gor.	10
19	16	He had been a member of the staff of Caprus, the agent of Priest-Kings, until the latter had disappeared, presumably because he had displeased Cernus; Philemon of Tyros had then assumed Caprus' position and duties.	10
19	43	Lana, whom Ho-Tu, who held considerable power in the House of Cernus, had decided to sell at the Love Feast, so arrived at the Curulean.	10
19	82	Philemon led the way to the box of Cernus, the largest and most impressive in the amphitheater, shielded on both sides and the back from the rest of the boxes and seats by heavy wooden screens; there, on a marble dais on which sat a low, thronelike chair of marble, I was forced to kneel.	10
19	85	This was surprising because the hour was still early; I supposed the crowd this night would be unusually large, even for the fourth night of the Love Feast; none of the citizens had paid much attention to my being brought under guard to the box of Cernus; he was Ubar; it is not unusual on Gor for a ...	10
19	88	"Cernus will not arrive until the sales begin," said he, "so we have something of a wait".	10
19	96	I heard movement about me and sensed that Cernus had now arrived.	10
19	100	I saw Cernus in his chair, who smiled down at me.	10
19	102	"Do not raise your voice during the sale," said Cernus, "or your tongue will be cut out".	10
19	104	Cernus laughed to himself and turned his attention to his right, where stood Philemon, and conversed with the Scribe.	10
19	105	As well as I could, given the wooden screens about the box of Cernus, I examined the interior of the amphitheater.	10
19	116	"It will soon begin," said Cernus, turning in my direction, pleasantly.	10
19	160	"The sales go well," said Cernus to me.	10
19	162	Some of the girls, as the sales progressed, I recognized as from the House of Cernus.	10
19	166	Particularly, I suspected, were they waiting for the more than one hundred barbarians that Cernus had promised them, girls kidnapped from Earth to be Gorean pleasure slaves.	10
19	168	The crowd had growled at these remarks, and Cernus had smiled.	10
19	169	I supposed the auctioneer had received his instructions from the House of Cernus.	10
19	187	Then I understood what was going on, perhaps belatedly, for I knew the girl, Red Silk before the black ships, was extremely responsive, and had even been used in the hall of Cernus for the amusement of his Warriors and guards; she had known the caress would be given; she had been ready; she had perh...	10
19	189	I angrily admired the skill of Cernus.	10
19	202	I even heard some angry pounding on the wooden screens surrounding the box of Cernus.	10
19	203	But Cernus only smiled.	10
19	204	They screamed imprecations on the auctioneer, on the Curulean, even some of the braver ones, anonymous in the pressing throng, on the House of Cernus itself.	10
19	205	"Observe closely," said Cernus to me.	10
19	222	"These are three barbarians, two White Silk, one Red Silk," called the auctioneer, "all from the House of Cernus, whom it is our hope you will find pleasing".	10
19	249	Cernus leaned over the arm of his chair, toward me.	10
19	250	"I wonder," he said, "how she will feel when she learns she has been truly sold?" "Put a sword in my hand," said I, "and face me!" Cernus laughed and turned his attention again to the block.	10
19	258	I knew that, in effect, this was a performance, each detail planned expertly, choreographed and rehearsed in the House of Cernus.	10
19	259	Cernus chuckled.	10
19	271	"One hundred gold pieces," spoken by a Slaver who wore the insignia of Tor, some feet from the box of Cernus.	10
19	332	Almost instantly, by the whip slaves, the three barbarian beauties from the House of Cernus were revealed to the buyers of Ar.	10
19	435	The investment of Cernus had been, it seemed, a good one.	10
19	448	Cernus was chuckling.	10
19	459	When they had turned and were being led from the block by the whip slaves who held their leashes, Cernus spoke to two of the guards behind me.	10
19	462	"Behold an enemy of Cernus!" cried Philemon to the block.	10
19	463	The girls turned and then Elizabeth, peering out into the crowd, for the first time, saw me, in the rag of a slave, my wrists bound behind my back in steel, the helpless captive of Cernus, Slaver, Ubar of Ar.	10
19	475	"Before she is delivered to Samos," Cernus was saying, "I think I will have her returned to the house and use her.	10
19	479	"Take him away," said Cernus.	10
20	1	A Game Is Played "This," cried Cernus, lifting his cup aloft, is a night for rejoicing and amusement!" Never had I seen the customarily impassive Slaver so elated as on this night, following the sales in the Curulean.	10
20	2	The feast was set late in the hall of Cernus and the wine and paga flowed freely.	10
20	5	The Warriors of Cernus sang at the tables.	10
20	10	Now, unhooded, but chained, I knelt bloody before the dais of Cernus.	10
20	11	A few feet from me, wretched, dazed, chained like I before the dais of Ar's Ubar, knelt Elizabeth Cardwell, her only garment the chain of Cernus, with its medallion of the tarn and slave chains, about her throat.	10
20	15	"What is their crime?" I had asked Cernus.	10
20	16	"They would have freed you," laughed Cernus.	10
20	24	I looked across to Elizabeth, the chain of Cernus looped about her neck, staring numbly, woodenly, down at the tiles of the hall, half in shock.	10
20	26	"Bring Portus!" called Cernus.	10
20	30	"Please oh mighty Cernus!" he whined.	10
20	32	"Please, Cernus!" cried Portus as a long line of blood burst open across his chest.	10
20	36	"Feed him to the beast," said Cernus.	10
20	38	"Bring the Hinrabian!" called Cernus.	10
20	42	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.	10
20	45	"The beast has been fed," said Cernus, chuckling, drinking wine, spilling some of it down his face.	10
20	51	"You are the slave girl Claudia?" asked Cernus.	10
20	53	"Do you know what city you are in?" asked Cernus.	10
20	56	"By what men?" inquired Cernus.	10
20	58	"It is said you claim to be Claudia Tentia Hinrabia," said Cernus.	10
20	61	"It is true, Master!" "I know," said Cernus.	10
20	64	"Ar," said Cernus.	10
20	66	"Yes," said Cernus, "Glorious Ar".	10
20	71	"Oh free me! Free me!" She lifted her hands to Cernus.	10
20	72	"I am of Ar! I am of Ar! I am Claudia Tentia Hinrabia of Ar! Free me, Master!" "Do you know me?" asked Cernus.	10
20	74	"I am Cernus," said he, "Ubar of Ar".	10
20	77	"I am Claudia Tentia Hinrabia," she said, "of Ar!" "You are a slave girl," said Cernus.	10
20	83	"You are alone," said Cernus.	10
20	89	Cernus laughed.	10
20	93	"You were hooded and abducted by Taurentians," said Cernus, "the palace guard itself".	10
20	95	"Saphronicus, their Captain," said Cernus, "is in my hire".	10
20	98	"I saw the collar on a slave girl—" Cernus laughed.	10
20	105	"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.	10
20	109	"You!" "Of course," said Cernus.	10
20	113	"Bind her arms and wrists tightly," said Cernus to a guard.	10
20	115	"We have another surprise for you, my dear Claudia," said Cernus.	10
20	117	"Bring the pot wench," said Cernus to a subordinate and the man, grinning, sped from the room.	10
20	118	"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.	10
20	123	"I searched long in the kitchens of Ar until I found that wench," said Cernus.	10
20	125	"And purchased her," said Cernus.	10
20	135	"What is your name?" asked Cernus of the girl kindly.	10
20	137	"Melanie," said Cernus, "do you know this slave?" "She is Claudia Tentia Hinrabia," whispered the girl.	10
20	138	"Do you remember her?" asked Cernus.	10
20	141	"Give her a hook knife," said Cernus to one of the men near him.	10
20	146	"You may," said Cernus, "remove the ears and nose of the slave".	10
20	155	"Cut off her ears and nose," ordered Cernus.	10
20	160	Cernus rose behind the table on the dais.	10
20	162	Cernus was furious.	10
20	166	Cernus sat down, angry.	10
20	171	A Warrior in the hire of Cernus struck me across the mouth.	10
20	174	"I am concerned," continued Cernus, "to be fair in all matters and thus propose that we wager for your freedom".	10
20	176	"Bring the board and pieces," said Cernus.	10
20	178	Cernus looked down at me and grinned.	10
20	181	"On the other hand," said Cernus, "I of course do not believe you".	10
20	183	Cernus chuckled.	10
20	185	"I am quite skillful, you know," said Cernus.	10
20	187	I had gathered in the months in the house, from what I had seen and heard, that Cernus was indeed a fine player.	10
20	189	"But," said Cernus, smiling, "since you are scarcely likely to be as skilled as I, I feel that it is only just that you be represented by a champion, who can play for you and give you some opportunity for victory".	10
20	191	"I do not think that would be just," said Cernus.	10
20	193	I then understood that Cernus would appoint my champion.	10
20	195	"Perhaps a slave who scarcely knows the moves of the pieces," I suggested, "might play for me—if such would not be too potent an adversary for you?" Cernus looked at me with surprise.	10
20	199	"Would you dare to contend with a mere slave girl," I asked, "one who has learned the game but a day or two ago, who has played but an Ahn or so?" "Whom do you mean?" inquired Cernus.	10
20	202	"Women do not play the game," said Cernus irritably.	10
20	204	Cernus rose from the table and went to stand before Sura.	10
20	210	"Have you dared to learn the game, Slave?" inquired Cernus, angrily.	10
20	212	Cernus turned to me.	10
20	216	Cernus would surely have no way of knowing that Sura possessed perhaps one of the most astounding native aptitudes for the game that I had ever encountered.	10
20	221	Cernus then, for no reason I understood clearly, struck Sura with the back of his hand, hurling her to the tiles.	10

Book 6. (1 results) Raiders of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
18	514	At my side I now wore the sword that I had brought originally to Port Kar, that which I had carried so many years before, even at the siege of Ar, and in Tharna, and in the Nest of Priest-Kings and on the plains of the Wagon Peoples, and in the streets of great Ar itself, when I had seemed to serve ...	10

Book 21. (1 results) Mercenaries of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
19	255	He, appointed through the influence of Cernus, who was soon to ascend the throne of Ar, had replaced the venerated hero, Maximus Hegesius Quintilius of Ar, who had earlier expressed reservations concerning the investiture of Cernus, a merchant and slaver, in the caste of warriors.	10