Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net The Golden Slave POUL ANDERSON AVON BOOK DIVISION The Hearst Corporation 959 Eighth Avenue New York 19, N. Y. An Avon Original Copyright, 1960, by Poul Anderson [Transcriber's Note: Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] Published by arrangement with the author Printed in the U. S. A. * * * * * Cordelia lay on the couch before him Light rippled along her gown of sheerest silk, and her flesh seemed to glow through. Beside her the table bore wine and food prepared for two. Eodan gaped. "Hail Cimbrian," Cordelia raised her hand and beckoned him. "Come," she said. Eodan swayed toward her, the blood roaring in his temples. "Will you drink with me?" she asked softly. "Yes," he answered thickly. Their hands touched as she poured the wine into his goblet, and he felt his flesh leap with excitement. "My husband was wrong to set a king to work in his fields," she murmured. "Perhaps we two can reach a better understanding." She lifted her goblet. "To our tomorrows, may they be better than our yesterdays." They drank in turn. Suddenly her arms went around him and her mouth was hot on his. "I meant this to be leisurely with much fine play," she whispered. "But that would be wrong with you. I see it now." AUTHOR'S NOTE This might have happened. The Cimbri are still remembered by the old district name Himmerland. Plutarch describes the battle at Vercellae, which took place 101 B.C., and its immediate aftermath. Other classical writers, such as Tacitus and Strabo, and a treasure of archeological material enable us to guess at the Cimbri themselves. Apparently they were a Germanic tribe from Jutland, with some elements of Celtic culture; by the time they reached Italy they had grown into a formidable confederation. King Mithradates the Great (more commonly but less correctly spelled Mithridates) is, of course, also historical. His expedition into Galatia in 100 B.C. is not mentioned by the scanty surviving records; but it is known that he had already fought with that strange kingdom and annexed some of its territory, so border trouble followed by a punitive sweep down past Ancyra is quite plausible. At that time the area now called southern Russia was dominated by the Alanic tribes, among whom the Rukh-Ansa were prominent. They are presumably identical with the "Rhoxolani" whom Mithradates' general Diophantus defeated at the Crimea about 100 B.C.