Anaket throws a quick glance backward. She had thought the strangers brave and daring. Well, it wasn't the first time she'd been mistaken about some horny guy. Yet Oset had need of neither swinging swords nor hidden daggers to quell the two verbal combatants. He subdues them with but a well-spoken warning.

I wonder if he's as good with his tongue with other things, she speculates.

She quickly returns her attention to the beautiful woman waiting patiently at the bar.

"I beg your pardon, gentle mistress," Anaket tells her. "We are quite busy here tonight, but that is a poor excuse to delay service to you. We have just received a shipment of fine Phoenician wine. May I serve you a glass?"