Black Wine

A girl slave, in a white tunic and white collar, barefoot, came to the table, and knelt before it.
"What is that I smell?" I asked.
"Black wine," said she, "from the Mountains of Thentis."
I had heard of black wine, but had never had any. It is drunk in Thentis, but I had never heard of it being much drunk in any of the other cities.
"Bring two bowls," I said.
"Two?" asked the girl.
"The slave," I said, indicating Elizabeth, "will taste it first."
"Of course, Master," said the girl
Assassin of Gor page 106

"I have heard," I said to Elizabeth, "that black wine is served hot."
"Incredible," she smiled.
In short order two bowls, steam curling out of them, were brought and placed on the table.
I sat there staring down at them, and Elizabeth did, too.
Then I picked up one of the thick, heavy clay bowls. Since no one was looking, we knocked the bowls together gently, and put them to our lips.
It was extremely strong, and bitter, but it was hot, and, unmistakably, it was coffee.
Assassin of Gor page 106

"I envy you free ones," said Elizabeth. "Next time, you be the slave and let me be the Assassin."
"Actually," I said to Elizabeth,"this is very rare. Thentis does not trade the beans for black wine. I have heard of a cup of black wine in Ar, some years ago, selling for a silver eighty-piece. Even in Thentis black wine is used commonly only in High Caste homes."
"Perhaps it is from Earth?" she asked.
"Originally, doubtless beans were brought from Earth," I said, "much as certain other seeds, and silk worms and such, but I doubt very much that the ship I saw last night had in its cargo anything as trivial as the beans for black wine."
"You are probably right," said Elizabeth, taking another sip, her eyes closed.
Assassin of Gor page 107

"It was my loss," smiled Ibn Saran, lifting to his lips a tiny, steaming cup of black wine.
Tribesmen of Gor page 88

Ibn Saran, not taking his eyes from Alyena, lifted his finger. From one side a slave girl, barefoot, bangled, in sashed, diaphanous, trousered chalwar, gathered at the ankles, in tight, red-silk vest, with bare midriff, fled to him, with the tall, graceful, silvered pot containing the black wine. She was veiled. She knelt, replenishing the drink.
Tribesmen of Gor page 88

Ibn Saran, watching the yellow-silked, collared slave dance, sipped his hot, black wine.
Tribesmen of Gor page 92

Ibn Saran, languid, observed the dancer. His face betrayed no emotion. He sipped his hot black wine.
Tribesmen of Gor page 101

I decided I might care to taste the steaming, black wine. I lifted my finger. The girl in whose charge was the silver vessel, filled with black wine, knelt beside a tiny brazier, on which it sat, retaining its warmth.
Tribesmen of Gor page 105

She rose swiftly to her feet. She knelt, head down, before me. She poured, carefully, the hot, black beverage into the tiny red cup. I dismissed her.
Tribesmen of Gor page 105

The girls, white-skinned, were a matched set of slaves, one for the black wine, one for its sugars.
Tribesmen of Gor page 105

I glanced casually back to look upon her, kneeling beside the slender, silvered, long-spouted vessel of black wine, resting over its tiny brazier, she only one of a pair, a matched set, of slaves.
Tribesmen of Gor page 108

She was the other girl of the matched set, the other white-skinned wench, who had had in her charge the silvered, long-spouted vessel of black wine.
Tribesmen of Gor page 113

She lowered her eyes and, taking the tray with black wine and sugars, rose gracefully to her feet, backed away, turned and left the room.
Tribesmen of Gor page 157

She had been aroused from sleep, not permitted to veil herself, and instructed to prepare and serve black wine. This she had done.
Tribesmen of Gor page 157

We had then returned to the merchant's house for black wine. It was two Ahn before dawn.
Tribesmen of Gor page 157

It was Zaya, the red-haired girl, who had served sugars with the black wine in the palace of Suleiman Pasha.
Tribesmen of Gor page 344

Soon I smelled the frying of vulo eggs in a large, flat pan, and the unmistakable odor of coffee, or as the Goreans express it, black wine. The beans grow largely on the slopes of the Thentis mountains. The original beans, I suppose, had been brought, like certain other Gorean products, from Earth; it is not impossible, of course, that the opposite is the case, that black wine is native to Gor and that the origin of Earth's coffee beans is Gorean; I regarded this as unlikely, however, because black wine is far more common on Earth than on Gor, where it is, except for the city of Thentis, a city famed for her tarn flocks, and her surrounding villages, a somewhat rare and unusual luxury.
Slave Girl of Gor page 73

He sat, cross-legged, behind the low table. On it were hot bread, yellow and fresh, hot black wine, steaming, with its sugars, slices of roast bosk, the scrambled eggs of vulos, pastries with creams and custards.
Beasts of Gor page 20

On the tray, too, was the metal vessel which had contained the black wine, steaming and bitter, from far Thentis, famed for its tarn flocks, and the small yellow-enameled cups from which we had drunk the black wine, its spoons and sugars, a tiny bowl of mint sticks, and the softened, dampened cloths on which we had wiped our fingers.
Explorers of Gor page 10

"You may serve the black wine now, in small cups, Lola," said Miss Henderson.
"Yes, Mistress," whispered Lola.
This was a delicacy. I had purchased some, some days ago, but we had not yet served it. In a few Ehn Lola returned with the tray, with the vessel of steaming liquid, the creams and sugars, the tiny cups, and the small spoons for mixing and measuring.
"Delicious," said Miss Henderson.
"Thank you, Mistress," said Lola. She then drew back a bit, and knelt, to be unobtrusive, and yet available, instantly, to serve, should free folk wish aught.
Rogue of Gor page 132

"Masters," said Peggy, approaching the table, kneeling beside it, bearing a tray. She placed the tray on the table, and removed three plates of bread and meat from it, a dish of assorted cheeses, a bowl of dates, a pitcher of water, a pot of black wine, steaming and tiny vessels of sugars and creams, and three goblets. On the table, too, she placed small spoons, of silver, from Tharna, for use with the black wine, and, at each place, a kailiauk-horn handled eating prong, from distant Turia. Finger towels, then, and a silver fingerbowl, too, she placed upon the table. The bowl was also of Tharnan silver. When she placed these things on the table, she looked about, still kneeling, and saw me close the door to the room, locking her within, with us.
Rogue of Gor page 233

The two slaves had now left the pastries and custards upon the table, and had returned to the kitchen. They would there presumably be relieved of their chains and would return with the black wine.
Guardsman of Gor page 243

The two slaves, their chains removed, now returned, and began to serve the black wine. The voluptuous slave of Aemilianus, whom he had not yet named, placed the tiny silver cups, on small stands, before us. The lovely little slave in bluish gauze, whom I had not yet named, holding the narrow-spouted, silver pouring vessel in a havy cloth, to retain its heat and protect her hands, poured the scalding, steaming black fluid, in narrow, tiny streams, into the small cups. She poured into the cups only the amounts that would be compatible with the assorted sugars and creams which the guest might desire, if any, these being added in, and stirred, if, and as, pertinent, by Aemilianus' slave, who directed the serving.
Guardsman of Gor page 244

"Second slave," I told her, which among the river towns, and in certain cities, particularly in the north, is a way of indicating that I would take the black wine without creams or sugars, and as it came from the pouring vessel, which, of course, in these areas, is handled by the "second slave," the first slave being the girl who puts down the cups, takes the orders and sees that the beverage is prepared according to the preferences of the one who is being served.
"Second slave," said the slave of Aemilianus.
"Yes, Mistress," said the girl in the bluish gauze. She was extremely careful not to spill a drop. Black wine, except in the vicinity of Thentis, where most of it is grown on the slopes of the Thentis range, is quite expensive. Also, of course, clumsy slave girls are often whipped. The expression "second slave," incidentally, serves to indicate that one does not wish creams or sugars with one's black wine, even if only one girl is serving.
Guardsman of Gor page 245

I brought up from the kitchen, where I had been keeping it hot, a vessel of black wine, with sugars, and cups and spoons. Too, I had brought up a small bowl of powdered bosk milk. We had finished the creams last night and, in any event, it was unlikely they would have lasted the night. If I had wanted creams I would had to have gone to the market.
Guardsman of Gor page 295

Susan then approached the diners. "Black wine, Masters?" she asked.
"Yes," said Drusus Rencius.
"Yes," said Publius.
Susan then turned to me and snapped her fingers. "Sheila," she called.
"Yes, Mistress," I said. I took the vessel of black wine, removing it from its warmer, and put it on its tray, that already bearing the tiny cups, the creams and sugars, the spices, the napkins and spoons. I then carried the tray, with the black wine, hot and steaming, to the table and put it down there. Susan then, as "first slave," took the orders and did the measuring and the mixing; I, as "second slave," did the pouring. Afterwards I returned the tray to the serving table, and the vessel of black wine to its warmer. I then joined Susan, kneeling beside her in the vicinity of the serving table.
Kajira of Gor pages 405-406