BARBARIENNE #7

"An Invitation to Lunch"

by Martin Lock & Paul Noughton

Well, Griffin and Roli are upstairs in their owner's bed, while poor Memree herself is busy acting the slavegirl, scrubbing the cellar floor!  It hardly seems fair - and slavegirl Engra, in charge of the kitchen, has other ideas.  "I want your help in the kitchen, if we are to eat tonight", she says.  "Though actually, I doubt if we'll want to have supper until quite late, from the noises Griffin and Roli are making."  She smiles.  "Which gives us a little time of our own, doesn't it?"

Well, the little minx!  Right there, on the cellar floor!  And to make matters worse, it isn't long before Griffin catches them at it, and she is not amused, let me tell you!  If Memree wants to play at being a slavegirl (and let's face it, pretending to be a rich merchant, and going through account books and stuff, is not that hot an alternative way of passing the time), then Griffin is only too happy to play at being a mistress - and an angry one at that...

Anyway, by page nine it's the following day, and the first paying job for our troupe of slavegirl entertainers - or at least, as arranged by Elantha (of the "Restraint & Display" shop, and now very much under Memree's spell), for Griffin and Memree!  They find that lunchtime entertainment can be, well, pretty darn intimate, especially when they have only an audience of one to entertain...

You know, this issue doesn't actually have Roli in it... and when you do manage to get hold of the next couple of issues, you'll find out why!  The two-part "Silverfire" adventure has a big role for Roli (heheh), plus Elfren, Lieutenant Shriver, and the villainous Shimmer, all looking verrry good - plus the mage Chandravar, and the owner of The Swan at Bay, Alban Cloudseeker.  So let's hope we see it in print soon, as it's got some of Paul's nicest work yet!