he loved, but closed it again with thewords unsaid.Wednesdayafternoon, they were in Henrys room working on Henrys Latin,Martin perched on the arm of Henrys desk chair and leaning overhis paper, patiently pointing out his errors, when Henry decided heneeded a respite from the tedious and confusing comparison ofadjectives.Enoughof this for now. I need a break. Will you tell me more about theHouses? he asked.Martinblinked. What do you mean?Afteryou told me about Hyperion and Julian, about how he would have neverbeen made a companion at Ganymede, it made me start wondering aboutall the Houses. I know Ganymede is the best, but what about theothers? Are they known for anything in particular?Oh,well, its only my opinionsWhichI want to hear, Henry insisted. Someday Ill be buying my ownslaves and youll be helping me, right? Will we only buy fromGanymede, like my father, or are other Houses good, too?Certainly,other Houses can be good, Martin allowed. But, really, Ganymedeis best. Even slaves who arent from Ganymede think so, I promise.Ganymede has the best-trained companions; its common knowledge.But I think Orpheus is next best. Tom is from Orpheus, and hes avery good slave. There are lots of Orpheus slaves in your class. Mr.Brands Miles, Mr. Ross Simon, and Mr. Hollingsworths Allenare all from Orpheus, as well.Whatmakes Ganymede companions better, then? Are the training methods sodifferent between Houses?DifferentHouses emphasize different things. Ganymede slaves give the bestservice. Were dedicated to our masters before all else. We havethe best manners, were the best-educated, and we love sex.Thatsyou,Henry pointed out. What about other Ganymede boys?TheStandard boys from my House are the equal of the best boys from anyother House; I can say it with confidence. Martin was clearlyproud of his heritage.Betterthan even the best Orpheus slaves?Martinfrowned, seeming to regret his rash statement. Well, perhaps not.Tom and Allen are every bit as fine as the Superior boys I trainedwith. I was hasty in my speech.Thatsall right. Which are other good Houses?SamsHouse, Apollo, is good, as is Endymion, Peters House. Hermes isalso good.Whichare the bad Houses? Besides Hyperion, I mean.Martinlooked uncomfortable with this characterization. I wouldnt saybad, Henry. Just...the training is less rigorous, perhaps, andthe slaves not as well-suited to their roles as they ought to be.Some of these newer Houses are just after the money, you see, andcompanions are worth the most money.Mostcompanions sold for far less than Martin had, but the sums involvedwere still substantial. Henry had no idea what the Lovejoys had paidfor Julian, or what the Caldwells had paid for Tom, but it would havebeen more money than the average person would see in a lifetime.Martincontinued. If slaves are not well-suited to their roles, there canbe problems with attitudes. For instance, Julian can be very defiant.Can you imagine mebeing defiant? Martin scoffed at the very idea. I would alwaysfind another way, he said with confidence. I take so much pridein serving you well and making you happy with me. He slid from thearm of the chair onto Henrys lap and looped his arms aroundHenrys neck.Whatdo you mean about finding another way? Henry was a littlesuspicious of this, though he put