Part 14 (1/2)
”It was you, then, old scoundrel?” dely toward I-Gos
”Come, come!” expostulated the old man; ”it was I, but then I was your eneed”
”How have they changed? What has changed them?” asked Gahan
”Then I did not fully realize the cowardice of irl I ae At first I resented the girl's attack upon me, but later I came to see the bravery of it and it won my admiration, as have all her acts She feared not O-tar, she feared not me, she feared not all the warriors of Manator And you! Blood of a ht! I am sorry that I exposed you at The Fields of Jetan I airl Tara back to O-Tar I would make amends I would be your friend Here ishis weapon I-Gos cast it to the floor in front of Gahan
The Gatholian knew that scarce the e, and so he stooped, and picking up the old man's sword returned it to him, hilt first, in acceptance of his friendshi+p
”Where is the Princess Tara of Helium?” asked Gahan ”Is she safe?”
”She is confined in the tower of the wo the ceremony that is todared think that Tara of Heliurowled Gahan ”I will ht,” and he stepped toward the fallen O-Tar to run his sword through the jeddak's heart
”No!” cried I-Gos ”Slay him not and pray that he be not dead if you would save your princess”
”How is that?” asked Gahan
”If word of O-Tar's death reached the quarters of the women the Princess Tara would be lost They know O-Tar's intention of taking her to wife andher Jeddara of Manator, so you may rest assured that they all hate her with the hate of jealous women Only O-Tar's power protects her now from harm Should O-Tar die they would turn her over to the warriors and the e her”
Gahan sheathed his sword ”Your point is well taken; but what shall we do with him?”
”Leave him where he lies,” counseled I-Gos ”He is not dead When he revives he will return to his quarters with a fine tale of his bravery and there will be none to in his boasts--none but I-Gos Come! he may revive at any moment and he must not find us here”
I-Gos crossed to the body of his jeddak, knelt beside it for an instant, and then returned past the couch to Gahan The two quit the chamber of O-Mai and took their way toward the spiral runway Here I-Gos led Gahan to a higher level and out upon the roof of that portion of the palace froh tower quite close by ”There,” he said, ”lies the Princess of Helium, and quite safe she will be until the time of the ceremony”
”Safe, possibly, from other hands, but not from her own,” said Gahan ”She will never become Jeddara of Manator--first will she destroy herself”
”She would do that?” asked I-Gos
”She will, unless you can get word to her that I still live and that there is yet hope,” replied Gahan
”I cannot get word to her,” said I-Gos ”The quarters of his wouards with jealous hand Here are histhem are countless spies, so that no man knohich be which No shadow falls within those chambers that is not hted s of the high tower in the upper chambers of which Tara of Helium was confined ”I will find a way, I-Gos,” he said
”There is no way,” replied the old man
For some time they stood upon the roof beneath the brilliant stars and hurtling ainst the tih tower to the throne rooued I-Gos, that any hope of rescuing her ht trust the other Gahan did not know, and so he kept to hie of the plan that he had forwarded to Floran and Val Dor by Ghek, but he assured the ancient taxidermist that if he were sincere in his oft-repeated declaration that O-Tar should be denounced and superseded he would have his opportunity on the night that the jeddak sought to wed the Heliumetic princess
”Your time shall come then, I-Gos,” Gahan assured the other, ”and if you have any party that thinks as you do, prepare them for the eventuality that will succeed O-Tar's presuhter of The Warlord Where shall I see you again, and when? I go now to speak with Tara, Princess of Helium”
”I like your boldness,” said I-Gos; ”but it will avail you naught You will not speak with Tara, Princess of Heliuh doubtless the blood of many Manatorians will drench the floors of the women's quarters before you are slain”
Gahan smiled ”I shall not be slain Where and when shall we ht That seems the safest retreat in all Manator for an eneo!”
”And may the spirits of your ancestors surround you,” said I-Gos
After the old h tohich appeared to have been constructed of concrete and afterward elaborately carved, its entire surface being covered with intricate designs cut deep into the stone-like es since, it was but little weather-worn owing to the aridity of the Martian atmosphere, the infrequency of rains, and the rarity of dust storer that ht have deterred the bravest of men--that would, doubtless, have deterred Gahan, had he not felt that the life of the wo the hazardous feat
Re aside all of his harness and weapons other than a single belt supporting a dagger, the Gatholian essayed the dangerous ascent Clinging to the carvings with hands and feet he worked hi upon the shadowy side of the tower, away froht of Thuria and Cluros The tower rose some fifty feet above the roof of the adjacent part of the palace, co in every direction A few of the ere balconied, and thesenow near the close of the ninth zode, there was little likelihood that ress was noiseless and he came at last, undetected, to the s of the upper level These, like several of the others he had passed at lower levels, were heavily barred, so that there was no possibility of his gaining ingress to the apartment where Tara was confined Darkness hid the interior behind the firstthat he approached The second opened upon a lighted cha at his post outside a door Here also was the top of the runway leading to the next level below Passing still farther around the tower Gahan approached another , but now he clung to that side of the tohich ended in a courtyard a hundred feet below and in a short tiht of Thuria would reach him He realized that he must hasten and he prayed that behind thehe now approached he would find Tara of Heliu he looked in upon a s dais upon which a hu froainst a black and yellow striped orluk skin--an arm of wondrous beauty about which was clasped an armlet that Gahan knew No other creature was visible within the cha his face to the bars the Gatholian whispered her dear naain he called, but this time louder Tara sat up and looked about and at the sae eunuch leaped to his feet fro on the floor close by that side of the dais farthest froht of Thuria flashed full upon the here Gahan clung silhouetting hi to their feet The eunuch drew his sword and leaped for the here the helpless Gahan would have fallen an easy victile thrust of the murderous weapon the fellow bore, had not Tara of Heliu hier froht to hurl her aside its keen point found his heart Without a sound he died and lunged forward to the floor Then Tara ran to the
”Turan, my chief!” she cried ”What awful risk is this you take to seek me here, where even your brave heart is powerless to aid me”
”Be not so sure of that, heart ofbut words to ive her back to ht destroy yourself, Tara of Helium, to escape the dishonor that O-Tar would do you, and so I cah whatever e that there is yet a way and that if all goes e shall be freed at last Look for ht that he would wed you And no may we dispose of this fellow?” He pointed to the dead eunuch upon the floor
”We need not concern ourselves about that,” she replied ”None dares harm me for fear of the wrath of O-Tar--otherwise I should have been dead so soon as ever I entered this portion of the palace, for the women hate me O-Tar alone may punish me, and what cares O-Tar for the life of a eunuch? No, fear not upon this score”
Their hands were clasped between the bars and now Gahan drew her nearer to hio, hter of Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, and The Warlord of Barsoom whispered: ”My chieftain!” and pressed her lips to the lips of Turan, the common panthan
CHAPTER XXII
AT THE MOMENT OF MARRIAGE
THE silence of the tomb lay heavy about him as O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, opened his eyes in the chahtful apparition that had confronted hiht Within the range of his vision there was nothing apparent that ht cause alarm Slowly he lifted his head and looked about Upon the floor beside the couch lay the thing that had at first attracted his attention and his eyes closed in terror as he recognized it for what it was; but it ain and rose to his feet He was tre on the dais fro arise
O-Tar backed slowly froained the outer corridor It was empty He did not know that it had eled had broken upon the startled ears of the warriors who had been sent to spy upon him He looked at the timepiece set in a massive bracelet upon his left forearone O-Tar had lain for an hour unconscious He had spent an hour in the chamber of O-Mai and he was not dead! He had looked upon the face of his predecessor and was still sane! He shook hi nerves, so that by the tiained control of hier To the banquet hall he went, knowing that his chiefs awaited him there and as he entered they arose and upon the faces of ht to see O-Tar the jeddak again after what the spies had told the froone alone to that chaht, for now no one could deny the tale that he should tell
E-Thas rushed forward to greet him, for E-Thas had seen black looks directed toward him as the tals slipped by and his benefactor failed to return
”O brave and glorious jeddak!” cried theof you the story of your adventure”
”It was naught,” exclaimed O-Tar ”I searched the cha for the return of the slave, Turan, if he were temporarily away; but he caoes there Fewin such a dismal place”
”You were not attacked?” asked E-Thas ”You heard no screams, nor ures; but they fled before me so that never could I lay hold of one, and I looked upon the face of O-Mai and I am not mad I even rested in the chamber beside his corpse”
In a far corner of the roooblet of strong brew
”Coer, the po which suer was not in its scabbard O-Tar was puzzled He knew that it had been there just before he entered the chamber of O-Mai, for he had carefully felt of all his weapons toHe seized instead a table utensil and struck the gong, and when the slaves caest brew for O-Tar and his chiefs Before the dawn broke many were the expressions of ade of their jeddak; but solum
Came at last the day that O-Tar would take the Princess Tara of Heliu bride Seven perfu and weary hours, then her whole body was anointed with the oil of piers of a slave froht for the occasion was of the white hide of the great white apes of Barsoo heavily with platinulossy mass of her jet hair had been built into a coiffure of stately and becorandeur, into which diamond-headed pins were stuck until the whole scintillated as the stars in heaven upon a ht