Part 19 (2/2)

They were s.h.i.+mmering! I gasped, staring. The other n.o.bles, beyond the ray, had fallen back. And they too stood staring in horror.

Another instant The three figures wavered. I saw the face of one of them, with the shock of incredulous horror still upon it. A face turning luminous! A face, erased, with only the staring eyes to mark where it had been!

There was a moment when the three stricken men stood like s.h.i.+mmering ghosts, with Derek's deadly ray upon them. Then they were gone! It seemed, just as they vanished, that they were falling through the balcony floor....

Derek snapped off his ray. He rasped, ”Back into that room, I tell you!”

The remaining n.o.bles fled before him. He turned again to the balcony rail.

”My people-yes, I am Alexandre-I had not thought you would recognize me so soon. But you are right-the time has come for me to claim my inheritance. And I will rule you justly.”

His cylinder was still in his hand; he swept a watchful glance behind him. I thought of Rohbar. He was in the next room, with the king. Had they seen this attack upon Derek? They must have heard the crowd shouting, ”Alexandre!” It seemed strange they did not appear.

I recall now, as I look back to this moment on the balcony, that I suddenly thought of Hope. She had been beside me just before the n.o.bles attacked. I did not see her now. I was startled, but thought of her was driven from my mind. From within the palace a scream sounded. A girl screaming.

But it was not Hope's voice. A girl, screaming, and then shouting:

”The king is dead!”

Derek came rus.h.i.+ng at me. ”Charlie, that-”

We heard it again. ”The king is dead!”

We hurried into the adjoining room. There was no one to stop us-no one up here now who dared oppose Derek. The terrified n.o.bles in the room fell cringing before him.

”Alexandre-spare us! We are loyal to you!”

He strode past them. In the adjacent apartment we found the king lying upon the floor. A wound in his throat welled crimson. He had evidently been lying here alone, and had just now been found by a girl who had entered. He was not quite dead. Derek bent over him. He opened his eyes.

He gasped faintly: ”Rohbar-killed me. Rohbar and that-accursed crimson Sensua....”

His voice trailed away. The light went out of his staring eyes. Derek laid him gently back on the floor.

And as though already the news of his death had miraculously spread, the bell in the castle tower began tolling. Not clanging now. Tolling, with slow, solemn accent. The crowd evidently recognized it. We could hear the shouts: ”Death! Death has come!”

Derek's eyes ware blazing as he stood up. ”The end, Charlie! I would not have planned this, and yet....”

He did not finish. He whirled, rushed back to the other room and to the balcony. The scene was again in confusion the crowd milling, voices shouting:

”The king is dead!”

At the edge of the garden a woman's shrill, hysterical laughter rose over the din.

Derek called, ”Yes, the king is dead!” He paused. Then he added, ”If you want me-if I have your loyalty-I will claim my throne.”

A tumult interrupted him. ”Alexandre! King Alexandre!”

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