Part 7 (1/2)
”There is one,” she replied, ”ould co, dare to cut you down upon your own throne, if he thought that you had offered affront to Thuvia of Ptarth!”
”Who, Jav?” asked Tario
”Not Jav, nor any other soft-skinned Lotharian,” she replied; ”but a real ain the et the bowmen,” he reainst hly to hi her towards his couch
”If you will not be my queen,” he said, ”you shall be irl
As she spoke the single word there was a quick ered back, both hands pressed to his side At the same instant the room filled with bowmen, and then the jeddak of Lothar sank senseless to the marble floor
At the instant that he lost consciousness the boere about to release their arrows into Thuvia's heart Involuntarily she gave a single cry for help, though she knew that not even Carthoris of Helium could save her now
Then she closed her eyes and waited for the end No slender shafts pierced her tender side She raised her lids to see what stayed the hand of her executioners
The room was empty save for herself and the still for at her feet, a little pool of cri the white marble of the floor beside him Tario was unconscious
Thuvia was amazed Where were the bowmen? Why had they not loosed their shafts? What could it all mean?
An instant before the room had been mysteriously filled with armed men, evidently called to protect their jeddak; yet noith the evidence of her deed plain before the her alone with the body of their ruler, into whose side she had slipped her long, keen blade
The girl glanced apprehensively about, first for signs of the return of the bowmen, and then for some means of escape
The wall behind the dais was pierced by two s quickly towards one of these when she heard the clank of a warrior's metal at the end of the apartment behind her
Ah, if she had but an instantarras and, perchance, have found some avenue of escape behind it; but noas too late--she had been discovered!
With a feeling that was akin to apathy she turned toswiftly across the broad cha in his hand
For days she had doubted his intentions of the Heliuht hiether she had scarce favoured him with more than the most perfunctory replies to his res at Lothar had surprised her out of her reserve
She knew that Carthoris of Heliuht for her; but whether to save her for himself or another, she was in doubt
He knew that she was promised to Kulan tith, Jeddak of Kaol, but if he had been instrumental in her abduction, his ard for her honour
And yet, as she saw hi across the marble floor of the audience chamber of Tario of Lothar, his fine eyes filled with apprehension for her safety, his splendid figure personifying all that is finest in the fighting men of martial Mars, she could not believe that any faintest trace of perfidy lurked beneath so glorious an exterior
Never, she thought, in all her life had the sight of any man been so welcome to her It ith difficulty that she refrained fro forward to meet him
She knew that he loved her; but, in time, she recalled that she was proht she trust herself to show too great gratitude to the Heliumite, lest he misunderstand
Carthoris was by her side now His quick glance had taken in the scene within the rooure of the jeddak sprawled upon the floor--the girl hastening toward a shrouded exit
”Did he harm you, Thuvia?” he asked
She held up her criht see it
”No,” she said, ”he did not harhted Carthoris' face
”Praised be our first ancestor!” he ood our escape from this accursed city before the Lotharians discover that their jeddak is no more”
With the firm authority that sat so well upon hiinia and Dejah Thoris of Heliu back across the hall, strode toward the great doorway through which Jav had brought them into the presence of the jeddak earlier in the day
They had al into the aparth another entrance It was Jav He, too, took in the scene within at a glance
Carthoris turned to face hireat body shi+elding the slender figure of the girl
”Come, Jav of Lothar!” he cried ”Let us face the issue at once, for only one of us may leave this cha that theon your bowmen, then, or come with us as my prisoner until we have safely passed the outer portals of thy ghostly city”
”You have killed Tario!” exclaie ”You have killed Tario! I see his blood upon the floor--real blood--real death Tario was, after all, as real as I Yet he was an etherealist He would not ht? Well, we, too, are right And all these ages we have been quarrelling--each saying that the other rong!
”However, he is dead now Of that I alad Now shall Jav come into his own Now shall Jav be Jeddak of Lothar!”
As he finished, Tario opened his eyes and then quickly sat up
”Traitor! assassin!” he screauard
Jav went sickly white He fell upon his belly, wriggling toward Tario
”Oh, my Jeddak, my Jeddak!” he whimpered ”Jav had no hand in this Jav, your faithful Jav, but just this instant entered the apart prone upon the floor and these two strangers about to leave How it happened I know not Believe lorious Jeddak!”
”Cease, knave!” cried Tario ”I heard your words: `However, he is dead now Of that I alad Now shall Jav come into his own Now shall Jav be Jeddak of Lothar'
”At last, traitor, I have found you out Your oords have condemned you as surely as the acts of these red creatures have sealed their fates--unless--” He paused ”Unless the wouessed what he would have said, and before the words could be uttered he had sprung forward and struck the man across the e and ain affront the Princess of Ptarth,” warned the Heliuet that you wear no sword--not for eversword hand”
Tario shrank back toward the little doorways behind the dais He was trying to speak, but so hideously were thethat he could utter no word for several ibly
”Die!” he shrieked ”Die!” and then he turned toward the exit at his back
Jav leaped forward, screa in terror
”Have pity, Tario! Have pity! Rees that I have served you faithfully Remember all that I have done for Lothar Do not condemn me now to the death hideous Save h and continued to back toward the hangings that hid the little doorway