CHAPTER VIII. THE HALL OF DOOM
As Thuvia of Ptarth saw Carthoris depart from the presence of Tario, leaving her alone with the man, a sudden qualm of terror seized her.
There was an air of mystery pervading the stately chamber.
Its furnishings and appointments bespoke wealth and culture, and carried the suggestion that the room was often the scene of royal functions which filled it to its capacity. And yet nowhere about her, in antechamber or corridor, was there sign of any other being than herself and the recumbent figure of Tario, the jeddak, who watched her through half-closed eyes from the gorgeous trappings of his regal couch.
For a time after the departure of Jav and Carthoris the man eyed her intently.
Then he spoke. "Come nearer," he said, and, as she approached: "Whose creature are you?
Who has dared materialize his imaginings of woman? It is contrary to the customs and the royal edicts of Lothar. Tell me, woman, from whose brain have you sprung? Jav's? No, do not deny it. I know that it could be no other than that envious realist. He seeks to tempt me. He would see me fall beneath the spell of your charms, and then he, your master, would direct my destiny and—my end. I see it all! I see it all! The blood of indignation and anger had been rising to Thuvia's face.
Her chin was up, a haughty curve upon her perfect lips. "I know naught," she cried, "of what you are prating!
I am Thuvia, Princess of Ptarth. I am no man's 'creature.' Never before to-day did I lay eyes upon him you call Jav, nor upon your ridiculous city, of which even the greatest nations of Barsoom have never dreamed. "My charms are not for you, nor such as you.
They are not for sale or barter, even though the price were a real throne. And as for using them to win your worse than futile power—" She ended her sentence with a shrug of her shapely shoulders, and a little scornful laugh. When she had finished Tario was sitting upon the edge of his couch, his feet upon the floor.
He was leaning forward with eyes no longer half closed, but wide with a startled expression in them. He did not seem to note the LESE MAJESTE of her words and manner.
There was evidently something more startling and compelling about her speech than that. Slowly he came to his feet.
"By the fangs of Komal!
he muttered. "But you are REAL! A REAL woman! No dream! No vain and foolish figment of the mind! He took a step toward her, with hands outstretched.
"Come!
he whispered.
"Come, woman! For countless ages have I dreamed that some day you would come. And now that you are here I can scarce believe the testimony of my eyes. Even now, knowing that you are real, I still half dread that you may be a lie. Thuvia shrank back.
She thought the man mad. Her hand stole to the jewelled hilt of her dagger. The man saw the move, and stopped. A cunning expression entered his eyes. Then they became at once dreamy and penetrating as they fairly bored into the girl's brain. Thuvia suddenly felt a change coming over her.
What the cause of it she did not guess; but somehow the man before her began to assume a new relationship within her heart. No longer was he a strange and mysterious enemy, but an old and trusted friend.
Her hand slipped from the dagger's hilt. Tario came closer. He spoke gentle, friendly words, and she answered him in a voice that seemed hers and yet another's. He was beside her now.
His hand was up her shoulder. His eyes were down-bent toward hers. She looked up into his face. His gaze seemed to bore straight through her to some hidden spring of sentiment within her. Her lips parted in sudden awe and wonder at the strange revealment of her inner self that was being laid bare before her consciousness.
She had known Tario for ever. He was more than friend to her. She moved a little closer to him. In one swift flood of light she knew the truth. She loved Tario, Jeddak of Lothar! She had always loved him. The man, seeing the success of his strategy, could not restrain a faint smile of satisfaction.
Whether there was something in the expression of his face, or whether from Carthoris of Helium in a far chamber of the palace came a more powerful suggestion, who may say? But something there was that suddenly dispelled the strange, hypnotic influence of the man. As though a mask had been torn from her eyes, Thuvia suddenly saw Tario as she had formerly seen him, and, accustomed as she was to the strange manifestations of highly developed mentality which are common upon Barsoom, she quickly guessed enough of the truth to know that she was in grave danger.
Quickly she took a step backward, tearing herself from his grasp.
But the momentary contact had aroused within Tario all the long-buried passions of his loveless existence. With a muffled cry he sprang upon her, throwing his arms about her and attempting to drag her lips to his.
"Woman!
he cried. "Lovely woman! Tario would make you queen of Lothar. Listen to me! Listen to the love of the last jeddaks of Barsoom. Thuvia struggled to free herself from his embrace.
"Stop, creature!
she cried. "Stop! I do not love you. Stop, or I shall scream for help! Tario laughed in her face.
"'Scream for help,'" he mimicked.
"And who within the halls of Lothar is there who might come in answer to your call? Who would dare enter the presence of Tario, unsummoned? "There is one," she replied, "who would come, and, coming, 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 man, a real warrior—Carthoris of Helium!
Again the man laughed at her.
"You forget the bowmen," he reminded her.
"What could your red warrior accomplish against my fearless legions? Again he caught her roughly to him, dragging her towards his couch.
"If you will not be my queen," he said, "you shall be my slave.
"Neither!
cried the girl. As she spoke the single word there was a quick move of her right hand; Tario, releasing her, staggered 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 bowmen were 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 form of the jeddak of Lothar lying at her feet, a little pool of crimson staining 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 now, with the evidence of her deed plain before them, they had vanished as mysteriously as they had come, leaving 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 small doorways, hidden by heavy hangings.
Thuvia was running 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 instant more of time she could have reached that screening arras and, perchance, have found some avenue of escape behind it; but now it was too late—she had been discovered!
With a feeling that was akin to apathy she turned to meet her fate, and there, before her, running swiftly across the broad chamber to her side, was Carthoris, his naked long-sword gleaming in his hand.
For days she had doubted his intentions of the Heliumite.
She had thought him a party to her abduction. Since Fate had thrown them together she had scarce favoured him with more than the most perfunctory replies to his remarks, unless at such times as the weird and uncanny happenings at Lothar had surprised her out of her reserve. She knew that Carthoris of Helium would fight 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 motives could not be prompted by loyalty to his friend, or regard for her honour.
And yet, as she saw him coming 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 was with difficulty that she refrained from rushing forward to meet him. She knew that he loved her; but, in time, she recalled that she was promised to Kulan Tith.
Not even might 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 room—the still figure 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 crimsoned blade that he might see it.
"No," she said, "he did not harm me.
A grim smile lighted Carthoris' face.
"Praised be our first ancestor!
he murmured. "And now let us see if we may not make good 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 him in whose veins flowed the blood of John Carter of Virginia and Dejah Thoris of Helium, he grasped her hand and, turning 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 almost reached the threshold when a figure sprang into the apartment through another entrance.
It was Jav. He, too, took in the scene within at a glance. Carthoris turned to face him, his sword ready in his hand, and his great body shielding 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 chamber alive with Thuvia of Ptarth." Then, seeing that the man wore no sword, he exclaimed: "Bring on 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!
exclaimed Jav, ignoring the other's challenge. "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 materialize his sustenance. Can it be that they are right? Well, we, too, are right. And all these ages we have been quarrelling—each saying that the other was wrong! "However, he is dead now.
Of that I am glad. 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 screamed, and then: "Kadar! Kadar!" which is the Barsoomian for guard. 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 apartment to find you lying prone upon the floor and these two strangers about to leave. How it happened I know not. Believe me, most glorious Jeddak! "Cease, knave!
cried Tario. "I heard your words: 'However, he is dead now. Of that I am glad. Now shall Jav come into his own. Now shall Jav be Jeddak of Lothar. "At last, traitor, I have found you out.
Your own words have condemned you as surely as the acts of these red creatures have sealed their fates—unless—" He paused. "Unless the woman—" But he got no further.
Carthoris guessed what he would have said, and before the words could be uttered he had sprung forward and struck the man across the mouth with his open palm. Tario frothed in rage and mortification.
"And should you again affront the Princess of Ptarth," warned the Heliumite, "I shall forget that you wear no sword—not for ever may I control my itching sword hand.
Tario shrank back toward the little doorways behind the dais.
He was trying to speak, but so hideously were the muscles of his face working that he could utter no word for several minutes. At last he managed to articulate intelligibly. "Die!
he shrieked. "Die!" and then he turned toward the exit at his back. Jav leaped forward, screaming in terror.
"Have pity, Tario!
Have pity! Remember the long ages that I have served you faithfully. Remember all that I have done for Lothar. Do not condemn me now to the death hideous. Save me! Save me! But Tario only laughed a mocking laugh and continued to back toward the hangings that hid the little doorway.
Jav turned toward Carthoris.
"Stop him!
he screamed. "Stop him!
If you love life, let him not leave this room," and as he spoke he leaped in pursuit of his jeddak. Carthoris followed Jav's example, but the "last of the jeddaks of Barsoom" was too quick for them.
By the time they reached the arras behind which he had disappeared, they found a heavy stone door blocking their further progress. Jav sank to the floor in a spasm of terror.
"Come, man!
cried Carthoris. "We are not dead yet. Let us hasten to the avenues and make an attempt to leave the city. We are still alive, and while we live we may yet endeavour to direct our own destinies. Of what avail, to sink spineless to the floor? Come, be a man! Jav but shook his head.
"Did you not hear him call the guards?
he moaned. "Ah, if we could have but intercepted him! Then there might have been hope; but, alas, he was too quick for us. "Well, well," exclaimed Carthoris impatiently.
"What if he did call the guards? There will be time enough to worry about that after they come—at present I see no indication that they have any idea of over-exerting themselves to obey their jeddak's summons. Jav shook his head mournfully.
"You do not understand," he said.
"The guards have already come—and gone. They have done their work and we are lost. Look to the various exits. Carthoris and Thuvia turned their eyes in the direction of the several doorways which pierced the walls of the great chamber.
Each was tightly closed by huge stone doors. "Well?
asked Carthoris. "We are to die the death," whispered Jav faintly.
Further than that he would not say.
He just sat upon the edge of the jeddak's couch and waited. Carthoris moved to Thuvia's side, and, standing there with naked sword, he let his brave eyes roam ceaselessly about the great chamber, that no foe might spring upon them unseen.
For what seemed hours no sound broke the silence of their living tomb.
No sign gave their executioners of the time or manner of their death. The suspense was terrible. Even Carthoris of Helium began to feel the terrible strain upon his nerves. If he could but know how and whence the hand of death was to strike, he could meet it unafraid, but to suffer longer the hideous tension of this blighting ignorance of the plans of their assassins was telling upon him grievously. Thuvia of Ptarth drew quite close to him.
She felt safer with the feel of his arm against hers, and with the contact of her the man took a new grip upon himself. With his old-time smile he turned toward her. "It would seem that they are trying to frighten us to death," he said, laughing; "and, shame be upon me that I should confess it, I think they were close to accomplishing their designs upon me.
She was about to make some reply when a fearful shriek broke from the lips of the Lotharian.
"The end is coming!
he cried. "The end is coming!
The floor! The floor! Oh, Komal, be merciful! Thuvia and Carthoris did not need to look at the floor to be aware of the strange movement that was taking place.
Slowly the marble flagging was sinking in all directions toward the centre.
At first the movement, being gradual, was scarce noticeable; but presently the angle of the floor became such that one might stand easily only by bending one knee considerably. Jav was shrieking still, and clawing at the royal couch that had already commenced to slide toward the centre of the room, where both Thuvia and Carthoris suddenly noted a small orifice which grew in diameter as the floor assumed more closely a funnel-like contour.
Now it became more and more difficult to cling to the dizzy inclination of the smooth and polished marble.
Carthoris tried to support Thuvia, but himself commenced to slide and slip toward the ever-enlarging aperture.
Better to cling to the smooth stone he kicked off his sandals of zitidar hide and with his bare feet braced himself against the sickening tilt, at the same time throwing his arms supportingly about the girl.
In her terror her own hands clasped about the man's neck.
Her cheek was close to his. Death, unseen and of unknown form, seemed close upon them, and because unseen and unknowable infinitely more terrifying. "Courage, my princess," he whispered.
She looked up into his face to see smiling lips above hers and brave eyes, untouched by terror, drinking deeply of her own.
Then the floor sagged and tilted more swiftly.
There was a sudden slipping rush as they were precipitated toward the aperture. Jav's screams rose weird and horrible in their ears, and then the three found themselves piled upon the royal couch of Tario, which had stuck within the aperture at the base of the marble funnel.
For a moment they breathed more freely, but presently they discovered that the aperture was continuing to enlarge.
The couch slipped downward. Jav shrieked again. There was a sickening sensation as they felt all let go beneath them, as they fell through darkness to an unknown death.
