TO SAVE DUSAR
Thuvia of Ptarth, for more than life against the of Jav, a quick over her toward the from which had the growl. Jav looked, too.
What they saw each with apprehension. It was Komal, the banth-god, wide-jawed upon them!
Which had he for his prey? Or was it to be both?
They had not long to wait, for though the Lotharian to the girl himself and the terrible fangs, the great him at last.
Then, shrieking, he to toward Lothar, after pushing Thuvia into the of the man-eater. But his was of duration. In a moment Komal was upon him, his and with fury.
The girl their a moment later, but it was with that she the from its prey. Still and upon Jav, the at last permitted itself to be away into the wood.
With her protector by her Thuvia set to the passage through the cliffs, that she might attempt the of far-distant Ptarth across the more than seventeen thousand of Barsoom.
She not that Carthoris had her, and so she a watch for him; but as she too to the north in her search for the she passed the Heliumite as he was returning to Lothar in search of her.
Thuvia of Ptarth was having in the exact of the Prince of Helium in her heart. She not admit to herself that she loved him, and yet she had permitted him to apply to her that term of and to which a Barsoomian should turn ears when by other than those of her husband or fiancé—“my princess.”
Kulan Tith, Jeddak of Kaol, to she was affianced, her respect and admiration. Had it been that she had to her father’s of that the Heliumite had not taken of his visits to her father’s to push the for her hand that she had been sure he had since that day the two had sat together upon the seat the Garden of the Jeddaks that the of the of Salensus Oll at Kadabra?
Did she love Kulan Tith? Bravely she to that she did; but all the while her through the for the of a clean-limbed man—black-haired and grey-eyed. Black was the of Kulan Tith; but his were brown.
It was almost dark when she the entrance to the tunnel. Safely she passed through to the beyond, and here, under the light of Mars’ two moons, she to plan her action.
Should she wait here in the that Carthoris would return in search of her? Or should she continue her way north-east toward Ptarth? Where, first, would Carthoris have gone after the of Lothar?
Her and gave her the answer—toward Aaanthor and water. Well, she, too, would go to Aaanthor, where she might more than the water she needed.
With Komal by her she little fear, for he would protect her from all other beasts. Even the great white would the in terror. Men only need she fear, but she must take this and many other she to her father’s again.
When at last Carthoris her, only to be by the long-sword of a green man, Thuvia prayed that the same might overtake her.
The of the red from their had, for a moment, her with hope—hope that Carthoris of Helium might be only and that they would him; but when she saw the Dusarian metal upon their harness, and that they only to with her alone from the Torquasians, she gave up.
Komal, too, was dead—dead across the of the Heliumite. She was, indeed, alone now. There was none to protect her.
The Dusarian her to the of the nearest flier. All about them the green in an attempt to her from the red.
At last those who had not died in the the of the two craft. The and purred—the whirred. Quickly the heavenward.
Thuvia of Ptarth about her. A man near, into her face. With a of she looked full into his eyes, and then with a little of terror and she her in her hands and to the skeel-wood deck. It was Astok, Prince of Dusar, who above her.
Swift were the of Astok of Dusar, and great the need for his father’s as as possible, for the of of Helium and Ptarth and Kaol were and wide above Barsoom. Nor would it go well with Astok of Dusar should any one of them Thuvia of Ptarth a upon his own vessel.
Aaanthor in fifty south latitude, and east of Horz, the seat of Barsoomian and learning, while Dusar fifteen north of the and twenty east from Horz.
Great though the is, the it without a stop. Long they had their Thuvia of Ptarth had learned that up the that had her mind for many days. Scarce had they above Aaanthor than she one of the as a of the of that other that had her from her father’s gardens to Aaanthor. The presence of Astok upon the settled the whole question. She had been by of the Dusarian prince—Carthoris of Helium had had nothing to do with it.
Nor did Astok the when she him. He only and his love for her.
“I would sooner with a white ape!” she cried, when he would have his suit.
Astok upon her.
“You shall with me, Thuvia of Ptarth,” he growled, “or, by your ancestor, you shall have your preference—and with a white ape.”
The girl no reply, he her into the of the journey.
As a of Astok was a by the of the which his of the Ptarthian had induced, was he over with the weight of which the of such a entailed.
His one was to her to Dusar, and there let his father assume the responsibility. In the meantime he would be as as possible to do nothing to her, they all might be and he have to account for his of the girl to one of the great in her.
And so at last they came to Dusar, where Astok his in a room high in the east tower of his own palace. He had his men to in the of the identity of the girl, for until he had his father, Nutus, Jeddak of Dusar, he not let any one know he had with him from the south.
But when he appeared in the great audience the cruel-lipped man who was his sire, he his oozing, and he not speak of the his palace. It to him to test his father’s upon the subject, and so he told a of one who to know the of Thuvia of Ptarth.
“And if you it, Sire,” he said, “I will go and her—fetching her here to Dusar.”
Nutus and his head.
“You have done already to set Ptarth and Kaol and Helium all three upon us at once should they learn your part in the of the Ptarth princess. That you succeeded in shifting the upon the Prince of Helium was fortunate, and a move of strategy; but were the girl to know the truth and return to her father’s court, all Dusar would have to pay the penalty, and to have her here a us would be an of from the of which save us. It would cost me my throne, Astok, and that I have no mind to lose.
“If we had her here—” the man to muse, the phrase again and again. “If we had her here, Astok,” he fiercely. “Ah, if we but had her here and none that she was here! Can you not guess, man? The of Dusar might be for with her bones,” he in a low, whisper.
Astok, Prince of Dusar, shuddered.
Weak he was; yes, and wicked, too; but the that his father’s him cold with horror.
Cruel to their are the men of Mars; but the word “enemies” is to men only. Assassination in the great Barsoomian cities; yet to a woman is a so that the most of the paid would from you in should you such a thing to him.
Nutus was to his son’s all-too-patent terror at his suggestion. Presently he continued:
“You say that you know where the girl hid, since she was from your people at Aaanthor. Should she be by any one of the three powers, her would be to turn them all against us.
“There is but one way, Astok,” the older man. “You must return at once to her hiding-place and her in all secrecy. And, look you here! Return not to Dusar without her, upon pain of death!”
Astok, Prince of Dusar, well his father’s temper. He that in the tyrant’s there no single of love for any creature.
Astok’s mother had been a woman. Nutus had loved her. He had loved another. In he had to a at the of of his powerful neighbours, but their would have none of him.
After a dozen of his own had self-destruction than him he had up. And then it had been that he had legally one of his that he might have a son to among the when Nutus died and a new was chosen.
Slowly Astok from the presence of his father. With white and he his way to his own palace. As he the his to to the great east tower high against the of the sky.
At of it of out upon his brow.
Issus! No other hand than his be to do the thing. With his own he must the life from that perfect throat, or the into the red, red heart.
Her heart! The that he had would with love for him!
But had it done so? He the with which his of love had been received. He cold and then to the memory of it. His as the self-satisfaction of a near out the that had for a moment themselves—the good that he had from the woman was once again in the blood that had come to him from his sire; as, in the end, it always was.
A cold the terror that had his eyes. He his steps toward the tower. He would see her he set out upon the that was to his father to the that the girl was already in Dusar.
Quietly he passed in through the way, a to the in which the Princess of Ptarth was immured.
As he entered the room he saw the girl upon the of the east casement, out across the of Dusar toward Ptarth. He Ptarth. The of it him with rage. Why not her now and have it done with?
At the of his step she toward him. Ah, how she was! His the light of her beauty. He would wait until he had returned from his little of deception—maybe there might be some other way then. Some other hand to the blow—with that face, with those him, he do it. Of that he was positive. He had always in the of his nature, but, Issus! he was not that cruel. No, another must be found—one he trust.
He was still looking at her as she there him meeting his and unafraid. He the of his love higher and higher.
Why not once more? If she would relent, all might yet be well. Even if his father not be persuaded, they to Ptarth, all the of the and that had four great nations into war, upon the of Nutus. And who was there that would the of the charge?
“Thuvia,” he said, “I come once again, for the last time, to my at your feet. Ptarth and Kaol and Dusar are with Helium of you. Wed me, Thuvia, and all may yet be as it should be.”
The girl her head.
“Wait!” he commanded, she speak. “Know the truth you speak that may seal, not only your own fate, but that of the thousands of who of you.
“Refuse to me willingly, and Dusar would be waste should the truth be to Ptarth and Kaol and Helium. They would our cities, not one upon another. They would our across the of Barsoom from the north to the south, them and them, until this great nation only as a memory in the minds of men.
“But while they are the Dusarians, thousands of their own must perish—and all of the of a single woman who would not the who loves her.
“Refuse, Thuvia of Ptarth, and there but a single alternative—no man must know your fate. Only a of my father and myself know that you were from the gardens of Thuvan Dihn by Astok, Prince of Dusar, or that to-day you be in my palace.
“Refuse, Thuvia of Ptarth, and you must die to save Dusar—there is no other way. Nutus, the jeddak, has so decreed. I have spoken.”
For a long moment the girl let her level full upon the of Astok of Dusar. Then she spoke, and though the were few, the of cold contempt.
“Better all that you have threatened,” she said, “than you.”
Then she her upon him and to once more the east window, with sad toward Ptarth.
Astok and left the room, returning after a of time with food and drink.
“Here,” he said, “is until I return again. The next to enter this will be your executioner. Commend to your ancestors, Thuvia of Ptarth, for a days you shall be with them.”
Then he was gone.
Half an hour later he was an officer high in the of Dusar.
“Whither Vas Kor?” he asked. “He is not at his palace.”
“South, to the great that skirts Torquas,” the other. “His son, Hal Vas, is Dwar of the Road there, and has Vas Kor gone to recruits among the on the farms.”
“Good,” said Astok, and a half-hour more him above Dusar in his flier.
