PREPARING THE PEOPLE
Croft went not to Himyra, however, as I fancied, but to Zitra, after he
left me, and the sleeping apartment of Zud, taking his stand close to
where the high priest lay wrapped in slumber on a copper couch.
"Zud! Zud! Man of Zitu!" he let the call of his spirit steal forth.
Once in a past time he had taught the high priest something of the
astral body, finding it necessary to his purpose then to convince him
of the truth. And he had told him that when he should call him in the
future he would answer.
"My lord," he muttered. "Aye--my lord."
"Spirit of Zud--come forth!"
Zud of Zitra's body relaxed. His spirit obeyed. Mistlike it hovered
above his physical form.
"My lord," it faltered again.
"Peace," said Croft. "Ye have answered me, Zud, in such wise. Give
ear and obey me in the flesh, when dawn comes again to the world. I,
Mouthpiece, say unto thee this:
"Word of the abduction of Naia, wife of Jason, and of Jason, Son of
Jason, shall be noised abroad. Be it said that Zollaria, envious of
Tamarizia's progress, has seized them and borne them into her country,
holding them ransom to her demands against this nation, under penalty
of death to Jason's son.
"Let it be understood. Let Zud himself sponsor the announcement,
first going to Jadgor's palace and saying to Jadgor that Jason, the
Mouthpiece of Zitu, gives the word.
"Say also to Jadgor that Jason requires him to send, from the tower on
Zitra's walls, word to Mutlos, Governor of Cathur, requesting him to
see that word is spread in Scira--also that Jason himself shall not
come to Scira to hold speech with Koryphu on the matter--and that he
notify Scythys' younger son. Let this be done by command of Jadgor. The
message being received from him in Himyra will be forwarded to Scira at
once."
"Aye, Mouthpiece of Zitu," Zud made answer. "Once ere this have ye
appeared in such guise before me, and I obeyed thee. Even so shall I
obey you now. These things shall be done."
"Yet counsel the people to remain calm in the announcement," Jason
said. "Zitu's Mouthpiece desires no more than their sympathy in this."
"But the woman--my lord has word of her and the infant?" the high
priest questioned.
"Aye," Croft told him. "As Zud knows, I may meet with her in the spirit
even as with Zud himself."
"Aye"--Zud inclined his astral head--"that Zud no longer doubts, since
within his knowledge it is proved."
"Say also to Jadgor that Jason goes to Himyra to labor in the flesh
with Robur, son of Jadgor," Croft continued. "Now return to thy body
and finish thy slumbers, man of Zitu. Yet, waking, see that in all
things my counsel is obeyed."
"Aye, Zud obeys on waking," the high priest promised.
"In Zitu's name," said Croft, and with that he left.
Dawn was breaking over Zitra as he emerged from the pyramid and made
his way swiftly north.
Dawn was breaking over Berla when he reached it. It struck him through
a tiny orifice for ventilation high in the wall, and fell in a golden
shaft of light across the dungeon in which Naia of Aphur prayed to Ga,
Mother of Life Eternal, for aid.
Then as she moved and rose from her knees, he called her, as always:
"Beloved."
Naia of Aphur heard, and smiled. Seating herself beside the child, she
let the soul of her womanhood steal forth.
"Jason, Jason," she cried, the flame of life within her swiftly glowing
with the meaning of his presence, "you come to me with the dawn, from
whence, my dear one?"
And Jason Croft answered her simply, "From earth."
"And?" She stood before him--searching his soul for some hint of those
things he had brought within it. "Jason--"
Croft replied to that appeal in almost cryptic fashion, yet knowing she
would understand. "True, woman who prays to Ga for courage, it is a new
dawn for us indeed."
"Praise Zitu." She wavered toward him. For a moment it was as though
their two beings blended, lost each itself in the other, became one.
And then Naia lifted a face exalted by a new hope. "Yet not so much
for myself do I praise him, beloved, as for the little one. Knowledge
waited you then when you arrived?"
"Knowledge," said Croft, still holding her to him. "Aye, knowledge
enough to make Zollaria a waste of scorching bones, a burned-out world,
if so by I may hold not only thy spirit but thy body again in my arms."
Naia's astral being quivered; she lifted her eyes to the fading spot of
sunlight. "Then," said she in a whisper of understanding, "this dawn on
which I lifted my woman's cry to Ga is a new dawn for us indeed--and
once more courage fills my being. Go, beloved--hasten that other day
which shall bring me again to thee. The past sun Kalamita departed for,
as she hopes, a meeting with you. She and the giant who attends her,
Gor by name, came, ere she left, to this chamber, asking what message I
would send to the Mouthpiece of Zitu."
"And Naia of Aphur told her what?" Croft questioned, looking into the
eyes beneath his.
"To tell you when she met you that Naia loved both Tamarizia and thee."
"And what said Zollaria's magnet to such a message?" Jason asked.
Naia of Aphur smiled as she answered. "Nay--she seemed not overly well
pleased with it. She bade Gor strip my signet ring from my finger. Be
warned against any message wherein it may be used as a seeming proof of
word from me."
"Aye," said Jason, scowling at this fresh proof of duplicity in
Zollaria's dealing; "such trickery shall gain them nothing."
Naia nodded. "Yet I think I puzzled her somewhat, since I myself took
the ring from my hand ere Gor could touch me, and gave it to him,
knowing full well I could explain when next we spoke together, and
liking not the thought of his hands upon me--or the touch of any man
save only Lakkon and thee."
Croft bent his lips to those below them, thinking even in that instant
that Kalamita had gained small satisfaction thus far in her meetings
with Naia of Aphur, and asking himself what use the Zollarian siren
might mean to make of the ring--a bit of purple stone into which was
cut the ideographic symbol of Naia's name.
"Kalamita plays an impossible game," he said, "since, thanks to our
ability thus to speak together, her moves and even her intent is known.
Be of good courage, therefore, beloved. I go now to Himyra to prepare
against the day when in truth you shall feel _my_ touch again."
The waters of the Central Sea were a golden ripple in the early
sunshine, as he sped back then to Himyra and opened the eyes of his
body to Robur's wing of the palace and sat up on his couch.
* * * * *
Throughout the next day Jason and Robur passed from one place to
another, calling the captains, whom Croft himself had trained, before
them, explaining, issuing their orders, bidding them put night shifts
to work upon the task--giving here the commands for the forging of
copper beams and trusses--there the design for huge tanks in which the
death-dealing liquid fire would be stored.
Late in the afternoon, bulletins struck off Jason's presses appeared
posted on the corners--flaunting the news of Zollaria's latest move
before the people's eyes. Those who could read gathered about them and
translated the message of ink and paper to their less erudite fellows.
Inside an hour Himyra was howling with anger and amaze.
Leaving the metal foundry, where they had been giving orders for the
making of the fire-containing tanks, Croft and Robur found their motur
all but mobbed by a wildly inflamed crowd. The caution for a quiet
acceptance included in the bulletins was temporarily ignored. Naia
of Aphur, the beauty of the state, was captive. The Mouthpiece of
Zitu--the strong man who had twice brought the northern nation's plans
to disaster--was robbed of wife and child.
"To Zollaria! To Berla! Seize and punish! Death to the spawn of
Zitemku--the torturers of women and children!" the populace howled.
Corner orators appeared and harangued their fellows, giving way as
Robur's car approached with the sun flag of Aphur flapping above it, to
point toward Jason, and shriek that here was the Mouthpiece himself.
Time after time Croft was forced to rise and address the seething
press of men and women that blocked the thoroughfare, begging them to
give him passage on an errand connected with the safety of Naia and
Jason--counseling a quiet demeanor--asking the sympathy and support of
the men of Aphur in his endeavors to meet the situation--suggesting
that any move of a violent nature would hinder rather than help him
in the present instance--promising action--declaring that in order to
keep spies from Himyra all vessels mounting the Na would be searched by
Aphurian guardsmen, and that all strangers would be stopped at Himyra's
walls.
Time and again Robur rose to stand beside him in the motur. "Zitu's
Mouthpiece has spoken. Aphur hears and obeys. Give way. The Mouthpiece
goes to Scira to organize a mission!" he roared.
"To what end?" a strong voice questioned on one such occasion. Despite
their royal caste, the Tamarizians were a democratic nation.
"To meet an emissary of the northern nation," Robur replied.
"Then let the mission be one of the sword."
"Nay. Not so says the Mouthpiece of Zitu, who plans already a different
measure," Aphur's governor answered.
"Silence. Give ear to the Mouthpiece of Zitu!" yelled the crowd. "Make
way--he desires a passage! Make way! He goes to Scira."
The press opened, making a free way. The motur moved forward. "They
are with you," said Robur, speeding the car toward the gates of Himyra
according to their plans to visit the airplane hangars beyond the walls.
"Aye." Croft nodded. That quickly up-flaring spontaneous anger and rage
of Himyra's population acted as a subtle tonic to his spirit, set his
heart to beating faster, woke a strange fire of unfaltering purpose in
his eyes.
At the hangars he explained the situation and called for volunteers
from among the fliers to cross the Gateway and land of Scira, later
taking up the deceptive patrol above the mountains north of the
Cathurian border he had already planned.
They heard him and stepped forward in a body. Not one man held back.
They pressed close before him with eager faces. Again his heart was
warmed. He had organized their force. By himself and Naia most of them
had been trained. Nominally at least he was their commander-in-chief.
They were the pick of Tamarizian manhood--as eager to dare the venture
as restrained hounds on a leash.
He selected a half dozen quickly, telling them they must destroy both
moturs and planes if disaster overtook them and forced a landing on
Zollarian terrain, explaining that Robur would see them equipped with
small grenades by which the moturs could be blown to atoms.
Their faces stiffened a trifle, but they did not falter.
"Aye--they shall not have them," they made answer.
"By Zitu," Jason prompted.
"By Zitu," they returned.
Croft saluted them flat-handed. "It is an oath," he said. "To break it
were treason to the nation. In four days you will descend at Scira.
Look to your machines."
Back in the motur he found his pulses leaping to the spur of action
and the _ésprit du corps_ among the fliers he had seen. They were men,
men--their number would furnish him others--to man the blimps and urge
them over Berla--if need be, to blot out the Zollarian city beneath a
fiery rain.
"Tonight, Rob, I give you many plans and dimensions," he told Robur,
breaking the silence of his introspection. "That done, I board Jadgor's
galley for Scira. Till I return, the work lies in your hands."
* * * * *
All Scira was _en fête_, or seemed so, though there was a strange
sullenness about her crowds, despite the flags, the banners that decked
the houses and lined the streets, and flew above her blue walls.
The Mouthpiece of Zitu was coming from Aphur on a mission, and the city
was adorned to greet him by the orders of Mutlos, Governor of Cathur
himself. The throngs which waited his coming, to welcome him, and
escort him to the house of Koryphu, where the sun-rayed banner of Aphur
hung beside that of Cathur in the almost breathless air, wore their
brightest garments. But his mission forbade holiday spirits in the
minds of the crowd.
True, vendors of sweetmeats and light wines in tabur hide sacks slung
on sinewy, naked shoulders, passed among them, jugglers and acrobats
performed their tricks and feats of strength on mats spread on the
pavement. But that was merely the seeking of profit on the part of
those who plied their various trades. It had naught to do with the
kidnapping of Naia, wife of the Mouthpiece, her carrying into the
neighboring nation which had twice endeavored to capture the northern
pillar of the Gateway--once over fifty years before, and again at a
more recent date.
"Wherefore, Koryphu, the man with whom the Mouthpiece would lie as
guest in Scira, was no longer of unimportance in Cathur. Why Koryphu
in this hour?" the people asked. And possibly Koryphu asked himself as
he prepared to welcome his guests, "Why the honor of the Mouthpiece of
Zitu's presence in this time of his bereavement?" When a messenger from
Mutlos had come and told him of it, he had gasped.
What was the purpose of the man to whom all Tamarizia looked as little
less than a demigod in his knowledge, in visiting Koryphu, who had
pored over tablets and scrolls in a semiseclusion ever since the
disgrace Kyphallos, son of Scythys, now happily dead, had brought upon
Cathur's royal house?
Be that as it may, he prepared his residence for the occasion and on
the day of the expected arrival of Jason Croft donned his bravest
apparel and waited to welcome his guest.
Yet it was mid-afternoon before Jadgor's galley, bearing the standard
of Zitra--the circle and cross--appeared and bore down on Scira's walls.
The giant sea-doors swung open, admitting her to the harbor, and closed
again when she had passed. Breaking forth Cathur's flag, she advanced
across the inner harbor and swung to a mooring. A band of trumpeters
ruffled forth from the quay, where Mutlos waited. The gangway was
thrust forth, and the Mouthpiece of Zitu, walking alone and unattended,
appeared.
"Hail, Mouthpiece of Zitu!" the assembled populace roared.
Mutlos advanced. The two men struck hands on shoulders, and joined
their palms in a moment's clasp. Side by side they entered Mutlos's
motur. The trumpeters fell in before them, breaking a pathway through
the crowds.
So came Jason to Scira once more, somber of mien, yet steady-eyed.
"My sympathy as a man I give thee, Advisor of Tamarizia," Mutlos said
as the car began to move. "My assistance and that of Cathur I pledge
you an' it be needed. This thing passes all endurance. Say but the
word and Cathur will gather her swords."
"Nay," Jason replied slowly. "Thy sympathy, Cathur, warms the heart of
the man. But the time of rescue has not arrived. Armed interference at
present were ill-advised, since Zollaria fears it, and should it be
attempted, thinks to offer my son to Bel a sacrifice."
"Zitu!" Mutlos gasped. "What then, O Mouthpiece? Where lies a chance of
rescue? Zollaria makes demands of ransom?"
"Aye--or will. Even now one approaches a rendezvous in the mountains
north of Cathur to meet with an agent of ours. It is because of that I
am here."
"To arrange a mission to this meeting?" Mutlos said with ready
understanding.
"Aye. Zollaria sends Kalamita of ill-fame to Cathur as her agent.
Tamarizia, with the knowledge of Cathur and his own consent if it is
forthcoming, sends Scythys' son."
"Now, by Zitu!" Admiration waked in Mutlos's eyes. "'Tis well thought
of--to face that tawny enchantress, this creature of Adita, by one in
whose heart must burn hot hate against her. Guardsmen I place at your
disposal and his. My palace lies open to you, and you will honor it
with your presence--or plan you to lodge in Koryphu's house?"
"With Koryphu this night at least," said Jason. "Yet with Mutlos things
must be discussed ere the mission fares forth. Hence at the palace
on the night succeeding the sun after this. I accept the offer of
guardsmen gladly. A score will be enough."
"They will be forthcoming," Mutlos promised, and spoke to his driver.
"To Koryphu's house."
Up to the door of the lesser palace stalked Jason alone, once he had
descended from the motur.
But Koryphu had marked his coming, and the door slid open before him.
"Hail to thee, Tamarizia, in the person of Jason, Mouthpiece of Zitu,"
Koryphu exclaimed and drew back a pace before him, that he might enter
under the eyes of the watching crowd.
His eyes were a trifle bright with excitement, his features a bit
flushed with unwonted color at this sudden prominence thrust upon
him--wherein the governor's car, with the governor in it, set down so
distinguished a guest at his doors.
"My lord," he said once the portal was closed, shutting them in
together after Mutlos had risen in his motur and bowed and he had
returned the salutation. "My lord!"
"Greetings to you, Koryphu, son of Scythys," Croft responded. "Behold
in me not so much anything as a man bereft and sorely troubled by his
loss--one who comes to you thus in a time of trouble to ask you to lend
him aid."
Koryphu's eyes widened swiftly. "But, by Zitu--in what can one of
fallen fortunes aid you, Mouthpiece of Zitu?" he questioned in
uncertain fashion.
"It is of that we must speak together, Prince of Cathur," Croft replied.
"Come then." Koryphu turned and led the way across a court done in blue
and crystal, surrounded by a balcony of blue and white to a room at the
farther end--the same room in which Jason at the time of his astral
visit to him had seen him bending over his tablets and scrolls--his
study--the room in which more than any other Koryphu spent his life.
* * * * *
"Be seated, lord," he invited, indicating a redwood chair and taking
his place in another drawn close to a table of copper, littered with
numerous scrolls. "Loss is not unknown to Scythys' son, nor the feeling
of it. Yet never, praise be to Zitu and Azil, has he lost either wife
or child. Wherefore, only in the mind may he conceive faintly of thy
sense of loss, and therein share thy grief with thee. Speak--Koryphu
lends his ear to thy voice."
Jason explained--going at some length into past events--advising the
Cathurian of the meeting to be held in the mountains, declaring it of
vital importance to establish negotiations with Zollaria as quickly
and protract them in indefinite fashion, in his estimation, proffering
Koryphu the leadership of the first embassy at last.
"I--Koryphu!" The Cathurian noble stammered, his breathing a trifle
quickened, his nostrils a trifle tightened. "Zitu's Mouthpiece chooses
me for such an errand as this?"
"Aye." Croft inclined his head, watching the man before him. "Koryphu
the Tamarizian."
"Tamarizian!" Koryphu repeated and paused and went on again in a
somewhat bitter fashion. "But why Koryphu--why the son of a discredited
house? Why not another, whose loyalty none could question?"
His eyes narrowed slightly and he clenched a hand.
Croft looked him full in the face. In it he saw how deeply his
brother's action had affected this man--how the loss of confidence, the
lack of support by the people of Cathur, as shown by his overwhelming
defeat in the last elections, had rankled without expression in his
mind. The thing looked back at him a smoldering fire from between
Koryphu's lids. It had quivered in his voice.
"Because," said he, "who heads this mission, will meet Kalamita of
Zollaria in the north."
"Kalamita!" Koryphu stiffened. Suddenly his body stirred, he half rose
in his chair and sank back, well-nigh gasping. "That--foul sepulchre
of dead loves and unholy emotions--that stench in the nostrils of true
men, and blot on the name of women. Say you she comes herself to this
meeting?"
"Aye," said Jason Croft. "Wherefore, there appears no better agent in
all Tamarizia to meet her when she comes to trap me also as she hopes,
seeing she had bidden me to this conference in person, than one who
loves her not nor is apt to fall captive to her shameless graces--than
Koryphu Tamarizian first, and son of Cathur, and loyal in his heart to
both, as I believe."
"Thou believest?" Koryphu questioned with an eagerness almost pathetic.
"Aye. Else were I not sitting in his house."
For a moment silence came down, save for Koryphu's audible breathing.
For a moment his eyes flamed with a sudden light, and then he turned
them away since, in the code of Tamarizian manhood, there was little
room for tears. Then he rose.
"Zitu!" he broke forth hoarsely and lifted his arms. "Father of
life--hast then given ear in such fashion to my prayers? Is the time of
penance ended? Am I again to step forth proudly among men as among my
peers? Is it so your Mouthpiece brings this labor to me--placing upon
my shoulders a task that through it I may prove my love of nation, tear
to ribbons the garment of sorrow in which I have been clothed? If so,
I thank thee, Zitu."
He sank down again, dropping his head upon his folded arms on the table.
For a time Croft watched him, elation and sympathy blended in his
regard. Here was his agent ready. There was small doubt Koryphu would
accept the chance to prove he had been misjudged as blood brother to
Kyphallos. The mere thought of what the opportunity offered had left
him too deeply moved.
"Nay, Koryphu," he said presently as the Cathurian kept his face hidden
while his shoulders heaved. "None questioned thy loyalty really. Half
thy worry was of your own conceiving. Few spake illy of thee. Men
deemed rather you had taken for comfort to your tablets and scrolls. By
Jadgor and Robur of Aphur, my choice of thee is approved."
"Hai! Jadgor--Robur! Say you so?" Koryphu lifted his head. "Perchance
thou art right," he went on more calmly. "Perchance I have brooded over
much. Yet comes this now as the realization of dreams born in nights of
brooding, hopes formed in sorrow, and well-nigh dead."
"You accept, then?" Croft questioned.
"Accept. Aye, by Zitu--and I shall serve you loyally. Speak what you
wish, Mouthpiece of Zitu. What do I when I face this beauteous slayer
of men's souls--shall I slay her for you, watch for opportunity and
strike her dead? If so the life of Koryphu were a small price--"
"_Hilka!_" Croft interrupted the man's hysterical outburst. "Hold now,
Koryphu of Cathur--Koryphu does naught save listen to her words. Think
you the death of their agent would help us--or render my dear ones
more safe--or that the dead body of Koryphu would bring to Tamarizia
more swiftly the demands Zollaria will make through her toward those
negotiations that shall follow? Nay, small danger lies in this mission
so that rather than inflamed with rage when he stands before her,
Koryphu appears but one come to return with her words."
"Aye." Koryphu caught his breath quickly. "Yet owe her I a debt of
overlong standing."
Croft nodded. "I deny it not. Let Koryphu's vengeance begin when she
sees me not of Tamarizia's party--and finds herself outplayed."
"Thinks she the Mouthpiece of Zitu a fool to walk into her trap?"
Koryphu questioned.
"She thinks me a husband and father, less well informed of her true
purpose than perchance I am," Croft replied. "It were well she be not
undeceived. Wherefore I send airplanes north before you--to fly above
the mountains as though seeking a place of concealment, that she may
not know I am aware Naia of Aphur lies in Berla, and fancy I think her
hidden in the mountains as in her message to me she said."
Koryphu narrowed his eyes in appreciation of what was intended. "The
thought were well conceived. I do naught then save meet this Zollarian
and give ear to her terms of ransom?"
"Naught else, save say that those terms will be brought to my ears and
the ears of the nation."
"'Tis well," the Cathurian now accepted. "That shall I do, and naught
to endanger the success of the undertaking, because of my personal
affairs. When do I depart upon my mission?"
"Presently," Jason told him. "Mutlos will furnish you a score of
guardsmen. You will go north after the airplanes have arrived."
"Two alighted before Mutlos's palace this morning," Koryphu announced.
"They declared to the crowds they came by your orders, yet said nothing
further. Are there others?"
"Six in all," said Jason, smiling, well pleased that his fliers had
lost no time. "Doubtless the others will arrive."
* * * * *
Dusk had fallen as they talked. A Mazzerian major domo with lighted
lamps appeared and set them in the metal sconces on the walls. Koryphu
rose.
"A momentous day in the life of Koryphu," said he, "is drawing to a
close. Zitu's Mouthpiece will pardon, if he withdraws to the presence
of his wife to acquaint her with his decision and the changed fortune
of his house."
"Aye," Jason assented, well enough pleased to let the man carry his
news to the ears of his family, and remain with his own thoughts for
the time. "Carry my greetings to her and say I wait her pleasure of a
meeting."
Koryphu appeared slightly embarrassed. "We have lived much alone of
late, Hupor. You will dine with us or shall I have food sent to you?"
"With you if it suits your convenience," Croft replied, forming a vivid
picture of the seclusion that held this house once second in the state
only to that of the king.
Later he met Pala, a not uncomely woman, though showing the effects
of that self-same seclusion in face and manner, and her two children,
a daughter and a son, and reclined with them at their common
table--speaking of general topics with the two elders until the meal
was done. Once more back in Koryphu's study he went into the details
of the mission with him, finally arranging to go before Mutlos the
succeeding afternoon. Long before the oil-lamps had burned low in their
sconces the thing was done, and his conversation with Koryphu had
convinced him that in Naia's suggestion of the former prince, the right
man had been found.
Passing from the study to the apartment set aside for his slumbers, the
two men intercepted Pala, speeding a parting guest, and she spoke to
her husband.
"Laira, wife of Gazar--Koryphu. Thou hast not forgotten."
"Nay." Koryphu bent before the matron in greeting. "Yet it is long
since I have given her salutation."
For a moment the face of the caller regarded him almost blankly and
then she smiled. "Ah, but--old friends should not be forgotten." She
glanced at Jason.
Koryphu made the introduction, and she sank to a knee before Zitu's
Mouthpiece.
"Hupor, my obedience to thee. It came to my ear you were present in
Scira, and somewhat of the reason. Zitu uphold you in a troubled hour."
"And spare them to you," said Jason, bowing.
And yet when he stretched out on his couch and drew its silken
coverings about him, the thought came again as it had come while he
watched Laira rise, that life on Palos or earth was very much the same
thing, and those with friends were, after all, those on whom those in
power smiled.
The next day he spent with Mutlos, arranging for Koryphu's departure
and explaining his purpose in the airplanes, the last of which arrived.
The evening passed in meeting many of the Cathurian officials, bidden
by Mutlos to the occasion and a feast at which Koryphu and Pala were
among the more prominent guests. No secret had been made of his
mission. In fact, word of it had been given out.
For the time being Koryphu found himself again a person of
importance--one in whom Tamarizia herself had given evidence of faith.
Watching him under circumstances more or less trying to a man of
inferior metal, Croft found himself pleased by his demeanor--satisfied
that he would see the meeting with Kalamita carried off with what it
held of success.
Well pleased then, he gave orders that the planes depart in the
morning, and that later Koryphu and his escort should leave for the
north. Taking tablets, he wrote rapidly a message to Kalamita, setting
forth the fact that the bearer was his representative in person, and
gave it to Koryphu after pressing his signet into the waxen surface
with instructions to place it in her hands.
It was the last move. In so far as it could serve the meeting on which
Kalamita counted for far more than it was fated to bring her was
arranged.
Stretching himself on the couch in the sumptuous chamber in Mutlos's
palace, to which he had been led, he freed his consciousness from
his body and went in search of the woman herself, to find her in the
midst of a wayside camp of Zollarian soldiery, asleep on the pads of
her gnuppa-drawn conveyance, beside which the giant Gor of the galley
mounted watch.
Koryphu went north with the dawn, and Kalamita was hastening to meet
him. Satisfied, he left her in slumbrous ignorance of his presence and
visited Naia, telling her of the progress he was making, and how Robur
was stoking the furnaces of Himyra toward the creation of yet another
marvel, in the eyes of the population, until they flared red above the
red walls of the city in the night.
In the morning he sent Robur a message announcing his departure, said
farewell to Mutlos and was driven to the quays and Jadgor's galley.
Going aboard he gave the order for sailing. The sea-doors were opened.
He passed through them, and turned the prow of the craft at his
disposal swiftly into the south.