of evil, so also is he equally at fault in appreciating his present
advantages, until he be suddenly deprived of them. So it fell in this
matter of Hiridia's removal, whose unhappy consequences to myself only
emerged gradually after the event. Until a few weeks ago I could never
have believed that Hiridia's companionship had been of such vital help
to me or had so sweetened my royal existence. I had been accustomed
to regard my erstwhile tutor rather as a favoured page whom it amused
me to confide in, to mystify, to scold, or to twit as might suit my
passing whim. That I should have deeply regretted his departure I was
quite ready to admit; but I never anticipated the serious nature of my
loss till that loss was effected. A veritable portion of myself seemed
to have been lopped away by this devilish scheme; whilst the haunting
thought that the poor boy--for I made scant allowance for his thirty
years now fulfilled--was almost certainly sobbing out his faithful and
affectionate heart in a hateful prison, only served to fan the flame
of my torment. Yet I was helpless and powerless, and could only await
the approach of the solstice, when the expected bath in the Fountain of
Rejuvenation might possibly brace my brain for some successful plan of
action.
III
Happily this ceremony was not many weeks distant, and its approach
afforded me some objective, however uncertain and inadequate, for
fixing my hopes in the future. The lassitude too that usually preceded
this half-yearly reinvigorating process had appeared rather earlier
than its wont, so that the physical weariness and languor were already
rendering my brain less active and thereby indirectly supplying me with
some measure of relief from my tense anxiety. I continued to perform
my daily duties in the judgment halls of the city, but otherwise I
ceased to leave the palace during this time of ineffable loneliness and
humiliation. To fill Hiridia's vacant place of chamberlain I nominated
Zulàr, and likewise selected another equerry. With my daily routine
thus proceeding outwardly much as usual, I relied on my being left
in peace throughout the intervening weeks before the coming of the
solstice. But herein I was grievously mistaken in supposing that the
machinations of my enemies had been even temporarily suspended, as the
following incident can testify.
I was in the habit, especially during the hot weather, of sitting in
the palace gardens to meditate. Now, in my case, this daily custom of
meditation supplied the place of reading, and with constant practice
it was interesting to find how excellent a substitute for books it
became in course of time. For I had gradually grown to appreciate
the luxury of solitary thought to such an extent that I should have
lamented the cessation of these opportunities as many an earth-born
mortal would regard his deprivation of all printed matter. "He is
never alone who is accompanied by noble thoughts," and inasmuch as I
felt myself in the cue for tragedy, poetry, comedy or pure fantasy, so
I had grown an adept in attaching my prevailing humour to the trend
of my musings. Thus I passed long hours of solitary communing in a
world of my own peopled with my intimate aspirations, ideals, conceits
and fancies. My favourite spot for the practice of these cerebral
gymnastics, if I may so describe them, was a certain shady corner of
the palace gardens which terminated in a semicircular marble bench
backed by a close-clipped hedge of bay and daphne. The path leading
hither was likewise lined with thick walls of aromatic verdure, so
that the air was often odorous with the clinging scent of aleagnis
and allspice. Overhead the branches of taller trees had been artfully
pleached, whilst the young leaves of the topmost boughs in opposition
to the fierce beams of the invading sunlight caused a soft golden haze
to brood in the sylvan vaulting of this green alley. As I lay on my
marble couch I used to note the penetrating shafts of sunshine discover
the knots of golden wire that bound together these over-arching
limbs, exposing the artificial origin of the bower and reminding me of
Leonardo da Vinci's _Arbour of Love_ with its gilded true-lovers' knots
that still flourishes in one of the vaulted chambers of the Sforzas'
gloomy citadel in Milan. True, I used to miss in my leafy Meleagrian
lair the mocking fauns and nymphs of Boboli and Borghese, who seemed
set on their stone pedestals to watch with sly glances as to whether
Christian mortals would behave with more decorum than themselves in
those delicious and provocative groves, where in primitive days they
were
"Wont to clasp their loves at noontide,
Close as lovers clasp at night,"
with none to call aloud Halt! or Fie! To make amends for the absence
of these simulacra of the jolly pagan life of Herthus, there was a
fountain hidden somewhere behind the bosky screens, which allowed its
water to flow in a series of cadences and pauses and arpeggios, so that
it sung a lullaby that was by no means monotonous to the surrounding
thickets and to any stray inhabitant thereof.
Here I used to expend many an hour in perfect solitude, seeking repose
and release from the canker of anxiety, trying more or less effectually
to emulate the advice of the poet and to annihilate my entity to a
green thought in a green shade.
It was on a hot afternoon that after the midday meal I sought as usual
my cherished retreat, wherein I seated myself according to my custom,
appreciating at once the melody of the unseen fountain, the droning of
the bees in the scented bloom without and the amber radiance caught
in the interwoven branches overhead. Lying thus, I sought to hit on
some apposite theme whereon to concentrate my powers of meditation.
But the jaded brain and the perturbed mind to-day refused to permit
me any relief from the engrossing melancholy of my present situation.
Thus I sat limp and despairing on my bench, utterly oblivious of the
passage of time and only dimly conscious of the amenities of art and
nature wherewith I was surrounded. From this drowsy mood of reflection
I was suddenly recalled by a rustling sound close beside me. With ears
alert I heard the sound increase, and a moment later descried the thick
wall of box and laurel tremble and then divide so as to allow the
figure of a young female to emerge from its depths. In sheer amazement
I continued to stare, grasping every detail of the intruder's face
and dress, as she gracefully extricated her form out of the detaining
undergrowth. She was taller and slighter in build than the average
type of her sex in Meleager; her skin was considerably fairer and of
an elegant pallor; her hair had glints of gold and chestnut to relieve
its blackness; her eyes were like beryls. Clad in her green robe
and coif she certainly appeared a natural incarnation, a veritable
hamadryad, amidst these secluded groves which had just produced her.
Instinctively I realised she was no true native of Meleager; her
figure, her eyes, her skin, her gestures were not those of my subjects;
on the contrary, there was a subtle but pervading suggestion that this
interloper was of the Earth. Was she then the daughter, or possibly the
descendant, of some predecessor of mine in this perilous throne who had
risked his crown in an amorous adventure? Who was she? Whence was she?
Why was she here? Such questions naturally chased one another across
my perplexed brain, but the third of them at least the new-comer was
evidently only too anxious to explain. I myself was the goal and aim
of her present vagary, for still crouching low she writhed towards my
feet, which she proceeded to clasp, whilst with tears in her beautiful
eyes and breakings of her rich tender voice she began to implore my
protection.
Beset thus unawares, I could do no less than listen to the rambling
tale of woe and injustice her parted rosy lips delivered; how she had
managed to escape from the hateful tutelage of the priestesses of
the Sun; how she knew she could rely on my assistance; and how many
sanctuaries of easy concealment existed in the purlieus of the palace.
All the while this torrent of entreaty, flattery and self-commiseration
was being poured forth in an unbroken stream, my suppliant contrived
to edge nearer and nearer to myself, half-rising from her knees and
lifting her shapely white arms to the level of my shoulders. There
was an influence, an aroma about her that vaguely suggested the
women of my own planet. I realised the existence of some indefinable
link between my own nature and hers, something of the Earth earthy,
and therefore inestimably precious here in Meleager. A warm current
of human sympathy and magnetic attraction seemed to be circulating
around me. One moment, one second more, and I felt we should be locked
together in one another's arms, we two hapless dwellers on Meleager
belonging of right to another world and meeting in an alien planet. One
second more, and we two waifs of different sexes would have been caught
in an embrace of commingled sorrow and devotion, caring naught for
the dangers ahead and happy only in our new-found union of congenial
souls. The bewitching face, with eyes that sparkled through the film
of tears and with radiant youth lurking in their wells of light, was
almost touching my own, when there flashed before me a vision rather
than a thought of my impending danger. I glimpsed a sensation of orbs
vigilant and sinister, multitudinous as the eyes in the peacock's
tail, usurping the places of the leaves around me; the playing water's
chant turned into a sudden note of terrified warning and entreaty; the
golden haze above grew lurid. With supreme energy I knit my remaining
strength together, as I battled with the temptation to surrender. My
bodily powers rose in obedience to my guiding brain, and extricating
myself none too gently from the already twining arms of the maiden, I
caught her with my right palm a resounding box on the ear which echoed
through that sylvan silence. At the same moment I shouted aloud, and
leaped to my feet. It was as if scales had fallen from my mental eyes,
for I could sense, even if I could not actually see the enclosing
hedges filled with spies, some of whom were hurrying stealthily hence,
whilst others were preparing to enter the alley in as natural a manner
as they could assume. These latter came forward sheepishly and stood
before me, as I pointed to the grovelling form of the girl who was now
weeping violently at my feet. Whose duty was it, I asked, to prevent
strange women from invading these gardens and disturbing the noontide
repose of the Child of the Sun? As to my late reception of the charmer,
even assuming that every motion of mine had been carefully observed by
this battalion of eavesdroppers, there could be no question as to the
final rebuff her advances had encountered. Her shriek of dismay and
the scarlet flush on her pale cheek were at least sufficient witnesses
of the fact that I had not fallen into the trap that had been so
elaborately prepared for my ensnaring. Without proof positive I had
good reason to imagine that many of the persons concealed in the bushes
were not spies at all, but admirers and supporters of my own, who had
been specially invited hither to test my fallibility. If such were the
case, the Arch-priest and his satellites must have received a distinct
shock over this conspicuous miscarriage of their scheme concocted for
the express purpose of alienating and disgusting those members of the
council who upheld my honour and integrity.
Quivering with an anger that I did not attempt to dissemble, I left the
open-mouthed group beside the girl who was still sobbing hysterically
on the ground. As for her, why should I waste a tittle of compassion on
her misfortune? Are not all creatures and tools of cunning politicians
always treated with contumely both by employers and unmaskers when
their ignoble missions fail? With indignant mien therefore I strode
from the gardens and retired to the palace, where I gave the captain
of the royal bodyguard a rating for his alleged lack of vigilance. One
result at any rate this plot secured for me, and that was a complete
freedom from further molestation during the remainder of the period
before the coming festival. A further interview with Marzona however
soon after this incident only made me perceive yet more clearly the
utter impossibility of my arriving at any compact with an implacable
and unscrupulous enemy, who was merely biding his time to strike
again and strike harder. It was in vain that I essayed overtures; all
my attempts at understanding and conciliation were met with an icy
condescension that made my task obviously hopeless; and indeed from
this time forward the Arch-priest rarely gave me the opportunity of an
interview save in the presence of other colleagues.
IV
At length the expected date of my official rejuvenating process
arrived, to which I submitted with unusual docility. Despite the
murderous intentions of Marzona, I endured the subsequent plunge
into the fountain without trepidation, although I dared not face the
baleful eyes of the personage whose malignity was rendered powerless
for this occasion by the inevitable laws of Meleager. I fancied I could
detect an air of quiet reassurance to myself in the bearing of the two
inferior councillors; but in any case I swallowed my apprehensions to
the best of my ability and entered that malodorous but invigorating
fluid with a firm bearing. I duly obtained my reward, for when I
emerged all dripping from the seething pool, I experienced a buoyancy
of mind and body beyond that of any previous occasion. Thus refreshed
and refortified, I deemed myself capable of taking the initiative, and
so cheerful and confident did I feel that I was almost tempted to snap
my fingers in that saturnine face as it grimly surveyed my drying and
dressing. Before ever I quitted the baptistery, several schemes of
policy, and even of escape, began to invade my brain, so that I longed
to be alone with my own thoughts; nor did many days elapse before I
had adumbrated a certain scheme of procedure.
This plan was, it is true, somewhat shadowy in its outline, but it
was founded on the assumption that any active effort on my part
was preferable to mere stagnation, to a passive courting of future
disaster. My idea too was of a dual nature, for it aimed both at
self-preservation and also at an unveiling of The Secret. For some
time past I had been speculating on the uses of Mount Crystal with its
temple of the Altar of the Sun, and from many items of information I
had acquired in devious or accidental ways, I had come to the certain
conclusion that on this rocky peak was to be sought the key of the
mystery. A presentiment, that was already become an article of faith
to me, told me that by penetrating hither even at a venture, I should
be pursuing the sole avenue leading to ultimate escape, to regained
liberty, to a safe return to Earth. In my fresh exuberance of mentality
I kept arguing to myself that as my translation to Meleager had been
successfully accomplished, so also there existed a chance, however
difficult, of my returning safe to my original domicile. My immediate
object therefore was to enter that distant temple on the shoulder of
the mountain, which I could descry from my palace windows; the goal
once attained, I must trust further to my sharpened wits. The spirit
of adventure flamed hot within me, so that I found some difficulty in
concealing my vigorous excitement under an air of lazy indifference.
My first piece of preparation caused me to smile inwardly, but it at
least implied belief in a successful issue of my plan. It consisted
in extracting a number of gems from various ornaments which had been
bestowed on me for the decoration of my person, had I been so minded.
From these I cautiously removed a quantity of sapphires, alexandrites
and other precious stones, which I enclosed in a small leather bag
attached to a stout gold chain round my neck. Without such a reserve
of potential capital I scarcely relished the prospect of my return
in the form of a pauper to my native Earth, where that ancient deity
Mammon draws a conspicuous following in every cult, and is likewise
the leading, if not the sole, guide of the irreligious. Without the
possession of such a talisman, I knew I should be liable to exposure to
many ills and indignities; and I congratulated myself on my forethought
in this measure of precaution, and also on my retentive memory
concerning the universal conditions of the Earth at the date of my
removal.
Having completed this minor preliminary detail, I proceeded to greater
things. Now the sacred mountain stands at a considerable distance from
Tamarida, and in no case would it have been possible for me (setting
aside the existence of watchers and spies in the palace itself) to
make my way thither within the few hours of darkness on which I was
compelled to rely for the execution of my plan. I therefore decided
to pay a visit to a nobleman named Lotta, who owned an estate that
was bounded by the ravine separating the area of Mount Crystal from
the mainland. For the mountain itself is a peninsula, washed on three
sides by the sea, whilst the fourth side consists of a long narrow arid
gully which is crossed at one spot by a viaduct. The precincts of Mount
Crystal are, as I have already said, the property of the hierarchy, and
nobody is permitted to enter this reserved domain save the councillors
and their servants, who approach by this solitary bridge. In vulgar
esteem the thick forests and rocky glens of the forbidden space are
haunted by evil spirits, so that I felt sure no Meleagrian of the
people would venture to scale its precipitous slopes, even by daylight;
whilst no noble would naturally intrude on this sacrosanct spot. From
these deductions therefore I concluded that the sole means of ingress,
the viaduct, was not likely to be guarded with any great strength or
vigilance, seeing how little fear of a trespasser there must be on the
part of the custodians of the place. Having reasoned so far, I had also
formed the opinion that, the bridge once safely traversed, there would
be little to hinder my speedy arrival at the temple itself, beyond
which my present calculations did not extend.
Not many days after the solstice therefore I set forth, accompanied
only by Zulàr, on my proposed visit to the country house of my
indicated host who received me with every sign of satisfaction and
respect. I had paid several visits here in the past, so that my
present resolution could not, and indeed did not, excite the smallest
suspicion on the part of my enemies, who were in no wise disturbed
by my departure from the palace. On the second evening of my visit I
was talking to young Bávil, my entertainer's son and heir, a special
favourite of mine, and in the course of our conversation I promised
the lad a particular spear of my own invention. The boy's eyes eagerly
glistened at the mention of this welcome gift, whereupon I summoned
Zulàr and bade him hasten to the palace after his supper, fetch
the required weapon, and return with it on the following morning.
Having thus contrived to rid myself of Zulàr's presence on so simple
an errand, I continued to sit with Lotta and his family during the
sociable interval that in Meleager extends from supper till bedtime.
Retiring to rest at an early hour I crept into my bed fully clothed,
and waited anxiously thus until the last sound of wakefulness in the
household had died away. When all was still, I rose cautiously from my
couch, crossed the room on tiptoe and slipped through the open casement
into the warm greyness of a summer's night without moonshine and
without dew. Quietly I pursued the track leading through the gardens
and farm of my host towards the lip of the ravine that separated his
estate from the forbidden mountain. From previous hunting expeditions
I was sufficiently familiar with this stony narrow pathway, and under
this luminous crepuscule I experienced small difficulty in tracing its
sinuous progress along the edge of the cliffs. An hour of slow steady
walking thus at last brought me to the desired point, a spot where the
private path merged into the road running from Tamarida to the viaduct.
With eyes now grown fully accustomed to the gloaming I paused to scan
the outline of the bridge. As I waited thus in a silence broken only
by the ululation of wolves in the distant forests, I could clearly
distinguish the soft padding of human feet at no great distance from
where I stood. Very carefully I removed my buskins, which I hid in
a neighbouring thicket, and thus relieved of my tell-tale foot-gear
advanced in the direction of the sound. Peering ahead I soon obtained
a better view of the bridge, as well as of the adjoining guard-house,
whose façade displayed two squares of pale yellow light, from which I
gathered that a guard of men-at-arms was stationed within its walls.
Stealthily creeping forward, with body bent and with eyes fixed on the
two warning patches of lanthorn light, I speedily espied the source of
the faint tramping sound. A sentry, a diminutive but sturdy soldier,
was dutifully patrolling the dusty space before the guard-house. Poor
little doomed creature, fulfilling his appointed task! Poor little
subject of the Child of the Sun, loyal to his creed and crown, and
wholly innocent of all evil intent against myself! Very gently did I
convey my sharp serviceable hunting blade from its sheath to my mouth,
at the same time divesting myself of my heavy mantle of azure silk,
which I placed in both hands ready for a dexterous throw in the manner
of the _retiarius_ of the Roman amphitheatre. Crouched low like some
panther prepared to spring, and armed with dagger and cloak, I waited
to commit rank murder, to terminate the life of a fellow-creature with
every right to enjoy health and happiness, to turn a wife into a widow,
to render her children orphans, to wreck a peaceful home in a doubtful
effort to save my own skin. Never did I hate and despise myself more
heartily in my earthly career, than I did now at this first desperate
stroke for freedom in Meleager. God knows whether after all I might
not have shrunk shamefacedly from the loathsome act, had I allowed
my thoughts thus to ramble farther in these ethical convolutions of
right and wrong. But as I still hesitated, I suddenly observed the
unsuspecting soldier deliberately stop, lay aside his spear, and with
unconcern kneel down to fasten the loosened thong of his sandal. At
such an opportunity some force--was it moral or physical?--impelled
me, and with a spring that would have done credit to a young
cat-a-mountain, I had leaped on the bending figure whose startled head
was swiftly swathed in the thick folds of my royal robe. There was some
struggling, as well as faint muffled cries, whilst I tightly clenched
the half-smothered head beneath my left arm. I then transferred the
dagger from my teeth to my right hand and skilfully inserted the keen
blade into my captive's reins. The struggles increased, then relaxed,
then faded into a series of convulsive twitchings; till I felt my hand
grow wet and warm with the blood I was shedding for my own selfish
purpose. Still I continued to hold the knife in its soft fleshy socket,
until with a final twisting of the steel in the mode of the Spanish
assassin, I slowly withdrew the weapon from the fatal gash. All things
appear mercifully of a neutral tint on a moonless night, so that I
was spared the chief horror of my ensanguined hands and tunic, for I
greatly dislike the sight of blood. I next gently unwound my cloak from
the dead man's face, and then dragged the corpse across the path to lay
it behind a large clump of agaves. A small pool of stagnant water hard
by enabled me to remove the gore from my hands and garments, whilst
a neighbouring bank of lush couch grass assisted in the cleansing of
my dagger, which I wiped and wiped again before I replaced it in its
scabbard. These necessary operations afforded me space to breathe, to
recuperate and to reflect.