"No," I assured him, "we are not. We were prisoners of the Thorists."
I hoped that my guess had been a good one and that he was not kindly
disposed toward the Thorists. The slender thread upon which I hung my
hopes was no more substantial than the frown that had clouded his brow
at my admission that we had just come from Kapdor.
To my relief his expression changed. "I am glad that you are not
Thorists; otherwise I would not help you. I have no use for the breed."
"You will help us, then?" I asked.
"With pleasure," he replied. He was looking at Duare as he spoke, and I
did not exactly relish the tone of his voice nor the expression on his
face.
The kazars were circling around us, cackling and whistling. When one
of them approached us too close, Skor would flick it with the lash of
a long whip he carried; and the creature would retreat, screaming and
cackling the louder.
"Come," he said presently, "I will take you to my house; then we may
discuss plans for the future. The woman may ride behind me on my zorat."
"I prefer to walk," said Duare. "I am accustomed to it now."
Skor's eyes narrowed a bit. He started to speak, and then he checked
himself. Finally he shrugged. "As you will," he said, and turned the
head of his mount back in the direction from which he had come.
* * * * *
The creature he rode, which he called a zorat, was unlike any beast
that I had ever seen before. It was about the size of a small horse.
Its long, slender legs suggested great speed. Its feet were round and
nailless and heavily calloused on the bottoms. Its almost vertical
pasterns suggested that it might be a hard gaited beast, but this
was not so. Later I learned that almost horizontal femurs and humeri
absorbed the jolts and rendered the zorat an easy riding saddle animal.
Above its withers and just forward of its kidneys were soft pads or
miniature humps which formed a perfect saddle with natural pommel and
cantle. Its head was short and broad, with two large, saucer-like
eyes and pendulous ears. Its teeth were those of a grass-eater. Its
only means of defense seemed to lie in its fleetness, although, as I
afterward had occasion to discover, it could use its jaws and teeth
most effectively when its short temper was aroused.
We walked beside Skor on the journey toward his house, the grotesque
kazars following docilely behind at the command of their master. The
way led toward the great bend of the river, that we had sought to avoid
by taking a short cut, and a forest that lined its banks. The proximity
of the kazars made me nervous, for occasionally one of them would trot
close at our heels; and I was fearful that Duare might be injured by
one of the fierce beasts before I could prevent it. I asked Skor what
purpose the creatures served.
"I use them for hunting," he replied, "but principally for protection.
I have enemies; and then, too, there are many savage beasts roaming at
large in Morov. The kazars are quite fearless and very savage fighters.
Their greatest weakness is their predilection for cannibalism; they
will abandon a fight to devour one of their own number that has fallen."
Shortly after we entered the forest we came upon a large, gloomy,
fortresslike building of stone. It was built upon a low rise of ground
at the water's edge, the river lapping the masonry upon that side. A
stone wall connecting with the river wall of the building inclosed
several acres of clear land in front of the structure. A heavy gate
closed the only aperture that was visible in this wall.
As we approached, Skor shouted, "Open! It is the jong," and the gates
swung slowly outward.
As we entered, several armed men, who had been sitting beneath one
of the several trees that had been left standing when the ground was
cleared, arose and stood with bowed heads. They were a hard and also
a sad looking lot. The feature that struck me most forcibly was the
strange hue of their skin, a repulsive, unhealthy pallor, a seeming
bloodlessness. I caught the eyes of one that chanced to raise his head
as we passed, and I shivered. They were glazed, clammy eyes, without
light, without fire. I would have thought the fellow stone blind but
for the fact that the instant that my eyes caught his they dropped
swiftly. Another had an ugly, open wound across his cheek from temple
to chin; it gaped wide, but it did not bleed.
Skor snapped a brief order; and two of the men herded the pack of
cackling kazars into a strong inclosure built beside the gateway, as we
proceeded on toward the house. Perhaps I should call it castle.
The inclosure across which we passed was barren except for the few
trees that had been left standing. It was littered with refuse of all
descriptions and was unspeakably disorderly and untidy. Old sandals,
rags, broken pottery, and the garbage from the castle kitchens were
strewn promiscuously about. The only spot from which any effort had
been made to remove the litter was a few hundred square feet of stone
flagging before the main entrance to the building.
* * * * *
Here Skor dismounted as three more men similar to those at the gate
came lifelessly from the interior of the building. One of these took
Skor's mount and led it away, the others stood one on either side of
the entrance as we passed in.
The doorway was small, the door that closed it thick and heavy. It
seemed to be the only opening on the first floor on this side of the
castle. Along the second and third floor levels I had seen small
windows heavily barred. At one corner of the building I had noticed a
tower rising two more stories above the main part of the castle. This,
too, had small windows, some of which were barred.
The interior of the building was dark and gloomy. Coupled with the
appearance of the inmates I had already seen it engendered within me a
feeling of depression that I could not throw off.
"You must be hungry," suggested Skor. "Come out into the inner
court--it is pleasanter there--and I will have food served."
We followed him down a short corridor and through a doorway into a
courtyard around which the castle was built. The inclosure reminded
me of a prison yard. It was flagged with stone. No living thing grew
there. The gray stone walls, cut with their small windows, rose upon
four sides. There had been no effort toward architectural ornamentation
in the design of the structure, nor any to beautify the courtyard in
any way. Here, too, was litter and trash that it had evidently been
easier to throw into the inner court than carry to the outer.
I was oppressed by forebodings of ill. I wished that we had never
entered the place, but I tried to brush my fears aside. I argued
that Skor had given no indications of being other than a kindly and
solicitous host. He had seemed anxious to befriend us. That he was a
jong I had commenced to doubt, for there was no suggestion of royalty
in his mode of living.
In the center of the court a plank table was flanked by grimy, well
worn benches. On the table were the remains of a meal. Skor graciously
waved us toward the benches; then he clapped his hands together three
times before he seated himself at the head of the table.
"I seldom have guests here," he said. "It is quite a pleasant treat for
me. I hope that you will enjoy your stay. I am sure that I shall," and
as he spoke he looked at Duare in that way that I did not like.
"I am sure that we might enjoy it could we remain," replied Duare
quickly, "but that is not possible. I must return to the house of my
father."
"Where is that?" asked Skor.
"In Vepaja," explained Duare.
"I never heard of that country," said Skor. "Where is it?"
"You never heard of Vepaja!" exclaimed Duare incredulously. "Why, all
the present country of Thora was called Vepaja until the Thorists rose
and took it and drove the remnants of the ruling class to the island
that is now all that remains of ancient Vepaja."
"Oh, yes, I had heard of that," admitted Skor; "but it was a long time
ago and in distant Trabol."
"Is this not Trabol?" asked Duare.
"No," replied Skor; "this is Strabol."
"But Strabol is the hot country," argued Duare. "No one can live in
Strabol."
"You are in Strabol now. It is hot here during a portion of the year,
but not so hot as to be unendurable."
* * * * *
I was interested. If what Skor said were true, we had crossed the
equator and were now in the northern hemisphere of Venus. The Vepajans
had told me that Strabol was uninhabitable--a steaming jungle reeking
with heat and moisture and inhabited only by fierce and terrible beasts
and reptiles. The entire northern hemisphere was a _terra incognita_
to the men of the southern hemisphere, and for that reason I had been
anxious to explore it.
With the responsibility of Duare on my shoulders I could not do much
exploring, but I might learn something from Skor; so I asked him of the
country farther north.
"It is no good," he snapped. "It is the land of fools. They frown upon
true science and progress. They drove me out; they would have killed
me. I came here and established the kingdom of Morov. That was many
years ago--perhaps a hundred years. I have never returned since to the
country of my birth; but sometimes their people come here," and he
laughed unpleasantly.
Just then a woman came from the building, evidently in response to
Skor's summons. She was middle aged. Her skin was the same repulsive
hue as that of the men I had seen, and it was very dirty. Her mouth
hung open and her tongue protruded; it was dry and swollen. Her eyes
were glazed and staring. She moved with a slow, awkward shuffle.
And now, behind her, came two men. They were much as she; there was
something indescribably revolting about all three.
"Take these away!" snapped Skor with a wave of the hand toward the
soiled dishes. "And bring food."
The three gathered up the dishes and shuffled away. None of them spoke.
The look of horror in Duare's eyes could not have gone unnoticed by
Skor.
"You do not like my retainers?" demanded Skor testily.
"But I said nothing," objected Duare.
"I saw it in your face." Suddenly Skor broke into laughter. There
was no mirth in it, nor was there laughter in his eyes but another
expression, a terrible glint that passed as quickly as it had come.
"They are excellent servants," he said in normal tones; "they do not
talk too much, and _they do whatever I tell them to do_."
Presently the three returned carrying vessels of food. There was meat,
partially raw, partially burned, and wholly unpalatable; there were
fruits and vegetables, none of which appeared to have been washed;
there was wine. It was the only thing there fit for human consumption.
The meal was not a success. Duare could not eat. I sipped my wine and
watched Skor eat ravenously.
Darkness was falling as Skor arose from the table. "I will show you to
your rooms," he said. "You must be tired." His tone and manner were
those of the perfect host. "To-morrow you shall set out again upon your
journey."
Relieved by this promise we followed him into the house. It was a dark
and gloomy abode, chill and cheerless. We followed him up a stairway to
the second floor and into a long, dark corridor. Presently he stopped
before a door and threw it open.
"May you sleep well," he said to Duare, bowing and motioning her to
enter.
Silently Duare crossed the threshold and Skor closed the door behind
her; then he conducted me to the end of the corridor, up two flights of
stairs and ushered me into a circular room that I guessed was in the
tower I had seen when we entered the castle.
"I hope you awaken refreshed," he said politely and withdrew, closing
the door behind him.
I heard his footsteps descending the stairs until they were lost in
the distance. I thought of Duare down there alone in this gloomy and
mysterious pile. I had no reason to believe that she was not safe, but
nevertheless I was apprehensive. Anyway, I had no intention of leaving
her alone.
I waited until he had had plenty of time to go to his own quarters
wherever they might be; then I stepped to the door, determined to go
to Duare. I laid my hand upon the latch and sought to open it. It
was locked from the outside. Quickly I went to the several windows.
Each was heavily barred. Faintly from the distant recesses of that
forbidding pile I thought I heard a mocking laugh.
X