The Prince of Mars Returns
Philip Francis Nowlan (1940)
Country of origin: U.S.A.
Available texts by the same author here
Chapter 17: Alar-Lur of Mars
Proudly, calmly, as though on parade, Lil-rin stepped to my side and stood quietly alert.A murmur arose in the back of the hall. There was the clang of a spring-gun and the thud of its bolt somewhere behind me. But I had caught a glimpse of the gun, and I fired.
The roar of the automatic stunned the Martians, and there was silence again as the faint fumes of gunpowder floated hazily about me. Then the rintar in the back of the hall who had my bullet in his arm began to shriek. And pandemonium broke loose.
The Ildin-Gakko's Freemen were milling about and struggling among themselves. Half of them were panic-stricken, fighting to get out of the room. The others fought because they were attacked, or because of they knew not what.
It was in the pit of the Epsin, just beneath our feet, that our danger lay, and in the warrior girls who had been guarding Lil-rin and me. I was conscious that several of the latter were now circling in behind us on the platform.
Diversion came just in time to save me the necessity of turning to face the Warrior-Wives. Several of the Epsin made a rush at us up the steps. Raising both guns, I hurled fire and lead at them. One after another they threw up their arms and tumbled backward or plunged sprawling on their faces.
Behind me I heard the warrior girls squealing in fright and scrambling down the steps.
"Thunder! Lightning!" one of them screamed. "It is Danan-lih, in truth, according to the Legend!"
I glowered at the crowd. Wherever my glance fell, men shrank back, fear and wonder upon their faces.
I stepped forward a pace then and held up my hand for silence. The turmoil hushed. I pointed to where the lifeless form of Gakko lay grotesquely sprawled.
"There lies Gakko," I said. Then, tapping my chest, "Here stands Danan-lih of the Thunder and Lightning! Danan-lih of the Great Strength Danan-lih of the Green Star! Are ye Gakko's men or Danan-lih's men, or is there perhaps among ye, one who cares to contest the claim of Danan-lih as Alar-Lur?"
I do not know how the thing would have come out in the end. I was in reality preparing to make a dash for safety with Lil-rin, in case my bluff did not work.
But at this moment I heard the soft swish of many feet, marching in unhurried military precision, coming through the grilled doors behind us.
"The Ta n'Ur!" Lil-rin whispered jubilantly, but without turning her head. "They have gained entrance to the castle somehow. Uldor did not."
I don't know how long we stood there, not daring to show our own happy surprise, and not wanting to destroy the dramatic picture by abandoning our pose. But, at last, we knew that the clansmen had all filed on to the platform to stand behind us in formidable array.
Then, furtively at first, and finally with a mad rush, the Epsin and Ildin clogged the exits, until at last Lil-rin, I and the Ta n'Ur were left alone in the hall.
Lil-rin threw herself into my arms, and so ecstatic was our embrace that Uldor barked a sharp command to the clansmen to about-face, that we, or they, might not be embarrassed. It must have been the latter, because Lilrih and I did not even know they were there for a long time...
"It was a simple enough matter," Uldor explained later, when we questioned him as to how the Ta n'Ur had gained the castle. "When we found you had been captured, we knew a trap had been set. So we pretended to abandon you and flee."
"We sped back to the border of the desert, and our dogs were so fast we knew no pursuit could have kept up with us. So, instead of returning toward Borlan, we cut deeper into the desert below Gakalu.
"Then, following the Great Gakalun Canal, we dashed straight north, and flashed through the city itself to the very walls of the castle before any opposition developed.
"There was commotion inside. The walls were unguarded. We scaled them by shooting a line over a parapet with a spring-gun, and then hauling up a stouter rope. We heard the roar of Danan-lih's guns. The few Gakalunin we met were fleeing in terror. We ran through the corridors toward the sound of the guns. The rest you know."
At this juncture, a slave entered and bowed low.
"Master," he said "there is a great crowd shouting acclaim to Danan-lih and Ur Lil-rin. They have sent emissaries to beg that you will appear before them."
Lil-rin looked at me shrewdly. "You can't show yourself this time in these tatters, Danan-lih," she protested, "or they'll expect you to look that way always. Whatever shall we do?"
"There's undoubtedly a store of clothing here somewhere," I suggested, "but it might take us hours to find."
Then I got an inspiration. "Hey, wait a moment! I've got myself a swell idea. Danan-lih first appeared on this planet among the Ta n'Ur. Right? His bride is a Myara of the Ta n'Ur. It is fitting that the garb of the Ta n'Ur shall be the official dress at the court of the new Alar-Lur-and the Alara-Lur-of Mars!"
It was nothing but a flash thought, suggesting itself to me as a quick solution of a bothersome problem. But Lil-rin gave me a startled look, as did Uldor.
"The Ta n'Ur—Descendants of Kings," she murmured in a tone of awe. "And so, my Danan-lih, you have fulfilled yet another prophecy. For their garb shall be the garb of Kings.' It is a phrase in the Ancient Tradition, over the interpretation of which our wise men have puzzled for many generations. But come! We have no time to waste! Quick, Uldor, give us clothing!"
And so a few moments later, garbed exactly alike in the simple costume of the clansmen, Lil-rin and I stepped forth from the great triangular gate in the base of the castle, to be greeted by a mighty roar of acclaim from the united populace of Gakalu and the men of the Ilmon fleet, which now was tied up at the quay.
"Hail to Danan-lih and Lil-rin, Alar-Lur and Alara-Lur of the Northern Cities!" roared the crowd. "Alar and Alara of Gakalu! Myar-Lur and Myra-Lur of the Ta n'Ur!"
And then, in front of them all, Lil-rin kissed me.
So, much as I would like to return to my native planet, I feel that my duty lies here. No Martian, I am sure, could lead anything but a miserable existence on Earth, where gravity is so much greater, and Lil-rin says she wouldn't let me go without her.
Besides, she points out shrewdly, the tradition says nothing at all about the "Second Danan" flying off in the void of space on a foolish trip to the Green Star, and besides the people wouldn't stand for it.
As for that Martian who had betrayed Lil-rin and me to the overlord of Gakalu-well, one must realize that spies are ever to be found when conditions of war obtain. Perhaps, on the other hand, it had been a clansman of the Ta n'Ur, jealous of my position and determined to bring me down, by means fair or foul, from a pedestal not of my own making. But whoever that informer may be, I shall seek him out.
Some day, I hope during my lifetime, someone will rediscover the secrets that died with old Doctor Bran-disch, who built the first successful space ship and then promptly went insane when I flashed off to Mars in it.
Some day I shall find time to study the mechanism of that ship and transmit the specifications to Earth by radio, so that, perhaps, a delegation from "the old home planet" may visit us here and see what Lil-rin and I have accomplished as the rulers of half a world.
I wish I knew what the other half, below the great equatorial desert, is like. In fact, if I can ever convince Lil-rin that I am not secretly planning a return to Earth (for, being a woman, she doesn't like the way the first Danan skipped out and left his bride,) I'm going to have the water pumped out of the old space ship and whisk across the desert in it to have a look at that other hemisphere.