CHAPTER XIX
_Waters of Eternal Peace_
Little Wolfgar was gone. It seemed at first very strange, unreal. It laya shadow of grief upon our spirits, for many hours a deeper shadow thanall those grave events impending upon which hung the fate of threeworlds.
Tarrano ordered for Wolfgar a public burial of ceremony and honor in thewaters of eternal peace--ordered it for that same evening. Once againTarrano demonstrated the strangeness of his nature. His arrival to takepossession of Venus had been made the occasion of a great festival. "TheWater Festival," they called it, which was held only at times ofuniversal public rejoicing. It was planned now to do honor toTarrano--planned for this same evening. But he postponed it a night;tonight was for Wolfgar.
We were still captives in Tarrano's hands, as we had been on Earth inVenia. Yet here in the Great City of Venus a curious situation arose.Tarrano himself explained it to us that afternoon. An embarrassingsituation for him, he termed it.
"Very embarrassing," he said, with eyes that smiled at us quizzically."Just for your ears alone, you understand, I am willing to admit that Imust handle these Great City people very carefully. You, PrincessMaida--you are greatly beloved of your people."
"Yes," she said.
He nodded. "For that reason they would not like to know you arevirtually a captive. And you, Georg Brende--really, they are beginningto look on you as a savior--to save them from disease and death. It israther unflattering to me----"
He broke off, then with sudden decision added:
"Soon you two will realize that to join me will be your best course. Andbest for all the worlds, for it will bring to them all peace and healthand happiness.... No, I ask no decision from you now. Nor from you, LadyElza." His gaze softened as he regarded her--softened almost to aquantity of wistfulness. "_You_ know, Lady Elza, for what I am striving.I may--indeed I shall--conquer the worlds. But you hold in the palm ofyour little white hand, my real reward.... Enough!"
And then he offered us a sort of pseudo-liberty. We might all come andgo about the Great City at will. Apparently--to the public eye--alliedto Tarrano. The Princess Maida--as before--hereditary honored ruler;with Tarrano guiding the business affairs of State, as on Earth ourPresidents and their Councils rule the legendary Kings and Queens. Theone ruling in fact; the other, an affair of pretty sentiment.
It was this condition which Tarrano now desired to bring about. WithGeorg already beloved for his medical knowledge; and flying rumors(started no doubt by Tarrano) that the handsome Earth man would some daymarry their Princess.
Myself--the irony of it!--I was appointed a sort of bodyguard to theLady Elza--the little Earth girl whose presence in the Great City wouldhelp conciliate the Earth and bring about universal peace--with Venus incontrol.
So ran the popular fancy, guided by Tarrano. We were given ourpseudo-liberty, watched always by the unseen eyes of Tarrano's guards.And there was nothing we could do but accept our status. Tarrano wasguiding his destiny cleverly. Yet underneath it all, unseen forces wereat work. We sensed them. The _slaans_--submissive at their menial tasks,but everywhere with sullen, resentful glances. Perhaps Tarrano realizedhis danger; but I do not think that he, any more than the rest of us,realized what the Water Festival was to bring forth.
That night--our first night on Venus--midway between the darkness ofsunset and the dawn--we buried Wolfgar. The air was soft and warm, witha gentle breeze that riffled the placid waters of the lake. Overhead,the sky gleamed with a myriad stars--reddish stars, all of them like RedMars himself as seen through the heavy Venus atmosphere. Largest ofthem, the Earth. My birthplace! Save Elza here with me on Venus, thattiny red spot in the heavens, red like the tip of a lightedarrant-cylinder, held all that was dear to me!
The funeral cortege--a solemn line of panoplied boats, started from thepalace. Boats hung with purple fabric. In single file they wended theirway through the city streets. From every landing, balcony, window androof-top, the people stared down at us. The street corners were hungwith shaded tubes of light, shining down with spots of color to thewater.
As we passed, the people bowed their heads, hands to their foreheads,palms outward. The gesture of grief. From one building came a lowmusical chant.
"Honor to Wolfgar! The man who gave his life for our Princess. Honor toWolfgar!"
We came to the edge of the city. The lake here narrowed to a river--alength of winding river opening to the pond which was the burial placeof Eternal Peace. On Tarrano's barge, with Elza and Georg, we led theway. Maida was not with us. I asked Tarrano where she was, but solemnlyhe denied me.
At the burial waters--on the sloping banks of which a silent throng hadgathered--we landed. And following us, the other vessels of the cortegecame along and stopped beside us. The pond was dotted with white markersfor the graves. The whole scene unlighted, save for the stars, and thered and purple aural lights of the Venus heavens, which mounted the skyat this midnight hour. A great, glowing arc--the reflected glow from amyriad cluster of tiny moons and moon-dust, encircling Venus. The softlight from it flooded the water and the tombs with a flush of red andpurple.
As we lay there against the bank, with that silent throng breathlesslywatching, from down the river came the last vessel of our cortege. Itmade a scene I shall never forget. The bier. Draped in purple. A single,half-naked _slaan_ propelling it with a sweep from its stern. The bodyof Wolfgar lying on its raised prow--his dead, white face, with peaceupon it. Beside the body, the lone figure of Maida, kneeling atWolfgar's head, with her white, braided hair falling down over hershoulders. Kneeling and staring, almost expressionless; but I knew thatwith her whole heart she was speeding the soul of Wolfgar to its eternalpeace.