The Chessmen of Mars - Tapa blanda

Sinopsis

ara of Helium rose from the pile of silks and soft furs upon which she

had been reclining, stretched her lithe body languidly, and crossed to-

ward the center of the room, where, above a large table, a bronze disc de-

pended from the low ceiling. Her carriage was that of health and physi-

cal perfection-the effortless harmony of faultless coordination. A scarf of

silken gossamer crossing over one shoulder was wrapped about her body;

her black hair was piled high upon her head. With a wooden stick she tapped

upon the bronze disc, lightly, and presently the summons was answered by

a slave girl, who entered, smiling, to be greeted similarly by her mistress.

"Are my father's guests arriving?" asked the princess.

"Yes, Tara ofHelium, they come," replied the slave. "I have seenKantosKan,

Overlord of the Navy, and Prince Soran of Ptarth, and Djor Kantos, son of

Kantos Kan," she shot a roguish glance at her mistress as she mentioned Djor

Kantos' name, "and-oh, there were others, many have come."

3 EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

"The bath, then, Uthia," said her mistress. "And why, Uthia," she added,

"do you look thus and smile when you mention the name of Djor Kantos?"

The slave girl laughed gaily. "It is so plain to all that he worships you," she

replied.

"It is not plain to me," said Tara of Helium. "He is the friend of my brother,

Carthoris, and so he is here much; but not to see me. It is his friendship for

Carthoris that brings him thus often to the palace of my father."

"But Carthoris is hunting in the north with Talu, Jeddak of Okar," Uthia

reminded her.

"My bath, Uthia!" cried Tara of Helium. "That tongue of yours will bring

you to some misadventure yet."

"The bath is ready, Tara of Helium," the girl responded, her eyes still twin-

kling with merriment, for she well knew that in the heart of her mistress

was no anger that could displace the love of the princess for her slave. Pre-

ceding the daughter of The Warlord she opened the door of an adjoining

room where lay the bath-a gleaming pool of scented water in a marble basin.

Golden stanchions supported a chain of gold encircling it and leading down

into the water on either side of marble steps. A glass dome let in the sun-

light, which flooded the interior, glancing from the polished white of the

marble walls and the procession of bathers and fishes, which, in conven-

tional design, were inlaid with gold in a broad band that circled the room.

Tara of Helium removed the scarf from about her and handed it to the slave.

Slowly she descended the steps to the water, the temperature of which she

tested with a symmetrical foot, undeformed by tight shoes and high heels-a

lovely foot, as God intended that feet should be and seldom are. Finding

the water to her liking, the girl swam leisurely to and fro about

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