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O-Tar shrugged. "That does not disprove the justice of the laws of Manator,"
replied O-Tar, "but rather that the warriors of Manator are invincible. Had there
come one who could defeat our warriors that one had won to liberty."
"And you fetch my warrior," cried Tara haughtily, "you shall see such swordplay
as doubtless the crumbling walls of your decaying city never have witnessed, and
if there be no trick in your offer we are already as good as free."
O-Tar smiled more broadly than before and U-Dor smiled, too, and the chiefs and
warriors who looked on nudged one another and whispered, laughing. And Tara
of Helium knew then that there was trickery in their justice; but though her
situation seemed hopeless she did not cease to hope, for was she not the
daughter of John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, whose famous challenge to Fate, "I
still live!" remained the one irreducible defense against despair? At thought of her
noble sire the patrician chin of Tara of Helium rose a shade higher. Ah! if he but
knew where she was there were little to fear then. The hosts of Helium would
batter at the gates of Manator, the great green warriors of John Carter's savage
allies would swarm up from the dead sea bottoms lusting for pillage and for loot,
the stately ships of her beloved navy would soar above the unprotected towers
and minarets of the doomed city which only capitulation and heavy tribute could
then save.
But John Carter did not know! There was only one other to whom she might hope
to look--Turan the panthan; but where was he? She had seen his sword in play
and she knew that it had been wielded by a master hand, and who should know
swordplay better than Tara of Helium, who had learned it well under the constant
tutorage of John Carter himself. Tricks she knew that discounted even far greater
physical prowess than her own, and a method of attack that might have been at
once the envy and despair of the cleverest of warriors. And so it was that her
thoughts turned to Turan the panthan, though not alone because of the
protection he might afford her. She had realized, since he had left her in search of
food, that there had grown between them a certain comradeship that she now
missed. There had been that about him which seemed to have bridged the gulf
between their stations in life. With him she had failed to consider that he was a
panthan or that she was a princess--they had been comrades. Suddenly she
realized that she missed him for himself more than for his sword. She turned
toward O-Tar.
"
Where is Turan, my warrior?" she demanded.
"You shall not lack for warriors," replied the jeddak. "One of your beauty will find
plenty ready to fight for her. Possibly it shall not be necessary to look farther than
the jeddak of Manator. You please me, woman. What say you to such an honor?"
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