CHAPTER XXII
_Revolution!_
I realize that I am, by nature, not overly observant; and in thosemoments, when I stood out there beside the pool, I think I came mostforcibly to appreciate how little I habitually observe that which is notreadily apparent. An incident now occurred to bring it home to me; and,quite suddenly, a score of things which I had seen during the past twohours at the festival were made plain.
Music, feasting, merry-making, love! In the midst of it all, anundercurrent of events was flowing. Unseen events--but I had partly seensome of them, and now, at last, I began to understand.
In the main hall of the pavilion, midway to its roof, a line of mirrorswas placed along the wall facing Tarrano. A hundred small mirrors, sideby side. On them were moving images of what was taking place indifferent parts of the festival--so that Tarrano and the others mightsee the merry-making, not only in the pavilion, but elsewhere, as well.It was interesting to watch the mirrors--and sometimes amusing. Thescene of a gay battle of boats in a nearby lagoon; the diving girls inthe pools; a view from the sky above of the whole scene; another,looking upward at the color bombs bursting overhead; a bridge on which adozen girls were besieged by as many men, who sought to climb upwardfrom their boats underneath, flowers for missiles, and the alcholitefumes which held off the attackers, or, perchance, caused a girl to fallinto the water, to be instantly captured.
Other mirrors, eavesdropping upon the secluded islands, making public,for the amusement of the spectators in the pavilion, the furtivelove-making of couples who fancied themselves alone.
All this I had seen. And now I remembered that, occasionally, a mirrorhad gone dark, and then turned suddenly to a scene somewhere else. Iunderstood now. Quiet incidents against Tarrano were in progress. Themirrors were being tampered with, that none of these events should beshown.
There were, scattered throughout the festival, fully a hundred men ofTarrano's guard. Some of them I knew by their uniforms; others wereconcealed by red masks and robes like myself. When first we entered thepavilion, some twenty or thirty of them had been there with us. But manyof them did not stay; and now I remembered that, one by one, I had seenthem slip away, lured by the slim, white shapes of girls who came fromthe pool to beguile them.
I realized now that these girls of the scented pool were very possiblyall working for Maida. Most daring of all at the festival, these fiftygirls who now disported themselves in the water at my feet. Allbeautiful, none beyond the first flush of earliest maturity. Slight,grey-white nymphs, laughing as they discarded their hampering veils,tossing their white hair as they plunged into the shimmering pool.Seemingly the most seductive, most abandoned of everyone.
Yet, as I stood there, I saw three of them climb from the water and,with gay shouts, rush into the pavilion. Back in a moment; and with thema flushed man--one of Tarrano's guards--flushed and flattered at theirattention. His hat was gone, his robe disheveled, as the girls foughtfor him. They stopped quite close to me; and I saw that one of them wasAlda.
"You shall not have him!" she shouted to her companions. "He is mine! Heloves me--none of you!"
From her thick hair I saw her draw a tiny cylinder, wave it in the man'sface. And, with another laugh, she flung her arms around his neck andfell with him into the water. I watched the splash and the ripples wherethey went down. In a moment, the girl came up--_but the man did not_. Inall the confusion of the crowded pool, it was not very obvious.
A dozen, perhaps, of such incidents, which now, that I was alert tounderstand, were apparent. The mirrors might have shown some ofthem--but the mirrors always went dark just in time.
Tarrano's guards were disappearing. And now I saw a _slaan_ skulking inthe shadows of the shrubbery nearby. And I noticed, too, that this poolat my feet had a stream flowing outward from it--a waterway connectingit with the main lake. And I remembered the Earth man in sub-sea garbwhom I had seen. Were there many Earth men down here in the water?
_"When Tarrano dances with the Red Woman, you drop to the floor."_
I remembered Alda's words and her admonition, "Be inside the pavilion."And presently I caught her glance as she was poised for a dive--and itseemed directing me to leave.
Wrapped in my drab cloak, I went back inside. The merry-making hadincreased; the place was more crowded than ever. I had been there but amoment when a gong sounded. The music stopped. In the hush Tarrano, onthe balcony, rose to his feet.
"The tri-night hour[21] is here." He removed his mask; his face wasgrave, but a slight smile curved his thin lips. "Let us see ourselvesnow as we really are."
[Footnote 21: Half-way between midnight and dawn.]
He slipped his robe from his shoulders and stood in his festive costume.For so slight a man, I was surprised at the strength of him. Bands ofgold-metal encircled his naked torso; a broad girdle of purple clothhung from his waist. His bare limbs were lean and straight; sandals ofred were on his feet. And a band about his forehead with a singlefeather in it.
Yet, for it all, he was no male _nada_, but every inch a man. Gravelysmiling, as, with a gesture, he bade them all discard their masks androbes. From overhead the colored lights turned white. And in the glare,the robes and masks were dropped. Costumes grotesque, some of them;others symbolic; others merely beautiful. Vivid colors. Dancers daringlygarbed, with whom the girls from the pool now mingled.
A moment of breathless silence; then ripples of applause from thespectators. And then the music and the dancing went on.
Barbaric costumes? Some frankly imitated the bygone ages of Venus, Marsand Earth. But the spirit that prompted them was decadence--nothingmore.
Presently, as I stood unmasked in my effeminate garb, holding myselfaloof from the girls who would have carried me off to the dancing floor,I saw the roof of the pavilion roll back. The open sky spread above us.And from it came down an effulgence of silver light, from a source highoverhead. It bathed us all in its soft radiance; and, simultaneously,the lights in the pavilion went out. A single golden shaft rested onTarrano. Elza, Georg and Maida were still there. In the golden light Icould see them quite plainly--could see that Elza was flushed withsuppressed excitement. Not the alcholite fumes now. Georg, too, seemedvery alert. And Maida. There was, indeed, a tenseness about them all--anair of vague expectancy which made my heart beat faster as I realizedit.
Was Tarrano totally unaware of what was about to happen? Was he unawareof this hidden, lurking menace to him, which now, to me, was so obvious?I could not believe that; yet, he was imperturbable, solemn as ever.
A shaft of golden light upon Tarrano. The darkened chamber. The silverradiance coming down upon us in a shaft from the sky. A hush lay uponthe room. The music had ceased; now it began again, very soft, ethereal.Everyone in the room was gazing upward. From high overhead in the silvershaft a shape appeared, slowly floating downward. A woman's figure. Itcame down, supported by what mechanical or scientific device I neverknew. It seemed floating unsupported.
Within the pavilion, suspended in mid-air, I saw that it was a woman infilmy red veils. Poised on tip-toe in the air. Arms outstretched, withthe red veils hanging from them like wings. A woman fully matured. Whitehair piled in coils on her head, with a huge, scarlet blossom in it. Aface, somewhat heavy of feature, powdered white; with glowing eyes, darklidded; and a scarlet mouth. A face, an expression in the smoulderingeyes, the full lips half parted--a face and an expression that seemedthe very incarnation of all that is sensuous in humans. The Red Woman!The living symbol of all that lay beneath this festive merry-making.
The Red Woman! For a moment she hovered there before us. A shaft of redlight now came down from above. It caught her, bathed her in its luridglow. On her face came a look of triumph, and a leer almost insolent, asslowly she began fluttering through the air toward Tarrano. He rose tomeet her. Whispered something aside to Elza.
Close before him, the Red Woman hovered. And now a circle-dais from thefloor came up to her. She rested upon it; began a slow, sinuous dance;one by one
loosening the veils; the red light deepening until it paintedher body red in lieu of the draperies.
No frivolous mockery here. Intense, smouldering eyes as she held hergaze on Tarrano's face and slowly raised her arms in invitation to him.At her gesture, he rose to his feet. Yet I knew he was not under herspell, for his lips were smiling, bantering.
But he rose obediently, and stepped from the balcony to the upraiseddais. Around his neck the Red Woman wound her arms--white arms stainedred by the lurid light.
A flash! I did not see from whence it came; but within me somesubconscious impulse made me drop to the floor. The light from overheadwas out. Momentary darkness. A woman's scream of terror. Then others.The sound of running feet; bodies falling. Panic in the crowd. Confusioneverywhere.
Then light from somewhere came on. People were tramping me. I foughtthem off, climbed to my feet. On the dais the Red Woman lay dead.Huddled in a heap, with a brand of black searing her forehead. _Slaans_were leaping about the room--huge, half-naked men--brandishing primitiveknives. Flashing steel, buried in the backs of the fleeing merry-makers.Other figures--Earth men they seemed--gripping the _slaans_, stayingtheir murderous fury.
Tarrano? I did not see him at first. The air above the floor of thepavilion was full of snapping sparks--a battle of some unknown rays. Themirrors were shattered: glass from them was falling about me. Then, inthe semi-gloom on the balcony, Tarrano's figure materialized. Invisiblebefore, the hostile rays upon it now made it apparent. But Tarranoseemed proof against the rays. I could see he was unharmed; and as hestood there, no doubt using a curved, duplicating beam, the like ofwhich I have seen used in warfare, the image of him seemed to shift.Then it doubled--two images, one here, one further down the balcony.Then still others--appearing and disappearing, always in differentplaces, until no one could have said where the man himself really was. Adozen Tarranos, each enveloped in hostile sparks, each with his facegrinning at us in mockery.
Abruptly, I heard Georg's voice shout above the din: "Elza! Elza isgone!"
The images of Tarrano faded. He, too, was gone.
And then I saw Maida on the balcony, standing with upraised arms. Hervoice rang out.
"Down with Tarrano! Death to Tarrano!" And then her pleading command:
"_Slaans_, no more bloodshed! Be loyal, _slaans_, to your PrincessMaida!"
And Georg calling: "Loyalty, everyone, to your Princess Maida. Loyalty!Loyalty!"