Our guards conducted us to a building that stood upon the opposite side of the avenue, facing the east gate, and presently we found ourselves upon a broad landing stage upon the roof of the building. Here a patrol flier awaited us and our padwar turned us over to the officer in charge, whose attitude toward us was marked by ill-concealed hatred and distrust.
As soon as we had been received on board, the patrol flier rose and proceeded toward the center of the city.
Below us lay Tjanath, giving the impression of a city that had not kept abreast of modern improvements. It was marked by signs of antiquity; the buildings reflected the architecture of the ancients and many of them were in a state of disrepair, though much of the city's ugliness was hidden or softened by the foliage of great trees and climbing vines, so that on the whole the aspect was more pleasing than otherwise. Toward the center of the city was a large plaza, entirely surrounded by imposing public buildings, including the palace of the Jed. It was upon the roof of one of these buildings that the flier landed.
Under a strong guard we were conducted into the interior of the building and after a brief wait were ushered into the presence of some high official. Evidently he had already been advised of the circumstances surrounding our arrival at Tjanath, for he seemed to be expecting us and was familiar with all that had transpired up to the present moment.
"What do you at Tjanath, Jaharian?" he demanded.
"I am not from Jahar," I replied. "Look at my metal."
"A warrior may change his metal," he replied, gruffly.
"This man has not changed his metal," said Tavia. "He is not from Jahar; he is from Hastor, one of the cities of Helium. I am from Jahar."
The official looked at her in surprise. "So you admit it!" he cried.
"But first I was from Tjanath," said the girl.
"What do you mean?" he demanded.
"As a little child I was stolen from Tjanath," replied Tavia. "All my life since I have been a slave in the palace of Tul Axtar, Jeddak of Jahar. Only recently I escaped in the same flier upon which we arrived at Tjanath. Near the dead city of Xanator I landed and was captured by the green men of Torquas. This warrior, who is Hadron of Hastor, rescued me from them. Together we came to Tjanath, expecting a friendly reception."
"Who are your people in Tjanath?" demanded the official.
"I do not know," replied Tavia; "I was very young. I remember practically nothing about my life in Tjanath."
"What is your name?"
"Tavia."
The man's interest in her story, which had seemed wholly perfunctory, seemed suddenly altered and galvanized.
"You know nothing about your parents or your family?" he demanded.
"Nothing," replied Tavia.
He turned to the padwar who was in charge of our escort. "Hold them here until I return," he said, and, rising from his desk, he left the apartment.
"He seemed to recognize your name," I said to Tavia.
"How could he?" she asked.
"Possibly he knew your family," I suggested; "at least his manner suggested that we are going to be given some consideration."
"I hope so," she said.
"I feel that our troubles are about over, Tavia," I assured her; "and for your sake I shall be very happy."
"And you, I suppose," she said, "will endeavor to enlist aid in continuing your search for Sanoma Tora?"
"Naturally," I replied. "Could anything less be expected of me?"
"No," she admitted in a very low voice.
Notwithstanding the fact that something in the demeanor of the official who had interrogated us had raised my hope for our future, I was still conscious of a feeling of depression as our conversation emphasized the near approach of our separation. It seemed as though I had always known Tavia, for the few days that we had been thrown together had brought us very close indeed. I knew that I should miss her sparkling wit, her ready sympathy and the quiet companionship of her silences, and then the beautiful features of Sanoma Tora were projected upon memory's screen and, knowing where my duty lay, I cast vain regrets aside, for love, I knew, was greater than friendship and I loved Sanoma Tora.
After a considerable lapse of time the official re-entered the apartment. I searched his face to read the first tidings of good news there, but his expression was inscrutable; however, his first words, addressed to the padwar, were entirely understandable.
"Confine the woman in the East Tower," he said, "and send the man to the pits."
That was all. It was like a blow in the face. I looked at Tavia and saw her wide eyes upon the official. "You mean that we are to be held as prisoners?" she demanded; "I, a daughter of Tjanath, and this warrior who came here from a friendly nation seeking your aid and protection?"
"You will each have a hearing later before the Jed," snapped the official. "I have spoken. Take them away."
Several of the warriors seized me rather roughly by the arms. Tavia had turned away from the official and was looking at me. "Good-bye, Hadron of Hastor!" she said. "It is my fault that you are here. May my ancestors forgive me!"
"Do not reproach yourself, Tavia," I begged her, "for who might have foreseen such a stupid reception?"
We were taken from the apartment by different doorways and there we turned, each for a last look at the other, and in Tavia's eyes there were tears, and in my heart.
The pits of Tjanath, to which I was immediately conducted, are gloomy, but they are not enveloped in impenetrable darkness as are the pits beneath most Barsoomian cities. Into the dungeon dim light filtered through the iron grating from the corridors, where ancient radium bulbs glowed faintly. Yet it was light and I gave thanks for that, for I have always believed that I should go mad imprisoned in utter darkness.
I was heavily fettered and unnecessarily so, it seemed to me, as they chained me to a massive iron ring set deep in the masonry wall of my dungeon, and then, leaving me, locked also the ponderous iron grating before the doorway.
As the footfalls of the warriors diminished to nothingness in the distance I heard the faint sound of something moving nearby me in my dungeon. What could it be? I strained my eyes into the gloomy darkness.
Presently, as my eyes became more accustomed to the dim light in my cell, I saw the figure of what appeared to be a man crouching against the wall near me. Again I heard a sound as he moved and this time it was accompanied by the rattle of a chain, and then I saw a face turn toward me, but I could not distinguish the features.
"Another guest to share the hospitality of Tjanath," said a voice that came from the blurred figure beside me. It was a clear voice-the voice of a man-and there was a quality to its timbre that I liked.
"Do our hosts entertain many such as we?" I asked.
"In this cell there was but one," he replied; "now there are two. Are you from Tjanath or elsewhere?"
"I am from Hastor, city of the Empire of Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium."
"You are a long way from home," he said.
"Yes," I replied; "and you?"
"I am from Jahar," he answered. "My name is Nur An."
"And mine is Hadron," I said. "Why are you here?"
"I am a prisoner because I am from Jahar," he replied. "What is your crime?"
"It is that they think I am from Jahar," I told him.
"What made them think that? Do you wear the metal of Jahar?"
"No, I wear the metal of Helium, but I chanced to come to Tjanath in a Jaharian flier."
He whistled. "That would be hard to explain," he said.
"I found it so," I admitted. "They would not believe a word of my story, nor of that of my companion."
"You had a companion, then?" he asked. "Where is he?"