“Kirin.”
“Kirin. And she must not succeed!” The vehemence in her voice stung old Temujin from his apathy.
“Whose side are you on, girl?” he demanded.
“Nobody’s,” she said fiercely. “But I am against her, and her vile schemes. I could not talk before, in fear that she might be listening, for these cells are under surveillance through hidden eyes and ears, but if she is busied using her allure on the tall one, Kirin, she will have no time to eavesdrop on us! I brought the tray only as a pretence. I needed some excuse for getting in to see you…”
“I wondered about that,” he chuckled. “Since I had just come from a real feast, a tray of snacks seemed almost like too much hospitality—”
She smiled, her fair cheeks dimpling roguishly.
“Yes, of course! But the metal men who guard the door know nothing of human eating habits and have only rudimentary intelligence at best: they saw me bring a tray in earlier, and I thought they might open to me again…
“But what is this all about, lass? Why are you involved?”
She shrugged. “I am not native to this world. I am from Nar, the Planet of the Amazons. My ship was forced down just as yours was. She needs recruits, for her plans are to invade the Inner Worlds and topple the young Empire of Valdamar. I care nought for Valdamar, but I am a War Maid and we are a proud lot as you may have heard. I determined to do everything I could to frustrate her plans, in retaliation for my enslavement.”
“Good girl!” he puffed, nodding approvingly.
“That was before I had been in the palace long enough to learn the full measure of her infamy! Listen…”
And in terse, clipped fashion, Caola of Nar recounted to Temujin the full story of the Medusa, in a narrative substantially the same as the story Azeera had earlier told to Kirin. She left nothing out: the coming of the Transcosmic One into this Universe, the war of the Gods against Kom Yazoth, Valkyr’s conquest of the Demon from Beyond and his demolishment of its physical substance—all but the precious Heart, even the building of the Iron Tower and the Witch Queen’s plans to employ the magic power of the Medusa against the star worlds. Temujin was flabbergasted, for he had not until this moment ever heard the full story of the treasure the Iron Tower of Pelizon guarded. Although he had with wink and sly nod suggested to Kirin—without ever really saying it in so many words—that he was in possession of the secret, the plain fact of the matter was that his distrustful Superiors on Trevelon had not told him anything beyond the simplest facts he needed to know in order to carry out his mission.
Now he was utterly appalled at the magnitude of this mission, seeing it in its full importance, and terrified at the thought of how abysmally he had permitted the endeavor to lapse into failure…
“At first I determined I should encumber the Witch Queen for little more than stubbornness,” Caola confessed with a small smile. “Then, when I realized the full implications of her plot, I knew I must oppose her for motives more altruistic. She is an evil creature. She must never be permitted to gain power over innocent worlds. We must foil her plans somehow, old one, you and I… and Kirin.”
The doctor nodded.
“I agree, lass,” he wheezed. “But how? What’s the first step? Can you get me out of this cell? Can you find the ivory rod the metal men took from me when we were captured?”
She nodded and drew the slim wand from under the large flat tray she had carried into the room.
“I have it here,” she said. Temujin stifled a glad cry and looked it over anxiously.
“It seems to be in working order,” he puffed, “although you can never be certain with the miniaturized devices of the Ancients. Now, can you get me out of here?”
She shook her head.
“Not so fast. I think the first step would be to find out what happened to your friend, Kirin,” she said.
“How can you do that?”
“I don’t know, but I must try. As a palace slave, I can come and go with considerable freedom here within the building. The metal guards recognize me as one of the slaves and take no notice. The humans—” and here her generous scarlet mouth twisted into an ugly grimace “—those who have gone over to her side, and fawn on her, so as to enjoy titled positions of power in the empire she plans to build, they also take no notice of my comings and goings, as the doings of a slave are beneath the notice of the masters. If they see me in the corridors, they simply assume I am going about some legitimate errand or other, and hence promptly dismiss me from mind.” A mocking laugh escaped her. “That is precisely how I learned the legend of Kom Yazoth and found out the plans of the Witch Queen in the first place, by being in places where I had no business and by keeping my ears and eyes open at all times! Fear not, I shall find the Earthling, wherever he is, although it may take a little time…”
With a small smile and wave of her hand, the girl was gone and Temujin was alone again. But not as lonely as before. For now he had an ally. Remembering the strong, vibrant words the girl had spoken and the glint of stubborn determination in her eyes, Temujin relaxed a trifle. Somehow, all did not yet seem lost. Perhaps they had a chance after all…
Caola returned to the slave quarters upon leaving the room in which Doctor Temujin and the Earthling, Kirin, had been imprisoned. She mingled with the other slaves, dropping a question here and there, to see if any of her friends had noticed the Earthman or had any idea of his present whereabouts. But none of the other slaves had seen or heard of him since he had been taken from the feasting hall by Azeera several hours ago.
The girl determined she would simply have to set out and find him. And this she promptly did.
She could not disguise, even to herself, a slight personal motive in her anxiety over the tall Earthman. She had conceived an instant attraction for him the first time she saw him, hours before. And, unless she was very much mistaken—and women are hardly ever mistaken in such matters—she believed he felt attracted to her. Remembering the frank admiration in his eyes when he had looked her up and down, she flushed faintly and felt a stirring of excitement.
Caola was a War Maid of Nar. The Amazons of her planet were women warriors. They loved but once in their warlike lives, and that once was forever. And when they gave their love it was to a male stalwart, manly enough to conquer them. Caola was too young to have ever engaged in the War Games that were a gentle euphemism for mating competitions. But she was all woman and deep within her, she longed to be conquered.
The men she had met here on Zangrimar were, in the main, a shallow and sorry lot. Men usually are when they are in subjugation to a woman ruler, and the Zangrimarians were no exception to this rule. They were either cold-hearted, unscrupulous men of avarice and devouring ambition, or languid fops and limp-wristed courtiers, fawners, hangers-on. She loathed them all.
But Kirin was something different. Tall and strong and courageous. His ironic, mocking air, she somehow knew, was an affectation. She longed to know him better, to test his manhood, to fight by his side.
So as she wandered unobtrusively through the wandering ways of the giant citadel, ever on the alert for some token of his presence, she felt her pulses quicken in a very feminine manner at the very thought of his nearness…
She very soon exhausted all the more likely places in which Kirin might have been found. The first place was the luxurious suite of apartments reserved for the Witch Queen. Caola dreaded finding him there, in that silken boudoir, perhaps even in the Queen’s arms. But the female slaves who resided in the anterooms to these private chambers told her the Queen was not within, and had not returned to her suite since the feast.