'You could not have injured me, you know,' said Parp.
I looked at him with wonder.
'No,' he said.'Go ahead, if you wish, cast your spear.'
I took the weapon and tossed it toward the foot of the dais. There was a sudden splintering burst of heat and I fell back, staggering.I shook my head to drive out the scarlet stars that seemed to race before my eyes.
At the foot of the dais there was a bit of soot and some droplets of melted bronze.
'You see,' said Parp, 'it would not have reached me.'
I now understood the purpose of the tiled circle which surrounded the throne.
I removed my helmet and threw my shield to the floor.
'I am your prisoner,' I said.
'Nonsense,' said Parp, 'you are my guest.'
'I shall keep my sword,' I said.'If you want it, you must take it from me.'
Parp laughed merrily, his small round frame shaking on the heavy throne.'I assure you,' he said, 'I have no use for it.'He looked at me, chuckling. 'Nor have you,' he added.
'Where are the others?' I asked.
'What others?' asked he.
'The other Priest-Kings,' I said.
'I am afraid,' said Parp, 'that I am the Priest-Kings.All of them.'
'But you said before 'We are waiting',' I protested.
'Did I?' asked Parp.
'Yes,' I said.
'Then it was merely a manner of speaking.'
'I see,' I said.
Parp seemed troubled.He seemed distracted.
He glanced up at the dome.It was getting late.He seemed a bit nervous.His hands fumbled more with the pipe; a bit of tobacco spilled.
'Will you speak to me of my father, of my city, and of my love?' I asked.
'Perhaps,' said Parp, 'but now you are undoubtedly tired from your journey.'
It was true that I was tired, and hungry.
'No,' I said, 'I would speak now.'
For some reason Parp now seemed visibly uneasy.The sky above the dome was now grey and darkening.The Gorean night above, often black and beautiful with stars, now seemed to be approaching with swift stealth.
In the far distance, perhaps from some passage leading away from the Hall of Priest-Kings, I heard the roar of a larl.
Parp seemed to shiver on the throne.
'Is a Priest-King frightened of a larl?' I asked.
Parp chuckled, but not quite so merrily as usual.I could not understand his perturbation.'Do not be afraid,' he said, 'they are well secured.'
'I am not afraid,' I said, looking at him evenly.
'Myself,' he said, 'I'm forced to admit I've never quite gotten used to that awful racket they make.'
'You are a Priest-King,' I said, 'why do you not simply lift your hand and destroy it?'
'Of what use is a dead larl?' asked Parp.
I did not reply.
I wondered why I had been allowed to reach the Sardar, to find the Hall of Priest-Kings, to stand before this throne.
Suddenly there was the sound of a distant, reverberating gong, a dull but penetrating sound which carried from somewhere even into the Hall of Priest-Kings.
Abruptly Parp stood up, his face white.'This interview,' he said, 'is at an end.'He glanced about himself with ill-concealed terror.
'But what of me,' I asked, 'your prisoner?'
'My guest,' insisted Parp irritably, nearly dropping his pipe.He pounded it once sharply against the throne and thrust it into the wallet he wore at his side.
'Your guest?' I asked.
'Yes,' snapped Parp, darting his eyes from right to left, '-at least until it is time for you to be destroyed.'
I stood without speaking.
'Yes,' he repeated, looking down at me, 'until it is time for you to be destroyed.'
Then it seemed in the impending darkness in the Hall of Priest-Kings as he looked down on me that the pupils of his eyes for an instant glowed briefly, fiercely, like two tiny fiery disks of molten copper.I knew then that I had not been mistaken before.His eyes were unlike mine, or those of a human being.I knew then that Parp, whatever he might be, was not a man.
Then again came the sound of that great unseen gong, that distant sound, dull, penetrating, reverberating even in the vastness of the great hall in which we stood.
With a cry of terror Parp cast one last wild glance about the Hall of Priest-Kings and stumbled behind the great throne.
'Wait!' I cried.
But he had gone.
Wary of the tiled circle I traced its perimeter until I stood behind the throne.There was no sign of Parp.I walked the full ambit of the circle until I stood once more before the throne.I picked up my helmet and tossed it toward the dais. It clattered noisily against the first step.I followed it across the tiled circle which seemed harmless now that Parp had left.
Once more the distant and unseen gong rang out, and once more the Hall of Priest-Kings seemed filled with its ominous vibrations.It was the third stroke.I wondered why Parp had seemed to fear the coming of night, the sound of the gong.
I examined the throne and found no trace of a door behind it, but I knew that one must exist.Parp was, I was sure, though I had not touched him, as palpable as you or I.He could not simply have vanished.
It was now night outside.
Through the dome I could see the three moons of Gor and the bright stars above them.
They were very beautiful.
Then seized by an impulse I sat myself down on the great throne in the Hall of Priest-Kings, drew my sword and placed it across my knees.
I recalled Parp's words, 'until it is time for you to be destroyed'.
For some reason I laughed and my laugh was the laugh of a warrior of Gor, full and mighty, unafraid, and it roared in the dark and lonely Hall of Priest-Kings.
Chapter Five: VIKA
I awakened to the soothing touch of a small sponge that bathed my forehead.
I grasped the hand that held the sponge and found that I held a girl's wrist.
'Who are you?' I asked.
I lay on my back on a large stone platform, some twelve feet square.Beneath me, twisted and tangled, lay heavy sleeping pelts, thick robes of fur, numerous sheets of scarlet silk. A cushion or two of yellow silk lay randomly on the platform.
The room in which I lay was large, perhaps forty feet square, and the sleeping platform lay at one end of the room but not touching the wall.The walls were of plain dark stone with energy bulbs fixed in them; the furnishings seemed to consist mostly of two or three large chests against one wall.There were now windows.The entire aspect was one of severity. There was no doo on the room but there was a great portal, perhaps twelve feet wide and eighteen feet high.I could see a large passageway beyond.
'Please,' said the girl.
I released her wrist.
She was comely to look on.Her hair was very light, the colour of summer straw; it was straight and bound simply behind the back of her neck with a small fillet of white wool.Her eyes were blue, and sullen.Her full, red lips, which could have torn the heart of a man, seemed to pout; they were sensuous, unobtrusively rebellious, perhaps subtly contemptuous.
She knelt beside the platform.
Beside her, on the floor, rested a laver of polished bronze, filled with water, a towel and a straight-bladed Gorean shaving knife.
I rubbed my chin.
She had shaved me as I slept.
I shivered, thinking of the blade and my throat.'Your touch is light,' I said.
She bowed her head.
She wore a long, simple sleeveless white robe, which fell gracefully about her in dignified classic folds.About her throat she had gracefully wrapped a scarf of white
