"Where is Issus?" I asked suddenly.
Dejah Thoris shrugged her shoulders.
"She sent me under guard to this room just before the fighting
began within the temple halls. She said that she would send for
me later. She seemed very angry and somewhat fearful. Never have
I seen her act in so uncertain and almost terrified a manner. Now
I know that it must have been because she had learned that John
Carter, Prince of Helium, was approaching to demand an accounting
of her for the imprisonment of his Princess."
The sounds of conflict, the clash of arms, the shouting and the
hurrying of many feet came to us from various parts of the temple.
I knew that I was needed there, but I dared not leave Dejah Thoris,
nor dared I take her with me into the turmoil and danger of battle.
At last I bethought me of the pits from which I had just emerged.
Why not secrete her there until I could return and fetch her away
in safety and for ever from this awful place. I explained my plan
to her.
For a moment she clung more closely to me.
"I cannot bear to be parted from you now, even for a moment, John
Carter," she said. "I shudder at the thought of being alone again
where that terrible creature might discover me. You do not know
her. None can imagine her ferocious cruelty who has not witnessed
her daily acts for over half a year. It has taken me nearly all
this time to realize even the things that I have seen with my own
eyes.
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