“Hullo!” said Alan amiably. “Where are you going, Kulmervan?”
The effect was magical! Kulmervan jumped as though he had been struck, and his face whitened. He remained silent. “I’m going to see Waz-Y-Kjesta,” went on Alan. “Are you coming my way?”
Kulmervan did not reply, but a baleful light gleamed in his eyes, and his mouth twitched.
“What’s the matter?” asked Alan curiously.
Suddenly Kulmervan spoke, and there was a wealth of passion in his tones. “Why did you come here, you strangers? I was happy until you came. I was contented. You have made me want—want the unknown. You have stirred my heart and filled it with longings that I cannot yet fathom. Why have you come to stir up misery among a happy and contented race?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” said Alan, “I have done nothing.”
“You’ve done everything. You dared to raise your eyes to the level of Chlorie, our Ipso-Rorka. You put thoughts about her into my head. Oh—” as Alan would have broken in—“I read your thoughts, it was easy, my friend. You dared to think of her as a woman—even your woman. It was an impertinence, I tell you. I love Chlorie with my whole soul, and before Mitzor the Mighty, I’ll carry her away into some far off land, before she can look with a favourable eye on a man, not only of another world, but a man of a coarser nature than our own.”
Kulmervan was breathless when he finished, for his words had come thick and fast, tumbling over themselves in his great excitement. Alan was speechless, and looked as he felt, absolutely uncomfortable and ill at ease. “Why your very pose proves guilt,” continued Kulmervan.
“Why should I not love Chlorie?” demanded Alan, “Why should my love for her cause strife between us?”
“Because, my stranger, I am a Prince of the Rorka’s House. I am not only Kulmervan the Student; but Taz-Ak of the House of Pluthoz. Why else would Chlorie have honoured my party—why else come to the dance of a student? There are but four Keemarnians that Chlorie can marry, and I rank second.”