“Miriam will tell you better than I: she had learned of your setting out hither, and when I was preparing the pavilion for her, she must have gone to the Planetary Mirror to get a glimpse of you. That exposed her, and Torpeon was on the watch.”
“This mark—is it painful?” Jack demanded.
“It inflicts no physical pain,” said Aunion, answering him in a kindly tone. “The chief effect, aside from the recurring periods of trance, lies in its rendering her less secure against further attacks. The results of a second act of indiscretion on her part might be serious. I found the mark resists ordinary means used to eradicate it: but if you and she are circumspect and patient, the spell will be overcome.”
“We will go in,” said Lamara, taking Jack’s hand with a sympathizing look. “Zarga, go before, and find whether Miriam is ready to receive us.”
Zarga slipped through the doorway and disappeared: the others followed. The room which they entered seemed large, but was so woven across with shafts of iridescent light as to disguise its dimensions: the semitransparent walls had the luster of mother-of-pearl. As they seated themselves on a divan, the light-shafts became denser until the party appeared to be enclosed in a pentagonal chamber of moderate size and great beauty. Lamara, observing Jack’s bewilderment, laughed as might a child who had pleasantly surprised a friend.
“It’s the same natural process that makes flowers grow,” she said. “Add to earth and light something human from yourself, and deserts may become fertile and lovely. Such things as these, formed for the need of an hour, return of themselves to what they came from when the need passes. Our homes grow with us, never quite the same from one day to another. Science married to love works wonders.”
She was interrupted by a cry from within, and in a moment Zarga appeared, her hair flying about her like a ruddy mist, and her eyes wide and ominous.
“The trance has come again!” was her announcement.
Jack sprang to his feet; but Lamara laid a reassuring hand on his arm.
“It is nothing,” she said quietly. “Torpeon cannot pass the bounds of his license, though he may use it maliciously. He has chosen an hour close upon the last, but it will be the longer before he can disturb us again. Come, let us visit her.”