The Romance of Golden Star ...

by George Chetwynd Griffith

  CHAPTER VII

  IN THE THRONE-ROOM OF YUPANQUI

  We saw nothing of Golden Star the next day, nor yet for many daysafterwards, for, in spite of our impatience, Ruth would not permit us todo so. What her brother had said had speedily proved itself to be true.She had come back to life a child-woman. Her body was that of a girl ofseventeen years--which was her age when she and I had drunk the draughtof the death-sleep together--and the kindly Powers that had presidedover her birth had shaped her in a mould of almost perfect womanlybeauty, yet, as Djama had said, her mind was a virgin page, from whichthe story of her past life had been utterly erased, and on whose blankwhiteness the story of her new life had yet to be written.

  Now, on the writing of the first words of this story, as Joyful Startold us in her sweetly-serious way the night that she had sunk into herfirst natural slumber, everything might depend.

  'It is a task,' she had said that night, 'which I fear terribly to enterupon, and yet I know that I am the only one here who ought to undertakeit. She will need weeks and months of most careful watching, and thesympathy that only another woman, and one who loves her as I havealready learned to do, could give her. No woman ever had such a taskbefore, and very few have had so good a work to do. There is something,too'--and here I remember how subtle a change came into her voice as shesaid this--'there is something in this wonderful resemblance between uswhich tells me that this is my duty, and I am going to devote myselfabsolutely to it during every hour of her waking life until she is ableto do without my care. I must watch her and care for her as a motherdoes for her child, and you must let me do it alone as long as I wishto, just as we had to let Laurens do _his_ work alone. Don't you think Iam right, professor?'

  'Yes,' he answered, 'perfectly right, Miss Ruth. I am sure everybodywill agree with me that Her Highness could not be in better hands thanyours. Indeed, as you say, yours are the only hands in which she couldpossibly be trusted with safety to her newly-awakening reason at such anextraordinary juncture in her life.'

  To this we all agreed willingly enough, and so Joyful Star had the bigroom cleared out and installed herself there with all the comforts andluxuries that the inexhaustible wealth which was now at my command couldprovide her with, so that Golden Star should find her new world asbeautiful as might be. Meanwhile the professor, with a trusty guide thatI had provided him with from among my own people, plunged afresh intohis beloved studies with such ardour that he seemed to have almostforgotten all else that had brought us to Peru.

  Francis Hartness had gone with Tupac--who, in the sight of theSpaniards, was only his Indian servant and guide--on a mission ofimportance to the South, where the first rumblings of the comingwar-storm were already making themselves heard. As for Djama, who, asyou know, had no more interest in the work that now lay before FrancisHartness and myself than the professor had, he went about for some daysgloomy and silent, and seemingly ill at ease, like a man who for a timehas lost his interest in life; and at last--it was on the twentieth dayafter Golden Star had awakened--he came to me when I was alone in myroom and said abruptly,--

  'Vilcaroya, do you think I have fairly earned my reward for what I havedone?'

  'Yes,' I said, looking into his eyes and reading, though he knew itnot, the thoughts that were moving in his mind. 'You have done all thatyou promised to do, but we have yet said nothing of the price. How muchdo you ask for?'

  'As much as I can get!' he said, with a laugh that pleased me butlittle. 'But, of course, I know the work that you yourself have comehere to do, and I see that it will be expensive, so you will find mereasonable.'

  'And you, I hope, will not find me ungenerous. Do you remember what yousaw in the Hall of Gold?' As I said this, his self-command left him foran instant. I saw his hands close, and his lips tremble, and the fiercefire of the gold-lust spring into his eyes as he replied,--

  'Yes; how could I forget it?'

  'And do you remember, too,' I said, 'the words that you heard me speakwhen I stood before the pyramid?'

  'Yes,' he replied, with a faint flush coming into his pale cheeks. 'Itis not likely that I should forget them either. Why do you ask?'

  'Because,' I said, speaking slowly as a man who weighs his words well,'saving only the sacred emblems of the Sun, which it is not lawful forme to give away, all that you saw there shall belong to you and to himwho made it possible for you to do what you have done. You will share itas you please--that is no care of mine--but I have conditions to makefor my own sake and that of my people.'

  'What are they?' and as he spoke the flush died out of his cheeks again.

  'That you shall both swear solemnly to me that, come what may, no manshall ever know from you where the gold came from, and that, moreover,you shall never utter any word of my story or Golden Star's where mortalears can hear it, nor give any sign or word to any man or woman thatshall lead him or her to guess that I am what I am, or that my work hereis what it is. Swear that oath to me and you shall take your gold and goin peace. Break it, and the fate that I told you of shall be yours. Areyou content?'

  'Yes,' he said, 'and more than content; and I swear to you mostsolemnly, on my own honour and by all that I hold sacred, that I willkeep your secrets absolutely.'

  'No, not here,' I said, breaking into his speech; 'and more, it is notonly your oath that I want. There must be witnesses, for this is toogreat a thing to do lightly. To-morrow night we will go back to the Hallof Gold, and there you shall swear your oaths and they shall bewitnessed.'

  'Very well,' he said. 'Whenever and wherever you like. But now,Vilcaroya, I have something else to say to you. Personally, you know, Ihave no further interests in Peru, saving one only. Your next few yearswill be stormy ones, and though I believe that, with the power you havebehind you, you will win in the end, yet you know as well as I do thatyou will have to run all the risks of a war that may be a very savageone before you succeed. You may restore the throne of the Incas, andreign upon it, or you may be killed in the first battle. You will pardonme speaking so plainly, won't you?'

  I bowed my head in silence and he went on.

  'In view of this, then, I am going to propose that when we leave Peru--Imean my sister and the professor and myself--you will allow Ruth to takeGolden Star to England with her, say, for three years or so, in orderthat her education may be carried on to the best advantage. I willpromise you solemnly that during that time I will not speak a word oflove to her, or attempt to be anything else to her than I am to Ruth,and then if you succeed in your aims, as I hope you will, we will comeback and be Your Majesty's guests for a time, and after that we shallsee what more the kindly Fates may have in store for you and me.'

  No man ever heard more fairly spoken or reasonable-sounding words thanthese were, and yet all the while I listened to them I knew that theywere but used to hide the real thoughts of him who was speaking them.Yet what could I answer him? Did they not seem to point out the best ofall courses that could be followed for the welfare of Golden Star andthe comfort of her whose gentle hand was leading her nearer every day tothe fulfilment of the promise of her new life? So, for want of anythingbetter in my mind, I answered,--

  'Your words are unwelcome to me, for so long a parting would be a greatsorrow to me; yet they are wise, and that which is most pleasant is notalways the best to be done.'

  'Very well,' he said, 'I quite understand you, so we won't say anythingmore about it until then. I suppose I may tell the professor about whatwe are to do to-morrow night?'

  'Yes,' I said; 'there will be no harm in that, since a share of the goldbelongs to him as well.'

  'And Hartness?'

  'He knows already, for I have told him not only of the treasures in theHall of Gold, but of many others that will be used in the work that hehas sworn to do with me.'

  Later on that day when the mid-day heat had cooled a little, I waswalking alone in the garden of the hacienda, thinking deeply of whatDjama had said and striving to find some plan of my own that would beas good and ye
t not make the parting that I dreaded needful. I turned,paying but little heed to my way, into a winding pathway shaded withtrees and bordered with grass and flowers. I was looking down upon theground, as was my wont, when I heard footsteps near me and looked up. Ihad turned the bend in the path, and there, but a few paces from me,stood Golden Star and Ruth. I started and made a motion as though Iwould turn back, but Ruth immediately beckoned to me smilingly, andsaid,--

  'Come and let me introduce you to your sister, Vilcaroya. I think it'stime you began to be friends again. Don't you think she is lookingwonderfully well and strong, and--and beautiful?'

  You may think, but I cannot tell you, of all the feelings that rose upwithin me as I obeyed her invitation. It was the first time that I hadseen Golden Star since the night she had awakened. Nay, was it not thefirst time I had seen her as a truly living woman since the night of ourbridal in the Sanctuary?

  She was dressed in garments made after the fashion of Ruth's own, oflight grey soft stuff, and on the glorious wealth of her hair was abroad-brimmed straw hat such as Ruth wore. Indeed, to look at them both,standing there side by side, they could but have been taken for twotwin sisters--daughters of the Day and Night--as my loving fancy calledthem afterwards--rather than the daughters of different peoples, andchildren of far-parted generations, whose hands, as they clasped,bridged the gulf between one age of the world and another.

  As I approached, Golden Star's eyes looked at me with the simple wonderthat shines out of the eyes of a little child, and like a little childshe smiled at me, and then she looked at Ruth, and made a soft low soundthat was almost like the cooing of a child.

  'She is pleased to see you, Vilcaroya,' said Ruth, taking hold of myhand and hers, 'but of course she can't say so yet. Now, let me teachher to shake hands with you.'

  Then she put into mine the soft, warm little hand that I had lastclasped when we went hand in hand to the couch of our long sleep. Ipressed it gently, looking at her through the tears that rose into myeyes, then I raised it to my lips and kissed it, and she smiled, andmade the little soft sound again, and then Ruth put her arm around herwaist and said,--

  'Come, now, you are acquainted, and she likes you. This will be a mostvaluable lesson for her. Now, let us have a walk, and you tell me thenews, if there is any.'

  'Most willingly,' I said, 'for I have much news to tell.'

  So we turned back along the path into the quietest part of the garden, Iwalking by Ruth's side. And I told her of all that had passed betweenher brother and me in the morning, and of what was to be done on thefollowing night. She was looking very serious when I had finished, and Icould see that many unspoken thoughts were working in her mind, and whenI had done she looked up at me and said,--

  'Laurens's plan seems a very good one at first sight, but of course wecannot decide upon anything until we have thought a good deal more aboutit, and talked it well over amongst ourselves. But, at anyrate, it wouldbe several weeks yet before I would even think of going away with GoldenStar, so there is plenty of time for that. But to-morrow night--Listen,Vilcaroya, may I ask a very great favour of you?'

  'Joyful Star can ask no favour of me,' I said. 'She can speak, and I canhear and obey.'

  'Nonsense, Vilcaroya! I wish you wouldn't talk like that,' she answeredwith pretty petulance. 'Now, suppose I was to ask you to let me see thiswonderful treasure-house of yours and promise faithfully not to tellanyone about it--would you let me?'

  'It is not the best that I can show you,' I answered gladly, 'but ifyou desire to see it, it is yours and all that it contains. I can giveyour brother and the professor other gold, and I will show you a greatertreasure-house than this under the Fortress itself.'

  'Well,' she laughed, 'I won't say now that I won't have it, because thesight of all that gold might be too much for me, but I should dearlylove to come and see it, and I think I might venture to bring GoldenStar too. She's quite well and strong now, and if we are careful of her,it can't do her any harm, and it may do her good. Shall I bring her?'

  'Yes,' I said, 'why not?'

  At this moment we saw Djama come walking down the path towards us, andat the sight of him there came to me, like the stab of a dagger of ice,the sudden memory that, at the moment I was speaking of mytreasure-house under the Sacsahuaman, I had heard a gentle rustle behindsome bushes close by the path, and a sound like that of a stealthytread.

  As Djama came near to us I saw the love-light flash into his eyes, and aswift flush rise into his sallow cheeks. He held out his hand andquickened his pace, smiling as sweetly as a woman the while. I wasfacing him a little in advance, and I heard behind me a sharp, low,shuddering cry of terror that shook my heart as I turned to learn itscause. Golden Star had thrown her arms round Ruth's neck, and wasclinging to her, trembling with fear, and looking sideways at Djama witheyes fixed and wide open with terror.

  You have seen how little children will go smiling and fearless into thearms of one stranger and shrink in hate and terror from another. Theirsight is keener than it is in after years, when the dust of the world'sconflict has dulled it, and they can see plainly the good and the evilthat is hidden behind the mask of the face. So it was with thatchild-soul of Golden Star's. Though I was now to her as strange asDjama, yet she had seen in me only the friend and brother who loved herand wished her well, and whose heart was clean in her sight; but inDjama she had seen at a single glance the evil that had only beenrevealed to me after many weeks of watching.

  Though I hated him for the fear that he had caused her, yet I was gladalso, for now I saw that the answer to his proposal would be easier thanI had thought for. As for him, his face darkened and his black browscame together, and the love-light in his eyes changed to a glare ofanger; but this was only for an instant. It passed more quickly than thethunder-clouds melt round the crest of Illampu. He stopped, and stoodwith his head slightly bent and his hands spread, palms outward, in theposture of one who asks pardon, and said, in a voice that had no traceof anger,--

  'Forgive me, Ruth! I am afraid I have startled our patient--or perhaps Ishould rather say yours now. It was something more than stupid of me tocome upon you suddenly like this, without any warning. Of all people inthe world, I ought to have known better than that. But I suppose seeingVilcaroya already here made me forget myself. Did she start like thatwhen he came?'

  'No,' replied Ruth, still standing with her arm where she had thrown itaround Golden Star's shoulders, and stroking her hair with the other.'She--she saw him farther off than you, and I took her towards him, so Isuppose the shock was not so great. But please go away, both of you,now. You see she is terribly frightened, and she is trembling as thoughsomeone had struck her. I must take her into the house and get her quietagain, or the consequences may be serious.'

  Djama turned away without a word, his face darkening again as he did so,and with one backward glance at Golden Star, who had now raised her headfrom Ruth's breast, and was staring after us with fixed, wide-open eyes,I turned and walked away beside him, neither of us speaking a word, forwe were both too busy with our own thoughts.

  That night Francis Hartness and Tupac returned from their journey to theSouth, and as the professor was also in the house I told them of what Iwished done on the following night, and bade Tupac make all preparation.The next day we all started in the cool of the morning to go to theRodadero as though for a picnic, as the people of Cuzco often do, sothat there might be no suspicion of our true object. We all rode uponhorses, saving Golden Star, who was carried in a hammock litter, that Ihad had made for her, and Tupac, and six of our people who came with usas bearers and servants.

  We spent the day wandering about among the huge ruins of theSacsahuaman, and exploring the wonders of the carved rocks andunderground passages and altar-places, which have been the marvel ofevery traveller to the hills about Cuzco, and all that I knew of theupper works I told my companions, and showed them as well as I couldwhat the mighty fastness had been in the days of its pride and unbrokenstrength.


  Then, when the brief twilight came, I bade one of our men take thebeasts into a chamber among the rocks that I had shown him, and whereplenty of fodder had been stored a few days before. After this we waiteda little longer till night fell, and then I bade Tupac do what I hadbidden him the day before. His voice rose shrill and plaintive in thesilence, chanting a song that you may have heard the Indians singing inPeru when returning from their labours, and presently, from among therocks on the plain, and from the shadowy lines of the Fortress, manysilent figures stole out and went towards the valley in which theSayacusca stands.

  Then I told my companions that all, save those of the Blood, must havetheir eyes bandaged, as Djama's had been before, and when they hadsubmitted willingly to this, knowing that no harm would come to them, weled them to the Sayacusca, I leading Ruth by the hand, and following thebearers of Golden Star's litter, and there the way to the Hall of Goldwas opened as before, and we entered it, followed by a long line of theChildren of the Blood.

  But I made no halt here, nor did I let my companions even see thetreasure that was to be divided between Djama and the professoraccording to my promise, for I had greater marvels in store for them.So, lantern in hand, I led the way through a winding gallery behind thepyramid of gold of which I told you before. At the end of this was adoor, formed by a revolving stone similar to that at the entrance to thehall. This Tupac and another opened under my directions, and we entereda long, straight passage behind it. At the end was a broad flight ofstone steps, and at the top were two low bronze doors bolted intopillars on either side. The doors had no hinges, but they turned withthe pillars, and no one who did not know this, or how the pillarsturned, could open them. But this secret was one of many others that Ihad brought with me from the past, and in a few moments the doors werestanding open before us.

  We passed in, and I closed them behind us. Two of my men had come ladenwith great candles and torches, and these I had lighted and placed ingolden sconces which stood out from the walls in the great hall intowhich we had passed through the bronze doors. When this had been done, Ibeckoned to Tupac, and went silently with him to the other end of thehall, where, on a throne of gold under a canopy of silver, sat a silentfigure clad in the imperial robes, and with a mask of beaten gold overits face, according to the ancient custom. It was the effigy of thegreat Yupanqui, father of Huayna-Capac, which had been seated here sincehis death, as an emblem of the unbroken sovereignty of his race, givingplace in turn to his son and grandson on the days that they werecrowned, and being replaced when the ceremony was over.

  Now, with Tupac's help I carried the effigy into a little chamber behindthe throne, and there quickly removed my upper clothing and dressedmyself as I had done before in the Hall of Gold, and took my place onthe throne. Then I bade Tupac lead Joyful Star, with her eyes stillbandaged, to me. When he had placed her before me, I made a sign to him,and the bandage fell from her eyes. She turned white as death, andstaggered back a pace, with her hands clasped to her temples, and thereshe stood, staring wide-eyed at me and all the splendours about her.

  Wherever her gaze wandered it saw nothing but gold and silver and gemsand rich-dyed hangings of silk and wool, whose brilliant hues no timecould dim. The roof and the upper halves of the walls were covered withplates of burnished silver. Around the walls, half-way between the floorand the ceiling, ran a great cornice or ledge of gold, on which stoodthe golden chairs in which were seated the mummies of the twenty Incaswhich I had last seen in the Sanctuary of the Sun, looking down throughthe eye-holes in their golden masks.

  From the cornice to the floor hung the bright-hued hangings, and againstthese were ranged along the floor on either side threescore seats ofsilver, and the floor was paved with diamond-shaped blocks of gold andsilver set alternately. Behind the throne on which I sat rose from thefloor to roof a sloping wall of golden ingots, and on either hand stooda great golden vase, heaped high with unset gems, emeralds and diamonds,pearls and sapphires and rubies, precious almost beyond price; and onthe roof above my throne a great, golden image of the Sun, encircled byspreading rays of gems, glowed and sparkled in the light of the candlesand torches.

  At last Ruth's wandering gaze became steady and rested upon my face, andI looked back into her eyes, making no sign until she should speak, andsitting motionless as the effigy whose place I had taken.

  'Where am I?' she said at last in a low, faint voice, like one awakeningfrom a dream. 'And who are you? Surely you cannot be--and yet, yes, youare Vilcaroya! What has happened?'

  'Nothing more than the granting of Joyful Star's request, save thatthrough the treasure-house which she asked to see I have brought her toa better one. Does it please her?'

  'Is it real, Vilcaroya?' she whispered. 'Is all this really gold andsilver, and are these real diamonds and rubies and emeralds, or am Ionly dreaming? Does it please me? What a question! I have never evendreamed of anything like it. Where are we, Vilcaroya?'

  'In the throne-room of the Incas, beneath what was once their palace andfortress on the hill of Sacsahuaman,' I answered, 'and this is thethrone of the great Yupanqui, the greatest earthly king and conqueror ofmy race. I sat here and crowned myself Inca in the presence ofAnda-Huillac and the priests and nobles of the Land of the Four Regionson the day before the night when I drank the death-draught with GoldenStar.'

  'Ah, yes, where is she?' she cried, looking round only to see that allthe rest had vanished, and that she and I were alone in the great hall.'What have they done with her, and where are Laurens and the others?'she cried, looking fearfully and almost mistrustingly at me. 'What haveyou done with them, Vilcaroya?'

  'They are safe,' I said. 'Tupac and his men have care of them, and theywill come back when I bid him bring them. But I have need of yourpresence here alone before I do that,' I went on, rising from my seat asI spoke. 'Has Joyful Star ever sat on a throne?'

  'No,' she stammered, staring at me with wonder in her eyes. 'You know Ihaven't. Why should you ask?'

  'Then sit on mine,' I said, 'for I have something to say to you which Ican best say and you can best hear if we change places. Nay, I will takeno denial,' I said, drawing her by the hand up the steps in front of thethrone, 'for it is not only your--your friend who is asking, but acrowned king in his own palace, who is lord of life and death over allwho enter it.'

  Half frightened and half wondering, she submitted to my will and allowedme to seat her in the chair which no woman had ever sat in before. ThenI took her hand, and, dropping on one knee on the upper step, I said,--

  'Joyful Star has taken one queen from me, and she alone can give meanother to fill her place. She is sitting where the great Yupanqui satwhen he ruled all the land from north to south, and from the easternmountains to the sea, and ere long I too shall reign, sole andundisputed lord, over a realm wider even than that. Many things havebeen done that Joyful Star knows not of since I came back to my countryand my people. Through all the Land of the Four Regions the word hasgone forth, with the swiftness of thought, that the Son of the Sun hasreturned, and that the heir of the divine Manco has come to deliver hischildren from bondage.[B]

  'Everywhere the tidings have been received with joy, and the people arelonging to return to the allegiance of their fathers, and tread theiroppressors under foot. Before many days civil war will be ragingthroughout the lands of the south, and I have but to set flowing thatgolden stream, one of whose many sources is here, and say, "Here is goldand silver in plenty for all who will fight under the Rainbow Banner,"and I shall have armies and fleets to do what I will with, and the swayof my sceptre shall reach from north to south and sea to sea.

  'This I shall do because of my oath; but I have brought Joyful Star hereto tell her, in the most sacred place that is left in the Land of theFour Regions, that I shall also do it so that she, if she will, may bequeen where I am king, and sit beside me on my throne, and make myempire a paradise by the brightness and the sweetness of her presence. Icannot forget, as she bade me do--for the words that I said in the heato
f my passion are true--for I love you, Joyful Star, and all that Ihave or shall ever have on earth will be worthless to me unless you takeit as a gift from my hands. Nay, do not speak, for now I seek no answer,whether good or evil. I have brought you here that I, as a king, mightkneel at the feet of her whom I would win for my queen, and from nowuntil I sit in the sight of all the world on the throne of the FourRegions no other words of love shall pass my lips. So you shall havemany days to ponder what I have said, and to ask your own heart whetherit will say "yes" or "no" to me when I stretch out my hand from mythrone and ask you to come and sit beside me and rule my people withme.'

  Before she could answer, I stood up and clapped my hands, and Tupac withsix others, dressed now in the forbidden costume of their ancestors,entered the hall from the ante-chamber, into which they had taken theothers, and came towards me, bearing wands across their shoulders intoken of homage, and with heads downbent, not daring to look upon mymajesty till I bade them. I drew Joyful Star from the throne by thehand, and seating myself in it, said in the ancient tongue,--

  'Let the Children of the Blood enter into the presence of their fatherand their lord, and let the strangers be brought in, and the othermaiden, all with eyes bandaged, and let seats of silver be placed tothe right and left of the throne, one for each of the virgins of the Sunto sit upon. Are all things else ready, Tupac-Rayca?'

  'Yes, lord,' he answered, stepping out in front of the others andfalling on his knees, 'and the Children of the Blood are waiting to seethe glory of thy presence and hear the words of wisdom and hope from thylips.'

  FOOTNOTES:

  [B] The Inca Indians of the Sierra region possess the same extraordinaryfaculty of transmitting intelligence without apparent material meansthat the Hindoos and the Arabs have. Thus, during the last revolution inPeru, the fall of Lima was known to the Indians of Bolivia on thesouthern shore of Lake Titicaca three days after it happened, though thetelegraph wires were cut and all ordinary communications suspended.Without the telegraph this would be quite impossible by any means knownto Europeans.