"I keep my promise, oh Dantor. Ianito will not harm them." "But the Zara." "What Clyone does is none of my concern. Silence, Dantor; I command it! You will remain here." The voice of the Dictator cut like a knife. The old Rulan scientist bowed his head and turned away. Good old Dantor! He'd done all in his power to help them. This was the end; not a question of doubt. Blaine Carson drew the Rulan maiden fiercely to him. This Clyone might meet some opposition if she attempted to wreak her spite on Ulana; she _would_ meet it. There was no need for Ianito to ask that he pay every attention to the lovely, frightened girl who clung to him so trustingly. They were in the lift then, dropping swiftly into the palace beneath the great dome that topped Antrid. "This Clyone," Ulana whispered, "she has great power of enticement, my Carson. I fear for your loss--to me. She will take you from me, and I shall be alone--or dead. Death would be the better." "Never!" said Blaine huskily. "Never, my dear. She has no power over me; nor will I permit her to bring suffering to you." Ianito laughed then, an ugly cackle that came out of the unseen. CHAPTER X _Clyone and Ulana_ The Zara received them in the throne room, alone. Blaine hesitated as he crossed the threshold, Ulana's trembling fingers tightly clasped in his own. The quick prod of the invisible ray pistol warned him that Ianito was at his heels. Clyone uncurled her sinuous, black-sheathed body and rose to her feet as they neared the dais. "Welcome, oh Carson," she purred. "Clyone has mourned you as dead, but she mourns no longer. A kind fate has returned you." The gold-flecked eyes were all for him; it was as if she did not see his companion. Blaine fought the spell of her with all that was in him. He did not reply. "Come to me, Carson," she pleaded, her lashes lowered. "Leave this Rulan girl and come to me." "Where I go she goes," he replied firmly. "Very well then," said the Zara meekly, "bring her with you. I would converse with her as with you." Something new, this was: a gentleness Blaine had never thought the leopard woman could exhibit, even in sham. And her eyes, when she raised them, still were gentle. She extended a white arm and smiled provocatively. If this was a ruse, if she meant harm to the Rulan maid, her acting was superb. And, from what he had seen of the woman previously, he was almost convinced of her sincerity. A nature like hers was incapable of successful dissimulation. Still, he was suspicious and he shielded Ulana with his body as they came up to the throne. The Zara studied them in silence for a while. Then she spoke. "Let me look at you, my dear," she said to the Rulan maiden. * * * * *