The Romance of Golden Star ...Griffith, George Chetwynd
Science
The Romance of Golden Star ...
Griffith, George Chetwynd
Fantasy fiction
'Why does the Son of the Great People do that, and what have you said to
him about me, my brother?'
'He has kissed your hand in loving greeting,' I answered, 'and what I
have said he will no doubt tell you better some day when you can speak
together.'
The bright blood in her cheeks told me that she had understood me, and
she turned her head away, but she did not take her hand from Hartness's,
and so I gave my hand to Ruth and led her into the Cuartel, and Hartness
and Golden Star followed us hand in hand amidst the cheers of the
soldiers and the joyful shouts of the people.
That night there were such rejoicings in Cuzco as the City of the Sun
had not seen since the Spaniards came into the land. I distributed the
gold among the soldiers as I had promised, giving to each man a piece of
about two ounces in weight, and they, who had never possessed, even if
they had ever seen, gold before, kissed it and fondled it in their
delight, and swore that they would fight for me as long as one of them
was left alive; and then I spoke to them and told them that they had but
to be faithful and brave, and their English leader would lead them to
victory after victory, until the whole land should be ours.
Later on I sent Tupac with many men up to the fortress, and they
brought down the Golden Throne and the symbols of the Sun and great
quantities of gold and jewels, and they set the throne in the midst of
the terrace in front of the cathedral, with silver seats on either side
of it, on the spot where in the olden time stood the Palace of
Viracocha; and on the front of the cathedral, over the great doors, they
fixed the symbols of the Sun, and high above all, between the two
bell-towers, they placed a great flagstaff.
Before daybreak the next morning the square was thronged with people,
save for an open space which the soldiers kept before my throne. I took
my place amidst an utter silence. Ruth and Golden Star sat on my right
and on my left, and Francis Hartness, with a drawn sword in his hand,
stood by my throne to the right, and on the terrace behind me, and on
either side, stood the Men of the Blood, dressed in their ancient and
long-forbidden costumes, with which I had furnished them out of the
stores in the secret chambers of the fortress.
No word was spoken and no sound was heard over the whole city, and all
eyes were turned to the swiftly brightening eastern sky.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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