Princess Guinalda

"Perchance he is one of those doughty sir knights that guard the Pilgrims' way to the Holy Land," suggested a young woman near the prince.

Blake glanced quickly at the speaker and as their eyes met, hers fell, but not before he had seen that they were very beautiful eyes set in an equally beautiful, oval face......

"He looketh not like a Saracen, my father," she said..........

I brought thee away, Sir James, that I might speak with thee alone," she said.

"I do not care what the reason was so long as you did it," he replied, smiling.

"Thou art a stranger among us, so unaccustomed to our ways, unversed in knightly practice --- so much so tht there are many who doubt thy claims to knighthood. Yet thou are a brave man, or else a very simple one, or thou wouldst never have chosen to meet Sir Malud with swork and buckler, for he be skilled with these while thou art clumsy with them."

"Because I thinkest that thou goest to thy death tomorrow I have brought thee aside to speak with thee."

"What can be done about it now?" asked Blake

"Thou art passing fair with the lance," she said, "and it is still not too late to change thy selection of weapons. I beg thee to do so."

"You care?" he asked. There can be a world of meaning in two words.

The girl's eyes dropped for an instant and then flashed up to his and there was a touch of hauteur in them. "I am the daughter of the Prince of Nimmr," she said. " I care for the humblest of my father's subjects."

"I guess that will hold you for a while, Sir James, thought Blake, but to the girl he said nothing, only smiled.

Presently she stamped her foot. "Thou hast an impudent smile, sirrah!" she exclaimed angrily. "Meliketh it not. Then thou art too forward with the daughter of a Prince."

"I merely asked you if you cared whether I was killed. Even a cat could ask that."

"And I replied. Why then didst you smile?"

"Because your eyes had answered me before your lips had spoken and I knew that your eyes had told the truth."

Again she stamped her foot angrily. "Thou art indeed a forward boor," she exclaimed. I shall not remain to be insulted further."

Guinalda bade her begone, and then, alone with Blake and no longer able to ignore him, nor caring to, she turned angrily upon him.

"I was right!" she snapped. "Thou art a forward boor. Why standeth thou thus staring at me when I have made it plain that I wouldst not be annoyed by thee? Go!"

"Because-----" Blake hestitated, "because I love you."

"Sirrah!" cried Guinalda, springing to her feet. "How darest thou!"

"I would dare anything for you, my princess," replied Blake, "because I love you."

Guinalda looked straight at him for a moment in silence, then her short upper lip curved in a contemptuous sneer.

"Thou liest!" she said. "I have heard what thou hast said concerning me!" and without waiting for a reply she brushed past him and walked away..........

"To the glory and honor of Nimmir I pledge my sword and my life!", should have been Blake's reply according to the usages of the Great Tourney.

"To the glory and honor of Nimmir and to the protection of my princess I pledge my sword and my life!" is what he said, and it was evident from the expression on Gobred's face that he was not displeased, while the look of haughty disdain which had been upon Guinalda's face softened.

Slowly she arose and tearing a ribbon from the front of her gown she stepped to the front of the loge. "Receive this favor from thy lady, sir knight," she said, "bearing it with honor and to victory in thy encounter."

Blake reined closed to the rail of the loge and bent low while Guilalda pinned the ribbon upon his shoulder. His face was close to hers; he sensed the intoxicating perfume of her hair; he felt her warm breath upon his cheek.

"I love you," he whispered, so low that no other ears than hers could hear.

"Thou art a boor," she replied in a voice as low as his. "It be for the sake of the five maidens that I encourage ye with this favor."

Blake looked straight into her eyes. "I love you, Guinalda," he said, "and---and you love me!"

(A classic ERB heroine in true treat your man like an insect tradition, Guinalda does it with a honeyed tongue. Merry Christmas, Princess Guinalda.)

Tarak, Boorish Barbarian, but admirer of sweet words and sweeter princesses.

Kala

"Hidden beneath some friendly bush I lay for days and week with only Kala to nurse me---poor, faithful Kala, who kept the insects from my wounds and warned off the beasts for prey.

When I called for water she brought it to me in her own mouth---the only way she knew to carry it." (RETURN)

(Who was ever more heroic than savage Kala; who more responsible for the existence of Tarzan himself? Merry Christmas, Kala.)

Tarak, whose very name, and greatest hero, stem from your all-too-brief presence.

Tara

"Jed or panthan," she said. "What difference does it make what one's slave has been?" and she laughed roguishly into the smiling face of her lover.

(I'll neve forget being sixteen or seventeen and reading those words for the first time. Merry Christmas, Tara of Helium.)

Tarak of Helium

Tavia

"I thought you were a girl," I blurted out.

"A fine mouth spread out into a smile that revealed strong, white teeth. "I am," she said.

"But your hair---your harness---even your figure belies your claim."

She laughed gaily. That, as I was to find later, was one of her chief charms---that she could laugh so easily, yet never to wound.

"My voice betrayed me," she said. "It is too bad."

"What is too bad?" I asked.

"Because you would have felt better with a fighting man as a companion, whereas now you feel you that you have only a burden."........

"And what is your name?" I asked.

"Tavia," she replied. "And what is yours?"

"Tan Hadron of Hastor," I replied.

"It is a nice name, " she said.......

In that instant, as our hearts beat together and she drew me closer to her, a great truth dawned upon me. What a stupid fool I had been! How could I ever have thought that the sentiment I entertained for Sanoma Tora was love? How could I ever believe that my love for Tavia had been such a weak thing as friendship? I drew her closer, if such were possible.

"My Princess," I whispered...........

"I love you, Tavia," I said. Tell me that I may have the right to call you my Princess.".

"Even though I be a slave?" she asked.

"Even though you were a thousand times less than a slave," I told her.

She sighed and snuggled closer to me. "My Chieftain," she whispered in a low voice.

"They told me that the brave Tan Hadron of Hastor had chosen to mate with a slave girl, " he said; "but that is not true. Your princess is in truth a princess---the granddaughter of a jed. She might have been the daughter of a jed had I remained in Tjanath."

(One of the most beautiful girls, inside and out, in all of ERBdom, and one of the most beautiful names ever uttered. She rivals Tara in my memories.. Merry Christmas, Tavia, whether in Tjanath, Hastor, or wherever you may be)

Tarak of Hastor

Usha

Always with the ape-man, much more even than his Jane, Usha has embraced him, warned him of dangers, brought the scent of food. She has caressed him, soothed him, embraced him as has no other, throughout his life; though her fickle wanderings have betrayed Tarzan as well on more than one occasion. I see Goro and Ara as male, but I see wandering, whispering Usha as feminine, all-seeing and all-knowing. Merrry Christmas, Usha the Terran.

Tarak, wishing Usha herself, rather than the cold vacuum of cyberspace, could carry his greeting.