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*** "You spoke of children," I said. "Have you more than Carthoris?"
"A daughter," he replied. Only a little younger than Carthoris, and, barring one, the fairest thing that ever breathed the thin air of dying Mars. Only Dejah Thoris, her mother, could be more beautiful than Tara of Helium." ***
Well, this certainly caught my attention. Perhaps the name "Tara" wasn't as common then, but I immediately fell in love with this phrase, "Tara of Helium", and I hadn't even met the girl yet.
On the next page, however, the first words are:
*** Chapter 1:
TARA IN A TANTRUM
Tara of Helium rose from the pile of silks and soft furs upon which she had been reclining, stretched her lithe body languidly, and crossed toward the center of the room, where, above a large table a bronze disc depended from the low ceiling. Her carriage was that of health and physical perfection---the effortless harmony of faultless coordination. A scarf of silken gossamer crossing over one shoulder was wrapped about her body; her black hair was piled high upon her head. ***
This is one of the best descriptions I've read of an ERB heroine. Perhaps I'm biased, but I can remember being mesmerized by these words. I still am.
Immediately the independence and emotional fire of this girl are set forth in her conversation with Uthia, her slave, as she taunts her mistress.
I wasn't the only one immediately impressed with her. Gahan, a jed from far Gathol, is introduced to her:
*** "Tara of Helium, I bring you Gahan, Jed of Gathol," said John Carter, after the simple Barsoomian custom of presentation.
"Kaor, Gahan, Jed of Gathol," returned Tara of Helium.
"My sword is at your feet, Tara of Helium," said the young chieftain.***
Now, this sword at feet thing is pretty serious stuff on Barsoom. We have Gahan described as a young "chieftain", and in the next paragraphs we see a romance blossoming in grand ERB tradition as they participate in the "Dance of Barsoom".
*** .....it was the resplendent Jed of Gathol and his beautiful partner. In the ever-changing figures of the dance the man found himself now with the girl's hand in his and again with an arm about the lithe body that the jeweled harness but inadequately covered, and the girl, though she had danced a thousand dances in the past, realized for the first time the personal contact of a man's arm against her naked flesh. It troubled her that she should notice it, and she looked up questioningly and almost with displeasure at the man as though it was his fault. Their eyes met and she saw in his that which she had never seen in the eyes of Djor Kantos. It was at the very end of the dance and they both stopped suddenly with the music and stood there looking straight into each other's eyes. It was Gahan of Gathol who spoke first.
"Tara of Helium, I love you!" he said.
The girl drew herself to her full height. "The Jed of Tathol forgets himself," she exclaimed haughtily.
"The Jed of Gathol would forget everything but you, Tara of Helium" he replied. Fiercely he pressed the soft hand that he still reatined from the last position of the dance. "I love you, Tara of Helium," he repeated. "Why should your ears refuse to hear what your eyes but just now did not refuse to see---and answer?"
"What meanest thou?" she cried. "Are the men of Gathol such boors, then?"
"They are neither boors nor fools," he replied quietly. "They know when they love a woman---and when she loves them."
Tara of Helium stamped her little foot in anger. "Go!" she said, "before it is necessary to acquaint my father with the dishonor of his guest."
She turned and walked away. "Wait!" cried the man. "Just another word."
"Of apology?" she asked.
"Of prophecy," he said.
"I do not care to hear it," replied Tara of Helium, and left him standing there. She was strangely unstrung and shortly thereafter returned to her own quarter of the palace, where she stood for a long time by a window looking out beyond the scarlet tower of Greater Helium toward the Northwest.
Presently she turned angrily away. "I hate him!" she exclaimed aloud.
"Whom?", inquired the privileged Uthia.
Tara of Helium stamped her foot. "That ill-mannered boor, the Jed of Gathol," she replied.
Uthia raised her slim brows.. ***
These passages establish Tara as a truly unique girl; quite different from her mother. The clear indication in ERB's classic "your eyes show the truth" style promises us that we are in for a story which will feature these two lovers; one brave and unstoppable; one fiery, tempestuous, and impossibly beautiful.
The next chapter highlights her untamed nature:
*** ......The presumption of that man! He had insinuated that he read love for him in her eyes. Never had she been so insulted and humiliated. Never had she so thoroughly hated a man. Suddenly she turned toward Uthia.
"My flying leather!" She commanded.
"But the guests!" exclaimed the slave girl, "Your father, the Warlord, wille expect you to return."
"He will be disappointed," snapped Tara of Helium. (Uthia pleads with her, and finally):
***Again the girls kissed. "And you will not fly alone, then?" questioned the slave.
Tara of Helium laughed and pinched her companion. "You persistent little pest," she cried. Of course I shall fly---does not Tara of Helium always do that which pleases her?" ***
Immediately we are struck with the difference between this Princess and all the others. She is young. She doesn't possess the regal majesty of Dejah Thoris, who always appeared, at least to me, as a woman who was older; not in appearance, but in her manner. Tara is young and headstrong and foolish and emotional and everything I ever wanted in a girl.
We are also struck by the fact that this is in fact Tara's book. Except for Nadara, I can't remember a girl who had a book like this, and even Cave Girl is much more Thandar's story than hers. Although Dejah Thoris was truly a "Princess of Mars,", she is not in that book, or in fact any book, much. Those are John Carter's stories. "Thuvia, Maid of Mars" is Carthoris's, not Thuvia's story.
"Chessmen of Mars", however, is a book in which the princess is the main character; at least as much as Gahan, who is one of my favorite ERB heroes. She is present throughout the book; it is the tale of her adventures; not those of a hero to which her plight is but a plot device.
Although this book doesn't have the non-stop adventure of "Gods of Mars", the story told in "Chessmen" is perhaps the best of all the Barsooms. The love story between Tara and Gahan is told with care and passion from their first meeting, and with a twist which, however improbable, is just superb storytelling.
The Warlord is putty in her hands. When she returns from her initial tempestuous flight, and returns to the now-abandoned party:
*** "The trouble is there are too many who love you," he said. "And now there is another."
"Indeed!" she cried. "What do you mean?"
"Gahan of Gathol has asked permission to woo you."
The girl sat up very straight and tilted her chin in the air. "I would not wed with a walking diamond-mine," she said. "I will not have him."
"I told him as much," replied her father, "and that you were as good as betrothed to another. He was very courteous about it; but at the same time he gave me to understand that he was accustomed to getting what he wanted and that he wanted you very much. I suppose it will mean another war. Your mother's beauty kept Helium at war for many years, and--well, Tara of Helium, if I were a young man I should doubtless be willing to set all Barsoom afire to win you, as I still would to keep your divine mother," and he smiled across the sorapus table and its golden service at the undimmed beauty of Mars' most beautiful woman.***
Her mother has her own thoughts on the matter:
*** "When the time seems proper Tara of Helium shall wed with Djor Kantos, and until then let us give the matter no further thought."
"No," said the girl, "the subject irks me, and I shall not marry Djor Kantos, or another--I do not intend to wed." ***
I still laugh when I read this passage. Gahan's power has worked its own magic on Barsoom's fairest princess. Still fuming, she flies into her own adventure:
*** She had never driven through the clouds. It was an adventure that always she had longed to experience. The wind was strong and it was with difficulty that she maneuvered the craft from the hangar without accident, but once away it raced swiftly out above the twin cities. The buffeting winds caught and tossed it, and the girl laughed aloud in sheer joy of the resultant thrills. ***
And when the awesome power of the storm resists her every effort to pilot her frail craft:
*** Then it was that Tara of Helium lost her temper. Had her world not always bowed in acquiescence to her every wish? What were these elements that they dared to thwart her? She would demonstrate to them that the daughter of The Warlord was not to be denied! They would learn that Tara of Helium might not be ruled even by the forces of nature!***
No princess has ever rivaled this one in sheer blazing spiritual fire. She is truly unique, truly untamed. She may meet her love in this book, but she will never meet her match.
After her flier crashes, and she is alone, threatened by fierce banths and strange creatures, she still take the time to ponder the heavens:
*** "Ah, Thuria, mad queen of heaven!" murmured Tara of Helium. "The hills pass in stately procession, their bosoms rising and falling; the trees move in restless circles; the little grasses describe their little arcs; and all is movement, restless, mysterious movement without sound, while Thuria passes." The girl sighed ....... ***
Even in the warrens, she displays her fire, and when she bows to superior numbers, she does so reluctantly:
*** "Wait!" she cried. "It makes much difference who I am. If you are conducting me into the presence of your jed you may announce The Princess Tara of Helium, daughter of John Carter, The Warlord of Barsoom."
"Hold your peace!" commanded Sept. "Speak when you are spoken to. Come with me!"
The anger of Tara of Helium all but choked her. "Come," admonished Ghek, and took her by the arm, and Tara of Helium came.***
Her beauty and her charms, including song, enrapture even the emotionless Ghek. Meanwhile, the emotional turbulance of the now somewhat less resplendent Jed of Gathol are evident:
*** Gahan shook his head and walked quickly toward the mystery, determined now to solve it. The shining object still lured him on and when he had come closer to it his eyes went wide in surprise, for the thing they saw was naught else than the jewel-encrusted emblem upon the prow of a small flier. Gahan, his hand upon his short-sword, moved silently forward, but as he neared the craft he saw that he had naught to fear, for it was deserted. Then he turned his attention toward the emblem. As its significance was flashed to his understanding his face paled and his heart went cold --it was the insignia of the house of The Warlord of Barsoom. Instantly he saw the dejected figure of the captive being led back to her prison in the valley just beyond the hills. Tara of Helium! And he had been so near to deserting her to her fate. The cold sweat stood in beads upon his brow.***
Gahan and I were pretty much on the same wavelength at this point in the story. Love at first sight, or first read, can be a powerful plot device.
Another plot device unfolds when Gahan rescues her from Luud:
*** The girl looked him full in the eyes for the first time. "The Gods of my people have been kind," she said; "you came just in time. To the thanks of Tara of Helium shall be added those of The Warlord of Barsoom and his people. Thy reward shall surpass thy greatest desires."
Gahan of Gathol saw that she did not recognize him, and quickly he checked the warm greeting that had been upon his lips.***
This is a crucial moment in the book. She does not recognize her chieftain-to-be; yet her words promise him that which she cannot fathom he desires.
Later, after their escape:
*** The girl shuddered. "The Gods sent you," she whispered reverently.
"The Gods sent me, Tara of Helium," he replied.
"But I do not recognize you," she said. "I have tried to recall you, but I have failed. Your name, what may it be?"
"It is not strange that so great a princess should not recall the face of every roving panthan of Barsoom," he replied with a smile.***
Later, Turan the Panthan simply cannot restrain himself. Whether panthan or jed, he loves his Tara, and tells her so:
*** "Yes, I would dare," he said. "I would dare love Tara of Helium; but I would not dare defile her or any woman with kisses that were not prompted by love of her alone." He stepped closer to her and laid his hands upon her shoulders. "Look into my eyes, daughter of The Warlord," he said, "and tell me that you do not wish the love of Turan, the panthan."
"I do not wish your love," she cried, pulling away. "I hate you!" and then turning away she bent her head into the hollow of her arm, and wept.
***
On the field of Jetan, a member of those Turin picked talks to her, and she wonders about the black chief:
*** She cast a quick, meaning glance toward Gahan. "But what of him?" she whispered, and then she caught her breath quickly in surprise. "Shade of the first jeddak!" she exclaimed. "I did but just recognize him through his disguise."
"And you trust him?" asked Val Dor. "I know him not; but he spoke fairly, as an honorable warrior, and we have taken him at his word."
"You have made no mistake," replied Tara of Helium. "I would trust him with my life--with my soul; and you, too, may trust him."***
Her passion for her Panthan is eloquently set forth in her thoughts during the battle:
*** It was the first time that these Mana-Atorians had seen Gahan of Gathol fight, but Tara of Helium knew that he was master of his sword. Could he have seen the proud light in her eyes as he crossed blades with the wearer of the Orange, he might easily have wondered if they were the same eyes that had flashed fire and hatred at him that time he had covered her lips with mad kisses, in the pits of the palace of O-Tar. As she watched him she could not but compare his swordplay with that of the greatest swordsman of two worlds--her father, John Carter, of Virginia, a, Prince of Helium, Warlord of Barsoom--and she knew that the skill of the Black Chief suffered little by the comparison.
Finally, the Jed has his moment. Faced with himself as a romantic rival, he hears the words he has longed to hear:
*** "You thought little then of the Jed of Gathol?" he asked.
"Then or now," she replied, and with a little laugh; "how it would pique his vanity to know, if he might, that a poor panthan had won a higher place in the regard of Tara of Helium," and she laid her fingers gently upon his knee.
He seized the fingers in his and carried them to his lips. "O, Tara of Helium," he cried. "Think you that I am a man of stone?" One arm slipped about her shoulders and drew the yielding body toward him.
"May my first ancestor forgive me my weakness," she cried, as her arms stole about his neck and she raised her panting lips to his. For long they clung there in love's first kiss and then she pushed him away, gently. "I love you, Turan," she half sobbed; "I love you so! It is my only poor excuse for having done this wrong to Djor Kantos, whom now I know I never loved, who knew not the meaning of love. And if you love me as you say, Turan, your love must protect me from greater dishonor, for I am but as clay in your hands."
Again he crushed her to him and then as suddenly released her, and rising, strode rapidly to and fro across the chamber as though he endeavored by violent exercise to master and subdue some evil spirit that had laid hold upon him. Ringing through his brain and heart and soul like some joyous paean were those words that had so altered the world for Gahan of Gathol: "I love you, Turan; I love you so!" And it had come so suddenly.***
Whew!
O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, is similarly overcome by the limitless charms of the Warlord's daughter, yet her indomitable nature is once again evident:
*** O-Tar motioned his followers from the room. "I would speak alone with the Princess of Helium," he said. The company and the slaves withdrew and once more the Jeddak of Manator turned toward the girl. "O-Tar of Manator would be your friend," he said.
Tara of Helium sat with arms folded upon her small, firm breasts, her eyes flashing from behind narrowed lids, nor did she deign to answer his overture. O-Tar leaned closer to her. He noted the hostility of her bearing and he recalled his first encounter with her. She was a she-banth, but she was beautiful. She was by far the most desirable woman that O-Tar had ever looked upon and he was determined to possess her. He told her so.***
She-banth is certainly an appropriate term for this princess. She has been captured, threatened by creatures, fattened for eating, swept away by winds and by the love of a panthan, yet she still remains as indomitable as ever.
Finally, as Gahan climbs to her tower prison and sees her; and she saves him from the eunuch who was ready to cast him down, we hear the immortal phrases:
*** Both sprang to their feet. The eunuch drew his sword and leaped for the window where the helpless Gahan would have fallen an easy victim to a single thrust of the murderous weapon the fellow bore, had not Tara of Helium leaped upon her guard dragging him back. At the same time she drew the slim dagger from its hiding place in her harness and even as the eunuch sought to hurl her aside its keen point found his heart. Without a sound he died and lunged forward to the floor. Then Tara ran to the window.
"Turan, my chief!" she cried. "What awful risk is this you take to seek me here, where even your brave heart is powerless to aid me."
"Be not so sure of that, heart of my heart," he replied. "While I bring but words to my love, they be the forerunner of deeds, I hope, that will give her back to me forever. I feared that you might destroy yourself, Tara of Helium, to escape the dishonor that O-Tar would do you, and so I came to give you new hope and to beg that you live for me through whatever may transpire, in the knowledge that there is yet a way and that if all goes well we shall be freed at last. Look for me in the throne room of O-Tar the night that he would wed you.....***
*** Their hands were clasped between the bars and now Gahan drew her nearer to him.
"One kiss," he said, "before I go, my princess," and the proud daughter of Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, and The Warlord of Barsoom whispered: "My chieftain!" and pressed her lips to the lips of Turan, the common panthan.***
These classic words of love are symbolic of the magic of ERB's Barsoom. More than "I still live!", they represent all that is wonderful about this wondrous place. The honor of brave men; the passion of beautiful women.
The scene in which John Carter assaults the throne room if spectacular; as was the disguise of Gahan/Turan as he sought to wed his princess, and prevent her self-destruction.
Finally, she spies Djor Kantos, who is dismayed that he had chosen Olivia Marthis. I don't blame him:
*** "Tara of Helium," he continued, "we all thought you dead. For a long year have you been gone from Helium. I mourned you truly and then, less than a moon since, I wed with Olvia Marthis." He stopped and looked at her with eyes that might have said: "Now, strike me dead!"
"Oh, foolish man!" cried Tara. "Nothing you could have done could have pleased me more. Djor Kantos, I could kiss you!"***
She then introduces Turan to her former suitor, bringing to a conclusion a story of love and adventure which ranks with the best of ERB; the best anywhere, for that matter:
*** "Djor Kantos," she said, "I bring you Turan the panthan, whose loyalty and bravery have won my love."
John Carter and the leader of the new come warriors, who were standing near, looked quickly at the little group. The former smiled an inscrutable smile, the latter addressed the Princess of Helium. "'Turan the panthan!'" he cried. "Know you not, fair daughter of Helium, that this man you call panthan is Gahan, Jed of Gathol?"
For just a moment Tara of Helium looked her surprise; and then she shrugged her beautiful shoulders as she turned her head to cast her eyes over one of them at Gahan of Gathol.
"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 don't know if this is my favorite ending to an ERB book, but I will certainly never forget it. Gahan is going to have his hands full with this girl; but when your hands are full of Tara of Helium, you can accept just about anything. She will never be topped in my own mind; or heart. What a Princess!
Copyright 1998 by Robert A. Woodley. All rights reserved worldwide.
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