READ THE NOVEL- Chapters 1-31 - ERBzine

Tarzan on Mars
to gaze into the eyes of La, who leaned over him in curious
deliberation.
"Do you remember me?" she asked.
"Somewhere," he answered. "I have seen you before."
"And of what do I remind you?"
"Of something which a warrior may not say," he replied,
gazing at her perfect face and all her ethereal beauty.
La knew enough concerning the moral codes of Barsoom
to realize what he was trying to convey to her. Not until a
warrior has won his mate in battle or presented other
incontrovertible proof that he is devoted to her may he call
her his princess, which is the Barsoomian way of saying, "I
love you." And Kar Komak could not remember the fact that,
in her case, he had already satisfied the requirements of this
code.
She was sorely troubled by this man. He was the only
real man who had ever loved her. She felt terribly lonely in
this strange world, and she longed for love. Yet her hear was
always stayed by the memory of a man whom no one else
could equal.
Tears welled up in her eyes, tears of frustration and
anger. What a twisted fate is this!—she thought. To grow to
hate a love so great that it imprisons the heart forever!
"You are beautiful!" exclaimed the man who lay on the
sleeping furs beside her.
La hated fate, which always turned her away from the
path of fulfillment. Fate was her mortal enemy. How else to
strike back, then, but to violate its own restrictions?
She leaned closer to Kar Komak, parting her full lips in
deliberate invitation. And suddenly, he raised up, taking her
into his arms.
"It matters not if I knew you before!" he exclaimed. "I
know you now!"
It was in that moment, while distant Cloros rested for
one fleeting moment on the horizon, that La straightened up,
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