There was a sharp cry from two Trigan guards who were tending the fallen.

Come quickly!

See who we’ve found!

Janno gazed into the familiar face of his uncle.

It’s the Emperor! My father was right! He did see him in the battle.

His Imperial Majesty is gravely hurt.

All eyes were turned to Z, who gazed expressionlessly down upon the man whose crown he had usurped.

What’s he going to do? Order Uncle Trigo to be slain?

Bear the former Emperor back to the city. See that he is given every attention, and ask Peric to keep me informed of his progress.

News of the survival of Trigo preceded their return to the capital. As the procession bearing the wounded ex-Emperor entered the gates of Trigan City, a multitude was Gathered to pay silent tribute.

They laid him in an upper chamber of the Imperial Palace that had once been his.

He is beyond the skill of my healing arts. We can only wait and hope that nature will spare him.

I will guard him, day and night.

That night, the population of the city was swollen by countless others who came in from the surrounding countryside and the far-flung provinces. The great square below the Imperial Palace was a sea of winking lights, each carried by a silent onlooker.























Towards the dawn, Peric was examining his patient, when Trigo’s eyes briefly flickered open.

Peric . . . old friend.

Imperial Majesty!

I must go straight and tell the Emperor. He will live, and his memory has returned.

In the darkness just before the dawn of Elekton’s twin suns, Janno saw a figure flit across the chamber and approach the unconscious form.

Hey!

Janno swung his blade, but the blow never landed. Next instant, the young Trigan was violently overturned.

Aaaaaaaaghh!

He looked up into the face of . . . Z!

Did you think I had come to slay your Emperor?

Not so. I had merely come to look upon his face, by way of farewell, before I depart.

Z gazed out across the watching multitude below. His voice was wistful.

I could have been a good Emperor. I had even begun to win their respect . . .

 . . . but not their affection. Only Trigo has that. He is their true Emperor. I wish him a long life!

In the dawn light, the stranger who had come out of the wilderness and briefly reigned as the Emperor of the Trigans, rode back the way he had come.

This instalment was originally published in Look and Learn issue no. 677 on 4 January 1975.