Page:Ayesha, the return of She (IA cu31924013476175).pdf/104

92 Aught else? she asked.

Nay; is it not enough? Oh! what a journey to have taken to befriend a queen.

To befriend a queen, she repeated puzzled. What means the man? You swear you have had no other dreams?

Aye, I swear by the Symbol of Life and the Mount of the Wavering Flame, and by yourself, O Queen from the ancient days.

Then I sighed and pretended to swoon, for I could think of nothing else to do. As I closed my eyes I saw her face that had been red as dawn turn pale as eve, for my words and all which might lie behind them, had gone home. Moreover, she was in doubt, for I could hear her fingering the handle of the dagger. Then she spoke aloud, words for my ears if they still were open.

I am glad, she said, that he dreamed no other dreams, since had he done so and babbled of them it would have been ill-omened, and I do not wish that one who has travelled far to visit us should be hurled to the death-dogs for burial; one, moreover, who although old and hideous, still has the air of a wise and silent man.

Now while I shivered at these unpleasant hints—though what the death-dogs in which people were buried might be, I could not conceive—to my intense joy I heard the foot of the Guardian on the stairs, heard him too enter the room and saw him bow before the lady.

How go these sick men, niece? he said in his cold voice.

They swoon, both of them, she answered.

Indeed, is it so? I thought otherwise. I thought they woke.

What have you heard. Shaman (i.e. wizard)? she asked angrily.