Page:Gaston Leroux--The bride of the sun.djvu/236

222 he fell dead at the feet of the noblest among the Incas."

At these words, recalling the defeat and death of their last ruler, all bent their heads, groaning, and the breath of the quenia players trembled in the dead men's bones. Huascar had also bent to the ground; then he raised his forehead and his eyes met those of Maria-Teresa. She shivered, and when he moved toward her, she thought her last hour had come. She had been able to appeal to the mercy of the crowd, but she could not call to this man, whose look showed that he loved her. She closed her eyes.

Huascar's voice reached her, slow, cadenced, and monotonous.

"Coya, thou belongest to Huayna Capac, the great King who will take thee to the House of the Sons of the Sun. We leave thee alone with him. He will lead thee through the Corridors of Night, which no living man must know, and in the temple will seat thee among the Hundred Wives. Thou must obey him, thou must rise only if he rises! Thou must obey. And remember that the serpent watches in the House of the Serpent."

He withdrew, still facing her, with the three Guardians of the Temple, while the great crowd below flowed silently through the three doors. All the mammaconas followed, drawing their