Page:Orczy--the gates of Kamt.djvu/92

 one of thy subjects in the bed of Hortep-ra, the most holy. There are no royal princes old enough to wed with thee."

"They will not rise," she urged, "if thou wilt but tell them that it is the will of Ra that I should wed again." "Woman, wouldst thou urge me to blaspheme?" he retorted in holy wrath, but she repeated:

"Ten more white oxen await at my palace, and in the caves beneath my chambers there are bars of gold which I would give to thee."

"And Osiris would smite me for the blasphemy," said the priest. "What good are thy treasures to me if my bones lay whitening in the grave?"

"Ur-tasen!" she pleaded.

But the high priest turned suddenly towards the mammoth figure behind which we crouched, and holding aside the gossamer veil of silver tissue which divided the inner sanctuary from the suppliant Queen, he pointed upwards at the gigantic majesty of the god and said:

"I tell thee, woman, that, Queen as thou art, thou canst not change the thread of thy destiny. The crown of Kamt, after hovering on the head of thy ailing son, will descend on that of Princess Neit-akrit. Ra, who sits up there enthroned, guarding the gates of the valley of death, could alone, through some awful and terrible upheaval, change the course of the future of this land by descending himself to sit upon its throne."

The priest had spoken very solemnly, and his voice, sonorous and clear, went echoing through the majestic vault of the temple. The Queen, who evidently, in spite of her petty hatred and arrogance, was a devout worshipper of the god, had looked upwards with awe