Look there!' and I pointed
to two Court messengers, who were speeding away from the door
of Sorais' private apartments. 'Now follow me,' and I ran up
a stairway into an outlook tower that rose from the roof of our
quarters, taking the spyglass with me, and looked out over the
palace wall. The first thing we saw was one of the messengers
speeding towards the Temple, bearing, without any doubt, the
Queen's word to the High Priest Agon, but for the other I searched
in vain. Presently, however, I spied a horseman riding furiously
through the northern gate of the city, and in him I recognized
the other messenger.
'Ah!' I said, 'Sorais is a woman of spirit. She is acting at
once, and will strike quick and hard. You have insulted her,
my boy, and the blood will flow in rivers before the stain is
washed away, and yours with it, if she can get hold of you.
Well, I'm off to Nyleptha. Just you stop where you are, old
fellow, and try to get your nerves straight again. You'll need
them all, I can tell you, unless I have observed human nature
in the rough for fifty years for nothing.' And off I went accordingly.
I gained audience of the Queen without trouble. She was expecting
Curtis, and was not best pleased to see my mahogany-coloured
face instead.
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