This night is full of
sorcery; I scent it in the air, and strive to match spell with spell.
But why do you not sleep?"
"I cannot, Asti, I cannot. Fear has got hold of me. Oh! I would that we
had never come to this hateful Memphis, or set eyes upon its ill-omened
lord, that foul brute who seeks to make a wife of me."
"Be not afraid, Lady," said Asti, throwing her arms about Tua's slight
and quivering form. "To-morrow morning we march; I have it from Pharaoh,
and already the guard make preparations, while as for the accursed Abi,
he is in prison."
"There is no prison that will hold him, Asti, save the grave. Oh! why
did not my Father command him to be slain, as I would have done? Then,
at least, we should be free of him, and he could never marry me."
"Because it was otherwise decreed, O Neter-Tua, and Pharaoh must fulfil
his fate and ours, for though he is so gentle, none can turn him."
As she spoke the words, somewhere, far beneath them, arose a cry, a
voice of one in dread or woe, and with it the sound of feet upon the
stairs.
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