The lamps were lit within that chamber,
and the window-places closed, but without the desert wind howled loudly,
and the air was blind with sand. On the farther side of the marble
basin, as once before, Tua and Asti stood awaiting him.
"Lady," he said, "it is the appointed hour, and I seek your answer."
"King," replied Tua, "hear me, and for your own sake--not for mine. I
am more than I seem. I have friends in the earth and air, did not one of
them visit you to-day in yonder court? Put away this madness and let me
be, for I wish you good, not evil, but if you so much as lay a finger
on me, then I think that evil draws near, or at the best I die by my own
hand."
"Lady," replied Janees in a cold voice, "have done with threats; I await
your answer."
"King," said Tua, "for the last time I plead with you. You think that I
lie to save myself, but it is not so. I would save you. Look now," and
she threw back her veil and opened the wrappings about her throat. "Look
at that which is stamped upon my breast, and think--is it well to offer
violence to a woman who bears this holy seal?"
"I have heard of such a one," said Janees hoarsely, for the sight of
her beauty maddened him.
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