"We obey thee, O mighty Istar!" rose from the throats of the a.s.sembled mult.i.tude as, with one accord, they moved back towards the ante-chamber, still keeping their faces towards the beautiful woman they worshipped.

Confusion spread for a few minutes, but at last all retired, save those grouped around the throne, and the great yellow curtain fell, leaving the brilliant Queen in ease and semi-privacy.

Wearied, she threw herself upon her great crystal lounge, lying gracefully back, with the toes of one bare foot just touching me, while her women crowded about and attended her at her elaborate toilet.

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE.

FORETOKENS.

Istar's white-robed women brushed out her hair, which fell about her like a cascade of rippling gold, bathed her face in a golden bowl filled with perfume, and gently washed her white hands. Then, when her toilet was complete, they retired at a sign, leaving me alone with her.

When all was silent she lifted her tiny foot from my neck and commanded me to rise.

"Tell me, whence comest thou?" she inquired, in a hard rasping voice, when I stood before her.

Our eyes met. Hers were of that unusual tint--almost violet. They held me in fascination.

"I came from the desert land two moon's march beyond thine," I answered, noticing, at the same moment, that her shapely hands trembled. "I entered thy dominion by the gate known to us as the Rock of the Great Sin, the secret way that no man hath before penetrated."

"Thou hast discovered it!" she gasped excitedly, half rising from her crystal seat of royalty, gleaming with its thousand iridescent fires.

"Tell me, in which direction doth it lie?"

"Far north, beyond the Mountains of the Mist, beyond the ruins of the wondrous temple thine ancestor raised to Sin, the Moon-G.o.d."

"But tell me the exact position of the rock of the great G.o.d Sin," she demanded, eagerly. "It is a spot which existeth in the sayings of the priests, but it hath been lost to all men in the mazes of legendary lore."

"Its exact position I cannot accurately describe," I answered. "Since pa.s.sing through it and deciphering the rock-tablet of Semiramis, I have travelled many days in forest and over plain and mountain."

"Couldst thou not guide me thither?" she asked, eagerly.

"I fear I could not, O Queen," I answered.

"Thou art, indeed, the Destroyer; the man who is my bitterest enemy,"

she observed, in a deeply reflective tone.

"How?" I inquired. "Surely I have done thee no wrong!"

"Since the day of Semiramis, the founder of Babylon and of Ea, it hath been told to each generation by our sages that a dark-faced stranger from the north shall one day enter our impregnable kingdom and approach its ruler," she said, hoa.r.s.ely. "His entry shall be the curse that Anu, G.o.d of Destruction, hath placed upon our land, and this our city, with walls unbreakable, shall be overthrown and crumble into dust. When Semiramis founded this our land of Ea, she made not sufficient sacrifice unto Anu, therefore the dread G.o.d overthrew her colossal Temple of the Sun, and laid a curse upon the city, saying that he would one day direct hereto the steps of a man from the world beyond, and that this man should be the Destroyer. Thou art the one sent by Anu."

She had fixed her brilliant eyes upon me, holding me transfixed. There was in her face a strange look of combined terror and hatred.

"Well," I said, after a pause, "believest thou that I am the prophesied doer of evil?"

"a.s.suredly thou art," she answered. "All is evil in thine accursed world beyond."

"And thou, the G.o.ddess Istar, believest that I am capable of working evil against this thy giant city!" I observed, smiling. "Thou fearest that I am possessed of the evil-eye."

"Thy coming fulfilleth the prophecies of our priests through ages," she answered, in a low, harsh tone. "Thou art mine enemy. I, my people and my land are doomed."

"This, then, was the reason that I was cast into the lion-pit," I observed.

She nodded in acquiescence, adding, "It was proposed that thou shouldst be devoured by the wild beasts as recompense for thine intrepidity; but I rescued thee because--because, I wished to hear thy story from thine own lips."

"Already have I told thee all," I answered. "This thy land is known to the world beyond only by vague legends and the unwritten romances of story-tellers. When I return, I will tell my fellows of the wonders I have witnessed within thy brilliant kingdom."

"No," she answered, rising with true regal dignity, yet trembling with anger. "Thou shalt never go back, for to thee, as to all men, this is the Land of the No Return. To kill thee will only hasten disaster upon myself, therefore, thou shalt remain my slave, and lest thou shouldst attempt to escape, thou shalt never leave my side, either by day or by night. I hold thee in servitude irrevocably. When the Day of Destruction, foretold by the prophets, cometh, then shall thine heart be torn out whilst thou art still alive, and given to Ninep, my tame lioness, to devour at a mouthful."

I bowed, smiling bitterly; but no retort escaped my lips. Her strange, weird manner held me spellbound.

"At least it shall be known," she cried, angrily, "that I hold in bondage, as my personal slave, the man who hath entered our land to bring evil upon us. Attempt not to escape, or a.s.suredly will I slay thee with mine own hand," and she drew from her girdle of emeralds a short, keen knife, with hilt fashioned like a winged bull, which she kept therein concealed.

"Thou appearest to consider me as harbinger of ill," I answered, with knit brows. "I have no design upon thee or thine. Love of adventure and a secret quest have led me hither."

"A secret quest!" she cried. "What was it?"

"I had heard stories of wonders within thy land, and sought its whereabouts," I said, ambiguously.

"Then, thou didst discover the secret entrance; the mystery that hath remained hidden through an hundred ages?"

"I did, O Istar," I replied. "Long I toiled in the darkness beneath the foundations of the rock of thy Moon-G.o.d, and emerged into thy wondrous country, with its city more amazing than any mine eyes have ever beheld."

"Art thou dazzled?" she asked, smiling for the first time.

"Indeed I am, O Queen," I replied. "The magnificence of thy city, the splendour of this thy palace, and the beauty of thy face entranceth me.

Of a verity thine is a world apart, and thou art G.o.ddess and queen in one."

She fixed her clear, wonderful eyes upon me, and her breast, covered with jewels, slowly heaved and fell. In her gaze I noticed, for the first time, a curious expression, and her manner was undisguisedly coquettish.

"Then, why dost thou desire to leave our land of Ea? Why not remain here in happiness and contentment?" she asked, raising her pencilled brows, and toying with the long, gold pendant hanging from her ear.

"Because," I answered, frankly, "because I am pledged to a woman who loveth me."

"Who loveth thee!" she cried, fiercely. "Who is the woman?"

"Azala, daughter of the Sultan 'Othman, of Sokoto," I answered.

She was silent for a long time. Her white, well-formed hands twitched nervously.

"Azala," she repeated slowly, in a hollow voice. "And thou desirest to return because thou lovest her?"

I nodded.

"The penalty for thine intrepidity is death," she continued, gravely.

"For the present I spare thee, but thou shalt die when it pleaseth me.

I am Istar, the ruler who holdeth her enemies in the hollow of her hand."

"I am not thine enemy," I protested.

"Thou art!" she cried, with flashing eyes. "Thou, son of Anu, art the Destroyer whose coming hath been foretold."