"I heard it--yes!" replied Theos--"And I saw no harm in the manner of his utterance."
"No harm!" exclaimed Sah-luma excitedly--"No harm! Nay, but I forget! ... thou art a stranger in Al-Kyris, and therefore thou art ignorant of the last words spoken by the Sacred Oracle some hundred years or more ago. They are these: "'When the High Priestess Is the King's mistress Then fall Al-Kyris!'
'Tis absolute doggerel, and senseless withal,--nevertheless, it has caused the enactment of a Law, which is to the effect that the reigning monarch of Al-Kyris shall never, under any sort of pretext, confer with the High Priestess of the Temple on any business whatsoever,--and that, furthermore, he shall never be permitted to look upon her face except at times of public service and state ceremonials. Now dost thou not at once perceive how vile were the suggestions of Nir-jalis, . . and also how foolish was thy fancy last night with regard to the armed masquerader thou didst see in Lysia's garden?"
Theos made no reply, but sat absorbed in his own reflections. He began now to understand much that had before seemed doubtful and mysterious,--no wonder, he thought, that Zephoranim's fury against the audacious Khosrul had been so excessive! For had not the crazed Prophet called Lysia an "unvirgined virgin and Queen- Courtesan"? ... and, according to Sah-luma's present explanation, nothing more dire and offensive in the way of open blasphemy could be uttered! Yet the question still remained--, was Khosrul right or wrong? This was a problem which Theos longed to investigate and yet recoiled from,--instinctively he felt that upon its answer hung the fate of Al-Kyris,--and also, what just then seemed more precious than anything else,--the life of Sah-luma. He could not decide with himself WHY this was so,--he simply accepted his own inward assurance that so it was. Presently he inquired: "How comes it, Sah-luma, that the corpse of Nir-jalis was found on the shores of the river? Did we not see it weighted with iron and laid elsewhere ... ?"
"O simpleton!" laughed Sah-luma--"Thinkest thou Lysia's lake of lilies is a common grave for criminals? The body of Nir-jalis sank therein, 'tis true, . . but was there no after-means of lifting it from thence, and placing it where best such carrion should be found? Hath not the High Priestess of Nagaya slaves enough to work her will? ... Verily thou dost trouble thyself overmuch concerning these trivial every-day occurences,--I marvel at thee!--Hundreds have drained the Silver Nectar gladly for so fair a woman's sake, --hundreds will drain it gladly still for the mere privilege of living some brief days in the presence of such peerless beauty! ... But,--speaking of the river--didst thou remark it on thy way hither?"