She touched the sheath to her lips and, smiling, laid
it away.
And the days went by and Dwaymenau came no more before her, and
her days were fulfilled with peace. And now again the Queen ruled
in the palace wisely and like a Queen, and this Dwaymenau did not
dispute, but what her thoughts were no man could tell.
Then came the end.
One night the city awakened to a wild alarm. A terrible fleet of
war-boats came sweeping along the river thick as locusts - the
war fleet of the Lord of Prome. Battle shouts broke tile peace of
the night to horror; axes battered on the outer doors; the roofs
of the outer buildings were all aflame. It was no wonderful
incident, but a common one enough of those turbulent days -
reprisal by a powerful ruler with raids and hates to avenge on
the Lord of the Golden Palace. It was indeed a right to be
gainsaid only by the strong arm, and the strong arm was absent;
as for the men of Pagan, if the guard failed and the women's
courage sank, they would return to blackened walls, empty
chambers and desolation.
At Pagan the guard was small, indeed, for the King's greed of
plunder had taken almost every able man with him.
Pages:
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251