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-god."
"But tell me the exact position of the rock of the great god 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
passing 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, hoarsely. "His entry shall be the curse that Anu,
god 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 god 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?"
"Assuredly thou art," she answered. "All is evil in thine accursed
world beyond."
"And thou, the goddess 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 assuredly 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-god, 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 goddess 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?"