"Oros, thy medicine, the draught
I bade thee bring! Be swift, I say."
The priest bowed, and from some pocket in his ample robe produced a
phial which he opened and gave to Leo, saying--"Drink, my lord; this
stuff will give thee back thy health, for it is strong."
"The stronger the better," answered Leo, rousing himself, and with
something like his old, cheerful laugh. "I am thirsty who have touched
nothing since last night, and have fought hard and been carried far,
yes--and lived through that hellish storm."
Then he took the draught and emptied it. There must have been virtue
in that potion; at least, the change which it produced in him was
wonderful. Within a minute his eyes grew bright again, and the colour
returned into his cheeks.
"Thy medicines are very good, as I have learned of old," he said to
Ayesha; "but the best of all of them is to see thee safe and victorious
before me, and to know that I, who looked for death, yet live to greet
thee, my beloved. There is food," and he pointed to a board upon which
were meats, "say, may I eat of them, for I starve?"
"Aye," she answered softly, "eat, and, my Holly, eat thou also."
So we fell to, yes, we fell to and ate even in the presence of that dead
woman who looked so royal in her death; of the old magician who stood
there powerless, like a man petrified, and of Ayesha, the wondrous being
that could destroy an army with the fearful weapons which were servant
to her will.
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