The king knows
that I am not like his other women. He never would have dared to
put you with them. Herog XVI has occasional lucid intervals. You
must have been brought to him during one of these. Like the rest
of them he thinks that he alone of all the community is sane, but
more than once I have thought that the various men with whom I have
come in contact here, including the kings themselves, looked upon
me as, at least, less mad than the others. Yet how I have retained
my senses all these years is beyond me."
"What do you mean by prepare?" asked Bertha Kircher. "You said
that the king had commanded I be prepared and brought to him."
"You will be bathed and furnished with a robe similar to that which
I wear."
"Is there no escape?" asked the girl. "Is there no way even in
which I can kill myself?"
The woman handed her the fork. "This is the only way," she said,
"and you will notice that the tines are very short and blunt."
The girl shuddered and the old woman laid a hand gently upon her
shoulder. "He may only look at you and send you away," she said.
"Ago XXV sent for me once, tried to talk with me, discovered
that I could not understand him and that he could not understand
me, ordered that I be taught the language of his people, and then
apparently forgot me for a year. Sometimes I do not see the king
for a long period.
Pages:
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363