I have high blood in me and having brought much gold from the
East, am rich again and one accustomed to war."

"So you have brought gold from the East! How? Well, you can tell me
afterwards. But you fly high. You, a Count of Egypt, wish to marry the
Royal Lady of Egypt, for such she is by birth and rank, which, if ever
Egypt were free again, would give you a title to the throne."

"I ask no throne, Prince. If there were one to fill I should be content
to leave that to you and your heirs."

"So you say, no doubt honestly. But would the children of Amada say the
same? Would you even say it if you were her husband, and would she say
it? Moreover she is a priestess, sworn not to wed, though perhaps that
trouble might be overcome, if she wishes to wed, which I doubt. Mayhap
you might discover. Well, you are hungry and worn with long travelling.
Come, let us eat, and afterwards you can tell your story. Amada and the
others will be glad to hear it, as I shall. Follow me, Count Shabaka."

So we went to the lesser banqueting-hall, I filled with joy because I
should see Amada, and yet, much afraid because of that story which I
must tell. Gathered there, waiting for the Prince, we found the Princess
his wife, a large and kindly woman, also his two eldest daughters and
his young son, a lad of about sixteen. Moreover, there were certain
officers, while at the tables of the lower hall sat others of the
household, men of smaller rank, and their wives, since Peroa still
maintained some kind of a shadow of the Court of old Egypt.

The Princess and the others greeted me, and Bes also who had always been
a favourite with them, before he went to take his seat at the lowest
table, and I greeted them, looking all the while for Amada whom I did
not see. Presently, however, as we took our places on the couches, she
entered dressed, not as a priestess, but in the beautiful robes of a
great lady of Egypt and wearing on her head the _uraeus_ circlet that
signified her royal blood. As it chanced the only seat left vacant was
that next to myself, which she took before she recognized me, for
she was engaged in asking pardon for her lateness of the Prince and
Princess, saying that she had been detained by the ceremonies at the
temple. Seeing suddenly that I was her neighbour, she made as though she
would change her place, then altered her mind and stayed where she was.

"Greeting, Cousin Shabaka," she said, "though not for the first time
to-day.