"He shall die," again Yolara. "But I would that first he see Lakla pass—and that she know what is to happen to him."
"No!" I started—for this was Marakinoff. "Now is no time, Yolara, for one's own desires. This is my counsel. At the end of the three tal Lakla will come for our answer. Your men will be in ambush and they will slay her and her escort quickly with the Keth. But not till that is done must the three be slain—and then quickly. With Lakla dead we shall go forth to the Silent Ones—and I promise you that I will find the way to destroy them!"
"It is well!" It was Lugur.
"It is well, Yolara." It was a woman's voice, and I knew it for that old one of ravaged beauty. "Cast from your mind whatever is in it for this stranger—either of love or hatred. In this the Council is with Lugur and the man of wisdom."
There was a silence. Then came the priestess's voice, sullen but—beaten.
"It is well!"
"Let the three be taken now by Rador to the temple and given to the High Priest Sator"—thus Lugur—"until what we have planned comes to pass."
Rador gripped the base of the globe; abruptly it ceased its spinning. He turned to us as though to speak and even as he did so its bell note sounded peremptorily and on it the colour films began to creep at their accustomed pace.
"I hear," the green dwarf whispered. "They shall be taken there at once." The globe grew silent. He stepped toward us.
"You have heard," he turned to us.