Soon his majesty’s temper was up, and lazily at first, then more and more viciously, he made great dabs at the branch and then at Neit-akrit’s hand with his ponderous paw.
“A dangerous game surely, Princess,” said Hugh, after a while. “Sen-tur might lose control over his temper and might do thee an injury.”
“An injury? Sen-tur?” she said, with a laugh. “Thou speakest in jest, or thou dost not know Sen-tur. At a word from me he becomes as furious as the maddest bull in Kamt, and his roar is like the thunder, and at a whisper from me he will again be as quiet as a lamb. But never would Sen-tur’s wrath turn against his mistress.”
“Thou holdest him in bondage,” I said, with a somewhat clumsy attempt at gallantry, “as thou dost all men, high and low. Sen-tur is favoured indeed.”
“Sen-tur loves me, and I love Sen-tur,” she said drily; “he is the most precious treasure I possess, for he is wholly mine, and he has no cares, no affections, no thought save for me. He is dearer to me than the kingdom of Kamt.”
“It is a merciful decree of Ra, then,” said Hugh, with a smile, “that he sent me to take the kingdom of Kamt from thee and not Sen-tur.”
“Believe me,” she rejoined, looking steadfastly at him, “that all-powerful Ra showed his love for Neit-akrit the day that he decreed that the double crown of Kamt should never sit upon her brow.”
Somehow, in spite of this earnest assurance, I did not think that she was sincere, and I did not altogether understand the look which she gave to Hugh as she spoke. She certainly began to tease Sen-tur more viciously than ever, till the great creature fairly roared and foamed at the mouth.
Suddenly we heard the sound of trumpets and of drums, and from beneath the terrace we heard the usual cry which always preceded the arrival of an important messenger.
“Make way for the messenger of the city of Net-amen, and of Hesh-ka, its governor!”