"This is the whole of the prophecy of Ruthar—the part of which I have kept concealed from you—though every lad in Ruthar knows it," said Oleric hastily. "I beg of you, my brother, that you will forgive me if I have done ill. But I have thought it wise to keep silence this far. Now is come the time when nothing must be kept back."
He stopped speaking, and both he and Glorian gazed earnestly at the doubtful face of Polaris.
"You mean that I shall be king of Ruthar," Polaris said at length. From one to the other of them he glanced.
The red captain nodded slowly.
"So it is writ in the prophecy," said Glorian. She left the throne, and came and took Polaris by the hand.
"And, O man from the sea, for whom Ruthar has waited so long and patiently, you cannot gainsay us now," she pleaded. A smile of appealing sweetness came to her aid.
"But, lady, to be a king I did not bargain when I came hither with the captain; though," and he smiled, "I was in an ill place to drive a bargain, and might have yielded almost anything. But to be a king—I like it not. I am neither of Ruthar nor of Ad. I am a simple American of common birth. I do not wish to be a king, but merely to go hence with my own people, if I may. And if I did wish it, what of the people? Would they relish the thought of an outlander on their throne?"
Again Glorian answered him:
"It is so writ in the prophecy."
And Oleric said: "And the prophecy is known to all the people, as it has been for centuries. From the wall to the southern cliffs, there is no man or woman in all Ruthar who does not already look upon you as the king. Think well, my brother."