Oleric, who had made no move when his sword was taken from him, sat quietly, studying the faces about him and smiling his enigmatical smile.
"What does the lady say?" he asked of Polaris.
Janess told him.
When Rose Emer heard, she threw her arms about the Sardanian princess and hid her face in Memene's bosom. Presently she looked up, a mist of tears in her gray eyes, but her voice was clear and steady as she said:
"If we are to die, let us die together. Polaris, let me go with Memene."
Oleric's smile vanished. He held up his hand.
"Let there be no more talk of dying—at least not for many long years," he said, and there were both feeling and strength in his tones.
The others looked at him, wondering what his words portended.
"Now the time has come for me to avow myself," continued the red captain. "I will speak all that has been in my mind, and you shall judge if I be worthy of your trust—for trust to me you must, if we are to see a straight way out of this tangle."
He turned to Polaris.