Helicon swung on his heel and ascended the steps to the throne.
The nobles and the two tall princes took seats, and Kard the Smith, with the enthusiasm of the born orator, stood forth to tell his story.
"The man, sayest thou, cometh out of the snows, and speaketh our tongue?" interrupted Helicon in the midst of the tale.
"Even so, prince," said Kard.
"And the woman cometh from beyond, and speaketh not our language, but one of her own, which the man speaketh also? And the woman is a princess in her own land?"
"That, O prince, is true!"
"Then cease though thy tale, Kard, and let us hear from the man in our tongue, of himself and of the princess, and of how they came hither."
With little relish for such cutting short of his bombast, Kard the Smith stood back and yielded the floor to Polaris.
In a few words the man of the snows sketched the chances which had brought the girl and himself to Sardanes.
"Then thou wert reared in the great wilderness, and knowest naught of the world, or of Sardanes, or even of who thou thyself art?" questioned Helicon. His voice was even and courteously intoned; but, though the man he questioned was of little experience, Polaris understood the sneer that lay in the words.