"No, you will not put it out. His fire is love! 'Many waters cannot quench love'—you have said so yourself. No, Merira, you will not rise against him!"
"Do you think I am afraid of him?"
"Not of him but of the One behind him."
"Liar, Murderer, Devil is behind him. If He came I would rise against Him, too!"
The green walls parted suddenly and the king's boat appeared. The king stood at the stern with Mahu and was saying something to him, pointing to the island.
"He is looking, he is looking at us!" Merira whispered in terror. "Let us hide!"
They both went into the papyrus thicket. The boat passed them.
"I believe you are right after all, Dio, and I will never rise against him," Merira said, with a quiet laugh, passing his hand over his eyes as though he had just awoken from a fearful dream. "I may rise against myself, but not against him...."
And after a silence he asked:
"You won't tell him what we have been talking about, will you?"