Suddenly she trembled all over and struggled like a fish on a hook. Her head was thrown back and he felt her body growing heavy. He laid her on the floor and, bending down, kissed her on the lips, receiving her last breath in that kiss.
That same evening the queen's body lay on the bed in her chamber and all except the king and Dio were weeping over her.
"I am thy sister who loved thee on earth,
No one has loved thee more than I."
Dio recalled the wail of Isis.
The king took her by the hand and said, leading her aside, "It's a good thing you don't cry."
Dio made no answer and only gazed at him.
"We mustn't cry," he went on, with a quiet, fearful smile. "It is better so."
"Better?"
"Yes, better. Now we are free. Let us go to Him together. Will you?"
"No!" she wanted to cry out, but looking at him she suddenly grasped that it was not he who was speaking. And it was not to him she replied with a smile as quiet and fearful as his own: