For the fraction of a second, Minos' gaze flickered.
Only then, a new storm of belligerence seemed to shake him. He strode forward, shaking his fist. "We'll see, dog! We'll see! The oracle shall decide!"
The whole throne-room quivered with sudden hushed fear.
"Make way!" roared Minos. "Make way to the shrine, that the oracle himself may judge this mocker!"
Then, to Burke: "—And if he declares you false, you dog, you'll wish I'd thrown you to the Minotaur before you die!"
He pivoted; stalked down an aisle formed by the onlookers.
Roughly, Burke's guards shoved him along behind. A stone-walled well loomed, with broad steps leading down.
—The lustral area! The sacred place of purification that Sir Arthur Evans first had assumed to be a bath!
Only now, it was turning out in reality to be for revelation, not purification; a holy of holies where Man could receive the pronouncements of the gods.
The guards let go of Burke when he reached the steps. Apparently they had no intention of following him down into the pit itself.