“Nicholas,” she said, “this may sound to you a terrible thing. Indeed, I myself wish that there were another way. But there are many things to be considered. It will save bloodshed, and it will end the war. With Theos lost, Ughtred and the Solika army must surrender. After that——”
“Aye, after that,” Reist interrupted, fiercely. “Let me hear what Domiloff has to say. After that!”
“The rest is simplicity itself,” Domiloff said, coolly. “A meeting of the House of Laws shall be called, and the Turkish army shall be withdrawn across the frontier. Sentence of banishment shall be passed upon Ughtred of Tyrnaus, and you, Nicholas of Reist, shall be proclaimed King. Then there shall be peace in Theos—peace, and I hope, prosperity. We have gone over all this before, Reist. You must trust us. Our alliance is useless if every few minutes you lose faith.”
“A passive treason was all that I promised,” Reist said. “I undertook to break with the King, to give up my command in the army, and remain here. Nothing more! Surely that is enough for my share!”
“Under ordinary circumstances it would have been enough,” Hassen said, “but in one or two instances the unexpected has intervened. This Englishman, whom you all seemed to have welcomed amongst you, has been indeed a firebrand. His letters have been read everywhere. In England they have done terrible mischief. In Germany, too, they have made trouble. We have therefore to end this matter swiftly—with one coup. We cannot now wait for the inevitable end. From your point of view, Duke, surely this is better so. The prosecution of this war would simply mean a devastated and depopulated Theos. Unless Ughtred of Tyrnaus surrendered quickly the bloodshed would be terrible, the end of course certain. Surely what we propose is the better way. You, Duke of Reist, who are a Thetian and a patriot, must——”
“Stop!”
A sudden fire burst in Reist’s dark eyes, the deep colour rushed into his cheeks. There was a breathless silence in the little room.
“Not that word,” he said, slowly. “For God’s sake not that word. I do not know what I am, or what men will call me when these terrible days have passed away. But the patriots are those who wait with Ughtred of Tyrnaus to give their lives for their country, those whose swords are unsheathed, and whose heart is stout for battle. I, who spend my gloomy days here, striving to keep the sound of those guns from my ears, skulking in the shadows, afraid even to show my face at the window—I am no patriot.”
“The Duke of Reist does himself an injustice,” Domiloff said, softly. “It is physical courage which fills a man’s heart with the desire to fight—a greater thing than this is the moral courage which keeps a brave man inactive when he knows in his heart that inaction is best for his country.”
“Oh, you are a subtle reasoner, Domiloff,” Reist said, bitterly. “I cannot argue with you. Only I know that all Theos is standing sword in hand before our ancient enemies, and I am here. The weariness of it is intolerable.”