When noontide came again, the merchant once more wandered past the garden walls, and now a captain of the guard came out to him.
"Hey, old man!" the soldier called. "Come, follow me, for the Princess Sozana would look upon your wares."
"Nay," said the merchant, smiling as he shook his head, "my trinkets deck the charms of common maidens in the market-place. The daughter of a king would scorn them, for their price is small."
So spoke the merchant, and smiled once more as he turned upon his heel, but the captain caught him roughly by the robe and whispered into his ear:
"Fool! The Princess Sozana asks but once to look upon a merchant's tray. Come quickly, lest I urge your pace by a spear-point in your hams."
The old man trembled at the threat, and followed meekly, through a door of bronze which pierced the wall. At the head of a narrow flight of steps he reached the gardens which King Ninus made for the pleasure of his idle hours. There were palms and vines from Syria, flowers from an hundred lands, trees and shrubs which were strange to the merchant's eyes, and fragrant thickets interlaced by tiny paths. Here a fountain bubbled, and there an artificial spring gushed forth as though by nature moistening the earth, while countless birds of brilliant plumage fluttered down to drink.
Of a sudden the merchant and his guide came face to face with those who had sent the summons. Beneath an arbor on a bench of stone sat the Princess Sozana in a green simar which was wrought with precious gems and with threads of gold. At her side lazed Semiramis, robed in white; yet, unadorned, her beauty far outshone the daughter of the King. At Sozana's feet lay Prince Memetis, the Egyptian hostage, toying with her veil which was cast aside, and behind them stood an Afgan mute who waved a monster fan of plumes. None else was near, save Kishra, chief eunuch of the palace-guard whom Ninus had left in charge of his household and his prisoners, and who now in watchful silence sat apart, his sharp eyes resting on the merchant's face.
The old man knelt, bent forward till his forehead touched the earth, and sprinkled dust upon his head; then, kneeling still, he displayed his wares to the women's listless gaze. One by one he raised them from his tray, expounding their virtues or the potency of sacred amulets; yet none were pleasing to Sozana's mind.
"See," she pouted, plucking at the sleeve of Semiramis, "there is naught save jingling rubbish such as slaves may wear. Wherefore shouldst thou bring this merchant from the streets to weary me? Ho, Kishra! Bid the man begone."
The eunuch strode forward, but Semiramis stayed him with a lifted hand.