"O King!" cried the priest, "what blood-guiltiness!"
"What has happened?"
"The messenger I sent to the prisoners--one of my freedmen--misunderstood your words: 'Have them taken away, where no one can free them.'"
"Well?"
"He has--he reported it to me, and fled when he saw my wrath."
"Well, what is it?"
"He has--killed Hilderic and Euages."
"Omniscient God!" cried the King, paling. "That was not my wish."
"But still more," Verus went on.
"Help, Gelimer!" Zazo's voice shouted from the densest ranks of the conflict.