He ran forward and took her hand in his.
“Zonella!” he exclaimed. “This is surprising, and gladdening too. It does one good to see your face after all that I have been imagining. Tell me—what does it all mean?”
She laid her finger on her lips and said in a hushed voice,
“It means that the cunning, treacherous Coryon has played a trick upon us all, and made you prisoners. Your friend and our beloved princess have been carried off, the king himself is kept a prisoner in his room, and so are many of his ministers.”
“And Monella and Ergalon?”
“Monella was away in Myrlanda, as you know, and so has escaped; and Ergalon—who is free too, but in hiding—has sent a trusty messenger to warn him.”
“And you?”
“I am virtually a prisoner too. That is, I am forbidden to leave the palace. But I am free to go about within it. The whole place is full of Coryon’s soldiers.”
“Can you tell me how it was managed?”
“The ‘loving cup’ was drugged. All who partook of it fell into an unnaturally heavy sleep. You remember almost every one throughout the palace drank some, in honour of your friend and our poor princess. Alas! alas! My dear, my loved Ulama!”