"'Tis a gallant show!" she murmured; "each comelier than his comrade, and every captain of ten thousand fit to mate a queen. Is it worth while to hazard all for one so little different from the rest? Yes; I hold that man was made for woman's pleasure, to destroy him how and when she will!"
The eunuch, hearing her last sentence, smiled sadly. "So be it!" he answered. "The altar must have its victim and the flame its fuel, but the votary is none the less destroyed that he is consumed in sacred fire."
She heeded him not. The war-chariots had passed on, and all her faculties were concentrated on a troop of mounted auxiliaries, small indeed in number, but of gigantic stature, riding on horses strong, swift, and terrible as the desert wind with which they were accustomed to compete. "What have we here?" exclaimed Semiramis, holding her bow above her head, and thus bringing the whole array to a halt. "Have the winged bulls of Ashur come down from their pedestals to march into Armenia? Are these riders men or giants? Were their horses bred on earthly plains or are they born from the fire and the simoon? Behold! Surely they are led by a woman! As I live by bread, another warrior-queen! but veiled and shrouded like a housewife in Babylon, stealing out at night to the feast of Dagon. Halt them, I say! And, Assarac, command her hither to my chariot-wheels forthwith!"
The eunuch made haste to obey, and the small column formed line at once, facing Semiramis, man and beast quivering with repressed strength and spirit, held in subjection by the habit of warlike discipline. Their veiled leader took her place in the centre, sitting her horse tranquil and immovable as a statue.
A tall well-armed warrior rode out, however, from her ranks, and dismounting, prostrated himself before the queen, while his horse, waiting for him, watched his motions like a dog. Rising erect, it did not escape the notice of Semiramis, that his lofty head was on a level with her shoulder, as she stood above him in the war-chariot.
"Whence come ye?" asked the queen, "and wherefore are ye ranged under the banner of Ashur, commanded by a woman like myself?"
"Thy servants are children of Anak," answered the leader. "They are free as the wild ass of the desert, paying tribute and owing subjection to none. They came out of the wilderness at the summons of the Great Queen, neither for gold nor spoil, but by her bidding whom their prophets foretold, a daughter of the stars, who has come down to lead her chosen tribe into the North."
"Doubtless, from her seat on high she could see far and wide," replied Semiramis with grave irony; "and she has made no idle choice. By the beard of Nimrod, I have never set eyes on such men! And she, that veiled woman on the black horse, is your captain, then? How are ye assured she is indeed a daughter of the stars?"
"By the light in her eyes," said he simply. "Once before she appeared among us, and we knew her not, but suffered her to depart in peace, according to the prophecy—nevertheless, when she came a second time, the fire-god cleared our sight, and we beheld in her face the glory of those whom earthly mothers bore on the mountains to the sons of heaven. Our fathers looked for her in vain; but she has descended for us, their sons; therefore at her behest have we gathered under the banner of Ashur, in the service of the Great Queen."
"Trust me, you shall not be idle!" exclaimed Semiramis: adding, with some curiosity, "And this queen of yours? Is she then always thus shrouded and invisible?"