“Of course he will. How could Cambyses possibly refuse my last request?”
“Then my skill is at your service.”
“Thank you; but I have still something else to ask.”
“You must be brief. My Persian colleagues are already making signs to me, to enjoin silence on you.”
“Can’t you send them away for a moment?”
“I will try to do so.”
Nebenchari then went up and spoke to the Magi for a few minutes, and they left the room. An important incantation, at which no one but the two concerned might be present, and the application of a new and secret antidotal poison were the pretexts which he had used in order to get rid of them.
When they were alone, Nitetis drew a breath of relief and said: “Give me your priestly blessing on my long journey into the nether world, and prepare me for my pilgrimage to Osiris.”
Nebenchari knelt down by her bed and in a low voice repeated hymns, Nitetis making devotional responses.
The physician represented Osiris, the lord of the nether world—Nitetis the soul, justifying itself before him.