She got up, and went towards the door, but the Regent called to her to stop, and asked:
“Is Assa the father of your son, the little Nemu, the dwarf of the lady Katuti?”
The witch laughed loudly. “Is the little wretch like Assa or like Beki? I picked him up like many other children.”
“But he is clever!” said Ani.
“Ay-that he is. He has planned many a shrewd stroke, and is devoted to his mistress. He will help thee to thy purpose, for he himself has one too.”
“And that is—?”
“Katuti will rise to greatness with thee, and to riches through Paaker, who sets out to-morrow to make the woman he loves a widow.”
“You know a great deal,” said Ani meditatively, “and I would ask you one thing more; though indeed your story has supplied the answer—but perhaps you know more now than you did in your youth. Is there in truth any effectual love-philter?”
“I will not deceive thee, for I desire that thou should’st keep thy word to me,” replied Hekt. “A love potion rarely has any effect, and never but on women who have never before loved. If it is given to a woman whose heart is filled with the image of another man her passion for him only will grow the stronger.”
“Yet another,” said Ani. “Is there any way of destroying an enemy at a distance?”