“Hear me, Holy Father. Danger threatens the Queen and all of you. Hide or fly, for I am in the toils and cannot help you.”
Again and again he said it in his heart, fixing the eyes of his mind upon Roy and Nefra till he grew faint with the soul struggle and even in that bitter place the sweat burst out upon him. Then of a sudden a strange calm fell on him to whom it seemed that these arrows of thought had found their mark, yes, that his warnings had been heard and understood.
An utter weariness fell upon him and he slept.
He must have slept for long, for when he woke all light had faded from the grating and he knew that it was night.
The door opened and through it came the jailer bearing more food, quantities of food, and bringing with him another man clothed like Khian himself in a dark, hooded cloak. The stranger bowed and without speaking took his stand in a corner of the cell.
“Behold your servant, Prince, who is appointed to wait upon you. You will find him a good man and true,” said the jailer. Then he removed the broken meats and went, having first lit lamps which he left burning in the prison.
Khian looked at the meats and wine; then he looked at the hooded figure in the corner and said:
“Will you not eat, my brother in misfortune?”
The man threw back his hood:
“Surely,” said Khian, “I have seen that face before.”