“Not so, Nefra, since Tau knew and would have told you at his own time.”
“How did you know that which was hid from me, my Uncle?”
“My office has its secrets, Niece. Enough that I knew, as I knew also that it would never be necessary for me to set out the truth to you.”
“So you let me suffer all these things when there was no need, my Uncle!” exclaimed Nefra angrily.
“Perhaps, Niece, and to your own good. Why should you alone escape from suffering which is the medicine of the soul, you, who if you be the Queen of Egypt, are, as I would pray you to remember, first and foremost a sister of the Dawn and the servant of its laws? Be humble, Sister. Sacrifice your self-will. Learn to obey if you would command, and seek, not self-will or glory but the light. For so, when these little storms have rolled away, you shall find the eternal calm.”
“Faith! Have faith!” muttered Temu who stood behind.
“Aye,” went on Tau, “have faith and humility, for by faith we climb and in humility we serve—not ourselves but others, which is the only true service. I say these things to you now even in the hour of your joy, for soon we must part, I to my hermitage and you to your throne, and then who can reprove Pharaoh on the throne?”
“You could and will, I am sure, my Uncle,” Nefra answered, tossing her head.
Then suddenly her mood changed and, turning, she threw her arms about him and kissed him on the brow, saying:
“Oh! my most beloved Uncle, what is there that I do not owe to you? When I was a babe you saved me and my mother from the hands of those traitorous Theban nobles, with whom soon I hope to talk if they be still alive.”