“So you would take me for your queen, Tenes? Indeed I guessed as much. But what would your other queen, for doubtless you have one, say to this, O King?”
“My queen!” he said in an astonished voice, “my queen?”
“Surely, Tenes, you would scarcely dare to proffer less than queenship to such a one as I?”
“May be not. Well, let us say that I would make you my queen, since in Sidon it is not difficult to be rid of others of whom one may be weary; that is, it is not difficult to a king who also is high-priest of Baal and of Ashtoreth. Yes, yes, I am sure that I would make you my queen. I will offer it to you in writing if you desire.”
“Aye, I do desire it, King, and that there may be no faults or traps in it, I myself will draw up the writing for you to sign. Only I doubt much whether I shall accept the offer if it is made.”
“Why not, Lady? Is it a small thing to be Queen of Sidon?”
“For Ayesha, daughter of Yarab, high-priestess and prophetess of Isis, the wisest and most beauteous woman in the world, one who has never turned to look on man, it is a very small thing indeed, King Tenes. It is so small a thing that I will not deign to accept that proffered crown of yours, unless——”
“Unless what, Lady?”
“Unless it is made larger, King, so large and wide that she who wears it holds rule over all the earth.”
“By Baal, Ashtoreth, and Moloch, all three of them, what mean you, Woman?”