Upon my return to the palace I was informed by Langila that the queen was in her apartment, and had given instructions that, upon my return, I was to be conducted into her presence, that she might personally express her satisfaction at my arrival in the country; therefore I at once proceeded to bathe, and, when I was ready, desired Langila to announce me. I had not far to go, for the royal apartments were situated, it appeared, in the wing of the palace opposite to my own, just on the other side of the grand staircase; and in a few minutes I found myself in the royal presence.
The room in which Queen Bimbane received me was a superb apartment, magnificently decorated with elaborately carved columns supporting a kind of groined roof, the walls being draped with splendid tapestry worked on silk in gold thread, and hung with several enormous mirrors of polished silver in massive gold frames—brackets supporting clusters of lamps on either side of each. The stone floor was covered with fine grass matting worked in a very tasteful pattern with different-coloured grasses; and at the far end of the room was a divan that looked as though made of solid gold, upholstered in embroidered silk. Upon this divan reclined a diminutive figure entirely shrouded in white silk draperies, so that only the two eyes could be seen through a narrow slit; and behind this figure stood two handsome young women, gorgeously attired, who perpetually waved two enormous fans of ostrich feathers to and fro over their mistress.
The lord chamberlain, who took me over from the hands of Langila, duly announced me and forthwith retired; and I noticed that as I strode through the doorway, attired in all my bravery, the little figure on the divan started and gave utterance to a faint ejaculation. But she instantly recovered herself, and, stretching out her right hand, swathed in silken wrappings, exclaimed in a low, pleasant voice:
“Greeting, and many welcomes, Chia’gnosi! I have been anticipating this moment with much curiosity, and also with a little trepidation, for my prescience tells me that you are destined to exercise a great, indeed a vital, influence upon my future; and I have wondered whether that influence will be for good, or for evil.”
“For good, I trust, Your Majesty,” I replied, as, sinking on one knee, I placed my right hand beneath hers and raised it respectfully to my lips. As I have said, that hand was swathed in silken wrappings, so that I could not see it, but my sense of touch told me that it was small and, as it seemed to me, painfully thin. But although I did not see the hand I saw something else, and that was the orange and ruddy flashes of a jewel on the thumb, the brilliance of which was so great that it made itself manifest even through the silken veil in which it was enveloped; and I immediately remembered the “potent amulet”, containing a stone “which shines like the sun at eventide”, mentioned by Siluce, which she had besought me to take from its owner.
“I, too, trust that it will be for good, Chia’gnosi, otherwise you would never have been allowed to come here,” answered the queen. “My prescience—which has never yet deceived me—tells me that in you I shall find a man who can be either a true, loyal, steadfast friend, or an implacable enemy; and as I am determined to make you my friend, I am not afraid. Yet I see that, in the depths of your heart, you are already prejudiced against me; and since that prejudice must be removed before friendship can be born, tell me, I pray you, how did that prejudice originate? But first, rise, and sit beside me, here.”
I rose and obeyed, in some confusion; for how, I asked myself, could this woman possibly read my inmost thoughts, as she appeared able to do? Nevertheless, it seemed to me that honesty was the best policy, therefore I answered her, after seating myself at as respectful a distance from her as the divan would allow:
“If I am indeed prejudiced at all against Your Majesty, it is because of the story that Siluce told me.”
“Ah, yes, Siluce!” retorted the queen rather bitterly. “She died in your arms. And, before dying, she no doubt told you that the Bandokolo are a cruel, wicked people; and that I, their queen, am the most cruel and wicked of them all. Did she not?”
“I am told that you know all things,” I returned. “If that be true, you must be fully aware of every word which that unhappy young woman said.”