"Ah!" said the emperor, his eyes directly levelled at the supposed culprit; "thou hast found the thief who, in the confusion of yesternight, bore away the magic cup. Bring him hither, that I may question him ere his carcase be sent to the beasts."
The doomed wretch was now fairly in the paws of the very tyrant he had so long dreaded. The death, which by every stratagem he had striven to avoid, was now inevitable. He was betrayed by means of the very device he had, as he thought, so craftily adopted; but still his natural sagacity did not forsake him, even in this unexpected emergency. As he prostrated himself, presenting the cup he had stowed away safely in his cloak, he still kept a wary eye on the slave who had betrayed him. He saw him preparing to depart; and, knowing that his only hope of deliverance lay in preventing his guide from giving warning to the conspirators they had just left, Cedric, with a sudden spring, leaped upon him like a tiger, even in presence of the monarch.
The latter, astounded at this unexpected act of temerity, was for a few moments inactive. This pause was too precious to be lost. Desperation gave him courage, and Cedric addressed the dread ruler of the world even whilst he clutched the gasping traitor.
"Here, great monarch, here is the traitor; and if I prove him not false, on my head be the recompense!"
He said this in a tone of such earnestness and anxiety that the emperor was suddenly diverted from his purpose of summoning his attendants. He saw the favourite slave of the empress writhing in the gripe of the barbarian; but the events of the last few hours had awakened suspicions which the lightest accusations might confirm. He remembered his son's guilt, the facility of his escape; and it might be that treason stood on the very threshold, ready to strike. He determined to sift the matter; and, the guard now summoned, the parties were separated,—each awaiting the fiat of the monarch.
"Where is Virius Lupus?" was the emperor's first inquiry.
"He hath not returned from the apartments of the empress."
"Let this slave be bound," cried Cedric. "Force him to conduct you even to the place whence, blindfold, he hath just led me; and if you find not a nest of traitors, my own head shall be the forfeit."
Dark and fearful was the flash that shot from the emperor's eye on the devoted eunuch. Pale and trembling he fell on his knees, supplicating, with uplifted hands, for mercy. He knew it was vain to dissemble.
"And what wert thou doing in such perilous company?" inquired the emperor, turning to Cedric, and in a voice which made him shrink.