"Let us return to the palace," said the Kisaki.
The party set out silently; only the princesses whispered together as they stared at the young warrior.
"What a beauty he is?"
"You might take him for a woman!"
"Yes; but what daring in his eye!"
"What coldness too! His tranquil gravity disquiets and alarms."
"He must be terrible in battle."
"Terrible, too, to her who loves him; his heart seems to be of steel, like his sword. Do not look at him so steadily."
Nagato rode up to the Queen.
"These events will delay your marriage, Iwakura!" said she, with a strange feeling of delight.