Padway said to Wittigis: "I'm sorry to have to treat you so roughly, my lord. I would not have interfered if I hadn't known it was necessary to save Italy."
Wittigis had relapsed into morose taciturnity. He glared silently.
Padway continued: "I'm really doing you a favor, you know. If Thiudahad got hold of you, you would die—slowly."
There was still no reply.
"Oh, well, take him away boys. Wrap him up so the people won't recognize him, and use the back streets."
Thiudahad peered moistly at Padway. "Marvelous, marvelous, my dear Martinus. The Royal Council accepted the inevitable. The only trouble is that the evil usurper had my crown altered to fit his big head; I'll have to alter it back. Now I can devote my time to some real scholarly research. Let's see—there was something else I wanted to ask you. Oh, yes, what did you do with Wittigis?"
Padway put on a benign smile. "He's out of your reach, my lord king."
"You mean you killed him? Now, that's too bad! Most inconsiderate of you, Martinus. I told you I'd promised myself a nice long session with him in the torture chambers—"
"No, he's alive. Very much so."
"What? What? Then produce him, at once!"