A gasp, a choking outcry, and Theodora's white hands closed round Hellayne's throat. Though their touch burnt her like fire, Hellayne did not even raise her hands.
Fearlessly she gazed into Theodora's face.
"I am waiting," she said with the same passionless voice, but there was something in her eyes that gave the other woman pause.
Theodora's hands fell limply by her side. What she read in Hellayne's eyes had caused her, perchance, for the first time, to blanch.
She clapped her hands.
The door opened and Persephoné stood on the threshold.
She had listened, and not a word of their discourse had escaped her watchful ears.
"The Lady Hellayne desires to return to her chamber," Theodora turned to the Circassian, and without another word Hellayne followed her guide.
Yet, as she did so, her head was turned towards Theodora and in her eyes was an expression so inscrutable that Theodora turned away with a shudder, as the door closed behind their retreating forms, leaving her alone with her overmastering agony.