"The sword-brothers meet with bared swords!" she cried, and again she broke into the terrible laugh.
"And if the Frank falls?" demanded Lupus.
"May each prove the other's bane!"
"My heart to that! Yet the Dane is quick. Roland alone may fall; then you will need aid. Join us. If we succeed, I know a duke who will give you a queen's crown.
"A queen's crown--a queen's crown," muttered Fastrada, and she pressed a hand over her eyes. "What was the word,--my mother's word? Ay; a king--"
"How's that, maiden? What has your mother foretold?"
"I shall wed a king--a king grey of eye."
The pale-grey eyes of Lupus sparkled.
"A true boding! The Merwing shall win back the throne of his forefathers, and you shall be his queen. I shall rule. Throne and queen, the alruna--the witch-wife--forebodes it!"
"Let that be as it may," muttered Fastrada; "only show me the corpse of that cold-blooded outlander, and I do your bidding."