"I am going to the Temple of Melkarth," he said. "Escort me thither."
The young man shook off the royal hand as though he felt contaminated by its touch.
"Does your Majesty really mean to seek refuge with the Alexandrine?" he asked indignantly.
"Yes," the king replied, "and I command you to come with me."
"Then I refuse!" the soldier exclaimed. "I have two brothers yonder on the wall, if they be still alive. The Macedonians will try to enter the palace, and if they succeed, the city is lost. Go you to Melkarth's temple if you will; but you go alone. We remain here."
Azemilcus looked at the handsome face, flushed with anger, and his inscrutable smile played about his lips.
"Thy father was my friend, and I have loved thee," he said. "I would save thee if I could, but youth is hot and hasty; have thy will if thou must."
He began to descend the broad staircase, followed by the trembling chancellor.
"There goes Tyre!" the young captain cried bitterly, "selfish and treacherous to the last. To the windows! We may yet save him honorably, though he does not deserve it."
They reached the seaward side of the palace in time to receive the remnants of the Tyrian companies that had vainly striven to defend the wall. The captain's brothers were not among the fugitives.