This was much harder than any he had fought yet. The wiry hair turned the edge of his sword, and he felt he might almost as well try to cut through a fence of iron. Besides, in spite of his great height, this giant was much quicker of eye and of hand than the last, and several times the young champion was brought to his knees, though he rose again before his enemy could deal him a second blow. At length the Knight of the Sun noticed a place on the giant’s neck where the hair seemed less thick than on the rest of his body, and, dropping his sword, he seized his dagger and drove it home.
Thus, step by step, fighting giants and beasts every inch of the way, the Knight of the Sun at last reached the hall of the castle, where the emperor Trebatius sat by the side of the fair Lindarasse. The spells she had woven round him were so strong, that for years he had not only never been outside the castle walls, but had ceased to wish to see the world again. But, powerful though Lindarasse might be, the Knight of the Sun did not fear to meet her, as before he had left Babylon the wise Lyrgander had given him a ring, which preserved him from all enchantments.
At the entrance of the young man the fair Lindarasse looked up; she knew who he was and why he had come.
‘What is the matter, Wonder of the World?’ asked the emperor Trebatius, raising his head from her lap, where it had been resting.
‘I am a dead woman, my good lord,’ answered she, ‘unless you will slay me that knight who has forced his way into my castle.’
These words filled the emperor with fury, and the spirit awoke within him from its long sleep.
‘I will teach him manners,’ he said grimly, and stalked proudly to the gallery where his arms had hung for many a day.
Meanwhile the fair Lindarasse, who, in spite of her haughty bearing, bore a sinking heart, tried both by threats and soft words to persuade the Knight of the Sun to leave the castle.
‘Not till the emperor goes with me!’ he answered steadily. ‘You took him from his wife, and if you will not give him back to her I will take him.’
And Lindarasse ground her teeth, and held her peace for a few moments. Then she broke into tears and sobs, thinking to move him by these means; but this method fared no better than the other.