She nodded in acquiescence, adding, “It was proposed that thou shouldst be devoured by the wild beasts as recompense for thine intrepidity; but I rescued thee because—because, I wished to hear thy story from thine own lips.”
“Already have I told thee all,” I answered. “This thy land is known to the world beyond only by vague legends and the unwritten romances of story-tellers. When I return, I will tell my fellows of the wonders I have witnessed within thy brilliant kingdom.”
“No,” she answered, rising with true regal dignity, yet trembling with anger. “Thou shalt never go back, for to thee, as to all men, this is the Land of the No Return. To kill thee will only hasten disaster upon myself, therefore, thou shalt remain my slave, and lest thou shouldst attempt to escape, thou shalt never leave my side, either by day or by night. I hold thee in servitude irrevocably. When the Day of Destruction, foretold by the prophets, cometh, then shall thine heart be torn out whilst thou art still alive, and given to Ninep, my tame lioness, to devour at a mouthful.”
I bowed, smiling bitterly; but no retort escaped my lips. Her strange, weird manner held me spellbound.
“At least it shall be known,” she cried, angrily, “that I hold in bondage, as my personal slave, the man who hath entered our land to bring evil upon us. Attempt not to escape, or assuredly will I slay thee with mine own hand,” and she drew from her girdle of emeralds a short, keen knife, with hilt fashioned like a winged bull, which she kept therein concealed.
“Thou appearest to consider me as harbinger of ill,” I answered, with knit brows. “I have no design upon thee or thine. Love of adventure and a secret quest have led me hither.”
“A secret quest!” she cried. “What was it?”
“I had heard stories of wonders within thy land, and sought its whereabouts,” I said, ambiguously.
“Then, thou didst discover the secret entrance; the mystery that hath remained hidden through an hundred ages?”
“I did, O Istar,” I replied. “Long I toiled in the darkness beneath the foundations of the rock of thy Moon-god, and emerged into thy wondrous country, with its city more amazing than any mine eyes have ever beheld.”