And the voice of Mermaza replied, “Almost I can swear he was in the party that went to the chariots for the palace.”
“More likely asleep under the tables,” came from a third, clearly Avil-Marduk.
“Not there,” commented the eunuch; “he was barely civil in his drinking.”
“No matter if he is not here,” answered Belshazzar. “Faugh! How much longer must I juggle with this marvellous envoy? By Nergal! his only sane talk is of hunting. I grant that he is a fair archer.”
“Not comparable with my lord,” flattered Mermaza.
“Most headlong and unprincely,” added Avil. “Could the king have but seen him this morning rush into strife as a dog after a carcass.”
“Hist!” cautioned the king; “what stirs in the thicket?”
Mermaza peered into the dark. As Darius stood, he could have touched the eunuch; but he remained motionless, and Avil-Marduk reassured: “Only a harmless snake. We are more alone here than in the palace, where every wall has ears.”
Belshazzar groped his way to the log Darius had just quitted and seated himself. The others dutifully remained standing.
“By Samas!” began the king, as if rejoiced to feel himself free to speak, “we have thus far played the game out well. Marduk grant the sky may remain calm! What do they say in the city concerning Nabonidus, my father?”