Moreover, no raven's wing in the sunshine ever shone as did that fragrant tress.
Yours is beautiful,
he said, but see, they are not the same.
Mayhap,
I answered, since no woman ever wore such locks.
You are right,
he replied, for she whom I seek was
more than a woman.
And then—and then—though I tried him in many ways he would say no more, so, feeling hate against this Unknown rising in my heart, and fearing lest I should utter words that were best unsaid, I left him. Now I bid you, search the books which are open to your wisdom and tell me of this woman whom he seeks, who she is, and where she dwells. Oh! search them swiftly, that I may find her and—kill her if I can.
Aye, if you can,
answered the Shaman, and if she lives to kill. But say, where shall we begin our quest? Now, this letter from the Mountain that the head-priest Oros sent to your court a while ago?
—and he selected a parchment from a pile which lay upon the table and looked at her.
Read,
she said, I would hear it again.
So he read: From the Hesea of the House of Fire, to Atene, Khania of Kaloon.
My Sister—Warning has reached me that two strangers of a western race journey to your land, seeking my Oracle, of which they would ask a question. On the first day of the next moon, I command that you and with you Simbri, your great-uncle, the wise Shaman, Guardian of the Gate, shall be watching the river in the gulf at the foot of the ancient road, for by that steep path the strangers travel. Aid them in all things and bring them safely to the Mountain, knowing that in this matter I shall hold him and you to account. Myself I will not meet them, since to do so would be to break the pact between our powers, which says that the Hesea of the
