Ayesha:The Return of She

my side and asked me

r better, oh, my host -

ater, my title is Hereditary Guardian of the Gate.

sked carelessly, as though I had not cau

I have some skill in my art. Otherwise I think, perhaps, you wou

y," I

guest,

ld not have been alive, venerable Simbri, a foresight that seems to me to savour of magic in such a lonely place. That is why I

g, stranger Holly - for

chance, ho

uture events, for I am the chief of the Shamans or Seers of this land, and,

courteous also. So here physici

ut tell me, if you will, how did you find your

re but travellers, or perhaps w

have lived to cross those mountains in search of - now, what did you seek? Yo

o have found one, for surely that royal-looking lady, named Kha

hough how, friend Holly, a man who has lain senseless can have learned

own country it has been my lot to study and to teach it. It is Greek, but althou

s driven back, but a general of his of another race advanced and crossed the mountains, and overcame the people of this land, bringing with him his master's language and his

story; the conqueror was named

of a country called Egypt, or so our records tell us. His descend

whom he worship

wered, "she w

sis. Tell me, is her worship continued here? I ask

who practise some ancient cult. But the real god of this people now, as long before the day of Rassen their

ess dwell in the

r Holly, I know nothing of any goddess. That Mountain is sacred, and

eing the symbol of Life upon yonder peak, came hither to study yo

it runs through the paws of the death-hounds, and the sp

sician, are th

t custom, all offenders against the law or the

! Has this Khania of

. Now they and the land are one. But you have talked enough; I am h

bri. How came I to this chambe

eep, and see, the change has bett

," I answered earnestly.

er. The Khania A

means the Disk of the Sun, and a woman who bore i

not my niece A

e Khania," I answered wearily,

tly his yellow-faced, silent

ill, rising in my bed, I saluted her as best I could, although at heart I was afraid. She seemed to read my doubts for she said -"Lie down, and have no fear. At pres

rn, Khania. Yet you are right; he is but

eek you here

shall bring us on yonder Mountain,

oom, if indeed you do not find it before you reach its slopes, which are guarded by savage men. Yonder i

is college, Khani

never seen, for she is so old that

ins, I who remembered another who also was so old that she veiled herself from curious e

"for it is unlawful, and I will n

ed of her, "you, Khania, or th

ok you, at my need I can summon sixty thousand men in war, while

ld," I answered. "Tell me, now, does this p

t was decreed and sworn to that should she set her foot across the river, this means war to the end between us, and rule for the victor over bot

he Khan of Kaloon or the head of t

, who is our Oracle and the voice of Heaven

u are married, la

u what you soon must learn, if you have not learned it alre

d the last al

me with her

tell you? Nay, you saw, as I knew you saw, and it would ha

hat to think, also I feared lest further rash a

se lips are purer than those mountain snows, I, the Khania of Kaloon, whom they name Heart-of-Ice, am bu

reasons, explanations, if i

m also. Like that husband of mine, I have become mad. When first I saw the face of

, such things have happened bef

me on; a Destiny compelled me, and to the end I am his, and his alone. Yes, I am his, and I swear that he shal

n had mastered her? Who and what was this Khania, I wondered again, and - this was more to the point, who and wha

rmness, that my foster-son did better without me. Now, I grew suspicious, fearing lest some harm had come to Leo, though how to discover the truth I knew not. In my anxiety I tried to convey a note to him, written upon a leaf of a water-gained pocket-book, but

the moon was up, for I had no other light, I crept from my bed, threw on my garments, and ta

-place, there was a passage thirty paces long, for I had counted the footfalls of my bearers. Then came a turn to the left, and ten more p

rn to the right, that of the gallery from which rose the stairs. I crept round it only to retreat hastily enough, as well I might, for at the door of Leo

ned, if she discovered me, to face the matter out and say that I was trying to find Leo, and to learn how he fared. So I crouch

with the key she held. Go back to bed? No, I would follow her, and if we met would

ngth I came to the head of them, where was a little landing, and opening from it a door. It was a very ancient door; the light streamed

I heard him say, and also heard he

seated, stood the Khania. Truly she was a beauteous sight, for she wore robes of royal purple, and on her brow a little coronet of gold, beneath which her curling hair streamed down her shapely neck and bosom. Seeing her I guessed at

n you, then?" he as

an I am, and he replied with courtesy - nothing else, I think - that it would be hard to say, but that she had been different. Then I said that though it behooved me not to speak of such a matter, there was

tly, "I would not hear of the arts you u

f the spirit, and that I dwelt in them now. He said, 'Show me your hair,' and I placed a lock of it in his hand. Presently he let it fall, and from that satchel which he wears about his neck drew out another tress of h

' he said, 'but see,

d, 'since no woman e

lied, 'for she whom I se

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 te

n our quest? Now, this letter from the Mountain that the head-priest Oros sent to your court a

id, "I would h

ea of the House of Fire,

e 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 ho

wn the parchment, "that these are no ch

t awaited one of them also. Yet the Hesea cannot

ggested the Shaman in a dry voice, "if ind

with it, and he shall n

air who warned her of the coming of these men, and will warn her of what befalls them. I know it, who hate her, and to your royal house of Rassen it has been kn

that he shall not go. Let t

the man called Leo - that he should

, and answered boldly -"Nay, I will

ms to have no mind that way. Also,

husband. You know it well, Simbri. I charge you by the cl

l not; already your sin lies heavy on my head. You are very fair; take

es, yet some power hardens his heart against me. Oh! great Shaman, you that peep and mutter, you w

fate of yonder man is intertwined with yours, but between you and him there rises a mighty wall that my vision cannot p

with sullen pride, "for thence at

llows us even down this dark gulf of death. I think also that

very sick, that their limbs were broken in the river, and that when they have healed again, I will send them to ask the question of her Oracle - that is, some three moons hence. Perchance she may believe you, and be content to w

r as I crept down the darksome pa