Part 15 (1/2)
Oh! and there-a Glory covered with a single garment-stood a shape celestial It seemed to be asleep, since the eyes were shut Or was it dead, for at first that face was a face of death? Look, the sunlight played upon her, shi+ning through the thin veil, the dark eyes opened like the eyes of a wondering child; the blood of life flowed up the ivory boso tresses wavered in the wind; the head of the jewelled snake that held them sparkled beneath her breast
Was it an illusion, or was this Ayesha as she had been when she entered the rolling flaave way beneath us, and down, our arms about each other's necks, Leo and I sank till we lay upon the ground Then a voice sweeter than honey, softer than the whisper of a twilight breeze a the reeds, spoke near to us, and these were the words it said-”Come hither tokiss of faith and love thou gavest led to his feet Like a drunken ered to where Ayesha stood, then overcome, sank before her on his knees
”Arise,” she said, ”it is I who should kneel to thee,” and she stretched out her hand to raise hi in his ear the while
Still he would not, or could not rise, so very slowly she bent over him and touched him with her lips upon the brow Next she beckoned to me I came and would have knelt also, but she suffered it not
”Nay,” she said, in her rich, remembered voice, ”thou art no suitor; it shall not be Of lovers and worshi+ppers henceforth as before, I can find a plenty if I will, or even if I will it not But where shall I find another friend like to thee, O Holly, who towards me, with her lips she touched rant was Ayesha's breath as roses, the odour of roses clung to her lovely hair; her sweet body gleamed like some white sea-pearl; a faint but palpable radiance crowned her head; no sculptor ever fashi+oned such a marvel as the arm hich she held her veil about her; no stars in heaven ever shone ht than did her calm, entranced eyes
Yet it is true, even with her lips upon me, all I felt for her was a love divine into which no hue to my shame, it was otherwise, but I am an old man now and have done with such frailties Moreover, had not Ayesha named me Guardian, Protector, Friend, and sworn to me that with her and Leo I should ever dhere all earthly passions fail I repeat: whatLeo by the hand Ayesha returned with him into the shelter of the rock-hewn chamber and when she entered its shadows, shi+vered a little as though with cold I rejoiced at this I remember, for it seeht appear Here her priest and priestess prostrated themselves before her new-born splendour, but shea hand upon the head of each as though in blessing ”I aive ar royally, like a coronation robe
”Nay,” she went on, ”it is not this long-lost shape of ave back to me, that shi+vers in the icy wind, it is my spirit's self bared to the bitter breath of Destiny O my love, my love, offended Powers are not easily appeased, even when they appear to pardon, and though I shall no ether upon the world I know not; but a little hour perchance Well, ere we pass otherwhere, illas deeply of the cup of joy as we have drunk of those of sorrows and of shame This place is hateful to me, for here I have suffered more than ever woman did on earth or phantom in the deepest hell It is hateful, it is ill-oain may I behold it
”Say, what is it passes in thy ician?” and of a sudden she turned fiercely upon the Shaman Simbri who stood near, his arms crossed upon his breast
”Only, thou Beautiful,” he answered, ”a dis to coift of foresight, and here I see a dead --”
”Another word,” she broke in with fury born of some dark fear, ”and thou shalt be that ain to rid me of the ancient foes I hate, lest I should use a sword thou thrustest to my hand,” and her eyes that had been so calm and happy, blazed upon hiht and shrank from it till the wall stayed him
”Great One! now as ever I salute thee Yes, now as at the first beginning whereof we know alone,” he stammered ”I had no more to say; the face of that dead man was not revealed to me I saw only that some crowned Khan of Kaloon to be shall lie here, as he whoo”
”Doubtless many a Khan of Kaloon will lie here,” she answered coldly ”Fear not, Shaman, my wrath is past, yet be wise, reat Come, let us hence”
So, still led by Leo, she passed from that cha pillar The sun was up now, flooding the Mountain flanks, the plains of Kaloon far beneath and the distant,theLeo, she said-”The world is very fair; I give it all to thee”
Now Atene spoke for the first time
”Dost thou mean Hes-if thou art still the Hesea and not a demon arisen from the Pit-that thou offerest ift? If so, I tell thee that first thou entle are thy words and ive them both, for I also can scorn to mock a rival in my hour of victory When thou wast the fairer, thou didst proffer him these very lands, but say, who is the fairer now? Look at us, all of you, and judge,” and she stood by Atene and smiled
The Khania was a lovely woe have I seen one lovelier, but oh! how coarse and poor she showed beside the wild, ethereal beauty of Ayesha born again For that beauty was not altogether human, far less so indeed than it had been in the Caves of Kor; noas the beauty of a spirit
The little light that always shone upon Ayesha's brow; the wide-set,eyes which were filled sometimes with the fire of the stars and sometimes with the blue darkness of the heavens wherein they float; the curved lips, so wistful yet so proud; the tresses fine as glossy silk that still spread and rippled as though with a separate life; the general air, not so much of majesty as of some secret power hard to be restrained, which strove in that delicate body and proclaimed its presence to the most careless; that fla now through no ”vile vessel,” but in a vase of alabaster and of pearl-none of these things and qualities were altogether human I felt it and was afraid, and Atene felt it also, for she answered-”I am but a woman What thou art, thou knowest best Still a taper cannot shi+ne ainst a fallen star; nor can lory thou hast earned froe to the lord of ill Yet as woman I am thy equal, and as spirit I shall be thy mistress, when robbed of these borrowed beauties thou, Ayesha, standest naked and ashae of all whom thou hast deserted and defied; yes, as thou stoodest but now upon yonder brink above the burning pit where thou yet shalt wander wailing thy lost love For this I know, mine enemy, thatin her bitter rage and jealousy
Noatching Ayesha, I saw her wince a little beneath these evil-orey touch the carrow dark and troubled But in ain a voice that rang clear as silver bells-”Why ravest thou, Atene, like soainst the barrier of a seamless cliff? Dost think, poor creature of an hour, to sweep away the rock ofbubbles? Have done and listen I do not seek thy petty rule, who, if I will it, can take the empire of the world Yet learn, thou holdest it of my hand More-I purpose soon to visit thee in thy city-choose thou if it shall be in peace or war! Therefore, Khania, purge thy court and amend thy laws, that when I come I may find contentovernment My counsel to thee also is that thou choose some worthy man to husband, let hiht and one upon whouidance as thou dost, Atene Couests, let us hence,” and she walked past the Khania, stepping fearlessly upon the very edge of the wind-swept, rounded peak
In a second the attempt had been made and failed, so quickly indeed that it was not until Leo and I compared our impressions afterwards that we could be sure of what had happened As Ayesha passed her, the er and struck with all her force at her rival's back I saw the knife vanish to the hilt in her body, as I thought, but this cannot have been so since it fell to the ground, and she who should have been dead, took no hurt at all
Feeling that she had failed, with a movement like the sudden lurch of a shi+p, Atene thrust at Ayesha, proposing to hurl her to destruction in the depths beneath Lo! her outstretched arh Ayesha never seemed to stir Yes it was Atene ould have fallen, Atene who already fell, had not Ayesha put out her hand and caught her by the wrist, bearing all her backward-swaying weight as easily as though she were but an infant, and without effort drawing her to safety
”Foolish wo tones ”Wast thou so vexed that thou wouldst strip thyself of the pleasant shape which heaven has given thee? Surely this is htest be sent to tread the earth again? As no queen perhaps, but as a peasant's child, deforiven to those that achieve self-murder Or even, as ress! Why, see,” and she picked the dagger froround and cast it into the air, ”that point was poisoned Had it but pricked thee now!” and she smiled at her and shook her head
But Atene could bear no more of this mockery, more venomed than her own steel
”Thou art not ainst thee? To Heaven I leave thy punishment,” and there upon the rocky peak Atene sank down and wept
Leo stood nearest to her, and the sight of this royal wo to her side he stooped and lifted her to her feet,some kind words For a moment she rested on his arm, then shook herself free of him and took the proffered hand of her old uncle Simbri
”I see,” said Ayesha, ”that as ever, thou art courteous, my lord Leo, but it is best that her own servant should take charge of her, for-she rows, and surely we need rest”
CHAPTER XVII
THE BETROTHAL
Together we descended the multitudinous steps and passed the endless, rock-hewn passages till we cah-priestess and were led through it into a hall beyond Here Ayesha parted fro that she was outworn, as indeed she seemed to be with an utter weariness, not of the body, but of the spirit For her delicate forrew dim as those of a person in a trance, and her voice ca in her sleep
”Good-bye,” she said to us ”Oros will guard you both, and lead you to me at the appointed time Rest you well”
So she went and the priest led us into a beautiful apartarden So overcome e also by all that we had endured and seen, that we could scarcely speak, much less discuss these marvellous events
”My brain swims,” said Leo to Oros, ”I desire to sleep”
He bowed and conducted us to a cha ourselves down and slept, dreamlessly, like little children
When oke it was afternoon We rose and bathed, then saying that ished to be alone, went together into the garden where even at this altitude, now, at the end of August, the air was still mild and pleasant Behind a rock by a bed of campanulas and other mountain flowers and ferns, was a bench near to the banks of a little stream, on which we seated ourselves
”What have you to say, Horace?” asked Leo laying his hand upon s have coht and laboured not in vain; that you are the most fortunate of men and should be the ely, and answered-”Yes, of course; she is lovely, is she not-but,” and his voice dropped to its lohisper, ”I wish, Horace, that Ayesha were a little more human, even as human as she was in the Caves of Kor I don't think she is quite flesh and blood, I felt it when she kissed me-if you can call it a kiss-for she barely touched ed thus in an hour? Flesh and blood are not born of flame, Horace”
”Are you sure that she was so born?” I asked ”Like the visions on the fire, may not that hideous shape have been but an illusion of our minds? May she not be still the same Ayesha e knew in Kor, not re-born, but wafted hither by soency?”
”Perhaps Horace, we do not know-I think that we shall never know But I ad I am drawn to her by an infinite attraction, her eyes set my blood on fire, the touch of her hand is as that of a wand of madness laid upon my brain And yet between us there is some wall, invisible, still present Or perhaps it is only fancy But, Horace, I think that she is afraid of Atene Why, in the old days the Khania would have been dead and forgotten in an hour-you reentle, Leo, who, like ourselves, has learned hard lessons”
”Yes,” he answered, ”I hope that is so At any rate she has grown more divine-only, Horace, what kind of a husband shall I be for that bright being, if ever I get so far?”
”Why should you not get so far?” I asked angrily, for his words jarred upon eneral principles do you think that such fortune will be allowed to a man? Also, what did Atene mean when she said that s?”