"
"And is a man never adored and loved, Quilla? For instance, I understand
that you are to be married, and doubtless you adore and love him who
will be your husband."
She shivered a little and answered:
"It is not so. I hate him."
"Then why are you going to marry him? Are you forced to do so, Quilla?"
"No, Lord. I marry him for my people's sake. He desires me for my
inheritance and my beauty, and by my beauty I may lead him down that
road on which my people wish that he should go."
"An old story, Quilla, but will you be happy thus?"
"No, Lord, I shall be very unhappy. But what does it matter? I am only a
woman, and such is the lot of women."
"Women, like gods and men, are also sometimes loved and adored, Quilla."
She flushed at the words and answered:
"Ah! if that were so life might be different. But even if it were so and
I found the man who could love and adore even for a year, for me it is
now too late. I am sworn away by an oath that may not be broken, for to
break it might bring death upon my people."
"To whom are you sworn?"
"To the Child of the Sun, no less a man; to the god who will be Inca of
all this land.
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