Then, bowing courteously, for every man of them knew me and some of
them loved me well, they turned and went. That was the last that ever I,
Hubert of Hastings, saw of nobles of the Inca blood, though perchance,
ere long, I shall meet them again in war.
"Let them be escorted safely from the city," commanded Quilla, and
soldiers went to do her bidding.
When they had gone she issued another order, that the door should be
closed and watchmen set about the hall, so that none could approach it
unseen. Then after a pause she rose and spoke:
"My Lord," she said, "who soon, as I trust, will be my husband and
my king, and you, the chosen of my people, hearken to me for I have a
matter to lay before you. You have heard the Inca's message and you know
that his words are not vain. He who is great in many ways, in one is
small and narrow. He sets his god before his honour, and to satisfy his
god, whom he thinks that I have outraged, is prepared to sacrifice his
honour, and even to kill one to whom he owes all," and she touched me
with her hand. "Moreover, these things he can do, not at once but in
time to come, because for every man of ours he is able to gather ten.
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