"And what did my daughter answer?"

Then Rupa-Sikha knew that her secret had been discovered. And rising
to her full height, she answered proudly, "I told him I would seek
you and ask you to receive him. And now I will tell you, my father,
that I have seen the only man I will ever marry; and if you forbid
me to do so, I will take my own life, for I cannot live without him."

"Send for the man immediately," cried the magician, "and you shall
hear my answer when he appears before me."

"I cannot send," replied Rupa-Sikha, "for none knows where I have
left him; nor will I fetch him till you promise that no evil shall
befall him."

At first Agni-Sikha laughed aloud and declared that he would do no such
thing. But his daughter was as obstinate as he was; and finding that
he could not get his own way unless he yielded to her, he said crossly:

"He shall keep his fine head on his shoulders, and leave the palace
alive; but that is all I will say."

"But that is not enough," said Rupa-Sikha. "Say after me, Not a hair
of his head shall be harmed, and I will treat him as an honoured guest,
or your eyes will never rest on him."

At last the magician promised, thinking to himself that he would find
some way of disposing of Sringa-Bhuja, if he did not fancy him for
a son-in-law. The words she wanted to hear were hardly out of her