Thus time passed on, and as health returned, Prince Rathunor pressed
his suit. There was now, no apparent reason why he could not claim
his promised bride and make the Princess Nu-nah his own. His more
earnest friends cautioned him to wait further developments and, in
an undertone, reminded him of the peculiar and unnatural bearing of
the Princess at times. They were sure, in time, their once lovely
Princess would be herself again. Rathunor listened, knowing their
kindly interest sprang from good motives, but he was silent--he
could not speak for none would understand. The yearnings of his
heart and soul would not be quelled by any outward show.

While to the world Nu-nah was a source of mystical wonder, to
Rathunor she was his stay and comfort. He needed no further evidence
and assurance of Nu-nah's love for him. Too often had he experienced
the response from within to her silent pleadings for light, truth
and wisdom. The attraction of the outer world was losing its
fascination for him, the longings from within grew stronger and more
clamorous for outward expression until, one day, he advanced the
subject of astrology to the Princess Nu-nah. For an instant, her
whole being was illuminated by that mysterious light--for a single
moment the soul arose to the supremacy of the brain and found a
faint glimmering expression that was visible to Rathunor's
ever-watchful eye.

"Astrology, my Rathunor, fascinates me with its name and the
wonders and mysteries it is said to reveal. Do you think those
Astrologer Priests of the Temple know whereof they speak, and do
they read the stars and gain from them the wisdom they are said to
possess?"