"Tell me them quick, Asti."

So she told them, there were seven in all, the Prince of Kesh, the sons
of foreign kings, great nobles, and a general of the army who claimed
descent from a former Pharaoh.

As each name fell from Asti's lips Tua waved her hand, saying scornful
words, such as "I know him not," "Too old," "Fat and hideous," "A
foreign dog who spits upon our gods," and so forth, adding at last:

"Go on."

"That is all, Lady, no other name was mentioned, and the Council
adjourned to consider these."

"No other name?"

"Do you then miss one, perchance, Tua?"

She made no answer, only her lips seemed to shape themselves to a
certain sound that they did not utter. The two women looked each other
in the eyes, then Asti shook her head.

"It may not be," she whispered, "for many reasons, and amongst them that
by the solemn decree of long ago whereof I have told you, our blood is
barred for ever from the throne. None would dare to break it, not even
the Pharaoh himself. You would bring my son to his death, Tua, which
such another look as you gave him in yonder hall would surely do."

"No," she answered slowly, "I would not bring him to his death, but to