 Heart of the World by H. Ryder Haggard. Chapter 16 On the Pyramid Does not the city lie very low, I asked Maya, when we had studied the prospect on every side? To my eye, its houses seem almost upon a level with the waters of the lake. I believe that is so, she answered. Moreover, during those months of the year that are coming, the surface of the lake rises many feet so that the greater part of the island is submerged and the water stands about the wall. How then do you prevent the town from being flooded, asked the senior, if once the water flowed in the place would vanish and every soul be drowned? Yes, friend, but the waters never rise beyond a certain height, and they are kept from flooding the city by the great sluice gate. If that gate were to be opened in the time of inundation, then we should perish every one, but it never is open during those months, for if any would leave or enter the city, they do so by means of ladders, leading from the summit of the wall to floating landing stages on the moat beneath. Also, night and day the gate is guarded. Moreover, it can be moved from one place only by those that know its secret, who are few. It seems a strange place to build a city, answered the senior. I do not think that I should ever sleep sound during the months of inundation, knowing that my life depended upon a single gate. Yet men have slept safely here for a thousand years or more, she said. Legends tell us that our ancestors, who came up from the coast in ancient days, settled on the island by command of their gods, choosing this hollow bed of land to build in so that rather than submit themselves to foes, as their fathers were forced to do, in the country beyond the mountains, they could, if need were, flood the place and perish in the water. For this reason it is that the holy sanctuary of the Nameless God, the Heart of Heaven, is hollowed deep in the rock beneath us, for the waters of the lake would flow in upon it at a touch, burying it in all its treasures from the sight of man forever. Now, if you have seen enough, I will take you to visit the public workshops, where fishes dried, linen woven, and all other industries carried on that are necessary to our comfort. And turning, she led the way with her ladies toward the head of the stairs. As we drew near to it, however, three men appeared upon the platform, in one of whom I knew, Tikal, seeing my advance toward her bowing as he came. Lady, he said, learning that you were here with these strangers, I have followed you to beg that you will speak with me alone for some few minutes. That I cannot do, cousin, she answered coldly. For who knows what color might afterwards be put upon my words, if you have anything to say to me, say it before us all. That I cannot do, he replied. For what I have to say is secret, still for your father's sake, and perhaps for your own, you will do well to hear it. Without a witness, I will not listen to you, Tikal. Then, Lady, farewell, he said, and turned to go. Stay, cousin, if you fear to speak before your own people, let this stranger, she pointed to me, Ignatio, be present at our talk. He is of our blood and can understand our tongue, a discrete man more ever, one of the brethren of the heart. One of the brethren of the heart? How can a stranger be a brother of the heart? Prove it to me, wanderer. And drawing me aside, he said certain words which I answered, giving him the signs. Do you agree, asked Maya? Yes, Lady, since I must, though it pleases me little to open my mind before a stranger, let us step apart. And he walked to the center of the platform, followed by Maya and myself. Lady, he began, my business with you is not easy to tell. For many years we were affianced, and both you and your father promised that we should wed when you return from this journey. Surely, as things are, cousin, it is needless to discuss the matter of arbitro, though she broke in with sarcasm. Not altogether needless, Lady, he answered, I have much to ask your pardon for, yet I make bold to ask it, Maya. You know well that I have loved you and love you dearly, and that no other woman has ever been near my heart. Indeed, she said with a laugh, these words sound strange in the mouth of a new-made husband of Nawa. Perhaps, Lady, and yet they are true, I am married to Nawa, but I do not love her though she loves me. It is you whom I love, and when I saw you yesterday, all my heart went out to you, so that I almost hated the fair bride at my side. Why, then, did you marry her? Because I must, because I believed you dead, and your father with you, as did every man in the city. You and Zimbabwe being dead, as I thought, was it wonderful that I should wish to keep the place that many were plotting to take from me? This could be done in one way only by the help of Matai, the most clever and the most powerful man in the city, and this was Matai's price that his daughter should become the lady of the heart. Well, she loved me, she is beautiful, and she has her father's strength and foresight, so that among all the ladies in the land, there was none more fitted to be my wife. Well, and you married her, and there's an end. You asked my forgiveness, and you have it. Seeing that it does not befit me to play the part of a jealous woman, doubtless time will soften the blow to me to call, she added mockingly, There is not an end, Maya, and I come to ask you today to renew your promise that you will be my wife. What, cousin? Having broken your troth, would you now offer me insult? Do you then propose that I, the daughter of the heart, should be Nahua's handmaid? No, I propose that when Nahua is put away, you should take her place and your own. How can this be, seeing that the lady of the heart cannot be divorced? If she ceases to be the lady of the heart, she can be divorced like any other woman. At the least, love has no laws, and I will find a way, the way of death perhaps. No, I will have none of you. Honor has laws to call if love has none. Go back to your wife and pray that she may never learn how you would have treated her. Is that your last word, lady? Why do you ask? Because more hangs on it than you know. Listen, very soon all the men in the city will be gathered on this place to hear your father's words, and to decide whether he or I shall rule. See, already they assemble in the temple square. Promise to be my wife, and in return I will yield to your father, and he shall be master for his life's days, and have his way in all things. Refuse, and I will cling to power, and matters may go badly for him, for you and, he added, threateningly, for these strangers, your friends. All this must befall as it chances, she answered proudly. I do not meddle with such questions, nor do your threats move me. If you are so base as to plot mischief against an old man who has poured benefits upon you, plot on, and in due time meet with your reward. For myself I tell you that I have done with you, and that, come what may, I will never be your wife. Perhaps you may yet live to take back those words, lady, he said in a quiet voice. Then, with a low obeisance, he turned and went. You have made a dangerous enemy, lady, I said, when he was out of earshot. I do not fear him, Ignatius. That is well, I answered, but for my part I do. I think that his plans are ready, and that before this day is done there will be trouble. Indeed, I shall be thankful if we live to see tomorrow's light. By this time we had reached the others. Are you weary of waiting, she said to the senior, giving him a sweet look as she spoke? Well, I should have been happier here than I was yonder. Give me your hand, and lead me down the stair, for I am tired. Ah, friend, did you but know it, I have just dared more for your sake than I should have done for my own. What have you dared, he asked? That you will learn in due time if we live long enough, friend, she answered. Oh, I would that we had never set footed within this city. Two hours had passed, and following in the train of Zibalba and Maya, who walked beside him once more, we found ourselves upon the summit of the pyramid. Now, however, it was no longer empty, for on it were collected men to the number of some thousands. Indeed, all the adult male population of the city, on one side of the altar, receded Tikal and his bride, Nawa, who was the only woman there, and some hundreds of nobles, all of whom I noted were armed and guarded by a body of soldiers that stood behind them. On the other side were many vacant places, and as Zibalba with Maya and all the great company of followers that he had gathered advanced to take them, Tikal and every man present on the pyramid uncovered their heads and bowed in greeting to him. After a few moments' pause, two priests came forward from the watch-house behind the altar, and having laid upon it an offering of fresh flowers, the elder of them, who was robed in pure white, uttered a short prayer to the Nameless God, the Heart of Heaven, asking that he would be pleased to accept the gift and to send a blessing upon the deliberations of his people here assembled. Then Zibalba rose to address the multitude, and I noted that his fierce face was pale and anxious, and that his hand shook although his eyes flashed angrily. Nobles and people of the city of the heart he began. On this day a year ago, I, your hereditary ruler and Kachike, and the High Priest of the Heart of Heaven, left this city on a certain mission. This was my mission, to find the severed portion of the sacred symbol that lies in the sanctuary of the temple, the portion that is called Day, which has been lost for many an age. You know that our race has fallen upon evil times, and that year by year our numbers dwindle till at length. The end of the people is in sight, seeing that within some few generations they must die out and be forgotten. You know also the ancient prophecy that when once more the two halves of the symbol of the heart, day and night, are laid side by side in their place upon the altar in the sanctuary, then from that hour this people shall grow great again. You know too how a voice spoke to me in answer to my prayers, bidding me, Zibalbe, to wander forth from the country of the heart, following the road to the sea, for there I should find that which was lost. Fither then, having won the permission of my council, the brotherhood of the heart, I have wandered alone with my daughter, the Lady Maya, suffering much hardship and danger in my journeyings. And lo, I have found that which was lost, and brought it back to you, for here it hangs upon the neck of this Ignatio, who has accompanied me from the lands beyond the desert. Now a murmur of astonishment went up from the multitude, and Zibalbe paused a while. Of this matter of the finding of the symbol, he continued, I will speak more fully at the proper time, and to those who have a right to hear it, namely to the elected brotherhood of the heart in the holy sanctuary on the day of the rising of waters being one of the eight days in each year on which it is lawful for the council of the heart to meet in the sanctuary. But first, in this hour, I will deal with other questions. It is known to you that when I went upon my mission, I left my nephew to Cal to sit in my place, it being agreed between us and the council, that if I should return no more within two years, he should become Cachique of the people. I have returned within one year, and I find this, that already he has allowed himself to be anointed Cachique, and more that he who was a fiance to my daughter has taken another woman to be his wife. Last night with my own ears I heard him proclaim his treachery in the hall of the palace, and when I spoke out the bitterness that was in my heart, I, your Lord, was met with threats and told that to Cal having been anointed, could not now be deposed. I use the saying against him, nobles, I have been anointed and ruled over you and the people for many years, and can I then be deposed, I who am not a traitor to my master, nor a force-swearer on my oaths as is my nephew Yonder? Again he paused, and some of the audience with those who had accompanied the ball they shouted, no, but the most of them looked towards to Cal and were silent. Now Matai rose from his place behind to Cal and spoke, saying, As one who had to do with the anointing of to Cal to be Cachique when we believed you and the Lady Maya to be dead, I would ask you, Zibalbe, before we on this side of the altar answer you to tell us openly what is the meaning of this journey that you have undertaken, and for what purpose have you brought these two strangers who are named Ignotiu and son of the sea with you in defiance of the ancient law which says that he who brings a stranger across the mountains into the land of the city of the heart shall die together with the strangers. Now when Zibalbe heard this question he started, for he had forgotten this law and saw the cunning trap that Matai had spread for his feet. Nevertheless he answered boldly since it was his nature to be outspoken and straightforward. It becomes you ill Matai to question me you who have proved yourself a plotter and a lying prophet reading in the stars that I and my daughter were dead will we still draw the breath of life beneath them? Yet I will answer you and scorning the subterfuge or falsehood set out the whole matter in the hearing of the people that they may judge between me your party and your master. First I will say that I have forgotten the law of which you speak, once forth I have broken the letter but at any time I remembered it my necessities caused me to disregard it. Learn then that the stranger Ignatio is of royal Indian blood and the holder of that symbol which I went forth to seek and that the white man whom you call son of the sea is as a brother to him and that both of them are the fellowship of the heart. The Lord Ignatio being no less a man than the master of the order in yonder lands as I am here. This Lord Ignatio I summoned to me and he came. He came and with his companion son of the sea saved me and my daughter from shame and death at the hands of certain murderers white men. Then when we had escaped we tried each other and laid the symbols side by side and lo, day and night came together and they were one. Then also I told him the story of how it happened that I was wandering far from my own place and he told me what was his purpose and the desire of his life. This is his purpose to break the yoke that the white man has set upon the neck of the Indians in the far lands and to build up a mighty Indian nation stretching from sea to sea where of this city heart of the world shall be the center and the capital. Then we made a compact together a compact that cannot be broken and it was this that the Lord Ignatio with the white man his companion from whom he will not be separated should accompany us here where the symbols should be set in the appointed place that the prophecy may be fulfilled and the fortune return to us that I should give him so much as he may need of the treasures which lie useless in our storehouses wherewith he may arm troops and bring about his ends and that in return he should bring to us what we need far more than gold and gems men and women with whom we may intermarry so that our race ceasing to dwindle may once again multiply and grow great. Such nobles is our compact and this is the path which the God who rules us has pointed out for our feet to tread accept it and grow great refuse it and perish for know that not for myself do I speak who am old and near to death but for you in your prosperity forever be not bewildered or amazed for though these things are new to you it may well chance that after the council of the heart has been celebrated in the sanctuary on the night of the rising waters the God whom we worship the nameless God under whose guidance all these things have comes about will reveal his purpose by the mouth of his oracle and show what part these strangers and each of us shall play in the fate that is to be oh nobles and my people let not your sight be dim nor your heart hardened and put not away the fortune and the future that lies before you I have dared much for your sake dare a little for your own shut your ears and your gates and rise and rebellion against me and I tell you that soon there shall remain of you and your glorious home scarcely a memory be gentle and be guided by my wisdom and the will of your gods and your fame and power shall cover the world I you shall be to what you were as in the sun in all its glory to some faint and fading star I have spoken now choose he ceased and for a while there was silence the silence of a maze for the nobles stared on each other in such of the common people as were within earshot stood gaping at him with open mouths since to them who did not meddle in matters of policy and indeed thought little for themselves his words had small meaning presently it was broken and by Tikal who sprang from his seat and cried aloud of a truth they were wise who said that this old man was mad have you heard and understood oh people of the heart this is what you must do to fulfill the will of Zerbalbe first you must set him in his place again giving him all power and me you must condemn to death or chains next you must pardon him his breaches of the law the law that he of all men was bound to keep then you must hand over your treasures the treasures hoarded by your forefathers for many a generation to these wandering thieves whom he has brought with him lastly you must open your gates which have been kept secret for a thousand years to other thieves that they shall lead here to whom forsooth you must give your women in marriage that the race may be increased say will you do these things children of the heart now all the nobles who stood behind Tikal shouted never and the people beyond took up the cry with a voice of thunder though the most of them understood Tikal held up his hand and there was silence you will not do them he said and base indeed were you who had answered otherwise what then will you do tell me first whom do you choose as your ruler my uncle who now is mad and would bring you to shame and ruin or me to preserve your ancient laws we choose you Tikal Tikal came the answer I thank you he cried but what then shall be done with this old man and those whom he has brought with him to spy out our secrets and rob us kill them before the altar they shouted waving their swords Tikal thought for a moment then pointed toward us and said seize these men at his word a hundred or more of the nobles who evidently had been instructed to execute his orders rushed at us suddenly as they came across the open space I saw the senior put his hand to his belt and said to him for the love of God do not strike for should you touch one of them they will certainly kill us that they will do in any case but as you wish he answered then they broke on us as they came all the nobles who had followed Zabolbe to the crest of the pyramid gave way before their rush leaving the three of us and the lady Maya standing alone coward said Zabolbe glancing behind him then he drew his machete and with a shout cut down those who assailed us a great noble in another instant the weapon was struck from him and the senior and I were being dragged towards the altar followed by Zabolbe and the lady Maya upon whom however our assailants laid no hand what shall we do with these men cried Tikal again again the nobles answered kill them so they threw us down and men came at us with swords to make an end of us which indeed they would have done quickly had not the lady Maya sprung forward and standing over the senior cried hold in so piercing a voice that they stayed their hands listen people of the heart she said would you do murder upon your own holy altar staining it with the blood and men you talk of broken laws is there not a law in the city that none can be put to death except after trial before the Kachike and his council have these men been tried and if so by whom you say that my father your lawful ruler is deposed if that is so not Tikal whom am his heir rule in his stead and I have passed no judgment on them now with her words there was a murmur of mingled doubt and applause but Tikal answered her saying lady the law you quote holds good for you for your father and for every citizen of the heart however humble but in the case of these men it does not hold for they are wandering strangers who can claim no protection from our justice and therefore it is right that they should die it is not right that they should die she answered passionately you Tikal have you serped my father's place and now you would celebrate the beginning of your rule by a deed of the foulest murder I tell you that these men are innocent all offence if any are guilty it is my father and I and if any should suffer we should suffer more she went on with flashing eyes if these men to whom we have sworn safe conduct must die then for my part I will die with them and whether I pass by your hands or by my own may the curse of my blood rest upon you forever and for ever as she spoke she snatched a knife from her jeweled girdle and stood before them its bare blade glittering in the sunlight looking so beautiful and fierce that the nobles fell back from her and hundreds of the people applauded saying here the lady Maya and obey her she is catchy cake and no other now Zabalbe who had covered his eyes with his hands looked up and said you are right daughter since the people reject us and we cannot even protect our guests it is best that we should die with them and once more be covered his eyes with his hands then there came a pause and a sound of whispering I looked up between the sword blades which were pointed at my throat and saw that Nahua was standing at the side of her lord and pleading with him they were so close to me that my hearing always king being sharpened more ever by the fear of instant death enabled me to catch some of their talk she will do what she says said Nahua and that will be your ruin for if her father is hated she is beloved and many will rise to a venture because of a white wanderer he asked Nahua shrugged her shoulders and smiled darkly as she answered who can tell he is her friend and women have been known to give their lives for their friends do as you will but if Maya dies I do not think that we will live to see another dawn and leaving his side she sought her chair again now Tikal looked at the senior who was stretched upon the ground beside me and seeing that there was hate in his eyes I trembled thinking that the end had come then turned my head aside and began to command my soul to the care of heaven as I prayed he spoke addressing himself to Maya lady he said you have appealed to the law on behalf of these wanderers of your father and of yourself and by the law you shall be dealt with tomorrow the judges shall be chosen and hold their court here before the people it cannot be Tikal she answered calmly there is but one court which can try us for all of whom are brethren of the heart and that is the council of the heart sitting in the sanctuary which assembles on the eighth day from now on the night of the rising waters is it not so nobles if you are the number of the brethren of the heart all of you it is so they answered so be it said Tikal but still then I must hold you in safe keeping well it please you to follow Matai lady and you my lord Zabolbe guards bring these men to the watch house yonder and keep them there till I come to you Maya bowed and turned to the audience she said in a clear voice farewell my people if we are seeing no more you will know that my father and I have been done to death by Tikal who has usurped our place and to you I leave it to take vengeance for our blood end of chapter 16 heart of the world by H. Ryder Haggard this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org chapter 17 the curse of Zabolbe thankful enough was I to rise from the ground feeling my life whole in me death has been near to us said the senior with something between a sob and a laugh as we followed Zabolbe and Maya into the guard house he is near to us still I answered but at least unless Tikal changes his mind we have won some days of respite he said nodding towards Maya and as he spoke we entered the guard house a small chamber with a massive door somewhat roughly furnished so soon as we were in the door was shut upon us and we found ourselves alone Zabolbe sat himself down and fixing his eyes upon the wall stared at it as though it offered no hindrance to his sight but the rest of us stood together near the door listening to the turmoil of the multitude without clearly argument ran high among them for we could hear the sound of angry voices of shouting and of the scurrying footfalls of the people leaving the pyramid by way of the great stare you have saved our lives for a while for which we owe you thanks of the senior to Maya presently but tell me what will you with us now I cannot say she answered but in this pyramid our chambers where we shall be hidden away until our day of trial at the least I think so for they dare not let us out among the people lest we should cause a tumult in the city before the words had left her lips the door was opened and through it came Tikal, Matai and other great lords who were hostile to Zibalbe what is your pleasure with us as Zibalbe awakening from his dream that you should follow me answered to call sternly you and the others adding with a low bow to Maya forgive me lady that I must exercise this violence toward you and your father but I have no other choice if I would save you from the vengeance of the people it is not the vengeance of the people that we have to fear to call she answered quietly but rather your hate which it is in your power to appease lady he said in a low voice it may be in my power but not in my will she answered setting her lips come cousin take us to the dungeon that you have prepared for us as you wish he said follow me and he led the way across the guard house through a sleeping chamber of the priests that lay behind it and to the farther wall that was hidden by a curtain this curtain on being drawn revealed a small stone door which Matai having first lit some lamps that stood ready in the chamber unlocked with a key that hung at his door one by one we passed through the door to call proceeding us and Matai with others of the great lords to number of six followed after us beyond the door lay a flight of twenty steps then came a gate of copper bars on the further side of this gate were flight upon flight of steps joined together by landings and running now in this direction the walls of the mighty pyramid at length when my limbs were weary of descending so many stairs we found ourselves in front of other gates larger and more beautifully worked than those that we had already passed presently they clanged behind us and we stood in a vast apartment or hall that was built in the heart of the pyramid it would seem that this hall had been made for our coming for it was lighted with many silver lamps and in one part of it rugs were laid on which stood tables and seats so great was the place that the light of the lamps shown in it only as stars shine in the sky still as we passed down it we saw that its roof was vaulted and that its walls and floors were of white marble finally polished once as we learned afterwards it had served as the assembly rooms for the priests of the temple but now that they were so few it was not used except from time to time as a prison for offenders of high rank at intervals along its length were doors leading to sleeping in other chambers some of the doors were open and as we passed the Matai told us that these were to be our bed chambers then having announced that food would be brought to us the nobles headed by Tikal withdraw and we heard the copper gates clash and the echo of their footsteps die into nothingness upon the endless stairs for a while we stood staring at each other in silence it was the ball bay who broke it and his voice rang strangely in the vaulted place it is his hour now he said shaking his fists toward the stair by which Tikal had left us let him pray that mine may never come and suddenly he turned and walking to the couch flung himself upon it and buried his face in his hands Maya followed him and bending down strove to comfort him but he waved her away to us this is a gloomy place of the senor and a half whisper for here one scarcely dared to speak aloud because of the echoes that ran about the walls but dark though it is it seems safer than the summit of the pyramid where soared points are so many and he pointed to a little cut upon his throat it is safe enough Maya answered with a bitter laugh safely will it keep our bones till the world's end through these gates and the men that guard them there is no escape and the death that threatened us in the sunshine shall overtake us in the shadow did I not warn you against this mad quest and the seeking of the city of my people I warned you both and you would not listen and now the trouble is at hand and your lives will pay for the forfeit for your folly and my fathers what must be must be answered the senor with a sigh but for my part I hope that the worst is past and that they will not kill us it was your father's rashness which brought these evils on us and perhaps misfortune may teach him wisdom never she answered shaking her head for they are right on this matter he is mad as you Ignatio are mad also come let us look at our prison for I have not seen it till this hour and taking one of the hand lamps that stood near she walked down the length of the hall at its further end were gates similar to those at which we had entered and through them came a draft of air where do they lead I asked I do not know she answered perhaps to the sanctuary by a secret way at least the pyramid is full of these chambers that in old days were used for many things such as the storage of corn and weapons and the burying places of priests thousands of whom are at rest within it now they are empty and deserted as we walked back again before a wooden door stood a jar leading into one of the chambers of which I had spoken let us go in said Maya pushing it open and we entered to find ourselves in a small room lined with shells on these shells each of which was numbered lay hundreds of rolls thickly covered with dust Maya took up one of them at a hazard and unrolled the parchment revealing a manuscript beautifully executed in the picture painting of the Indians this must be nearly a thousand years old she said I know it by the style of the painting well we shall not lack history to read while we sojourn here and she threw the priceless roll back on its shelf and left the chamber a few steps further on we came to another room of which the door was closed the fountain was the woodwork with age that a push freed it from its fastenings and we entered here also there were shells packed some of them with yellow and some of them with white bars of metal copper and lead said the senior glancing at them not so said Maya with a laugh but that which you white men covet gold and silver look what is painted above the shelves and she held up the lamp and read pure metal from the southern mines set apart for the service of the temple of the heart and of the temples of the east and west of gold of silver such a weight I stared and my eyes grew greedy for here is in this one room neglected and forgotten enough wealth to carry out my purpose three times over stored there by the four fathers of this strange rust eaten race if only I could see one half of it safe across the mountains how great might be my future and that of the people which I live to serve perhaps you may win it after all Ignatius and Maya interpreting my thoughts but to be frank I fear you will gain nothing except a sepulchre and these gloomy vaults after this we visited several chambers that were empty or filled only with the wreck of mothy and tapestries and curious furniture till at length we came to a room a rather a large cupboard piled from floor to ceiling with golden vessels of the most quaint and ancient workmanship which had been discarded by the priests and cast aside as worthless why I do not know in front of this gleaming piles stood a chest unlocked that the senior opened it was packed with priestly ornaments of gold set with great emeralds Maya picked out a belt from the box and gave it to me saying take it Ignatius and you love such trinkets it will set off that robe of yours look at and put it on not over my robe but beneath it my friend it is the clasp of that belt which now is yours that I showed you a while ago and with the price of the other gems in it I bought this hacienda and all of its lands wearied at length of the sight of so much useless treasure we returned to Zibalbe who was seated with him lost in thought at this moment the gates of our prison were opened and men came through them escorted by captains of the guard bringing with them food in plenty which they set upon the table waiting on us while we ate but speaking no word good or bad our meal finished they cleared away the fragments and having replenished the lamps and prepared the chambers for us to sleep in they bowed and left us for a while we sat round the table Zibalbe and I in silence and Maya and the senior talking together in a low voice till at length the dreariness of the place overcame us and as though by a common impulse we rose and sought the sleeping vaults there to rest if we might we slept and woke and rose again whether it were night or day here where no light came we could not tell indeed as time went on our only means of distinguishing the other from the other was by the visits of those who brought our food and waited on us I think it must have been in the early afternoon of the day following that on which we were imprisoned that Tikal visited us accompanied only by four guards a small band said the seniors he watched them advance but enough to put us to death who are unarmed for all our weapons had been taken from us if such should be their will have no fear friends said Maya they will not do murder so openly by now Tikal stood before us bowing and Zibalbe who as usual is seated brooding at the table looked up and saw him what do you seek traitor he asked angrily the blood flushing beneath his withered skin would you kill us if so slay on for thus shall I come the sooner to the bosom of that God whose vengeance I shall call down upon you I am no murderer Zibalbe answered to call if you die it will be by the command of the law that you have broken and not by mine I am here to speak with you if you will come apart with me then speak on before these others or leave your words unsaid he answered for not one step will I stir with you who doubtless seek some opportunity to stab me in the back yet it is necessary that you should hear what I have to say but Zibalbe say on then traitor or go Tikal thought for a while looking doubtfully at Maya from whose face indeed he rarely took his eyes it is your wish that I should withdraw she asked shortly it is not mine said Zibalbe now Tikal hesitated no longer but bidding the guards who had accompanied him to fall back out of earshot he said listen Zibalbe yesterday before the gathering on the pyramid I saw your daughter the lady Maya and spoke with her telling her that now as always I loved her although believing her to be dead for reasons I state I had taken another woman to my wife then I made her this offer that if she would consent to become my wife I would put away now whom I had married moreover I added this that I would give up my place as Kachike to you Zibalbe whose it is by right to hold for as long as you should live and would not oppose you or your policy in any matter I told her on the other hand that if she refused to become my wife I would surrender nothing but would put out my strength to crush you and her and these strangers your friends she answered me with contempt saying that I might do my worst but she would have not to say to me what happened afterwards you know Zibalbe and you know also the danger in which you stand today all that power has left you and your very life trembles in the balance he paused and Zibalbe who had been listening to his words a maze turned to my and said sternly does this man speak lies daughter as she was about to answer though what she meant to say I do not know to Cal broke in what is the use of asking her Zibalbe it is to be thought that she will answer you truly though I speak truth this wanderer who stands at your side can bear witness for he was present and heard my words this offer I made to her and that it may be put beyond a doubt now I make it to her and to you again if she will take me in marriage for her sake I will put away now I will lay down my rule and set you in your place again with liberty so long as you shall live to work such follies as the gods may suffer all these things I will do because I love her to whom I have been a fiance from my youth better than all because she is as the light to my eyes and the breath to my nostrils and without her I have no joy in life as I have had none I have moved her to be dead Zibalbe heard and rising lifted his hand to the vault above him and said I thank thee O God who in answer to my prayers has shown me a way to escape from the troubles that beset me Tikal it shall be as you wish and we will swear our peace upon the altar of the heart doubtless there will be trouble with Matai and some of his following but if we stand together they can be overcome rejoice with me Ignacio my friend for now the seed that we have planted with so much labour shall bring forth golden fruit here I heard the senior groan with doubt and wrath behind me and knew that like so many others this vision which filled this glory must be brought to nothing because of the fancy of a woman your pardon Zibalbe I interrupted the lady Maya has not spoken spoken he exclaimed why what should she say what I said to my cousin Tikal yesterday she answered setting her lips and speaking very low that I will have nothing to do with him nothing to do with him girl nothing to do with him why he is your fianced you do not understand I understand well father but for not that can be offered to me upon the earth will I give myself and marriage to a man who has treated you and me as my cousin Tikal has done a man who could not keep his oath to you or wait for me one single year cease to be foolish said Zibalbe Tikal has aired no doubt but now he would make atonement for his error and I can forgive him so can you think no more of the girls folly Tikal but send for ink and parchment and let us set down our contract for I am old and have little time to lose perhaps for another year has gone that which you would have snatched by force shall come to you by right I have the paper here Lord said to call drawing a roll from his breast but pardon me does the lady Maya consent aye aye she consents I do not consent father and if you drag me to the altar with yonder man I will fly out to the people to protect me or failing their aid I will seek refuge in death by my own hand if need be now Zibalbe turned upon his daughter trembling with rage but checking himself of a sudden he said Tikal for the moment this girl of mine is mad leave us and come back in some few hours when you shall find her in another mine go now I pray before words are said that cannot be forgotten Tikal turned and went and until the gates at the far end of the hall had clashed behind him and his guards there was silence then Zibalbe spoke to his daughter girl he said I know your heart and that your lips spoke a lie when you told us that it was because of Tikal's forgetfulness of his vow and troth that you will not marry him there is another reason of which you have not spoken this white man who is in our country is named James Strickland is the reason you have suffered yourself to look on him with longing and you cannot pluck his image from your heart do I speak the truth you speak the truth father she answered placing her hand in that of the senior as she said the words to you at least I will not lie I thank you daughter now hear me I am sorry for your plight and for that of the white man if indeed he would make of you anything more than his toy but here your wishes must give way to the common good who and what are you that your whims should stand between me and the fulfillment of my lifelong desire between your people and their redemption must all these things come to nothing because of the fancies of a love sick girl whose poor beauty as it chances by favor of the gods can avail to bring them about it seems so father she said seeing that in this matter my duty to myself and to him who loves me and whom I love is higher than my duty to you in your scheme everything else you who are my father may require of me even to my life but my honor is my own what shall I say to this headstrong girl gasp sabal bay speak white man and tell me that you renounce her for surely your heart is not so wicked that it will lead you to consent to this folly and to your own undoing to stand between her and her destiny now all eyes were fixed upon the senior who turned pale in the lamp light and answered slowly sabal bay I grieve to vex you but your daughter's destiny and mine are one nor can I command her to forsake me and give herself in marriage to a man she hates yet it seems that you command her to break her plighted troth for your sake oh most honorable white man said sabal bay with a bitter laugh harken friend ignace you for you at least are not in love tell your brother there and this rebellious girl which way their duty lies teach them that we are sent here to dwell upon the earth for higher ends than the satisfying of our own desires stay before you speak remember that with this matter your own fate is interwoven remember how you have suffered and striven for many years remember all you have undergone to win what today lies in your grasp the wealth that shall enable you to carry out your purposes there in these vaults it lies to your hand and if that not be enough I will give you more take it ignace you take it to bribe your enemies and pay your armies and become a king a righteous king crowned by heaven to complete the destinies of our race say such words as shall bend this girl and her lover to our will and triumph or fail to say them and some few days hence meet the end of a thief at the hands of Tikal now speak I heard him and my heart stood still within me alas his words were true and now was the turning point of my fate if the girl would give herself to Tikal who was mad with love of her all would be well and within three years the dream of my race fulfilled and the vengeance of generations accomplished upon the spawn of the accursed Spaniard there in these vaults useless and forgotten lay the treasures that I needed and yonder in Mexico were men in thousands who by their means might be armed and led but between me and them stood the desire of this woman and the folly of my friend oh truly had my heart warn me against her when first I learned to know her lovely face having foreknowledge of the evil that she should bring upon me with her I could do nothing for who can turn a woman from her love or hate but with my friend it was otherwise he would listen to me if I pleaded with him seeing that not only my hopes but every life hung upon his answer and no true man has the right to bring others to their death in order that he may fulfill the wishes of his heart also it would be better that he should be separated from this girl who was not of his blood and color and whose love soon or late would be his undoing surely I should do well to go to the man whose affiance she had been and he would do well to hearken to me almost the entreaty was upon my lips when Maya reading my thought touched me on the arm and whispered remember your oath Ignatio then I called to mind what I had promised Yonder in the desert when by her courage she had saved her lover's life and knew that once again a woman must be my ruin since it is better to lose all than to break such vows as this Ziborbe I said I cannot plead your cause and mine though not to do so be our destruction seeing that I have sworn that come what may between these two today for the second time in my life my plans are brought to nothing by the passion of a woman well, so it is fated and so let it be Ziborbe did not answer me but turning to the senior he said white man you have heard from your friend words that should touch you more deeply than any prayer will you still cling to your purpose and take advantage of my daughter's madness if so know that your triumph shall be short for when in some few hours T'Kal comes again I will tell him all and give you over to his keeping to deal with as he wishes then heaven help you wanderer for he is vengeful by nature nor is that life likely to be long which bars the way between a ruler of men and the woman he would wed answer then and for the last time do you choose life or death I choose death he said boldly if the price of life be the breaking of my troth and the surrender of my bride to another man I am sorry for you Ziborbe and for you Ignatio my friend I am still more sorry but it is fate not I that has brought these evils on you if Ignatio here cannot forget his oath how much less can I forget mine I am sworn with this lady moreover worse fortune even than today's would come upon us if I did seeing that such cowardice could breed no luck therefore till the Lady Maya renounces me for good or for evil in death or in life I will cleave to her and in death or in life I will cleave to you what she said take such vengeance as you wish upon us my father yes if you wish it give over this man to whom my heart drew me across the mountains and the desert to die at the hands of Tikal but know that he will hold me faster dead than he did while he was alive for into the valley of death I shall follow him swiftly now at last the rage of Zimbabwe broke loose and it was terrible rising from his seat he shook his clenched hands above his daughter's head and cursed her till in her fear she shrank away from him to her lover's breast as with my last breath he cried I pray that curse and of me your father may rest upon you and your children may your desire turn to ashes in your mouth and may death rob you of its fruit may your heart break by inches for remorse and sorrow and your name become a hissing and a shame oh I seem to see the future and I tell you daughter that you shall win him for whose sake you brought your father to death and ruin by fraud shall you win him and for a while he shall lie at your side and this is the price that shall be asked of you and that you shall pay the doom of your race and its destruction at your hands he paused gasping for breath and Maya fell at his knees sobbing oh father unsay those words and spare me have you no pity for a woman's heart aye he said so much pity as you have for my sorrows and gray hair why should I spare you girl who have not spared me your father my curse is spoken and I will add this to it that it will break your heart at last I and the heart of that man who has robbed me of your duty and your love then suddenly he ceased speaking his eyes grew empty he stretched out his arms and fell heavily to the floor end of chapter 17 heart of the world chapter 18 the plot springing forward but too late to save him the senor and I lifted Zabalbe from the ground and laid him on a couch peeping over our shoulders Maya caught sight of his gasping and he fell at his knees sobbing his eyes grew empty he stretched out his arms and fell heavily to the floor as Maya caught sight of his ghastly face and the foam upon his lips oh he is dead, shimo my father is dead and he died cursing me no, said the senor he is not dead for his heart stirs bring water Maya she obeyed and for hard upon two hours we struggled to restore his sense but in vain life lingered indeed but we could not stir him from his stupor at length as we were resting wearied with our fruitless labor the gates opened and Tikal came again what now he asked seeing the form of Zabalbe stretched upon the couch does the old man sleep yes he sleeps, answered the senor and I think that he will wake no more the words he spoke to you today are coming true and that which you took from him by force will soon be yours by right no, answered Tikal by right it will be the lady Maya's yonder though by force it may remain mine unless indeed she gives it to me of her own free will but say how did this come about now I broken hastily fearing less the senor should tell too much and thus bring some swift and awful fate upon himself he was worn out with the fatigue of our journey and the excitement of yesterday after you had left he began to talk of your proposals and suddenly was taken with this fit these matters are not for me to speak of who am but a prisoner in a strange land still lord it will not look well of he who once was Kachike of this city dies here and unattended for then people may say that you have murdered him have you no doctors who can be summoned to minister to him for without drugs or even a bleeding knife we have done all we can do murdered him that they will say in any case yes there are doctors here and the best and the greatest of them is Matai my father-in-law I will send him but Maya before I go he will not be heard for me Maya who was seated by the table her face buried in her hands looked up and said is your heart stone that you can trouble me in such an hour when my father is recovered or dead I will answer you and not before so be it lady he said till then I will wait now I must get hence for there this news is known a while past and Matai appeared before us followed by one who carried his scales and medicines without speaking he came to where Zabalbey lay and examined him by the light of a lamp then he poured medicine down his throat and waited as though he expected to see him rise but he neither rose nor stirred a bad case he said I fear that he will awake no more how came he thus do you wish to know as Maya speaking for the first time then bid your attendants stand back and I will tell you my father yonder was smitten down while he cursed me and his rage and why did he curse you lady for this reason while we wandered in the wilderness my cousin and my betrothed took a wife your daughter now who was crowned with him as lady of the heart but it seems Matai that though he gave your daughter place and power he gave her no love for today this son-in-law of yours came to my father and in the presence of all offered to set him in his lawful place again to carry out his schemes whatever they might be if I would but consent to become his wife to become his wife said Matai in amazement how could you become his wife when he is married can there be two ladies of the heart no answered Maya quietly but the proposal of to call my cousin is that he should either put away or kill your daughter and you with her Matai in order that he may set me in her place now when Matai heard this his quick eyes flashed and his very beard seemed to bristle with rage he proposed that he dared to propose that he gasped oh let him have a care I set him up and perchance I can pull him down again continue lady he proposed it and my father agreed to the offer for knowing that you have plotted against him he had little care for the honor and safety of you or your house Matai but if my father accepted I refuse seeing that it is not my wish to have more to do with the cow then my father cursed me and while he cursed was stricken down you say that it is your wish to marry Tikal lady is it then your wish to marry any other man yes she answered letting her eyes fall I love this white lord here whom you name son of the sea and I would become his wife I would become his wife she went on after a pause but Matai Tikal is very strong and it may be unless I can help elsewhere that in order to save the life of the man I love of his friend and mine Ignatio and mine my own I shall be forced into the arms of Tikal but now Tikal has asked me for my answer and I have told him that I will give it when my father is recovered or dead perhaps it will be for you to say what that answer shall be for alone and in present I am not strong enough to stand against Tikal say now do the people love me well enough to depose Tikal and set me in my father's place should he die I cannot say lady he answered shortly but at the least you will scarcely ask me thus to bring about my own and my daughters ruin I shall be open with you I gained over the council of the heart of Tutikal's cause and my price was that he should marry my daughter thereby satisfying her love and my ambition yes I have plotted to set Nawa on high both for her sake and for my own seeing that after the kachike I sought to be the chief man in the city can I then turn round myself with him and if I did what would be my fate at your hands in the days to count no I seek to be revenge on Tikal indeed who has offered so deadly and affront to me and mine but it must be in some other way than this tell me now lady what is it that you desire most to be the kachike of the city by your right or to marry the man you love I desire to marry the man I love she answered and to escape from this place with him back to those lands where white men live I desire also that my friend and my lord's friend Ignatio should be given as much gold as he needs to enable him to carry out his purposes in the coast country yonder if things can be brought about thus Tikal and noah and their descendants for ought I care may rule the city of the heart till the world's end you ask little enough lady said Matai and it shall go hard if I cannot get it for you now I will leave you for I must have time to think but if Tikal returns say him neither yay nor nay till we have spoken again and as for you strangers remember that your lives depend upon your caution farewell two more days passed or so we reckoned by the number of meals that were brought to us but neither Tikal nor Matai returned to visit us other doctors came indeed and saw Zabalbe who lay upon his bed like one plunged in a deep sleep and the remedies they were of no avail on the night of the second day we were gathered round his couch watching him and talking together sadly enough for the solitude the darkness and the fear of impending death had broken our spirits so that even the senor ceased to be merry and the presence of her beloved to give comfort to Maya alas she said it was an evil day we met yonder in the land of Yucatan and friend no gift could have been more unlucky than that of my love to you for which being worth so little you are doomed to pay so dear fortune has gone hardly with you also Ignatio who are fated thus for the second time to see a woman wreck your hopes say now friend and she caught your hand would it not be best that we should make an end of all this folly and that I should give myself to Tikal then I could bargain for you both that before I pass to him I should with my own eyes see you safe across the mountains taking that with you which would make you rich for life your need you trouble for me think that you left me to dishonor for so soon as you were gone I should seek the arms of another lord whose name is death and there take my rest till in some day unborn you came to join me cease to talk thus Maya said the senior drawing her to his breast whatever there is to bear we will under go together since even if I could be no basis to buy safety at such a price without you my life would be worth nothing to me indeed I had rather die at your side than live on alone it is my fault that ever we came to this past seeing that if I had taken your counsel we should not have set foot within the city of the heart but curiosity conquered me for I longed to see the place as now I longed to see the last of it also had we turned back I must have left Ignacio to go on alone keep your courage sweetheart for though your father is dying and our danger is great I am sure that we shall escape from these dungeons and be happy with each other beneath the sunlight then he kissed her upon the lips and comforted her wiping away the tears that ran from her blue eyes it was at this moment that I looked up and saw Matai standing in the doorway for we were gathered not in the hall but in Zabalbey's chamber watching the scene curiously and with a softened face greeting he said and forgive me that I come so late but my business is secret and such as is best done at night in Zabalbey he lives I answered I can say no more for he is senseless and without doubt soon must die come see for yourself Matai walked to the bed and examined the old man lifting the eyelids and feeling his heart he cannot live long he said well death is his best friend now to my business there is trouble in the city and strange rumors pass from mouth to mouth among the people many of whom declare that Tikal has murdered Zabalbey and demand that you lady should be brought before them to be named Kachike in his place things being so it has been urged upon Tikal by the chiefs of his party that as do what he will he can never clear himself Zabalbey it would be well that he should make away with you also lady and of course with these two strangers your friends seeing that then there will be none to dispute his rights the matter was laid before him strongly at a secret council held this afternoon and once he issued the order for your deaths only to recall it because the messenger left the palace at the last I saw that his heart overcame his reason and he could not bear thus to divorce himself from you lady though what he said was that he would not stain his hands with the blood of one so innocent and fair still I will not hide from you lady or from you strangers that your danger is very great that you go indeed in jeopardy of your life from one hour to the next now he paused and Maya asked in a low voice have you no plan to save us Matai why should I have a plan lady who with my house would benefit so greatly by your death I do not know why you should have a plan old man broke in the senior you will do well to make one else you do not leave this place alive as he spoke with a sudden movement he sprang between Matai in the door and went on if we are to be murdered like birds in a cage at least your neck shall be twisted first do you understand I understand son of the sea answered Matai flinching a little before the senior's fierce face and hand out stretches though to grip him but I would have you understand something also namely that if I do not return presently there are some without who will come to seek me and then then they will find your carcass broken the senior and what with all your plots and schemes advantage you when you are a lump of senseless clay little indeed I confess he answered still my daughter whom I love better than myself will reap some profit and with that in this sad case I must be content but do not be so hasty white man I asked why I should have a plan I did not say that I had none then if you have one let us hear it without more ado said the senior Matai bowed and as he answered your will is mine but I know not how my plan will please the lady maya yonder therefore before I unfold it I will make it clear to you that there is but one alternative the death of all of you by tomorrow's light your lives lie in my hand and if I must do so to save my daughter and myself I shall not hesitate to take them any more than I shall hesitate to take yours man said the senior grimly for remember always that if you do not make your plan such as we can accept you will leave this chamber feet first with a broken neck again Matai bowed and continued in one way only has to call been able to pacify the tumult among the people by declaring that the lady maya shall be produced before the council of the heart in the sanctuary of the nameless god upon the night of the rising of waters being the first day when it is lawful for the council to sit in the sanctuary and afterwards at dawn in the eyes of the whole city the words of Zabalbe have taken a strange hold of the people although they cried him down as he spoke them they desire to know what will happen when the prophecy is fulfilled and once more the severed halves of the symbol of the heart are laid side by side in their place upon the altar Zabalbe told them he believed that then the god would reveal his purpose and show what part each of you should play in the faith that is to be therefore the people I and many among the nobles and even the council of the heart look to see some sign or wonder when day and night are come together and that which was parted is made one they begin to hold that the madness of Zabalbe is from heaven and that the voice of heaven sent him on his journey now Matai thought for a while and went on lady I am old and for many years I have followed the worship of the gods doing sacrifice to them and importuning them with prayers yet never have I known the gods to make answer to their votaries or heard the voices of the immortals speaking into human ears it seems that gods are many thus perchance these strangers have their own and lady thus it comes that in my age I ask myself if there are any gods other than those that the mind of man has shape from nothingness or fashion in the likeness of his own passions I cannot tell but I think that were I and so sore as straight as you find yourselves tonight I should not hesitate to give a voice to those dumb gods what is your meaning as Maya this when the severed halves of the heart are set in their place upon the altar if there be any gods they should give a sign thus as I whom the keeper of the sanctuary know the ancient symbol on the altar is hollow if it were to chance to open it might be that a writing would be found within it an ancient writing of the gods prepared against the present time that shall be to us as a lantern to one wandering in the dark or it might be that nothing would be found now as it happens and searching through the earliest records of the temple I have discovered a certain writing and it seems to me that your fortune would be great if this writing should lie within the symbol on the night of the rising waters here it is from his robe he produced a small plate of dull gold covered over with hieroglyphics read it said Maya then Matai read this is the voice of the nameless god that his prophet heard in the year of the building of the sanctuary engraved upon a tablet of gold which he set in a secret place in the symbol of the sanctuary to be declared in that far off hour when the lost is found in the signs of the day and night are come together to thee it speaks unborn daughter of a chief to be whose name is the name of a nation when my people have grown old and their numbers are lessened and their heart is faint then maiden take to myself a husband a man of the race of the white god a son of the sea foam whom now shall lead hither across the desert so my people shall once more prosper and grow strong and the land shall be to thy child and the child of the god east and west and north and south further than my eagles wing between and set he finished reading and there was silence as we looked on each other amazed at the boldness and the cunning of this old priest and plotter it was Maya who spoke first you have forged this writing Matai she said coldly now you desire that I should set it in the symbol for you are mindful of that curse which is written in the ritual opening of the heart against him who shall profane its mysteries or who shall dare to tell a lie within the sanctuary or to swear falsely by the symbol in short if you do not fear the vengeance of the god you fear the vengeance of the order to speak truth lady I fear both for in offering insult to the nameless god who knows what he offends still you must make your choice and swiftly seeing that if you refuse the deed by tomorrow you will have learned or perhaps remembering the words of the white lord I should say we shall have learned what virtue there is in the religions now she turned to us saying advise me my friends for I know not what to answer in the faith of my people I have lost faith and it is to yours that I look for comfort yet the deed seems awful for if we are not worshippers of the nameless god still we are all of us brethren of the ancient mysteries of the heart and to do this thing would be to break our solemn oaths come let us put it to the vote and do you who are the oldest and the wisest among us vote first Ignatio so be it I answered for my part I give my voice against the trick of the gods of your people I know nothing and think less but I am the master of our order in my own land and I will not offend against it to do this thing would be to act the greatest of lies and a lie is a sin in the face of heaven all men must die but I wish to pass to doom with my hands unstained by fraud still in this matter your lives are at stake as well as mine therefore if of the three of us two are in favor of the act I will be bound by their decision but if only one is in favor of my ours good let it be so Sidmaya and now beloved speak and tell us whether you choose death and a clean conscience or life and my love to gladden it and she looked into his face with her beautiful eyes and half stretched out her arms as though she would clasp him to her breast now although the senor did not answer at once when I saw this and heard her words Ignatio knew that it was finished since it could not be in the heart of a man in love to resist her pleadings and her witcheries presently he spoke and as he did so my face grew red with a half shame I have no choice he said I do not fear to die if need be but I should be no man were I to choose death while it is your wish that I should live like Ignatio I say that the gods of this city are to me nothing more than idols and to receive that which does not exist is impossible for the rest I became a brother of the heart not by my own wish but by accident therefore on this point my conscience pricks me little only to be a partner in this plot I must speak or act a lie and this I have never done before still it seems to me that a man may choose life and his love in place of a cruel and secret death and keep his hands clean even though he must play a harmless trick as the price of them Maya in this as in every other matter I will do your wish and if you think it better that we should die why let us die and make an end nay she answered with a flash of reckless passion I think it is better that we should live far from this unlucky city and there be happy in each other's love for your sake my father's curse has fallen on me and after it all other maledictions of gods or men will be light as feathers if this be a sin that we are about to work I do it for the sake of you and of our love also because I would live a while in happiness before I go down to the grave see my father lying there throughout a long life I served his god and behold how his god has served him in the hour of his trouble let his prayers answer for us both for I will have none of such false gods unless it be to use them for my ends if this be a sin that we are about to do and vengeance should tread upon the heels of sin let it fall upon the heads of people who would murder me for no crime upon the head of Matai who tempted me for his own advantage and if that be not enough upon my head also little do I care for vengeance to come if for only one short year I may call you husband ill-omend words muttered Matai shivering a little human would utter but so be it as he spoke I thought that I heard a faint groan break from the man upon the couch I glanced anxiously at Zabalbe to find that I must have been mistaken or at least that it had not proceeded from his lips for he lay there rigid and senseless as a corpse the vote is taken I said sadly what next Matai? follow me he answered and I will show you a secret path from this chamber to the sanctuary beneath nay you need not fear to leave him for if his life still burns within him it is fast to sleep but stay where is the talisman that will be necessary to us I have one half I answered the other is about Zabalbe's neck find it he said sternly to Lady Maya nay you must end of chapter 18