"

"Thou hast not the other half," said Gotho, and took the second half of
the bracelet from her bosom. "See, here is written:

"'--to the Balthe,
--to the falcon,
--and death,
--to the friend.'"

And now Teja, holding the two halves together, read:

"'The Amelung to the Balthe,
The eagle to the falcon,
In need and death,
The friend to the friend.'"

But the King continued to read from the roll:

"'King Theodoric could no longer protect me when letters were laid
before him, in which my handwriting was so excellently imitated that I
myself, on being shown a harmless sentence which had been cut out,
acknowledged without hesitation that I had written it. Then the judges
fitted the piece into the parchment and read the whole to me. That
letter purported to be written to the court of Byzantium, with the
promise that the writer would murder the King and evacuate South Italy,
if the Emperor would acknowledge him as King of North Italy. And the
judges condemned me. As I was led away from the hall, I met my old
friend Cethegus Caesarius in the passage. I had some time before
succeeded in persuading a girl with whom he was in love to leave him
and marry a good friend of mine in Gaul. Cethegus forced his way
through my guards, struck me lightly on the shoulder and said, "He from
whom his love has been torn, comforts himself with revenge;" and his
eyes told me that he, and no other, had been my secret accuser. As a
last favour, the King procured me the means of escape. But I and all my
house were outlawed. For a long time I wandered restlessly in the
northern mountains, until I recollected that some old and faithful
adherents of my house were settled upon the Iffinger mountain. Thither
I went with my boy, taking with me a few hereditary jewels, and my
faithful friends received me and my son, and hid me under the name of
Wargs--the banished--and gave out that I was the son of old Iffa,
sending away all untrustworthy servants who might have betrayed me.
Thus I lived in secret for some years. I educate my son to be my
avenger on Cethegus the traitor, and when I die, old Iffa will continue
this education. I hope the day will come when my innocence will be
proved. But if it delays too long, my son, when he can wield the sword,
shall leave the Iffinger and go to Italy, and revenge his father upon
Cethegus Caesarius. That is my last word