The King would not take his court where they
could not obtain necessities.
Arolind:
May I go with your Sincerity?
Tharmia:
Indeed, Princely Lady, I shall be glad of your company.
Arolind:
[To Ludibras] I wish to see the other palaces in Thek, [To Tharmia]
then we can go on beyond the walls to see what princes live in the
neighbourhood.
Tharmia:
It will be delightful.
[Exeunt Tharmia and Arolind]
Ichtharion:
Well, we are here in Thek.
Ludibras:
How lucky we are that the King has come to Thek. I feared he would
never come.
Ichtharion:
It is a most fair city.
Ludibras:
When he tarried year after year in monstrous Barbul-el-Sharnak, I
feared that I would see the sun rise never more in the windy glorious
country. I feared we should live always in Barbul-el-Sharnak and be
buried among houses.
Ichtharion:
It is mountainous with houses: there are no flowers there. I wonder how
the winds come into it.
Ludibras:
Ah. Do you know that it is I that brought him here at last? I gave him
orchids from a far country. At last he noticed them. "Those are good
flowers," said he. "They come from Thek," I said. "Thek is purple with
them. It seems purple far out on the sand to the camel men." Then...
Ichtharion:
No, it was not you brought him. He saw a butterfly once in
Barbul-el-Sharnak. There had not been one there for seven years. It
was lucky for us that it lived; I used to send for hundreds, but they
all died but that one when they came to Barbul-el-Sharnak. The King
saw it.
Ludibras:
It was since then that he noticed my purple orchids.
Ichtharion:
Something changed in his mind when he saw the butterfly. He became
quite different. He would not have noticed a flower but for that.
Ludibras:
He came to Thek in order to see the orchids.
Ichtharion:
Come, come. We are here. Nothing else matters.
Ludibras:
Yes, we are here. How beautiful are the orchids.
Ichtharion:
What a beautiful thing the air is in the morning. I stand up very early
and breathe it from my casement; not in order to nourish my body, you
understand, but because it is the wild, sweet air of Thek.
Ludibras:
Yes, it is wonderful rising up in the morning. It seems all fresh from
the fields.
Ichtharion:
It took us two days to ride out of Bar-el-Sharnak. Do you remember how
men stared at our camels? No one had gone away from the city for years.
Ludibras:
I think it is not e
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