asking for you. At such a
crisis in the history of your country the King does not believe that
you will be content to sit in idleness. He bids you come, and
afterwards seek for redress, if any is needed, in the matters which
rest between you and him."

"I thank you," Reist said, slowly. "To the King I return no answer to
his message. To you I say this. I have lost confidence in Ughtred of
Tyrnaus. I regret that my hand ever raised him to the throne. I
recognize him no longer as the ruler of this country."

"Then you are a rebel?" Brand exclaimed. "Is that what you mean?"

Reist's dark eyes were lit with fire.

"Be careful, sir," he said, fiercely. "Those are not the words to be
used to a Duke of Reist. By inheritance and by virtue of my name I,
too, am the guardian of these people of Theos. I have lived with them
all my life, as did my fathers and my grandfathers before me. Their
freedom and their happiness are a solemn charge to me. I have come to
the conclusion that Ughtred of Tyrnaus is not able to maintain for
them either."

"Then who is?" Brand asked. "This war is none of his seeking. How in
God's name could he do more for Theos than stand at the head of her
people with drawn sword, prepared to die rather than submit to this
barbarous invasion? Is there higher patriotism than this?"

"The King is your friend," Reist answered, "and you judge him from
your own standpoint. Yet I am willing to admit that he is a brave man.
Few cowards have ever sprung from Thetian stock. But bravery is not
everything, and in the present case it can avail him nothing. The
odds are too overwhelming. If Theos is to be saved it will not be at
the point of the sword."

Brand was within an ace of losing his temper. His cheeks were flushed
and his voice was not so steady as usual.

"Theos will never be saved by those who plot with such rogues as
Domiloff behind the city walls," he exclaimed. "Duke of Reist, I know
you to be a brave man, or I would not dare to use these words to you.
You are being grossly deceived. The Turks, and now you, are the
catspaw of Russia. Domiloff's mission is to secure Theos for a Russian
state. Oh, can't you see through his miserable scheming? I am an
outsider in the game. Perhaps for that reason I am the better judge--I
see the clearer. It is so simple! There will be a supposed rising of
the people. You, or another of Domiloff's puppets, will be set up as
King or Protector. The hand of Turkey will be st