“She learned he was a young Prince who had been studying in the Palace of Wisdom. This astonished her still more, for although he had been in her country some time he had never sought her out at all. He had come to the land of the Sun to study its fire and flame, and he was evidently absorbed only in that study. The Princess was so astonished to learn all these facts, and to observe his indifference to her famous beauty (which was proved by his not seeking her hand in marriage), that she forgot to lower her veil, and sat talking to him much longer than she otherwise would have done. Finally remembering, she covered her face, but not before she had asked him to call at the palace and let her father thank him properly for having saved her life.
“The young man secretly determined he would not accept her invitation, for he had already learned to love her, and feared the usual fate of her suitors. However, when the hour approached the next day he could not resist the temptation to see once more the lovely Princess; after that he found many excuses to call, and managed each day to see her.
“But the wonderful part of it all was, that Kuldah took as much pleasure in his company as he did in hers. So later, when he asked her to marry him she said yes, right on the spot, fearing to delay, lest he might go off and become as indifferent as he was at first, and never come back again.
“He was very happy when she said yes, and thus far everything had gone very smoothly for them both; but when they went in to see the old King their troubles began. Kuldah was wreathed in smiles, and Prince Minio looked very happy and proud. The old King, who had never supposed for one minute that his daughter would accept any man,—having refused so many,—had one day rashly promised all the suitors that, if she ever made a choice, they should each have a fair chance to win her. This, of course, was the cause of the lovers’ trouble now. The Princess was indignant that her father should have made such a promise about her. She considered herself free to choose for herself. So she stormed and wept about it as only a Sun Princess could do, and declared she would never, never marry any man but the man she loved.