Semiramis regarded him with a look of childish wonder wherein was mingled trust untouched by fear.
"Right well the lord of Assyria knoweth that I come at his own command."
Now the King bad commanded no such thing, yet, recalling how the Syrian's wits had befooled him in the halls at Nineveh, he took council with himself lest it chance again.
"Speak," he urged, with a cautious mien, "that these my chiefs and friends may hear."
Semiramis bowed before him humbly and turned to the listening men.
"My lords," she began, and looked on each in turn, "far better than I might Ninus speak, for the glory of this deed is his." She paused an instant, then spoke once more, her rich tones falling strangely on the ears of those who heard. "In a vision came the King unto my side--a spirit in the godly robes of Asshur and the hornéd cap of Bel. 'Arise, Shammuramat,' he commanded, in a voice that rolled as from afar; 'arise and seek through the hills of Hindu-Kush for a wondrous secret hidden there--a secret through which all Zariaspa feasteth long, while Assyria must prowl, a hungry wolf outside its walls.'"
"Ah!" cried Ninus, leaping to his feet, "thou knowest, then, whence cometh Zariaspa's store of food?"
"Aye," she answered, "but the spirit of the King said more." The monarch sank into his seat, and she turned to the gaping chiefs: "'My spirit,' spoke the spirit of the King, 'is heaven-born, yet my flesh is mortal as all men know full well; so follow thou where my spirit leadeth and sell this secret to my mortal flesh for such a price as justice may demand.'"
The King looked up, a light of anger in his eyes; but he curbed his speech, for he knew not what was yet to come, and half a god was better far than being proven not a god at all.
"Say on," he muttered, and Semiramis said on. She wove a wondrous tale of magic and of myth, of how the spirit led her through the gates of Nineveh unseen; of how a steed awaited beyond the walls to bear her on her way; of the arms and raiment found upon its back, and its speed in passing through the lands of enemies.
Now in these days the sons of Assyria were as children whose minds were swayed by superstitious fears; in demons they believed who thronged the earth and air, the waters and the sky; so the words of Semiramis were the words of truth to all save two, who listened and were not deceived. The one was the King; the other Nakir-Kish, High Priest of the Magi, a man of wisdom who stood apart with folded arms, and smiled. The Syrian marked his look of ill-veiled jealousy, for she trod too close upon his own dark rites to pass unchallenged; therefore she sought to disarm an enemy ere the weapon of his speech was raised.