So again I waited and at length the messengers came, three of them Egyptians and three men of Ethiopia who dwelt in Egypt to learn its wisdom, reporting that as Karema had said, through the foolishness of a servant they had been held prisoner by an Arab chief and thus delayed.  Then they delivered the writings which they had kept safe.  One was from Pharaoh to the Karoon of Ethiopia; one from the holy Tanofir to Karema; and one from the lady Amada to myself.

With a trembling hand I broke the silk and seals and read.  It ran thus: 

 “Shabaka, my Cousin,

“You departed from Egypt saying that never would you return unless I, Amada the priestess, called you, and I told you that I should never call.  You said, moreover, that if you came at my call you would demand me in guerdon, and I told you that never would I give myself to you who was doubly sworn to Isis.  Yet now I call and now I say that if you come and conquer and I yet live, then, if you still will it, I am yours.  Thus stands the case:  The Great King advances upon Egypt with an army countless as the sands, nor can Egypt hope to battle against him unaided and alone.  He comes to make of her a slave, to kill her children, to burn her temples, to sack her cities and to defile her gods with blasphemies.  Moreover he comes to seize me and to drag me away to shame in his House of Women.

“Therefore for the sake of the gods, for Egypt’s sake and for my own, I pray you come and save us.  Moreover I still love you, Shabaka, yes, more a thousand times, then ever I did, though whether you still love me I know not.  For that love’s sake, therefore, I am ready to break my vows to Isis and to dare her vengeance, if she should desire to be avenged upon me who would save her and her worship, praying that it may fall on my head and not on yours.  This will I do by the counsel of the holy Tanofir, by command of Pharaoh, and with the consent of the high priests of Egypt.

 “Now I, Amada, have written.  Choose, Shabaka, beloved of my heart.”

Such was the letter that caused my head to swim and set my soul on fire.  Still I said nothing, but thrust it into my robe and waited.  Presently Bes, who had been reading in his roll, looked up and spoke, saying,

“Are you minded to see arrows fly and swords shine in war, Brother?  If so, here is opportunity.  Pharaoh writes to me above his own seal, seeking an alliance between Egypt and Ethiopia.  He says that the King of kings invades him and that if he conquers Egypt he has sworn to travel on and conquer Ethiopia also, since he learns that it is now ruled by a certain dwarf who once stole his White Signet, and by a certain Egyptian who once killed his Satrap, Idernes.”

“What says the Karoon?” I asked.

Bes rolled his eyes and turning to Karema, asked,

“What says the Karoon’s wife?”

Karema laid down the roll she had been studying and answered,