"I am a prisoner," replied my companion, "as is this warrior also. We have been confined in the pits beneath the palace and today we were to have died The Death, but we killed the two warriors who were sent to fetch us and now we are trying to find our way out of the palace." "Then you are not looking for the girl, Tavia?" she asked. "Yes," I said, "we are looking for her, too. She was made a prisoner at the same time that I was." "Perhaps I can help you," said Phao; "perhaps," she added wistfully, "we may all escape together." "I shall not escape without you, Phao," said Nur An. "My ancestors have been good to me at last," said the girl. "Where is Tavia?" I asked. "She is in the East Tower," replied Phao. "Can you lead us there, or tell us how we may reach it?" I asked. "It would do no good to lead you to it," she replied, "as the door is locked and guards stand before it. But there is another way." "And that?" I asked. "I know where the keys are," she said, "and I know other things that will prove helpful." "May our ancestors protect and reward you, Phao," I said. "And now tell me where I may find the keys." "I shall have to lead you to the place myself," she replied, "but we shall stand a better chance to succeed if there are not too many of us. I, therefore, suggest that Nur An remain here. I shall place him in hiding where he will not be found. I will then lead you to the prisoner, and, if possible, we will make our way back to this apartment. I am in charge here. Only at regular hours, twice a day, night and morning, does any other visit the apartment of the little prince. Here I can hide you and feed you for a long time and perhaps eventually we shall be able to evolve some feasible plan for escape." "We are in your hands, Phao," said Nur An. "If there is to be fighting, though, I should like to accompany Hadron." "If we succeed there will be no fighting," replied the girl. She stepped quickly across the room to a door, which she opened, revealing a large closet. "Here, Nur An," she said, "is where you must remain until we return. There is no reason why anyone should open this door, and in so far as I know, it never has been opened since I have occupied these quarters, except by me." "I do not like the idea of hiding," said Nur An with a grimace, "but--I have had to do many things recently that I did not like," and without more words he crossed the apartment and entered the closet. Their eyes met for an instant before Phao closed the door, and I read in the depth of both that which made me wonder, remembering as I did the story that Nur An had told me of the other woman whom Tul Axtar had stolen from him. But such matters were no concern of mine, nor had they any bearing upon the business at hand.