A drowsy hand-maid, eyes still blurred from sleep, appeared in answer to the imperial summons on the bell-rope. Evidently she surmised the outstretched guard at the portals was in a state of slumber instead of unconsciousness, for her features registered no alarm until they espied the giant form of the adventurer sprawled in a royal chair. To her fear-stricken eyes and gaping mouth Nione said: "Food, immediately, for myself--you understand? And if you breathe one word you go back to slavery! Hasten." "Or I slit your throat!" added Duar lazily. The startled servant vanished in a whirlwind of terror. "I ordered food for you in the cells," stated the Queen, ominously. "Were my guards afraid to serve it?" "I did not like the banquet hall," observed the late captive. He regarded her through lowered eyelids. Was this ready acquiescence some feminine trick? When the food arrived, Duar commanded the slave to sit on a divan in the corner. He trusted little to a servant's tongue, fearful or not, and if he perceived the sigh of relief Nione emitted over the enforced chaperonage, he chose not to comment on it. When the tender meat of the fowl's flesh was devoured and washed down by the white wine of Ygoth's slopes, he shoved away the serving-tray and reached for the sword he had won. "And now?" questioned the hostage Queen. "We pay a visit, _you_ and I, to the object of my visit--a rare jewel, if truth be told. And perhaps a demon." "A--a demon?" "Aye. The plagued land appears to be surfeited with them. Faith, I've for ever expected them, never to find them, and found them where I never expected. But this night I have been made certain by good authority. Nione, if a thing was stolen from you that you never knew you possessed, or counted among the values of your kingdom, would it be robbery?" The Queen was mystified and a little angered, as puzzled women so often are. "You speak in riddles, O slave-king. Though you hold my person you cannot make a fool of me. Do you know there is not one chance in a million of your leaving Ygoth alive? And not one chance in ten million of your crossing the boundaries? You have my person, Duar, but not my kingdom!" "Ah!" exclaimed Duar meaningly, "a kingdom lacking a king." Nione was hushed into apprehensive silence. The fear-stricken maid trembled in her corner. The erstwhile captive continued his narrow-eyed scrutiny and a nervous quiet reigned before he spoke again. "Nione, have you ever heard of the Rose of Gaon?" "I have fed you and offered you freedom but I will not guess at your riddles!" "Spitfire! Have you heard of the Black Tower of Ygoth?" The Queen shuddered. "Who has not, O Duar? The most feared spot in all my land, shunned by all! Would I could destroy it, but the ancient laws and the commands of the priests forbid. My subjects avert their gaze as they pass, and even the birds of the air will not circle above those ominous turrets. What seek you in the Black Tower?"