“She shall have thee back against Khinjan and the ammunition! She and thou shall have India, but I shall be the power behind you! She must give me Khinjan and the ammunition! She must admit me to the inner caves, whence her damned guards expelled me. I must have the reins in my two hands so! Then, thou and she shall have the pomp and glitter while I guide!” King did not answer. “Dost understand?” King murmured something unintelligible. “Otherwise, I and my men will storm Khinjan, and she and thou shall go down into Earth's Drink lashed together!” King shuddered, not because he felt afraid, but because some instinct told him to make the mullah think him afraid. He was far too interested to be fearful. “Ye shall both be tortured before the plunge into the river! She shall be tortured in the Cavern of Earth's Drink before the men!” King shuddered again, this time without an effort. He could imagine the thousands watching grimly while the flayer used his knife. “I have men in Khinjan! I have as many as she! On the day I march there will be a revolt within. She would better agree to terms!” King lay looking at him, like a prisoner on the rack undergoing examination. He did not answer. “Write thou a letter. Since she loves thee, state thine own case to her. Tell her that I hold thee hostage, and that Khinjan is mine already for a little fighting. In a month she can not pick out my men from among her own. Her position is undermined. Tell her that. Tell her that if she obeys she shall have India and be queen. If she disobeys, she shall die in the Cavern of Earth's Drink!” “She is a proud woman, mullah,” answered King. “Threats to such as she--?” The mullah mumbled and strode back and forth three times between King's bed and the fire, with his fists knotted together behind him and his head bent, as Napoleon used to walk. When he stood beside the bed again at last it was with his mind made up, as his clenched fists and his eyes indicated. “Make thine own terms with her!” he growled. “Write the letter and send it! I hold thee; she holds Khinjan and the ammunition. I am between her and India. So be it. She shall starve in there! She shall lie in there until the war is over and take what terms are offered her in the end! Write thine own letter! State the case, and bid her answer!” “Very well,” said King. He began to see now definitely how India was to be saved. It was none of his business to plan yet, but to help others' plans destroy themselves and to sow such seed in the broken ground as might bear fruit in time.