“It was many years ago, when our lord the King married the Vizier’s sister, who is now the mother of Antar Khan,” said the slave, rather reluctantly, “and our lord the King’s sister, the Lady Fatma, in whose service I was at that time, was very angry about the match. It was even said that she had almost succeeded in breaking it off. That wicked woman, the sorceress, the accursed Khadija, was sent by Fath-ud-Din to warn the Lady Fatma to withdraw her opposition, if her life was dear to her; but the Princess mocked at Khadija, and derided her powers. Then Khadija made an evil sign, and foretold that before the next morning light the Lady Fatma should know her power; and surely enough, when her slaves sought to awaken her at dawn, she did not hear them, but lay as one still asleep. Then, when they had failed again and again to arouse her, they ran to tell the King of the matter, and of the words of Khadija. He sent for the woman, and threatened her with death, but he could in no way wring from her a promise to remove the spell, except on condition that no punishment whatever should be inflicted on her. Now the King had an enemy, a rebel chief, and it seemed to him that he might well be rid of him by this woman’s means, and he covenanted with her that, as the price of her life, she should not only remove the spell from the Lady Fatma, but also bring about the death of Zohrab Khan. And this was done.” “And it was well done,” said the Queen, decisively, as the slave looked towards her with some anxiety. “The man was a traitor, and false to his salt.” “But was it poison that Khadija had administered to the Lady Fatma?” asked Georgia, too eager for information to turn aside to the moral question involved in the death of Zohrab Khan. “And how did she counteract it?” “She had put the poison (very little is needed) into the Lady Fatma’s coffee, and in order to awaken her from the magic sleep she gave her a potion that she mixed. It was whispered among the slaves that it was made of the shavings of a porcupine’s teeth, mixed with the juice of a plant that is brought from the land of the poison-fish; but the secret of it is known only to Khadija herself, and the antidote is useless unless it is administered in one particular way, but none of us who belonged to the Princess’s household were allowed to see what was done.” “This must be the very thing I want to know!” said Georgia. “And now, where is Khadija to be found?” “In Fath-ud-Din’s fortress of Bir-ul-Malikat, where she watches over his daughter Zeynab,” said Nur Jahan, with lively contempt. “The Rose of the World, they call the girl, and she is to marry Antar Khan, if Fath-ud-Din and the witch together can bring it about.” “But where is this fortress?” asked Georgia.