Two of the Folk appeared, bringing with them clean trappings. After they dressed and broke their fast, Dandtan started for the laboratories. Garin would have gone with him, but Sera intercepted them. "There is one would speak with Lord Garin...." Dandtan laughed. "Go," he ordered the American. "Thrala's commands may not be slighted." The Hall of Women was deserted. And the corridor beyond, roofed and walled with slabs of rose-shot crystal, was as empty. Sera drew aside a golden curtain and they were in the audience chamber of the Daughter. A semi-circular dais of the clearest crystal, heaped with rose and gold cushions, faced them. Before it, a fountain, in the form of a flower nodding on a curved stem, sent a spray of water into a shallow basin. The walls of the room were divided into alcoves by marble pillars, each one curved in semblance of a fern frond. From the domed ceiling, on chains of twisted gold, seven lamps, each wrought from a single yellow sapphire, gave soft light. The floor was a mosaic of gold and crystal. Two small Anas, who had been playing among the cushions, pattered up to exchange greetings with Garin's. But of the mistress of the chamber there was no sign. Garin turned to Sera, but before he could phrase his question, she asked mockingly: "Who is the Lord Garin that he can not wait with patience?" But she left in search of the Daughter. Garin glanced uneasily about the room. This jeweled chamber was no place for him. He had started toward the door when Thrala stepped within. "Greetings to the Daughter." His voice sounded formal and cold, even to himself. Her hands, which had been outheld in welcome, dropped to her sides. A ghost of a frown dimmed her beauty. "Greetings, Garin," she returned slowly. "You sent for me--" he prompted, eager to escape from this jewel box and the unattainable treasure it held. "Yes," the coldness of her tone was an order of exile. "I would know how you fared and whether your wounds yet troubled you." He looked down at his own smooth flesh, cleanly healed by the wisdom of the Folk. "I am myself again and eager to be at such work as Dandtan can find for me...." Her robe seemed to hiss across the floor as she turned upon him. "Then go!" she ordered. "Go quickly!" And blindly he obeyed. She had spoken as if to a servant, one whom she could summon and dismiss by whim. Even if Dandtan held her love, she might have extended him her friendship. But he knew within him that friendship would be a poor crumb beside the feast his pulses pounded for. There was a pattering of feet behind him. So, she would call him back! His pride sent him on. But it was Sera. Her head thrust forward until she truly resembled a reptile. "Fool! Morgel!" she spat. "Even the Black Ones did not treat her so. Get you out of the Place of Women lest they divide your skin among them!"