Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 18, 2025
Also, that we might be quite equal, he had taken off his turban-like headgear and even the royal Fringe, whereat his lords stared at each other for they thought this a bad omen. It was just then I heard a sound behind me, and turning my head I saw Quilla stumbling towards us down the stony slope as best her half-blind eyes would let her, and crying as she came: "Oh! my Lord, fight not.
"We might fly, Quilla." "Whither could the God-from-the-Sea fly and whither could fly the daughter of the Moon, who is vowed to the son of the Sun in marriage, save to death?" "There are worse things than death, Quilla." "Aye, but my life is in pawn. I must live that my people may not die. Myself I offered it to this cause and now, being royal, I cannot take it back again for my own joy.
Then Kari turned and went with bowed head, together with his nobles, who followed him as sadly as those who surround a corpse, but not until they had given to me that royal salute which is only rendered to the Inca in his glory. Her women bore Quilla swooning from that ill-fated field, and sick and sad she remained until once more we saw the City of the Chancas.
From the dawn we had been passing through rich valleys where dwelt thousands of these Chancas who, I could see, were a mighty people that bore themselves proudly and like soldiers. In multitudes they gathered themselves together upon either side of the road, chiefly to catch a sight of me, the white god who had risen from the ocean, but also to greet their princess, the lady Quilla.
Then, bowing courteously, for every man of them knew me and some of them loved me well, they turned and went. That was the last that ever I, Hubert of Hastings, saw of nobles of the Inca blood, though perchance, ere long, I shall meet them again in war. "Let them be escorted safely from the city," commanded Quilla, and soldiers went to do her bidding.
"I think you must have told me when you knelt over me just now," I said. I saw the red blood run to her brow, but she only shook her head, and answered: "Nay, my mother, the Moon, must have told you; or perchance you learned it in the spirit. At least, Quilla am I named and you called me aright." Now I stood up and stared at her, overcome by the strangeness of the business, and she stared at me.
The army drew nearer, marshalled in regiments and halted on the plain some two hundred yards away. Presently from it advanced generals and old men, clad in white, whom I took to be priests and elders. They approached to the number of twenty or more and bowed deeply, first to Quilla, who bent her head in acknowledgment and then to myself.
Of late, however, since my return from the City of the Chancas, I have quarrelled with Urco because he has lost that witch, the lady Quilla, whom he desires madly and lays the blame on me, and it has come to my knowledge that when he succeeds to the throne it is his purpose to kill me, which doubtless he will do if he can, or at the least to cast me from my place and power, which is as bad as death.
She would sit upon a low stool, considering me with her beautiful eyes, as though she would search out my soul. One day she said to me: "Tell me, Lord, are you a god or a man?" "What is a god?" I asked. "A god is that which is adored and loved." "And is a man never adored and loved, Quilla?
Nor did Kari say anything, but Quilla spoke out boldly, saying that we would learn of the future and what would befall us. Now there was a long silence, and I confess that fear got hold of me, for it seemed to me as though spirits were moving in the air and through the darkness behind us yes, as though I could hear their whisperings and the rustle of their wings.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking