Chapter 6
The Vulture's WingsIt was the smoky light of a torch which roused Taramis, Queen of
Khauran, from the slumber in which she sought forgetfulness.
Lifting herself on her hand she raked back her tangled hair and
blinked up, expecting to meet the mocking countenance of Salome,
malign with new torments. Instead a cry of pity and horror reached
her ears.
"Taramis! Oh, my Queen!"
The sound was so strange to her ears that she thought she was
still dreaming. Behind the torch she could make out figures now,
the glint of steel, then five countenances bent toward her, not
swarthy and hook-nosed, but lean, aquiline faces, browned by the
sun. She crouched in her tatters, staring wildly.
One of the figures sprang forward and fell on one knee before
her, arms stretched appealingly
