It is the common lot, and the Khan has been drinking very heavily of late." "You mean that men can be murdered," said Leo angrily.

"Well, I will have nothing to do with such a crime.

Do you understand me ?" As the words passed his lips I heard a rustle and turned my head.

Behind us were curtains beyond which the Shaman slept, kept his instruments of divination and worked out his horoscopes.

Now they had been drawn, and between them, in her royal array, stood the Khania still as a statue.
"Who was it that spoke of crime ?" she asked in a cold voice.