This will I do by the counsel of the holy Tanofir, by command of Pharaoh, and with the consent of the high priests of Egypt.
"Now I, Amada, have written.

Choose, Shabaka, beloved of my heart." Such was the letter that caused my head to swim and set my soul on fire.
Still I said nothing, but thrust it into my robe and waited.

Presently Bes, who had been reading in his roll, looked up and spoke, saying, "Are you minded to see arrows fly and swords shine in war, Brother?
If so, here is opportunity.

Pharaoh writes to me above his own seal, seeking an alliance between Egypt and Ethiopia.

He says that the King of kings invades him and that if he conquers Egypt he has sworn to travel on and conquer Ethiopia also, since he learns that it is now ruled by a certain dwarf who once stole his White Signet, and by a certain Egyptian who once killed his Satrap, Idernes." "What says the Karoon ?" I asked.
Bes rolled his eyes and turning to Karema, asked, "What says the Karoon's wife ?" Karema laid down the roll she had been studying and answered, "She says that she has received a command from her master the holy Tanofir to wait upon him forthwith, for reasons that he will explain when she arrives, or to brave his curse upon her, her children, her country and her husband, and not only his but that of the spirits who serve him." "The curse of the holy Tanofir is not a thing to mock at," said Bes, "as I who revere him, know as well as any man." "No, Husband, and therefore I leave for Egypt as soon as may be.