I mean that all we see is shadow; that we ourselves are shadows and that the realities who cast them live in a different home which is lit by some spirit sun that never sets." The Prince nodded his head and again was silent for a while.

Then he took his beautiful alabaster cup, and pouring wine into it, he drank a little and passed the cup to me.
"Drink also, Ana," he said, "and pledge me as I pledge you, in token that by decree of the Creator who made the hearts of men, henceforward our two hearts are as the same heart through good and ill, through triumph and defeat, till death takes one of us.

Henceforward, Ana, unless you show yourself unworthy, I hide no thought from you." Flushing with joy I took the cup, saying: "I add to your words, O Prince.

We are one, not for this life alone but for all the lives to be.

Death, O Prince, is, I think, but a single step in the pylon stair which leads at last to that dizzy height whence we see the face of God and hear his voice tell us what and why we are." Then I pledged him, and drank, bowing, and he bowed back to me.
"What shall we do with the cup, Ana, the sacred cup that has held this rich heart-wine?
Shall I keep it?
No, it no longer belongs to me.