"
Before Aziel could answer, the Shadid, either because his patience was
outworn, or because he wished to put him to a sharper trial, uttered a
command. "Be it done to her as she desires."
Thereon four priests seized Elissa by the wrists and ankles. Carrying
her to the edge of the precipice, they thrust her back till she hung
over it, her long hair streaming downwards, and the red light of the
sunset shining upon her upturned ghastly face. Then they paused, waiting
for the signal to let her go. The Shadid raised his wand and said:--
"Is it your pleasure that this woman should die or live, prince Aziel?
Decide swiftly, for my arm is weak, and when the wand falls opportunity
for choice will have passed from you."
Now all eyes were fixed upon the wand, and the intense silence was only
broken by Sakon's cry of despair. Metem wrung his hands in grief; even
Issachar veiled his eyes with his robe, to shut out the sight of dread,
and the priest, who bore the bowl of incense, thrust it towards Aziel
imploringly.
For some seconds, three perhaps, though to him they seemed an age, the
heart of Aziel was racked and torn in this terrific contest. Then he
glanced at the agonized face of the doomed woman, and just as the wand
began to bend, his human love and pity conquered.
"May He Whom I blaspheme forgive me," he murmured, adding aloud, "I will
do sacrifice." Taking the incense in his hand now he cast it into the
flames upon the altar, repeating mechanically after the Shadid: "By this
sacrifice and homage, body and soul I give myself to you and worship
you, El and Baaltis, the only true gods.
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