"Highness," Borla bit off tersely, "of what can this doctrine of the
Invisible God of our Junior Scribe consist of--but nothing; like
himself! If her beliefs were to become adopted by others, it is
possible that eventually all idols would be destroyed, much gain from
the lucre of their sale lost, and their hearts turned to such nonsense
as I cannot possibly imagine!"
Borla had his lips drawn back into a sneer now as his brow also became
fretted into a terrible frown and he paused to await an answer.
When Emperor Euphrates made no immediately reply, Borla turned to
survey Si'Wren boldly, and went on in an even more irritable and
sarcastic vein;
"To follow such blind madness is tantamount to treason! Why, it would
serve as well if we were to cast out all law and reason and let the
people decide for themselves what laws to follow. Come to think of it,
they do that enough already. Thou alone art law, oh mighty Emperor.
Would thou give thy glory to another?"
He waited, and finally Emperor Euphrates shrugged.
"The girl is sworn to silence," Emperor Euphrates replied. "How many
can she possibly convert anyways, if she be thus bound by her own word
to this god?"
Borla seemed to mull this over, but somehow failed to find enough honey
in his Emperor's words to nullify the bitterness of his mounting
irritation with Si'Wren's beliefs.
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