In the gorgeous court of the Emperor, where White Wing had come into such great good fortune, the one person whom everybody feared was the splendid ruler himself. For rulers have been notable in history for their fickle¹ ways and shifting affections, and this emperor was no exception to the rule. First it was one favorite who fell into disfavor, and then another, and even the priests and the councilors, who were the closest to him, were as unsafe as the meanest slave. For while an underling could be made away with quickly and at a word, the Emperor was no less willing to let his anger smolder² through a long and carefully plotted revenge in the case of some person who might be next to him in rank. So there were mysterious things happening in the great stone palace, and White Wing observed soon after he came there that nobody seemed really to enjoy the wonderful splendors³ of the court itself but, on the contrary, they seemed always anxious to be in the parks or the city, or even out on the lonely plains around it, rather than in the vast rooms of stone and silver.  
Nevertheless, White Wing had nothing to fear from the stalwart and imperious ruler, for the bird was truly his most treasured possession; and if he were in an evil mood, the Emperor would often betake himself to White Wing's splendid garden, and there he would toy with the bird, asking him many questions, and seeming always content to find his answer in the flamingo⁴'s sagacious looks, or a chance nod of the creature's head.
 
There were the troops of lovely children, too, whose quarters were a whole part of the palace itself, and these were a delight to White Wing, for they were gentle with him and fed him all sorts of dainties from their little brown hands.
 
Among these was a lovely little girl who grew to be a favorite of the Emperor's and was deeply attached to White Wing.
 
One day, to the latter's great distress⁵, he saw traces of tears on the child's face as she came hurrying across the enclosed garden to the sunken pool where White Wing was looking down into the water at the gold fish. There happened to be no one in the great courtyard at that moment but the child and the stately bird. She looked around first, to be sure that what she was about to say would not be overheard.
 
"Oh, Prince of the Dawn, dear Prince," she began, "do you know what has happened? I have run away from the others just to tell you. It's the saddest thing in the world. The Emperor is sending all the children away to the farthermost corner of the land to keep them in hiding. And only the soldiers and the priests are to live here now. There is only one hour left, for down below the great walls there are thousands of bearers and mules⁶ laden⁷ with everything, and a whole army of escorts. Maybe we shall never come back."
 
Then she threw herself at White Wing's feet and clutched the flowers on the border of the fountain as she cried.
 
But this was only the beginning of the troubles in that great palace. What the princess had told White Wing explained much that he had observed, but what the child did not know, and what the Emperor feared the most, was the plotting that went on against his own life and the rivalries⁸ among his generals. The kingdom was being attacked to the eastward⁹. Up that same valley that White Wing had followed in his flight, a terrible army was marching against the capital of this realm. It was an army of men from the other side of the world. Such conquerors¹⁰ they were as even the Emperor himself had never dreamed of.
 
But now excited slaves came rushing in and bore the child off. She had scarcely time to say farewell, and poor White Wing heard her sobs¹¹ as they died away through the courtyards and arched corridors. Yes, his palace was being deserted¹², and he could walk through empty rooms and suddenly stilled hallways without meeting a soul. Everybody was in the lower courtyard watching the departure of the household.
 
But just as White Wing, much depressed¹³ and filled with wonder, came to a little doorway¹⁴ in a corner of the great upper hall, he heard voices. They were the Emperor's councilors, he knew, but why they should be there now when everybody was so busy elsewhere, he wondered. They were not talking as usual, but whispering, and a great curtain had been drawn¹⁵ across the doorway.
 
White Wing knew that the chamber¹⁶ was lighted by a window that opened to a tiny courtyard of its own. To reach this court without passing through the room was impossible to any one but such as White Wing. He could mount the walls by a short flight from the garden, and descend¹⁷ within the secret yard.
 
This he did, for he was bound to learn what the priests and councilors were up to. The Emperor was not with them, and he felt sure that it was something treacherous¹⁸ that they were doing.
 
He was just in time as he settled down on the stone copings outside the great window. First he looked to make sure that his shadow was not visible across the pavement. He was assured of his safety, and knew that his arrival there had not been betrayed by so much as a ruffle¹⁹ of his beautiful wings.
 
The voices were deciding the fate of the Emperor and of White Wing too. The priests were to tell the Emperor that he must sacrifice the thing that he loved the most and that he must do it with his own hand. And it was to be arranged that as he knelt at the great altar of black stone to kill the bird, an arrow should be sent from a secret place on the walls, so that the Emperor with his back turned to the court should perish then and there.
 
White Wing's blood ran cold. This, then, was why his great master had always been fearful and morose²⁰, and often cruel. His own house was full of men that hated him and were yet his own brothers. They were ready now, just as the kingdom was rallying to save itself, to seize it all into their own hands. They would be rid of him, and his mysterious bird too, for they feared in a childish way that White Wing had been sent to the Emperor by some divine agent, and they hated the innocent creature because they were both fearful and jealous of him.
 
They were now deciding which one of them should let fly the arrow which should kill the Emperor. White Wing could hear them rattling²¹ the jeweled discs or dice²² with which he had often seen them playing. Evidently the process of making the decision was a complicated one, for he heard the little carved discs rattling in their box a number of times. Then there was silence and a voice which he knew was that of the Emperor's half-brother spoke²³ in clear tones:
 
"I am glad that it has fallen on me!"
 
Suddenly the sound of drums and horns and a great deal of shouting broke the silence. The Emperor had said farewell to his household, and in great clamor the slaves and the favorites and the troops of beautiful children were departing from the city. The Emperor's heralds²⁴ were calling his councilors to the great audience chamber. White Wing heard the treacherous creatures

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