"He came empty, he shall go
empty. Against my commands, his insolence has brought him here. And let
him keep his eyes skinned, or he shall have no breath with which to
return. I am Gabriel Druse, lord over all the Romany people in all the
world from Teheran to San Diego, and across the seas and back again; and
my will shall be done."
He paused, reflecting for a moment, though his fingers opened and shut in
anger. "This much I will do," he added. "When I return to my people I
will deal with this matter in the place where Lemuel Fawe died. By the
place called Starzke, I will come to reckoning, and then and then only."
"When?" asked the young man eagerly.
Gabriel Druse's eyes flashed. "When I return as I will to return." Then
suddenly he added: "This much I will say, it shall be before--"
The girl stopped him. "It shall be when it shall be. Am I a chattel to be
bartered by any will except my own? I will have naught to do with any
Romany law. Not by Starzke shall the matter be dealt with, but here by
the River Sagalac. This Romany has no claim upon me. My will is my own; I
myself and no other shall choose my husband, and he will never be a
Romany."
The young man's eyes suddenly took on a dreaming, subtle look, submerging
the sulkiness which had filled him.
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