Did not my writ bid thee through yonder searcher of the stars, thy uncle, to meet these guests of mine and bring them straight to my shrine?
Tell me, for I seek to know, how comes it that thou didst disobey me ?" "Have then thy desire," answered Atene in a new and earnest voice, devoid now of bitterness and falsehood.

"I disobeyed because that man is not thine, but mine, and no other woman's; because I love him and have loved him from of old.

Aye, since first our souls sprang into life I have loved him, as he has loved me.

My own heart tells me so; the magic of my uncle here tells me so, though how and where and when these things have been I know not.

Therefore I come to thee, Mother of Mysteries, Guardian of the secrets of the past, to learn the truth.