Then, as Zoroaster bowed low before her, she paused and looked at him with her clear, deep-blue eyes.
"You have grown very formal in four years," she said softly.

"You used to be more outspoken and less of a courtier.

I am not changed--we must be friends as we were formerly." Zoroaster hesitated a moment before he answered: "I am the Great King's man," he said slowly.

"I am, therefore, also the queen's servant." Atossa raised her delicate eyebrows a little and a shade of annoyance passed for the first time over her perfect face, which gave her a look of sternness.
"I am the queen," she said coldly.

"The king may take other wives, but I am the queen.