_
Mouthpiece
of mutiny!
Byron
thou hast died in time
To see one treachery the less: this man
Was thy true friend and my most trusted subject.
Proceed.
_Her. _ They offer thee thy life, and freedom 300
Of choice to single out a residence
In any of the further provinces,
Guarded and watched, but not confined in person,
Where thou shalt pass thy days in peace; but on
Condition that the three young princes are
Given up as hostages.
_Sar. _ (_ironically_). The generous Victors!
_Her. _ I wait the answer.
_Sar. _ Answer, slave! How long
Have slaves decided on the doom of kings?
_Her. _ Since they were free.
_Sar.
_ Mouthpiece of mutiny!
Thou at the least shalt learn the penalty 310
Of treason, though its proxy only. Pania!
Let his head be thrown from our walls within
The rebels' lines, his carcass down the river.
Away with him! [PANIA _and the Guards seizing him_.
_Pan. _ I never yet obeyed
Your orders with more pleasure than the present.
Hence with him, soldiers! do not soil this hall
Of royalty with treasonable gore;
Put him to rest without.
_Her. _ A single word:
My office, King, is sacred.
_Sar. _ And what's _mine_?
That thou shouldst come and dare to ask of me 320
To lay it down?
_Her.
To see one treachery the less: this man
Was thy true friend and my most trusted subject.
Proceed.
_Her. _ They offer thee thy life, and freedom 300
Of choice to single out a residence
In any of the further provinces,
Guarded and watched, but not confined in person,
Where thou shalt pass thy days in peace; but on
Condition that the three young princes are
Given up as hostages.
_Sar. _ (_ironically_). The generous Victors!
_Her. _ I wait the answer.
_Sar. _ Answer, slave! How long
Have slaves decided on the doom of kings?
_Her. _ Since they were free.
_Sar.
_ Mouthpiece of mutiny!
Thou at the least shalt learn the penalty 310
Of treason, though its proxy only. Pania!
Let his head be thrown from our walls within
The rebels' lines, his carcass down the river.
Away with him! [PANIA _and the Guards seizing him_.
_Pan. _ I never yet obeyed
Your orders with more pleasure than the present.
Hence with him, soldiers! do not soil this hall
Of royalty with treasonable gore;
Put him to rest without.
_Her. _ A single word:
My office, King, is sacred.
_Sar. _ And what's _mine_?
That thou shouldst come and dare to ask of me 320
To lay it down?
_Her.
