"What would'st thou with me, maiden?" asked the prefect.

"I am the daughter of Coel of Britain," said the girl, "and I am
come to sue for pardon and for peace."

"The Roman people have no quarrel with the girls of Britain,"
said the prefect. "Hath then King Coel fallen so low in state
that a maiden must plead for him?"

"He hath not fallen at all, O Prefect," replied the girl proudly;
"the king, my father, would withstand thy force but that I, his
daughter, know the cause of this unequal strife, and seek to make
terms with the victors."

The girl's fearlessness pleased the prefect, for Constantius
Chlorus was a humane and gentle man, fierce enough in fight, but
seeking never to needlessly wound an enemy or lose a friend.

"And what are thy terms, fair envoy of Britain?" he demanded.

"These, O Prefect," replied Helena, "If but thou wilt remove thy
cohorts to Londinium, I pledge my father's faith and mine, that
he will, within five days, deliver to thee as hostage for his
fealty, myself and twenty children of his councillors and
captains. And further, I, Helena the princess, will bind myself
to deliver up to thee, with the hostages, the chief rebel in this
revolt, and the one to whose counselling this strife with Rome is
due."