so was it that in the end weariness and hunger and fear prevailed upon that proud cat , a prince of the service of melko , to reveal the secret of the cats and the spell that melko had entrusted to him ; and those were words of magic whereby the stones of his evil house were held together , and whereby he held all beasts of the catfolk under his sway , filling them with an evil power beyond their nature ; for long has it been said that tevildo was an evil fay in beastlike shape .