Part 5 (1/2)
Conan did not allow his dolorous parting fro; he let himself be swept up with the other occupants of the Manse in readying a gala entertainment The preparations were all the more feverish because the celebration was a farewell feast, to be given the day before the baron's departure on his tour of the provincial holdings of Dinander
And so Conan spentof stools and trestles up and down stairs, unfurling and beating the dust out of tapestries heavy with gold threads, and perfornity, such as the polishi+ng of chareat day, the kitchen cookfires were hot enough to reat copper vats frothing and bubbling all at once By iddy aroh to madden a creature more ta sweetmeats from kitchen trays, at risk of raps on wrist or skull froht him out Curtly the spymaster told him to don his newly tailored suit of mail and stand ready for orders; until told otherwise, he was to stay out of sight during the festivities
Much later, the day flown and the sun vanished in the west, Conan crept upstairs via one of the Manse's corner towers He could not bear to wait any longer in his cra to occupy his thoughts but memories of Ludya and his restless doubts over whether he had already lingered fatally long in this doloom
The Manse's festive at corridors, its stairways s with boisterous talk He avoided the larger roo his way to a reht overlook the party and reuard in his polished black-and-gold helht in the shoulders
Brushi+ng pastlovers in the narrow, dark side-chamber, he slipped out onto the inner balcony As he had hoped, this part of the gallery was not thickly populated Moving to the rail, he encountered a wave of heat and a sht with a lavish array of candles and oil pots The entry hall was thronged with guests seated at red-draped tables, pro on the broad stairway
Most of these appeared to beretainers Appearing excited and a little astonished at this rare gliabbled noisily and overindulged in wine More euard officers, seeravitate toward the entry to the inner Hall of State Thence the tinny chirping of military trumpets issued, and there, presumably, the baron and his counselors held court
Widely in evidence aroups of revelers were unifor the walls and up the stairs, and spaced more sparsely around the uests Serving on highest alert, they went fully arrounded between their toes and rapiers sheathed at their belts Conan realized uncomfortably that while his own steel carapace ornately enfolded his vital parts, he possessed no offensive weapon, not even an eating-knife
Meanwhile, his arh, stuffy part of the rooh broadly pierced,, obstructed both vision and breathing He raised it iretted his action as a youthful voice called out to him from close at hand
”Ho there, Lord Favian! So you choose to loiter out here with us rough-and-ready types!”
It was the inevitable confusion of identity Pretending not to hear the hail, Conan turned away, reaching up to shut his visor But a hand grasped his arht; a rawboned, ill-tended paw, dark with sun and farrime
”Favian, Milord,” the husky adolescent voice croaked, ”'tis lucky to find you here” At Conan's lance the hand was quickly withdrawn, but the speaker continued to peer ingratiatingly into his face ”I I am Ralfic, remember, Sire? We had a jolly time at my father's manor South of town, last seasondon't you recall, your Lordshi+p?”
Conan regarded the gangling youngster furiously; the lad was nearly his equal in years, though surely not in travels and coe of pox, his clothing foppish, his hair obviously cut with the aid of a porridge bowl The Cily, conceded to his fate He answered the youngerto bark it up from his belly like a true Neazed at hireat fun, was it not?” He grinned suddenly, exposing snaggled eyeteeth ”I cannot blame you, Milord, if your recollection was dis are a rout, 'tis ever true”-he rolled his eyes ceilingward-”especially when the brides are young and innocent, and greatly in awe of their noble runted again noncolance around the balcony The youth's braying was attracting interested stares fro toward hi cups of mead These they had obtained from a kilted, brown-vested servant who bore theh over his shoulder
Ralfic, although cowed by Conan's stare, clearly sensed that so was out of joint The cornered Ci that, were he trapped into speaking a single word of Nemedian, his inept masquerade would collapse all the faster
”Re lieutenant we thrashed, sireas his naht, ould not pay his bet?”
Desperate now, Conan was clenching a ha-man interrupted them ”Milord Favian! Your pardon, sire” He handed the startled Cimmerian a cup of yellow mead, then spun and departed, his tray eive his last cup to the noblest lord in attendance!” Ralfic crowed loudly enough at his own jest to draw nods and laughter from those nearby
Thirsty as he was, Conan saw a better use for the drink ”Mrined illness Then he thrust the sloshi+ng cup into Ralfic's hand and quickly turned away
”Why, thank you, sire,” Conan heard the yokel saying as he fled ”A toast to you, Lord Favian Purge your stoood health, sir!”
Conan was at the door of the blessedly dark, silent side-chamber when a hoarse scream rasped out fronore it and ood his escape, he nevertheless turned back toward the awkers he reainst the wooden rail, clutching his belly His mead-cup was shattered beside hi s of his drink had fallen, they suests bent over the dying farhtened revelers toward the spot Without waiting for theed in the direction the poisoner had taken He followed jabbing fingers and excited cries toward a passage near the head of the li into it By the ti heavily in his ar soh by now to guess in which direction the assassin had fled Veering through an archway near the end of the passage, he dashed down a straight flight of steps, taking four at a time Somewhere in the silent halls ahead of him there sounded footfalls, hushed voices and a low moan
When Conan rounded a corner into the main corridor, he found the end of his chase The poisoner lay dead, a dagger standing out sharply fro blood froe stared keenly at Conan for ato pierce the faceless steel helaze ”Well, Lord Favian-we know your true provenance better, of course, but I shall call you by that nalanced quickly up and down the corridor ”What you are doing here I know not, in view of your orders But stand ready; your workinto the passage, and Svoretta at once de and of Ralfic's death, he nodded knowingly with a sidelong glance at Conan
A moment later there sounded new, hasty footsteps, and otherwildly exultant, and a pair of guards behind him
Svoretta reported the events to histhe body with his toe ”I happened on hinized him and slew him Then I learned that he had already done his evil work in trying to give poison to your son Luckily, he failed”
”Aye, luckily indeed!” Baldoht as his wounded one ”Co Conan apart from the Iron Guardsmen, Baldomer addressed him briskly as Svoretta stood by ”You see noise I was to hire you, lad! Already you are serving your purpose, flushi+ng our eneo to e Favian elsewhere tonight for his safety But be wary; this night's danger is not ended!”
Nodding curtly to signify his obedience, Conan turned As he made his way upstairs, he was able to shoulder brusquely past guards and anxious partygoers alike, pretending muteness and deafness to their nods and salutations by virtue of his helmet's lowered visor All the while, histhe assassin's sudden appearance and his equally sudden death
There was no guard posted near Favian's door to witness Conan's approach, and no one lurked inside the room when he entered Drink there was, set out in a crystal flask on the ornate table, but after his recent encounter he feared to taste it And in spite of the lateness of the hour, he did not rest hi's broad, soft bed Instead, he removed his helm and armor, laid them on the cushi+on to resemble a supine body, and draped the himself of one of the less decayed pieces of weaponry from Favian's wall, he snuffed out the candles Unencumbered now by armor and able to move silently across the darkened room, he chose a padded chair on the interior side of the chamber, opposite theThere he settled down to wait
Two phanto out of shadows, striking cruelly at one another with blades and flails In transports of wrath they grappled and rolled across a di dark cloaks On falling into a stray bealared upward suddenly to revealnot hu jaws and bloodstruck eyes of wolves
A drea more than a sodden, fevered dream, Conan slowly came to understand His reaction to it as he dozed had not reflected the intense, terror-stricken feelings it had inspired, he realized For his chin still lay heavily on his chest, scarcely supported by his slack neck ainst the hard angles of the chair, cramped and chilled in the posture of unintended sleep He pried open his reluctant eyelids to discover where he was
Suddenly then he cah every liainst the paleness of the as a sinister shape which ures of his dreahted roo slowly nearer He watched it loo-couch, saw a sharplightly and swiftly on the balls of his feet His weapon abandoned, he flung himself on the nameless creeper, bare hands poised to crush and rend His victi, offering little resistance Conan saw no sign of a blade, yet could not be sure because of the thick gar the other's body down beneath his overh the folds of the cloak The only weapons he found were the age-old ones of womankind: soft breasts, silky tresses of hair, s under his breath, he dragged his writhing bundle toward theand turned the pale face up to a beahter, clad in her dark robe, the cowl raised
He shi+fted her leaning weight as if to set her upright, then thought better of it Cla a hand to her chin, he whispered into a delicate ear, ”In case there is any doubt, MiladyI am not your brother” He waited for her reaction, but as there ca of her limbs, he spoke on ”If you set up a howl, I shall have to muzzle you I mean you no harm, but I would rather not be denounced as a ravisher of noblewo her head turn slowly to face hie, deliberate calm He asked, ”Can you hold your peace and listen to reason a azed up at hi coht her to her feet, loosening his grip on her lithe li away, she eased up against hi the side of his neck
”Whoa, girl, what do you ain, checking for weapons Satisfied that her probing fingers were innocent of any but amorous intent, he let his own touch roa shoulders and lissoreet hers
Her e; they opened to his, pro a word Yet a coth he broke off the kiss ”You arecohtly breathless ”Who were you expecting to find in that bed, anyway?”
He felt her back stiffen slightly; she ceased her eard his face in the faint light Her voice ca caluard! A shame to let your suspicion stifle your passionbut I will answer, if you insist
”I came here to have an intimate conference with my brother; instead, I found a cold, armored shape in his bed-and behind the visor of his helhtly at the recollection ”And then you, falling on me like a fiend from the shadows! Still, I know that you have not done aith Favian I wondered before at your presence a us, but now I understand why a wild creature such as you has been brought to the Manse”
”Because of lanced to the room's rear door, left ajar by Calissa ”That role ht We should not dawdle near your brother's bed One of us-he or I, I am not sure of which-is a lodestone for an assassin”
”My cha a hand on his ar across a narrow passage in the false rear wall The door had a good chaste bolt to seal it fro-couch provided the than sleep