Part 7 (1/2)
The woman sat directly before hiown so sheer that it enerous curves of her were aler and the circurilled meat on a skewer and inserted it daintily into his mouth
”My name is Sarissa,” she said ”You may address me as mistress”
”Not likely,” Conan assured her ”How about some of that wine?”
”Disobedience can be a painful experience here” Nonetheless, she gave hioblet
”I am used to pain You cannot persuade me that way”
She continued to feed him ”You have never experi-enced the kind of pain I can inflict I have developed sohter was”But, no, pain is for ordi-nary slaves You are special, and I have no wish to break you You shall be the prize of rowled
”Why, my collection of unique human specimens” She pushed a small morsel of bread into his mouth He was uncomfortably aware of her delectable srows terribly dull here You shall furnish us with endless pleasure You fight like a wild beast, and you have such a superlative body” She ran her hands freely 119
nineChe Ga upon the cold stone floor of his cell, when a sound awakened hi his ears, and becaer about his throat The collar and its chains lay upon the floor He examined the collar, which now lay open, but he could find no trace of any fastening
”More wizardry,” heit to the floor It had been the sound of the thing clanking to the floor that had awakened hierishly about the cell, stretching the stiffness out of cramped muscles He had been released from the chain for a reason, and he wanted to be ready for whateversound the door rose
Conan crouched, facing it, and waited for whatever ht enter He was unarmed, but he had hands and feet and teeth, and he was prepared to use the approached Cautious as a hunting wolf, Conan went to the door He leaped through and 118
spun through a full circle He was in a featureless corridor and there were no eneht In one direction there were a few more of the round doors and Aen a blank wall In the other direction the corridor was shrouded in gloom
With a clank the door to his erstwhile cell dropped shut
”Did you think I would go back in?” he shouted to those he knew
He started down the dark corridor A few paces along the stone hall he found his sword lying upon the stone He snatched it up, and the rough feel of the grip immediately raised his spirits All he needed noas somebody to kill with it Preferably someone with sil-ver eyes
”I could use my tunic as well,” he shouted There was no response ”Ah, well,” he muttered to himself, ”better naked with a sword than in full armor with no weapon”
He continued his exploration of the corridor The fact that his sword had been returned to hi it, and soon
He cah there was no visible light source, the air was suffused with a faint, twilight radiance, which was just sufficient for him to make out his way At the top of the stair he found another round door Somehoas sure that this did not an to rise
Conan did not wait for it to open fully, but as soon as the gap was large enough to ading to his feet the moment he was on the other side
There were two fully-armored men in the circular 120
121room beyond the door, and they were startled by his impetuous entrance Conan attacked immediately He had no friends in this castle; anyone he encountered here except for Alcuina was an eneht as the ed with his sword extended in both hands The point slid between the breastplate and steel gorget, and Conan jerked it out i to face the second man The first, dead but unaware of the fact, advanced a step and then collapsed, blood spurting froet
The second approached cautiously Boththe most elaborate plate armor Conan had ever seen It was ly jointed to allow free movement There were feeak spots, and thisexposed as the other had Conan circled, sword held at full extension, point threatening his enee, but he knew that the point was usually superior against armor such as this Besides, this way he could keep the ht out a weak-ness to exploit
The arhtly curved sword in both hands It was single-edged, and that edge looked decidedly keen Naked as he was, Conan wished to avoid that edge Behind him the door descended into its slot
The foe at Conan's flank Conan crossed his wrists and brought the sword around to block the op-posing blade with its flat Steel rang on steel, and he brought his blade up and around in a broad circle to sered, but his arh to withstand the blow Both ain
Once more the armored man attacked, confident in the protection of his harness This tie Instead he dropped his oeapon and stepped inside the range of the other sword Gripping the other man's forrist in both powerful hands, Conan wrenched the hand loose from the hilt and twisted the arht to cut at Conan with the sword held in his left hand, but by this time Conan had stepped around al the spine An audible snapping sound told hiave way It was pointless to strike at a man in such armor, but an armored man could be wrestled as well as one without artificial protection Releasing the arm, Conan took the hel alh the steel, but unless the man's neck was flexible as an owl's he was dead Conan dropped the lifeless hulk to the floor with a clatter
Now he had the leisure to exas The circular rooallery ran around its periph-ery, about ten feet froed with gaily dressed people, tfieir silver eyes alight with delight at the spectacle hdow
”Well done, hero,” said the one he knew as Sarissa ”Was that better than fighting untrained slaves? Those elite bodyguards of a lord of the shi+fting Land”
A old called across to her, 122
123”Let me try three Surely he cannot defeat three of my men at once!”
”No,” Sarissa answered, ”next wedifferent What shall it be?”
As a hubbub broke out a in their midst She still wore only jewelry, and he was infuriated to see that her fair body was covered with the infla by the ever-present chains The fury writ upon her face matched his own
”Can you not at least let hiarments?” she demanded
”What for?” shouted Conan defiantly ”I've ly pri besides fight?”
Conan beckoned to hiut fish”
This was answered with delighted laughter Conan eyed the railing It was a high leap, but he justand haul hi down thisAlcuina Then they could worry about finding a way out of this place
The plan had great appeal, especially the part about killing all these silver-eyed devils ere not content merely to kill a victim, but must huolden robes first He thought of going for Sarissa first, but a certain native squeamishness had always ht be
Without warning, Conan ran straight for the ith the speed of a tiger, and like a tiger he leaped for the railing His sas too large to grip in his teeth, so he had only one free hand, and with it he barely got a sufficient grasp upon the railing and began to haul hi for the surprised , but it never reached hih his whole body, and he jerked back, away fro he had ever felt before, and he fell crashi+ng upon his back onto the cold, bloody stone floor
When he regained consciousness Conan was still in the circular rooone He sat up, sore in every muscle He knew that the fall could not account for this pain, and that it must be an aftereffect of the terrible, unseen blow that had corasped He tasted blood in his mouth and spat upon the stone floor
The two men he had killed had been taken away as well There was a pile of objects on the floor, and he went to investigate To his surprise it consisted of his clothes and possessions
He quickly donned his garments and strapped on hisobr accoutre the iven him Despite his earlier bravado, he felt far better attu resu his clothes He rammed his sword back Bo its sheath and clapped his hel he had come bo the castle with His heavy cloak and winter clothes oe somewhere in the woods with Rerin Now to find a way out of this pit
Clearly they did not intend for him to stay here, else could they have any fun with him? None of the 124
125pit's several doors stood open He eyed the treacherous railing Was it dangerous all the tiainst it, and Alcuina had been tethered to it Perhaps it had worked its spell only after he had grasped it There was only one way to find out
For a second time he ran to the wall and leaped This ti with both hands He hauled hilejolt He found himself upon a circular bal-cony and near a door Without hesitation, cradling his sword in one hand, he went through the door It was as good a course as any He did not plan to leave the castle without Alcuina, if itevery roo watched He wondered what these people did for amuse-ment when there were no errant wanderers to torment Civilized people were all the same; they had no warrior virtues of their own and thus had to ad worth ad before he killed them
”What will it be?” he called out ”I've killed your hell-scorpion, and I've killed your utless eunuchs?”