Part 27 (1/2)

He did not add that he would lead the scouts himself Eloikas would most likely forbid it That would waste the tiht have no tier asked

”Isn't that-?” Decius snarled, then caught hi that the moment we know more, he shall know it-”

Decius broke off because his jaw had sunk onto his chest Nor was his the only jaw agape

Captain Conan of the Second Co weather-worn and leaner than before, but alive and ready for battle

Behind his farther down the path told Decius that Conan had a following

Decius mustered his wits ”Well, Captain Conan You-” He decided that ”you finally stopped running” would be a mortal insult, and possibly a false accusation as well ”You have coive some explanation of your conduct?”

”That, and more,” Conan said He seemed as impervious to Decius's scorn as a castle keep to a child's arrows ”My conduct includes chopping a band of Syzas, as well as some other matters best not talked of before everybody When you've heard thean to believe that the Cimmerian spoke the truth, and not only because of his assured tone The royal party had heard rumors of the shattered free lances, as they had heard tales of Syzaure behind Conan reles out of fair hair Decius's heart leaped within his breast, and he could no longer command his face

”Welcoeneral's heart leap again Then a reen and broith a sack over one shoulder and a staff in hand, stepped through the ranks of Conan's ave way for hied him to be one who had served theuided us to your camp,” Raihna said

”He knehere ere?” one of the sentries growled His hand was not far from his bow

”Peace,” Conan said ”The woodcutter's a loyal ive his knowledge to Syza to take that on faith What he doubted was that thiselse that it ise to speak of before others Conan and the ”woodcutter” were indeed going before the king, although they ht not care for what caer sentry over ”Go to His Majesty Tell him that Captain Conan has returned with survivors of the Second Co”

As the man scurried off, Decius resumed his contemplation of the ”woodcutter” This was not as pleasant as the contemplation of Raihna would have been, but duty before pleasure The woodcutter stood as if it was nothing new for him to be inspected like a pack mule or a bale of cloth

He continued to stand under Decius's scrutiny until theBy then, Decius had decided that thehe did not choose to which enerously with Captain Conan, unless he had done soht open hisEloikas had three walls and a roof, made of stout cloth dyed with herbs until it shared the color of the forest floor

The rear of the tent was the solid rock of the base of a cliff In that rock was a narrow cleft: the king's path to Safety in the last extre to his enemies

To Conan, the rock cleft seemed more like a path to a quicker and more merciful death for Eloikas The Ci scrah the bowels of the hill

Eloikas had looked a hale sixty when Conan had last seen him Now he looked a feeble and sickly seventy, and his hands were so thin they seee, and his breath came with a painful effort

He still corateful The Cimmerian told the tale of his journey fro Whatever Conan had done, or what ht be done to him, he suspected that what Marr the Piper had to say would prove of importance

Decius, he suspected, was not of the saeneral's loyalty He had, by all accounts, fought too hard and endured too much in Eloikas's cause to be any kind of traitor

But a race a rival-the captain-general reat mischief out of jealousy as out of treason, as Conan knew all too well Were ht still be a captain in the Turanian service instead of clieneral heard Conan out in silence, then waited while the king asked a few shrewd questions Etoikas's bodyhim, but his ere not