Part 6 (1/2)
”This is uard,” declared the leader, ”a Stygian The others are hired guards, caood to be safely within walls again! I had feared attacks froir bands My men are well armed, as the noble captain can see But the Gods protected us, so none of those stinking vermin of the desert assailed us”
The captain of the watch grinned ”Your precautions asted,the caravan trail Yesterday a squadron of the Imperial Guards smashed a host of the desert rats and captured their chieftain We think only one of the dogs got away”
”Ah!” said the Shelorious news”
”All in the day's work But at least this show of force should stop the raids for a while Veziz Shah has ordered us to slay any Zuagir, ht by our patrols By the tith and breadth of the Zuagir desert without fear”
”I will burn an offering to Bel as a ratitude,” said the ate Four guardsly shut on hinges as thick as a ed into their cradles
The fort was really a sirded the s with parapets and battleed the breastworks The space within was roomy, and merchants and thieves found their s Isolated as it was, Fort Wakla , with drinking shops and gaarrison happy
At the spacious market place in the center, mailed soldiers in spired helmets and robed merchants with exotic wares and veiled women milled about The space resounded with the cries of hawkers and auctioneers
To one side rose the overnor lived, a fortress in itself with gray stone walls, narros, and heavy copper doors Those who had been inside, however, averred that the interior belied the grimness of the outside It was heaped with art treasures, fitted with comfortable furniture, and stocked with fine wines and viands
Evening had come The sky darkened swiftly, and here and there candles and la taverners bore wine casks fro rush of customers Gamblers rolled dice with practiced twists and turns The colorful night life of a Hyrkanian city was beginning
In the quarters by the western wall, reserved for visiting caravans, argued around the ca there in safety, unsuspected, until the appointed hour had coood two hours to spare, he meant to find out as much as he could about the disposition of the enemy The quarters of the officers and coate, but he did not know the number of the troops quartered there
”May the fiends cut off your tongues!” he rumbled ”I will do as I have said In the tavern district there will be scores of drunken soldiers off duty Froet the infor it from him like a sodden cloth!”
The iron determination of the Cimmerian swept aside the objections of his followers He wrapped his khalat about hi his face under the kaffia There was no reason to upset their carefully laid plans by letting sonize him
The fumes of sour wine, stale beer, and sweat struck Conan in the face as he entered the first drinking shop The carousal was in full swing
Wenches hurried to and fro with jacks of foaons of wine, while painted hussies dawdled on the knees of half-drunken soldiers who emptied their wine cups and yelled for more The interior was arb wasout a s barbarian sat down upon a creaking chair and ordered a tankard of beer
Slaking his thirst in gulps, he looked around A pair of drunken lancers restling on the floor amid shrieks and titters fro skins A ga coins and flashi+ng geh-hewn and wine-spattered surface The Cimmerian relaxed Nervousness seldoe as he entered the enemy's lair
”What about a drink, you silent dullard?”
With a crash of overturned chairs, a gianta train of furious curses in his wake He flung himself down upon the unoccupied seat at Conan's table His eyes were glassily belligerent, and his gilded mail and silken sash were splashed ine from his cup
Conan's eyes narrowed The man wore the scarlet mantle and white turban of the Imperial Guards The turban sported a peacock feather, the eed to that detachirs and took Yin Allal prisoner In fact he ht have commanded that company Here was an opportunity sent by the Gods if Conan could but use it
With a show of bluff inti Cimmerian leaned forward, his face still hidden in the shadow of Ids kaffia ”Do not wonder that I find this place dull I caave the soldier a friendly punch in the shoulder ”I'm on my way to a pleasure house where the women are so fair and skilled as to rival the courtesans of Shadizar!”
The captain hiccupped, shook his head, and focused his eyes with an effort ”Huh? Women? Good idea Who are you, anyway?”
”Hotep of Khe with me, man! A visit to this place will surfeit you for a month”
Conan was not an expert dissembler His performance would have aroused the suspicion of a shrewd and sober man However, the drunken stupor of the Turanian left roo but hishard with aroused lust, he leaned forith a loud belch
”Leadover the cursed desert without a woirs?”
”With them? I commanded them!”
”Good for you!”