The Bloody Crown of Conan
Page 42
Later on, having eaten and drunk in the camp of the riders, Amalric sat by a small fire in front of Conan’s tent; Lissa, covered with a silken cloak, slumbered with her curly head on his knees. And across from him the fire light played on Conan’s face, interchanging lights and shadows.
“Who are these men?” asked the young Aquilonian.
“The riders of Tombalku,” answered the Cimmerian.
“Tombalku!” exclaimed Amalric. “Then it is no myth!”
“Far from it!” agreed Conan. “When my accursed steed fell with me, I was knocked senseless, and when I recovered consciousness, the devils had me bound hand and foot. This angered me, so I snapped several of the cords they had me tied with, but they rebound them as fast as I could break them – never did I get a hand entirely free. But to them my strength seemed remarkable – ”
Amalric gazed at Conan unspeaking. The man was tall and broad as Tilutan had been, without the black man’s surplus flesh. He could have broken the Ghanata’s neck with his naked hands.
“They decided to carry me to their city instead of killing me out of hand,” Conan went on. “They thought a man like me should be a long time in dying by torture, and so give them sport. Well, they bound me on a horse without a saddle, and we went to Tombalku.
“There are two kings of Tombalku. They took me before them – a lean brown-skinned devil named Zehbeh, and a big fat negro who dozed on his ivory-tusk throne. They spoke a dialect I could understand a little, it being much like that of the western Mandingo who dwell on the coast. Zehbeh asked a brown priest, Daura, what should be done with me, and Daura cast dice made of sheep bone, and said I should be flayed alive before the altar of Jhil. Every one cheered and that woke the negro king.
“I spat on Daura and cursed him roundly, and the kings as well, and told them that if I was to be skinned, by Crom, I demanded a good bellyfull of wine before they began, and I damned them for thieves and cowards and sons of harlots.
“At this the black king roused and sat up and stared at me, and then he rose and shouted: “Amra!’ and I knew him – Sakumbe, a Suba from the Black Coast, a fat adventurer I had known well in the days when I was a corsair along that coast. He trafficked in ivory, gold dust and slaves, and would cheat the devil out of his eye-teeth – well, when he knew me, he descended from his throne and embraced me for joy – the black, smelly devil – and took my cords off me with his own hands. Then he announced that I was Amra, the Lion, his friend, and that no harm should come to me. Then followed much discussion, because Zehbeh and Daura wanted my hide. But Sakumbe yelled for his witch-finder, Askia, and he came, all feathers and bells and snake-skins – a wizard of the Black Coast, and a son of the devil if there ever was one.
“Askia pranced and made incantations, and announced that Sakumbe was the chosen of Agujo, the Dark One, and all the black people of Tombalku shouted, and Zehbeh backed down.
“For the blacks in Tombalku are the real power. Several centuries ago the Aphaki, a Shemitish race, pushed into the southern desert and established the kingdom of Tombalku. They mixed with the desert-blacks and the result was a brown straight-haired race, which is still more white than black. They are the dominant caste in Tombalku, but they are in the minority, and a pure black king always sits on the throne beside the Aphaki ruler.
“The Aphaki conquered the nomads of the southwestern desert, and the negro tribes of the steppes which lie to the south of them. These riders, for instance, are Tibu, of mixed Stygian and negro blood.
“Well, Sakumbe, through Askia, is the real ruler of Tombalku. The Aphaki worship Jhil, but the blacks worship Ajujo the Dark One, and his kin. Askia came to Tombalku with Sakumbe, and revived the worship of Ajujo, which was crumbling because of the Aphaki priests. Askia made black magic which defeated the wizardry of the Aphaki, and the blacks hailed him as a prophet sent by the dark gods. Sakumbe and Askia wax as Zehbeh and Daura wane.
“Well, as I am Sakumbe’s friend, and Askia spoke for me, the blacks received me with great applause. Sakumbe had Kordofo, the general of the horsemen, poisoned, and gave me his place, which delighted the blacks and exasperated the Aphaki.
“You will like Tombalku! It was made for men like us to loot! There are half a dozen powerful factions plotting and intriguing against each other – there are continual brawls in the taverns and streets, secret murders, mutilations, and executions. And there are women, gold, wine – all that a mercenary wants! And I am high in favor and power! By Crom, Amalric, you could not come at a better time! Why, what’s the matter? You do not seem as enthusiastic as I remember you having once been in such matters.”
“I crave your pardon, Conan,” apologized Amalric. “I do not lack interest, but weariness and want of sleep overcomes me.”
But it was not gold, women and intrigue that the Aquilonian was thinking, but of the girl who slumbered on his lap; there was no joy in the thought of taking her into such a welter of intrigue and blood as Conan had described. A subtle change had come over Amalric, almost without his knowledge.
Untitled Synopsis
(The Hour of the Dragon)
The plot began with four men in a chamber of a Nemedian castle bringing back to life a Stygian mummy, thousands of years old. One of the men was a powerful Nemedian baron with the ambitions of a king-maker. One was the younger brother of the king of Nemedia. One was a claimant to the throne of Aquilonia. One was a priest of Mitra who had been expelled from his order because of his studies of the forbidden arts of magic. The mummy was that of a sorcerer of long ago, an Hyborian of a kingdom which had been destroyed by the Nemedians, Aquilonians, and Argosseans. The name of this kingdom was Acheron, and its capital city was called Python. Many centuries before the people of Acheron, Hyborians more highly civilized than their neighbors to the east and the west, had been lords of an empire which included what was later southern Nemedia and Brythunia, most of Corinthia, most of Ophir, western Koth and the western lands of Shem, northern Argos, and eastern Aquilonia. With the overthrow and destruction of Acheron by its ruder western neighbors, their greatest sorcerer had fled to Stygia, living there until poisoned by a Stygian priest of Set the Old Serpent. Then he had been mummified with curious art, without removing any of his vital parts, and the mummy had been placed in a hidden temple. Thence, at the conspirators’ instigation, it had been stolen by thieves from Zamora. The Nemedian baron’s name was Amalric; the king’s brother was named Tarascus; the Aquilonian claimant was named Valerius; the priest’s name was Orastes; the sorcerer’s name was Xaltotun. Valerius was a reckless young rogue, tall, yellow-haired, mocking at himself and everything else, but a courageous fighter. He was distantly related to that Aquilonian king destroyed by Conan the Cimmerian, when the latter took the throne of Aquilonia. That king had exiled him, and he had been roaming the world as a soldier of fortune until Amalric’s plots had drawn him back. He was to aid the conspirators in placing Tarascus on the Nemedian throne, then they would set him on the throne of Aquilonia. Amalric was strongly built, dark, ruthless, with hidden designs of his own. He desired to set his puppets on their thrones, rule both, overthrow both, and finally place himself on the throne of the united countries. Tarascus was a small, darkish young man, crafty, courageous, sensual, but a puppet in Amalric’s hands. Orastes was a large man with soft white hands, a dabbler in the black arts. Xaltotun, when brought to life by strange incantations, was a tall man with quick strong hands and strange magnetic eyes and thick black hair. He listened to their speech, as they explained to him all that had occurred since his death, and agreed to aid them. But, he said, before he could regain his full magical power, they must steal for him the jewel called the Heart of Ahriman, which was kept in a secret place in the kingdom of Aquilonia. This had been taken from him when Python fell, and so he had been forced to flee to Stygia. In his own heart the wizard planned to restore the ancient kingdom of Acheron. The descendants of the people of Acheron were more plentiful than men supposed, dwelling in the fastness of the hills, in
communities in the great cities, and scattered throughout the kingdom as priests, menials, secretaries, and scribes. The jewel was stolen; the king of Nemedia was assassinated by black magic, and Tarascus was set on the throne. Then the armies of Nemedia moved against Aquilonia. In his tent in the night before the battle, Conan the Cimmerian dreamed a strange dream in which many of the past events of his life passed in review once more. He saw strange shapes and events, and woke in a sweat of fear to call his captains. Dawn was breaking and the hosts were in motion. A strange hooded figure appeared in the king’s tent and Conan was stricken with a curious paralysis. He could not ride to battle, so they brought a common soldier from the ranks who much resembled him and put the king’s armor on him, and he rode beneath the great lion banner. But he fell, fighting gloriously, and the Aquilonian host was broken and hurled in headlong defeat. Conan, lying helpless in his tent, was attacked by the Nemedian knights, his guard cut down. He fought with his sword, holding himself upright to the tent-pole, until Xaltotun overcame him by magic. He was put secretly into a chariot and secretly conveyed to the capital of Nemedia, for Amalric did not wish it known that it had not been the king who had fallen. He was thrown into the pits beneath the palace, where a giant ape attacked him. But a girl in the train of Tarascus gave Conan a dagger, with which he killed the beast and escaped. Coming into the palace of Tarascus to slay him, he saw the king give a jewel to a man and a bag of gold and order him to take the gem and throw it into the sea. This jewel, althought Conan did not know it, was the Heart of Ahriman, which Tarascus had stolen from the sorcerer because he feared him and had a dim inkling of what Xaltotun intended. Conan smote at Tarascus, but missed, and then, leaving the city, worked his way toward the Aquilonian border. Reaching the border, he learned that his people believed him dead, that the barons were at war with one another, and that Valerius, appearing on the eastern border with the Nemedian army, defeated a host sent against him by the barons, took the capital city and was acclaimed king by the mob, who feared a foreign invasion. Gunderland in the north, and Poitain in the south retained their independence, Gunderland partially and Poitain wholly, and southward Conan made his way, to join Count Trocero, his chancellor, who held the passes that lead down toward the plains of Zingara. But first he made his way to his capital which was in the hands of Valerius because an old witch, in the mountains of eastern Aquilonia, spoke cryptically to him of the Heart of Ahriman, and showed him visions in a crystal floating in smoke – of Zamorian thieves looting a Stygian temple, and stealing a flaming jewel from a subterranean cavern below the city. Thither Conan went and was admitted and aided by his loyal vassals, and going to the cavern, found the jewel gone and fought a fiendish battle with an unseen creature who guarded it. Escaping, he knew at last that the Heart of Ahriman was the gem Tarascus had given the man; but he secured horse and armor and travelled to Poitain where he found Trocero holding the mountain passes against Valerius. Meanwhile Xaltotun did not know of the loss of his jewel, because he kept it in a golden case for ever locked, and he worked his magic without stay. Only the greater magic needed the Heart of Ahriman. But Conan had been recognized in his capital and men rode after him, while others rode to Nemedia with the news. Conan fought a battle in the passes and with the Poitanians defeated the Nemedians. But Trocero did not have enough warriors to invade Aquilonia and defeat the Nemedians and the barons who espoused Valerius, and his people feared the magic of Xaltotun. They urged Conan to remain and rule them as a separate kingdom, and conquer Zingara, but he determined to follow the man who had taken the Heart of Ahriman. He rode toward the ports of Argos.
Notes on The Hour of the Dragon
FIRST DAY. (DAY OF BATTLE.)
Conan at Valkia. Amalric, Tarascus, Valerius and Xaltotun at Valkia. Orastes at Belverus. Prospero on his way to Valkia.
That Night.
Conan was on his way to Belverus with Xaltotun. Amalric, Tarascus and Valerius were encamped in Valkia, their cavalry pursuing the fleeing Aquilonians through the hills. Prospero was falling back toward Tarantia. Orastes was in Belverus.
THE SECOND DAY.
Conan was a captive in Belverus. Xaltotun and Orastes were in Belverus. Tarascus was on his way from Valkia to Belverus. Amalric and Valerius were marching through the hills toward Tarantia. Prospero was approaching Tarantia.
That Night.
Conan was a captive in Belverus and escaped. Orastes and Xaltotun were in Belverus, Xaltotun sleeping the sleep of the black lotus of Stygia. Tarascus reached Belverus. Prospero arrived in Tarantia and found that news of the battle had preceded him. Amalric and Valerius camped in the plains of Aquilonia, devastating the countryside.
THE THIRD DAY.
Conan crossed the border and took refuge in the hills. Tarascus, wounded, was in Belverus, with Xaltotun and Orastes. The king’s squire pursued Conan in the hills. That evening Prospero evacuated Tarantia. At sunset Amalric and Valerius entered the city, unopposed.
That Night.
Conan slept in the hut of Zelata, the witch. Tarascus and Orastes set out from Belverus to Tarantia. Amalric crowned Valerius king of Aquilonia in the great coronation hall of Tarantia. Xaltotun remained in Belverus.
THE FOURTH DAY.
Conan made his way through the hills toward Tarantia. Xaltotun remained at Belverus. Tarascus and Orastes were on their way to Tarantia. Amalric and Valerius were at Tarantia, receiving homage.
That Night.
Conan made his way through the devastated plains toward Tarantia. Xaltotun remained at Belverus. Tarascus and Orastes were on their way to Tarantia. Amalric and Valerius remained at Tarantia.
THE FIFTH DAY.
Conan, at evening, came within sight of Tarantia. Xaltotun remained at Belverus. Amalric with the Nemedians was devastating surrounding provinces. Tarascus and Orastes arrived at Tarantia. Valerius remained at Tarantia, paying old scores and confiscating property.
* * *
Xaltotun left Valkia at sunset, and arrived in Belverus before dawn. He travelled faster than the average man could travel. That means he made the journey in about twelve hours. It would take the average chariot fifteen, with a change of horses. A man on a good horse might make it in fourteen hours. If Conan left Belverus after midnight, say he was on the road at one o’clock and riding like hell, he had been riding six hours when the sun came up. He would still have eight hours to ride. He rested an hour, which made it eight o’clock. It would be about four o’clock when he reached the hills. He would really be taking a shorter cut, because he had left the road which wound toward the passes in the hills. Belverus lay nearer the border than Tarantia.
* * *
Conan was moving up the valley of the Shirki, a day and a night’s hard marching from Tanasul; Amalric could reach Tanasul in little over a day’s march. The Gundermen were advancing along the valley of Khor, about three days march from Tanasul; Tarascus was at Galparan, a day and night’s march to the Pass of Falcons, and a little over a day’s march from Tanasul.
* * *
THE FIRST DAY:
Tarascus at Galparan;
Amalric, Valerius and Xaltotun at the camp near Tanasul;
Conan to the southewest advancing along the Shirki;
The Gundermen north of the Goralian hills;
The First Night:
Tarascus at Galparan;
The other in camp; Xaltotun making magic;
Conan approaching Tanasul;
The Gundermen moving southward toward Tanasul;
THE SECOND DAY:
At dawn the courier reached Tarascus, who broke camp and reached Amalric’s camp with his horsemen at sunset; the footmen arrived some hours later;
Amalric and his companions lay in camp, waiting for Tarascus;
Conan nearing Tanasul;
The Gundermen marching through the Goralian hills;
The Second Night:
Tarascus, Amalric, Valerius and Xaltotun lay in the camp in the plain;
Late that night Conan reache
d Tanasul and crossed and camped on the other side.
The Gundermen were camped further back in the hills.
THE THIRD DAY:
Tarascus, and the Nemedian host, marching toward Tanasul, learned that Conan had crossed; he pushed ahead with his horsemen, and arrived at Tanasul just at twilight;
Conan was camped in the Goralian hills;
The Gundermen were pushing southward swiftly;
The Third Night:
The Nemedians camped in the plain beside the river;
Conan camped in the hills;
The Gundermen reached his camp after nightfall.
Part of two nights
It took Conan a day and a night of marching to reach Tanasul;
* * *
Conan marched all the first day until late that night; camped that first night and set out before dawn; marched all the second day; reached Tanasul late the second night. Time: one whole day’s march and part of two nights; would have taken another man two days and two nights.
The first day and night Amalric lay in camp, waiting for Tarascus, who took a whole day in getting there. He could reach Tanasul in a day’s hard riding; with his host it required a day and part of a night.
If he had set out when he wished to, he would have reached the Shirki first, but Xaltotun wished him to wait for Tarascus.
Untitled Synopsis
(A Witch Shall Be Born)