Conan the Relentless Part 13

Raihna might have embraced him in spite of Decius's presence, but at that moment a palace servant appeared in the gateway, Oyzhik behind him.

"Captain-General Decius. Captain Raihna, Conan of Cimmeria. You are summoned to audience with His Sacred Majesty, Eloikas, King of the Border. Fifth of That Name."

The outer parts of the palace were much as Conan had expected: courtyards where weeds sprouted as high as a man's waist and trees overtopped what was left of the walls; chambers all but open to the sky, with stagnant marshes where once gentlefolk might have taken their pleasure on silk-swathed couches, drinking perfumed wine from gilded cups. One chamber still had much of its fine tile floor intact, and Conan had to call his men away from gaping at it as though it were a rare and wondrous treasure from a distant land.

How much of this they pa.s.sed, Conan did not know then or afterward. He knew that he was beginning to feel an itch between his shoulders that no scratching would soothe. With every step he was farther from even the modest protection that Raihna's men might offer him and deeper into a place where foes, human and magical, might wait.

Some of them at least, he vowed, would live only as long as he needed to teach them not to lay traps for a Cimmerian. Or a Bossonian swordswoman, he added, taking in how Raihna's face also grew more somber with each step.

A final step took them around a corner, and both Conan and Raihna stopped as if they faced a pit of fire. Beyond them lay a courtyard clean of dust and weeds alike. Opening off of it were chambers that seemed at least fit to belong to a decent merchant's home.

Every door of these chambers was guarded, and the guards were also unlike what Conan had seen so far in Eloikas's palace. Most of them were past youth, but not past bearing good armor and stout swords or bows, with an occasional halberd to season the mix. Conan judged them with a soldier's eye. He would wager that most of them were of a type he had met before, those who might have lost swiftness but had gained experience and would not be opponents to take lightly.

The guard with the most ornate halberd brought it up in salute.

"Hail, Decius. His Majesty awaits."

The captain-general nodded and fell back. Guards took their place around Conan and Raihna, so close that the two could not have drawn a weapon freely had they wished to. Thus hemmed in, they entered the throne room of King Eloikas.

The throne room was about the size of the dining room in a good inn, and so clean that one might have eaten off the floor. One could see that here, at least, silver was spent to keep the dust away, the tapestries mended, the paint of the murals fresh, and the gilding of the bronze throne unscarred.

One could also see, as Conan did at once, a strong resemblance between the man who sat on the throne and the captain-general who knelt before it. Conan and Raihna followed Decius's example, but the Cimmerian did not take his eyes off their two hosts.

If they were not father and b.a.s.t.a.r.d son, Conan swore, he would drink nothing but water for a year. Both were of medium height but of soldierly bearing. The king was somewhat scanter of hair, and that more gray than black, but the chisel-shaped nose, high cheekbones, and wide gray eyes were common to both.

Conan was so intent on discovering further resemblances between Eloikas and Decius that the command to rise caught him unaware. Raihna had to dig at his ribs with her elbow to bring him to his feet, a gesture that drew a royal laugh.

It seemed the laugh of a man who had found little to laugh about for far too long but who had not altogether lost the habit. In spite of his suspicions, Conan found himself warming to Eloikas.

Decius presented Conan and Raihna in a few soldierly words. They knelt again. Eloikas greeted them in still fewer words, then bid them rise.

"Mistress Raihna, you have Our grat.i.tude, and you will have your promised fee and more. You have not only brought Us what We put in your charge, which will strengthen Our blows against those who have taken Our daughter and heir... but you have struck shrewd blows yourselves against Our common foes. It is Our wish, Mistress Raihna, that you and your men remain within Our realm to aid us in striking further blows.

We expect to be able to reward such service most generously."

Eloikas then folded his hands across a belly remarkably flat for a man of his years and clad in a robe of Brythunian style much patched and dyed over many years. His gaze pa.s.sed over Conan's head and seemed to fix itself on some detail of the mural on the wall behind the Cimmerian.

Conan could tell that Raihna would have given half of her pay to be alone with him, able to speak freely. She also seemed to be gazing at something far away, then drew herself up.

"Your Majesty, I am honored by your confidence. But I beg you to answer two questions."

Captain Oyzhik hissed like an outraged goose, but Decius waved him to silence. The captain-general did not, however, take his eyes off the king. Nor did he fail to make certain subtle gestures to the guards.

The guards held their places, but their hands crept closer to their weapons.

Eloikas nodded, and Conan saw Raihna quiver like a released bowstring.

"Our grat.i.tude to you extends to answering many questions. But let Us hear your first two."

Raihna wasted no words. She wanted to know if her caravan fee would be paid at once so that she could divide it among her men. Some had not been paid since long before they joined her company, save in clothing with which to make themselves decent and weapons with which to make themselves fit for battle.

"I would judge also that some may not wish to remain in Our service and that you wish them to travel safely," Eloikas said.

This time Raihna's reply was as swift as a runner's start. "I cannot swear to that, Your Majesty. But if there are such men, would you ask me to hold them in your realm against their will?"

"We would not. We suspect that if We did, We would hear plain words on the matter from Lord Decius."

The only word for Eloikas's look at his captain-general was "fatherly."

"Your Majesty is gracious," Raihna said. "I would also beg that you consider taking my under-captain, Conan of Cimmeria, into your service."

This time Eloikas's look was that of a king asking advice of a trusted counselor. The captain-general shrugged.

"Conan might have my voice in less troubled times. As matters stand, when a stranger might have more than one allegiance-"

Now it was Conan's elbow that prodded Raihna's ribs. Her outraged look did not turn into outrageous words.

"Your Majesty, if I may speak for myself... ?" Conan said.

Oyzhik hissed again. "Who asked you-?" he began.

"Peace, Oyzhik," Eloikas said. "Even a condemned man may ask one final favor of the judge."

"Your Majesty, before you condemn me to leaving Mistress Raihna's service, to which I am sworn until she sets me free, please hear from my own lips what I did."

"You may speak."

Conan obeyed. His account of his deeds since entering the Border Kingdom was as plain as a halberd head. No gilding that he could give it would make it more convincing. He could hope for no more or no less than persuading the king that he was not in Count Syzambry's service and never would be.

When Conan finished, the king nodded. "You speak very freely before a king."

"Your Majesty, I've faced men, and more than men, far more to be feared than just a king."

"And learned flattery from them?"

"Call it what you will, Your Majesty. I call it the truth."

Eloikas laughed softly, but it seemed that his eyes were not altogether dry. The silence lasted some good while until the king spoke again.

"We think that this Cimmerian can be trusted sufficiently to be offered a post in Our service. Oyzhik, you have spoken often of needing more seasoned soldiers in the Guard to instruct the recruits."

Oyzhik was silent. He looked ready to deny that he had ever said any such thing until he saw Decius's eye upon him. The captain-general might have been shouting, "Lie at your peril!"

"It is true that I can instruct the recruits only by plucking the ranks of the veterans," Oyzhik said sullenly.

"Then We think the favor of the G.o.ds is evident in sending Conan the Cimmerian to Our realm. Conan, if it pleases Mistress Raihna, would you become Sergeant of the Second Company of Our Guard?"

Conan looked a question at Raihna. She nodded.

Conan knelt again. "I accept with pleasure, Your Majesty. By all the lawful G.o.ds of this and other lands, I swear that you'll not regret this decision."