Conan and the Spider God

Conan and the Spider God Read Free Page A

Book: Conan and the Spider God Read Free
Author: Lyon Sprague de Camp
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with me—about a wizard seizing a priceless gem. You should have been a seer rather than a soldier, my lad.”
    Lyco rose. “Do you need more coin?”
    Conan shook his head. “That is good of you; but I have enough to get me to some other kingdom. Thank Erlik, I’ve saved a little from my pay. If you pull the right strings, Lyco, you might get promoted to my post.”
    “I might; but I’d rather have my old comrade-in-arms about to trade insults with. What shall I tell people?”
    Conan paused, frowning. “Crom, what a complicated business! Tell them I came in with some cock-and-bull story of a royal message to be carried to—to—what’s that little border kingdom southeast of Koth?”
    “Khauran?”
    “Aye, a message to the King of Khauran.”
    “They have a queen there.”
    “The queen, then. Farewell, and in a fight never forget to guard your crotch!”
    They made their adieus in bluff, soldierly fashion, wringing hands, slapping backs, and punching each other’s shoulders. Then Conan was gone, in a swirl of saffron cloak.
    T he rotund moon, declining in the western sky, gazed placidly down upon the West Gate of Aghrapur as Conan trotted up on his big black destrier, Egil. His belongings in the blanket roll were lashed securely to his saddle, behind the cantle.
    “Open up!” he called. “I’m Captain Conan of the King’s Royal Guard, on a royal commission!”
    “What is your mission, Captain?” demanded the officer of the gate guard.
    Conan held up a roll of parchment. “A message from His Majesty to the Queen of Khauran. I must deliver it forthwith.”
    While grunting soldiers pulled on the bronze-studded oaken portal, Conan tucked the parchment into the wallet that hung from his belt. The scroll was in reality a short treatise on swordsmanship, on which Conan had been practicing his limited knowledge of written Hyrkanian, and he had counted upon the guards’ not bothering to inspect it. Even if they had, he felt sure that few, if any, of them could read the document, especially by lantern light.
    At last the gate creaked open. With a wave, Conan trotted through and broke into a canter. He followed the broad highway, which some in these parts called the Road of Kings—one of several thoroughfares so named—leading westward to Zamora and the Hyborian kingdoms. He rode steadily through the dying night, past fields of young spring wheat, past luxuriant pastures where shepherds watched their flocks and neatherds tended their cattle.
    Before the road reached Shadizar, the capital of Zamora, a path led up into the hills bordering Khauran. Conan, however, had no intention of going to Khauran. As soon as he was out of sight of Aghrapur, he pulled off the road at a place where scrubby trees bordered a watercourse. Out of sight of passersby he dismounted, tethered his horse, stripped off his handsome uniform, and donned the shabby civilian tunic and trews in which he had made his ill-fated visit to Narkia.
    As Conan changed clothes, he cursed himself for an addlepated fool. Lyco was right; he was a fool. The woman had slipped him a note, inviting him to her apartment while her protector was away in Shahpur; and, tired of tavern wenches, Conan aspired to a courtesan of higher rank and quality. For this, and for the boyish thrill of stealing his commander’s girl out from under that officer’s nose, he had cut short a promising career. He had never imagined that Orkhan might return from Shahpur earlier than expected. The worst of it was that he had never disliked the fellow; a strict officer but a fair one … .
    Sunk in melancholy gloom, Conan unwound the turban from his spired helmet and draped the cloth over his head in imitation of a Zuagir kaffiyya, tucking the ends inside his tunic. Then he repacked his belongings, mounted, and set out briskly—but not back to the Road of Kings. Instead, he headed north across country, over fields and through woods where none could track his horse’s hoofprints.
    He

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