The following night, Conan swaggered into his favorite tavern, that of Abuletes, in the Maul. The low, smoke-stained room stank of sweat and sour wine. At crowded tables, thieves and murderers drank ale and wine, diced, argued, sang, quarreled, and bl.u.s.tered. It was deemed a dull evening here when at least one customer was not stabbed in a brawl.
Across the room, Conan sighted his sweetheart of the moment, drinking alone at a small table. This was Semiramis, a strongly-built, black-haired woman several years older than the Cimmerian.
"Ho there, Semiramis!" roared Conan, pushing his way across. "I"ve got something to show you! Abuletes! A jug of your best Kyrian! I"m in luck tonight!"
Had Conan been older, caution would have stopped him from openly boasting of his plunder, let alone displaying it. As it was, he strode up to Semiramis" table and up-ended the leathern sack containing the seven great, green gems.
The jewels cascaded out of the bag, thumped the wine-wet table top-and crumbled instantly into fine green powder, which sparkled in the candlelight.
Conan dropped the sack and stood with his mouth agape, while nearby drinkers burst into raucous laughter.
"Crom and Mannanan!" the Cimmerian breathed at last. "This time, it seems, I was too clever for my own good." Then he bethought him of the jade serpent, still in the bag. "Well, I have something that will pay for a few good carousals, anyway."
Moved by curiosity, Semiramis picked up the sack from the table. Then she dropped it with a scream.
"It"s-it"s alive!" she cried.
"What-" began Conan, but a shout from the doorway cut him off :
"There he is, men! Seize him!"
A fat magistrate had entered the tavern, followed by a squad of the night watch, armed with bills. The other customers fell silent, staring woodenly into s.p.a.ce as if they knew nothing of Conan or of any of the other riffraff who were Abuletes" guests.
The magistrate pushed toward Conan"s table. Whipping out his sword, the Cimmerian put his back against the wall. His blue eyes blazed dangerously, and his teeth showed in the candle light.
"Take me if you can, dogs!" he snarled. "I"ve done nothing against your stupid laws!" Out of the side of his mouth, he muttered to Semiramis: "Grab the bag and get out of here. If they get me, if"s yours."
"I-I"m afraid of it!" whimpered the woman.
"Oh-ho!" chortled the magistrate, coming forward. "Nothing, eh? Nothing but to rob our leading citizens blind! There"s evidence enough to lop your head off a hundred times over! And then you slew Nestor"s soldiers and persuaded him to join you in a raid on the ruins of Larsha, eh? We found him earlier this evening, drunk and boasting of his feat. The villain got away from us, but you shan"t!"
As the watachmen formed a half-circle around Conan, bills pointing toward his breast, the magistrate noticed the sack on the table.
"Whaf"s this, your latest loot? Well see-"
The fat man thrust a hand into the sack. For an instant he fumbled.
Then his eyes widened; his mouth opened to emit an appalling shriek. He jerked his hand out of the bag. A jade-green snake, alive and writhing, had thrown a loop around his wrist and had sunk its fangs into his hand.
Cries of horror and amazement arose. A watchman sprang back and fell over a table, smashing mugs and splashing liquors. Another stepped forward to catch the magistrate as he tottered and fell. A third dropped his bill and, screaming hysterically, broke for the door.
Panic seized the customers. Some jammed themselves into the door, struggling to get out. A couple started fighting with knives, while another thief, locked in combat with a watchman, rolled on the floor.
One of the candles was knocked over; then another, leaving the room but dimly lit by the little earthenware lamp over the counter.
In the gloom, Conan caught Semiramis" wrist and hauled her to her feet.
He beat the panic-stricken mob aside with the flat of his sword and forced his way through the throng to the door. Out in the night, the two ran, rounding several corners to throw off pursuit. Then they stopped to breathe. Conan said:
"This city will be too cursed hot for me after this. I"m on my way.
Good-bye, Semiramis."
"Would you not care to spend a last night with me?"
"Not this time. I must try to catch that rascal Nestor. If the fool hadn"t blabbed, the law would not have gotten on my trail so quickly.
He has all the treasure a man can carry, while I ended up with naught.
Maybe I can persuade him to give me half; if not-" He thumbed the edge of his sword.
Semiramis sighed. "There will always be a hideout for you in Shadizar, while I live. Give me a last kiss."
They embraced briefly. Then Conan was gone, like a shadow in the night.
On the Corinthian Road that leads west from Shadizar, three bowshots from the city walls, stands the fountain of Ninus. According to the story, Ninus was a rich merchant who suffered from a wasting disease. A G.o.d visited him in his dreams and promised him a cure if he would build a fountain on the road leading to Shadizar from the west, so that travelers could wash and quench their thirst before entering the city.
Ninus built the fountain, but the tale does not tell whether he recovered from his sickness.
Half an hour after his escape from Abuletes" tavern, Conan found Nestor, sitting on the curbing of Ninus" fountain.
"How did you make out with your seven matchless gems?" asked Nestor.
Conan told what had befallen his share of the loot "Now," he said, "since-thanks to your loose tongue-I must leave Shadizar, and since I have none of the treasure left, it would be only right for you to divide your remaining portion with me."
Nestor gave a barking, mirthless laugh. "My share? Boy, here is half of what I have left." From his girdle he brought out two pieces of gold and tossed one to Conan, who caught it. "I owe it to you for pulling me away from that falling wall."
"What happened to you?"
"When the watch cornered me in the dive, I managed to cast a table and bowl a few over. Then I picked up the bright stuff in my cloak, slung it over my back, and started for the door. One who tried to halt me I cut down; but another landed a slash on my cloak. The next thing I knew, the whole ma.s.s of gold and jewels spilled out on the floor, and everybody-watchmen, magistrate, and customers-joined in a mad scramble for them." He held up the cloak, showing a two-foot rent in the fabric.
"Thinking that the treasure would do me no good if my head were adorning a spike over the West Gate, I left while the leaving was good.
When I got outside the city, I looked in my mantle, but all I found were those two coins, caught in a fold. You"re welcome to one of them."
Conan stood scowling for a moment. Then his mouth twitched into a grin.
A low laugh rumbled in his throat; his head went back as he burst into a thunderous guffaw. "A fine pair of treasure-seekers we are! Crom, but the G.o.ds have had sport with us! What a joke!" Nestor smiled wryly. "I am glad you see the amusing side of it. But after this I do not think Shadizar will be safe for either of us."
"Whither are you bound?" asked Conan.
"I"ll head east, to seek a mercenary post in Turan. They say King Yildiz is hiring fighters to whip his raggle-taggle horde into a real army. Why not come with me, lad? You"re cut out for a soldier."
Conan shook his head. "Not for me, marching back and forth on the drill ground all day while some fatheaded officer bawls: "Forward, march!
Present, pikes!" I hear there are good pickings in the West; I"ll try that for a while."
"Well, may your barbarous G.o.ds go with you," said Nestor. "If you change your mind, ask for me in the barracks at Aghrapur. Farewell!"
"Farewell," replied Conan. Without further words, he stepped out on the Corinthian Road and soon was lost to view in the night.
The G.o.d in the Bowl -------------------.
Conan"s grim adventures in the Tower of the Elephant and in the ruins of Larsha leave him with an aversion to the sorcery of the East. He flees northwestward through Corinthia into Nemedia, the second most powerful of the Hyborian kingdoms after Aquilonia. In the city of Numalia, he resumes his professional activities as a thief.
Arus the watchman grasped his crossbow with shaky hands and felt beads of clammy perspiration ooze out upon his skin, as he stared at the unlovely corpse that sprawled on the polished floor before him. It is not pleasant to come upon Death in a lonely place at midnight.
The watchman stood in a vast corridor lighted by huge candles set in niches along the walls. Between the niches, these walls were covered with black velvet wall-hangings, and between the hangings hung shields and crossed weapons of fantastic make. Here and there, too, stood figures of curious G.o.ds-images carved of stone or rare woods, or cast in bronze, iron, or silver-dimly mirrored in the gleaming black floor.
Arus shuddered. He had never become used to the place, although he had worked there as watchman for some months. It was a fantastic establishment, the great museum and antique house that men called Kallian Publico"s Temple, with its rarities from all over the world- and now, in the lonesomeness of midnight, Arus stood in the great silent hall and stared at the sprawling corpse that had been the Temple"s rich and powerful owner.