The Start Conan the Barbarian Super Pack by Robert E. Howard
Author:Robert E. Howard [Howard, Robert E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-68146-396-4
Publisher: Start Publishing LLC
Published: 2015-09-18T00:00:00+00:00
The Tree of Death
The young soldierâs hose and shirt were smeared with dried blood, wet with sweat and gray with dust. Blood oozed from the deep gash in his thigh, from the cuts on his breast and shoulder. Perspiration glistened on his livid face and his fingers were knotted in the cover of the divan on which he lay. Yet his words reflected mental suffering that outweighed physical pain.
âShe must be mad!â he repeated again and again, like one still stunned by some monstrous and incredible happening. âItâs like a nightmare! Taramis, whom all Khauran loves, betraying her people to that devil from Koth! Oh, Ishtar, why was I not slain? Better die than live to see our queen turn traitor and harlot!â
âLie still, Valerius,â begged the girl who was washing and bandaging his wounds with trembling hands. âOh, please lie still, darling! You will make your wounds worse. I dared not summon a leechââ
âNo,â muttered the wounded youth. âConstantiusâs blue-bearded devils will be searching the quarters for wounded Khaurani; theyâll hang every man who has wounds to show he fought against them. Oh, Taramis, how could you betray the people who worshipped you?â In his fierce agony he writhed, weeping in rage and shame, and the terrified girl caught him in her arms, straining his tossing head against her bosom, imploring him to be quiet.
âBetter death than the black shame that has come upon Khauran this day,â he groaned. âDid you see it, Ivga?â
âNo, Valerius.â Her soft, nimble fingers were again at work, gently cleansing and closing the gaping edges of his raw wounds. âI was awakened by the noise of fighting in the streetsâI looked out a casement and saw the Shemites cutting down people; then presently I heard you calling me faintly from the alley door.â
âI had reached the limits of my strength,â he muttered. âI fell in the alley and could not rise. I knew theyâd find me soon if I lay thereâI killed three of the blue-bearded beasts, by Ishtar! Theyâll never swagger through Khauranâs streets, by the gods! The fiends are tearing their hearts in hell!â
The trembling girl crooned soothingly to him, as to a wounded child, and closed his panting lips with her own cool sweet mouth. But the fire that raged in his soul would not allow him to lie silent.
âI was not on the wall when the Shemites entered,â he burst out. âI was asleep in the barracks, with the others not on duty. It was just before dawn when our captain entered, and his face was pale under his helmet. âThe Shemites are in the city,â he said. âThe queen came to the southern gate and gave orders that they should be admitted. She made the men come down from the walls, where theyâve been on guard since Constantius entered the kingdom. I donât understand it, and neither does anyone else, but I heard her give the order, and we obeyed as we always do. We are ordered to assemble in the square before the palace.
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