"They say someone is uniting the Kezankian tribes. They say the hillmen are sharpening their tulwars. They say it could mean war. If 'tis so, the Desert will feel the first blow, as always."

Conan tossed the last of the orange aside and wiped his hands on his thighs. "The Kezankians are far distant, Peor." His grin revealed strong white teeth. "Or do you think the tribesmen will leave their mountains to sack the Desert? It is not the place I would chose, were I they, but you are older than I and no doubt know better."

"Laugh, Cimmerian," Peor said bitterly. "But when war is announced the mob will hunt for hillman throats to slit, and when they cannot find enough to sate their bloodl.u.s.t, they'll turn their attentions to the Desert. And the army will be there-'to preserve order.' Which means to put to the sword any poor sod from the Desert who thinks of actually resisting the mob. It has happened before, and will again."

A shadow fell across them, cast by a woman whose soft robes of emerald silk clung to the curves of b.r.e.a.s.t.s and belly and thighs like a caress. A belt woven of golden cords was about her waist. Ropes of pearls encircled her wrists and neck, and two more, as large as a man's thumbnail, were at her ears. Behind her a tall Shemite, the iron collar of a slave on his neck and a bored expression on his face, stood laden with packages from the Bazaar. She dropped a silver coin in Peer's bowl, but her sultry gaze was all for Conan.

The muscular youth enjoyed the looks women gave him, as a normal matter, but this one examined him as if he were a horse in the auction barns. And to make matters worse a scowl grew on the Shemite's face as though he recognized a rival. Conan's face grew hot with anger. He opened his mouth, but she spoke first.

"My husband would never approve the purchase," she smiled, and walked away with undulating hips. The Shemite hurried after her, casting a self-satisfied glance over his shoulder at Conan as he went.

Peer's bony fingers fished the coin from the bowl. With a cackle that showed he had regained at least some of his humor, he tucked it into his pouch. "And she'd pay a hundred times so much for a single night with you, Cimmerian. Two hundred. A more pleasant way to earn your coin than scrambling over rooftops, eh?"

"Would you like that leg broken in truth?" Conan growled.

The beggar's cackles grew until they took him into a fit of coughing.

When he could breathe normally again, he wiped the back of his hand across his thin-lipped mouth. "No doubt I would earn even more in my bowl. My knee hurts of a night for leaving it so all day, but that fall was the best thing thatever happened to me."

Conan shivered at the thought, but pressed on while the other held his good mood. "I did not come today just to give you an orange, Peor. I look for a woman called Lyana, or perhaps Tamira."

Peor nodded as the Cimmerian described the girl and gave a carefully edited account of their meeting, then said, "Tamira. I've heard that name, and seen the girl. She looks as you say."

"Where can I find her?" Conan asked eagerly, but the beggar shook his head.

"I said I've seen her, and more than once, but as to where she might be.

. . ."He shrugged.

Conan put a hand to the leather purse at his belt. "Peor, I could manage a pair of silver pieces for the man who tells me how to find her.''

"I wish I knew," Peor said ruefully, then went on quickly. "But I'll pa.s.s the word among the Brotherhood of the Bowl. If a beggar sees her, you'll hear of it. After all, friendship counts for something, does it not?"

The Cimmerian cleared his throat to hide a grin. Friendship, indeed! The message would come to him through Peor, and the beggar who sent it would be lucky to get as much as one of the silver pieces. "That it does," he agreed.

"But, Conan? I don't hold with killing women. You don't intend to hurt her, do you?"

"Only her pride," Conan said, getting to his feet. With the beggars'

eyes as his, he would have her before the day was out. "Only her pride."

Two days later Conan threaded his way through the thronging crowds with a sour expression on his face. Not only the beggars of Shadizar had become his eyes. More than one doxy had smiled at the ruggedly handsome young Cimmerian, shivered in her depths at the blue of his eyes, and promised to watch for the woman he sought, though never without a pout of sultry jealousy. The street urchins, unimpressed by broad shoulders or azure eyes, had been more difficult. Some men called them the Dust, those homeless, ragged children, countless in number and helpless before the winds of fate, but the streets of Shadizar were a hard school, and the urchins gave trust grudgingly and demanded a reward in silver. But from all those eyes he had learned only where Tamira had been, and never a word of where she was.

Conan's eyes searched among the pa.s.sersby, seeking to pierce the veils of those women who wore them. At least, the veils of those who were slender and no taller than his chest. What he would do when he found her was not yet clear in his mind beyond the matter of seeking rest.i.tution for his youthful pride, but find her he would if he had to stare into the face of every woman in Shadizar.

So intent was he on his thoughts that the drum that cleared others from the street, even driving sedan chairs to the edge of the pavement, did not register on his mind until it suddenly came to him that he stood alone in the middle of the street. Turning to see where the steady thump came from, he found a procession bearing down on him.

At its head were two spearmen as tall as he, ebon-eyed men with capes of leopard skin, the clawed paws hanging across their broad, bare chests.

Behind came the drummer, his instrument slung by his side to give free swing to the mallets with which he beat a cadence. A score of men in spiked helms and short, sleeveless mail followed the drummer. Half bore spears and half bows, with quivers on their backs, and all wore wide, white trousers and high, red boots.

Conan's eyes went no further down the cortege than the hors.e.m.e.n who came next, or rather the woman who led them, mounted on a prancing black gelding a hand taller than any her followers rode. Tall she was, and well rounded, a delight both callimastian and callipygean. Her garb of tight tunic and tighter breeches, both of tawny silk, with a scarlet cloak thrown well back across her horse's rump, did naught to hide her curves. Light brown hair, sun-streakedwith gold, curled about her shoulders and surrounded a prideful face set with clear gray eyes.

She was a woman worth looking at, Conan thought. And besides, he knew of her, as did every thief in Shadizar. The Lady Jondra was known for many things, her arrogance, her hunting, her racing of horses, but among thieves she was known as the possessor of a necklace and tiara that had set more than one man's mouth watering. Each was set with a flawless ruby, larger than the last joint of a big man's thumb, surrounded by sapphires and black opals. In the Desert men taunted each other with the stealing of them, for of all those who had tried, the only one not taken by the spears of her guards had died with Jondra's own arrows in his eyes. It was said she had been more furious that the thief entered her chambers while she was bathing than at his bungled attempt at theft.

Conan prepared to step from the procession's path, when the spearmen, not five paces from him now, dropped their spears to the ready. They did not slow their pace, but came on as if the threat should send him scurrying for cover.

The big Cimmerian's face tightened. Did they think him a dog, then, to beat from their way? A young man's pride, dented as much as he could stand in recent days, hardened. He straightened, and his hand went to the worn, leather-wrapped hilt of his broadsword. Dead silence fell among the crowd lining the sides of the street.

The spear-men's eyes widened at the sight of the young giant standing his ground. The streets always cleared before their mistress, the drum usually sufficing, and never more than the gleam of a spear-point in the sunlight required at most. It came to each in the same instant that this was no apprentice to be chivvied aside. As one man they stopped and dropped into a crouch with spears presented.

The drummer, marching obliviously, continued his pounding until he was between the two spearmen. There his mallets froze, one raised and one against the drumhead, and his eyes darted for a way out. The three men made a barricade across the street that perforce brought the rest of Lady Jondra's cortege to a halt, first the mailed hunters, then the hors.e.m.e.n, and so back down the line, till all stood stopped.

The ludicrousness of it struck Conan, and he felt mirth rising despite himself. How did he get himself into these predicaments, he wondered.

"You there!" a husky woman's voice called. "You, big fellow with the sword!" Conan looked up to find the Lady Jondra staring at him over the heads of her spearmen and archers. "If you can stop Zurat and Tamal in their tracks, perhaps you can face a lion as well. I always need men, and there are few who deserve the name in Shadizar. I will take you into my service." A tall, hawk-faced man riding next to her opened his mouth angrily, but she cut him off with a gesture. "What say you? You have the shoulders for a spearman."

The laughter broke through, and Conan let it roar, though he was careful not to take his eyes from the spearmen or his hand from his sword. Jondra's face slowly froze in amazement. "I am already in service," he managed, "to myself. But, my lady, I wish you good day and will no longer block your pa.s.sage." He made a sweeping bow-not deep enough to lose sight of the spear points-and strode to the side of the street.

For an instant there was stunned silence, then the Lady Jondra was shouting. "Zurat! Tamal! March on! Junio! The beat!"

The spearmen straightened, and the drummer stiffly took up his cadence again. In moments the procession was moving. Jondra rode past stiffly, her eyes drifting to the big Cimmerian as if she did not realize what she did. The hawk-faced man rode beside her, arguing volubly, but she seemed not to hear.

A knot of barefooted street urchins, all color long faded from their tattered tunics, suddenly appeared near Conan. Their leader was a girl, though at an age when her scrawniness could pa.s.s for either s.e.x. Half a head taller than her followers, she swaggered to the muscular youth's side and studied the array of hunters. The lion dogs pa.s.sed, heavy, snarling brutes with spikedcollars, pulling hard on the leashes held by their handlers.

"Dog like that could take your leg off," the girl said. "Big man, you get a spear in your belly, and who's going to pay us?"

"You get paid when you've found her, Laeta," Conan replied. The trophies of the hunt were borne by, skins of leopards and lions, great scimitar antelope horns, the skull of a huge wild ox with horns as thick and long as a man's arm, all held aloft for the view of the onlookers.

She cast a scornful glance at him. "Did I not say as much? We found the wench, and I want those two pieces of silver."

Conan grunted. "When I am sure it's her."

This was not the first report of Tamira he had had. One had been a woman more than twice his age, another a potter's apprentice with only one eye. The last of Jondra's procession pa.s.sed, pack animals and high-wheeled ox-carts, and the throng that had stood aside flowed together behind like water behind a boat.

"Take me to her," Conan said.

Laeta grumbled, but trotted away down the street, her coterie of hard-eyed urchins surrounding her like a bodyguard. Under every ragged tunic, the Cimmerian knew, was a knife, or more than one. The children of the street preferred to run, but when cornered they were as dangerous as a pack of rats.

To Conan's surprise they moved no closer to the Desert, but rather farther away, into a district peopled by craftsmen. The din of bra.s.s-smiths'

hammers beat at them, then the stench of the dyers' vats. Smoke from kiln fires rose on all sides. Finally the girl stopped and pointed to a stone building where a sign hanging from chains showed the image of a lion, half-heartedly daubed not too long past with fresh carmine.

"In there?" Conan asked suspiciously. Taverns attracted likes, -and a thief would not likely be welcome amid potters and dyers.

"In there," Laeta agreed. She chewed her lip, then sighed. "We will wait out here, big man. For the silver."

Conan nodded impatiently and pushed open the tavern door.

Inside, the Red Lion was arranged differently from the usual tavern. At some time in the past a fire had gutted the building. The ground floor, which had collapsed into the cellar, had never been replaced. Instead, a balcony had been built running around the inside of the building at street level, and the common room was now in what had been the cellar. Even when the sun was high on the hottest day, the common room of the Red Lion remained cool.

From a place by the balcony rail just in front of the door, Conan ran his gaze over the interior of the tavern, searching for a slender female form.

A few men stood on the balcony, some lounging against the railing with tankard in hand, most bargaining quietly with doxies for time in the rooms abovestairs. A steady stream of serving girls trotted up and down stairs at the rear of the common room with trays of food and drink, for the kitchen was still on the ground level. Tables scattered across the stone floor below held potters whose arms were flecked with dried clay and leather-ap.r.o.ned metal workers and apprentices with tunics stained by rainbow splashes.

The ever-present trulls, their wisps of silk covering no more here than they did in the Desert, strolled the floor, but as he had expected Conan could see no other women among the tables. Satisfied that Laeta was mistaken or lying, he started to turn for the door. From the corner of his eye he saw a burly potter, with a round-breasted doxy running her fingers through his hair, look away from her bounty to glance curiously at a spot below where the big Cimmerian stood. Another man, his leather ap.r.o.n lying across the table before him and a squealing jade on his knees, paused in his pawing of her to do the same. And yet another man.

Conan leaned to look over the railing, and there Tamira sat beneath him, demurely clothed in pale blue robes, face scrubbed to virginal freshness . . .

and a wooden mug upended at her mouth. With a sigh she set the mug on the table upside-down, a signal to the serving girls that she wanted it refilled.

Smiling, Conan slipped the flat throwing knife from his belt. A flickerof his hand, and the black blade quivered in the upturned bottom of her mug.

Tamira started, then was still except for the fingers of her left hand drumming on the tabletop. The Cimmerian's smile faded. With a muttered oath he stalked to the stairs and down.

When he reached the table the throwing knife had disappeared. He ignored the wide-eyed looks of men at nearby tables and sat across from her.

"You cost me eight pieces of gold," were his first words.

The corners of Tamira's mouth twitched upward. "So little? I received forty from the Lady Zayella."

Conan's hand gripped the edge of the table till the wood creaked in protest. Forty! "Zarath the Kothian would give a hundred," he muttered, then went on quickly before she could ask why he was then only to receive eight. "I want a word with you, wench."

"And I with you," she said. "I didn't come to a place like this, and let you find me, just to-"

"Let me find you!" he roared. A man at a nearby table hurriedly got up and moved away.

"Of course, I did." Her face and voice were calm, but her fingers began to tap on the table again. "How could I fail to know that every beggar in Shadizar, and a fair number of the trulls, were asking after my whereabouts?"

"Did you think I would forget you?" he asked sarcastically.

She went on as if he had not spoken. "Well, I will not have it. You'll get in my-my uncles' attention. They'll not take, kindly to a stranger seeking after me. I led you here, well away from the Desert, in the hopes they'll not hear of our meeting. You'll find yourself with a blade in your throat, Cimmerian. And for some reason I don't quite understand, I would not like that."

Conan looked at her silently, until under his gaze her large, dark eyes began blinking nervously. Her finger-drumming quickened. "So you do know my country of birth."

"You fool, I am trying to save your life."

"Your uncles look after you?" he said abruptly. "Watch over you? Protect you?"

"You will find out how carefully if you do not leave me alone. And what's that smug grin for?"

"It's just that now I know I'll be your first man." His tone was complacent, but his every muscle tensed.

Tamira's mouth worked in silent incredulity, and scarlet suffused her cheeks. Suddenly a shriek burst from her lips, and the throwing knife was in her hand. Conan threw himself from his bench as her arm whipped forward.

Beyond him an apprentice yelped and stared disbelieving at the tip of his nose, from which a steady drip of red fell to put new blotches on his dye-stained tunic.

Warily Conan got to his feet. Tamira shook her small fists at him in incoherent fury. At least, he thought, she did not have another of those knives. It would be out, otherwise. "But you must ask me," he said as if there had been no interruption. "That will make up for the eight gold pieces you stole from me, when you ask me."

"Erlik take you!" she gasped. "Mitra blast your soul! To think I worried ... to think I. ... You're nothing but an oaf after all! I hope my uncles do catch you! I hope the City Guard puts your head on a pike! I hope-I hope-oh!"

From head to toe she shook with rage.

"I eagerly await our first kiss," Conan said, and dodged her mug, aimed at his head.

Calmly turning his back on her wordless shouts, he strolled up the stairs and out of the tavern. As soon as the door closed behind him, his casual manner disappeared. Urgently he looked for Laeta, and smiled when she appeared with her palm out.

Before she could ask he tossed her two silver coins. "There's more," he said. "I want to know everywhere she goes, and everyone she sees. A silverpiece every tenday for you, and the same for your followers." Baratses' gold was disappearing fast, he thought, but with luck it should last just long enough.

Laeta, with her mouth open to bargain, could only nod wordlessly.

Conan smiled in satisfaction. He had Tamira now. After his performance she thought he was a buffoon intent on seduction to salve his pride. He doubted if she even remembered her slip of the tongue. Almost she had said he would get in her way. She planned a theft, and wanted no enc.u.mbrance. But this time he would get there first, and she would find the empty pedestal.

Chapter 4.

Much of the Zamoran n.o.bility, the Lady Jondra thought as she strolled through her palace garden, deplored that the last of the Perashanids was a woman.

Carefully drawing back the vermilion silk sleeve of her robe, she. dabbled her fingers in the sparkling waters of a fountain rimmed with gray-veined marble.

From the corner of her eye she watched the man who stood next to her. His handsome, dark-eyed face radiated self-a.s.surance. A heavy gold chain, each link worked with the seal of his family, hung across the crisp pleats of his citrine tunic. Lord Amaranides did not deplore her femininity at all. It meant that all the wealth of the Perashanids went with her hand. If he could manage to secure that hand.

"Let us walk on, Ama," she said, and smiled at his attempt to hide a grimace for the pet name she had given him. He would think the smile was for him, she knew. It was not in him to imagine otherwise.

"The garden is lovely," he said. "But not so lovely as you."

Instead of taking his proffered arm she moved ahead down the slate-tiled walk, forcing him to hurry to catch up to her.

Eventually she would have to wed. The thought brought a sigh of regret, but duty would do what legions of suitors had been unable to. She could not allow the Perashanid line to end with her. Another sigh pa.s.sed her full lips.

"Why so melancholy, my sweetling?" Amaranides murmured in her ear. "Let me but taste your honey kiss, and I will sweep your moodiness away."

Deftly she avoided his lips, but made no further discouraging move.

Unlike most n.o.bly born Zamoran women, she allowed few men so much as a kiss, and none more. But even if she could not bring herself to stop her occasional tweaking of his well-stuffed pomposity, Amaranides must not be put off entirely.

At least he was tall enough, she thought. She never allowed herself to contemplate the reason why she was taller than most Zamoran men, but she had long since decided that her husband must be taller than she. Amaranides was a head taller, but his build was slender. With an idle corner of her mind she sketched the man she wanted. Of n.o.ble lineage, certainly. An excellent horseman, archer and hunter, of course. Physically? Taller than Amaranides by nearly a head. Much broader of shoulders, with a deep, powerful chest.

Handsome, but more ruggedly so than her companion. His eyes. . . .

Abruptly she gasped as she recognized the man she had drawn in her mind.

She had dressed him as a Zamoran n.o.bleman, but it was the sky-eyed street-ruffian who had disrupted her return from the hunt. Her face flooded with scarlet. Blue eyes! A barbarian! Like smoky gray fires her own eyes blazed. That she could consider allowing such a one to touch her, even without realizing it! Mitra! It was worse done without realizing it!