Part 11 (1/2)

He was no longer in a deserted land, but one teeress thenceforth was slow and cautious, through thick woods and unfrequented byways It was dusk when he reached the plantation of Servius Galannus

8 Dying Embers

The countryside about Tarantia had escaped the fearful ravaging of the more easterly provinces There were evidences of the es, plundered fields and looted granaries, but torch and steel had not been loosed wholesale

There was but one grim splotch on the landscape - a charred expanse of ashes and blackened stone, where, Conan knew, had once stood the stately villa of one of his staunchest supporters

The king dared not openly approach the Galannus farht he rode through an extensive woodland, until he sighted a keeper's lodge through the trees Dis his horse, he approached the thick, arched door with the intention of sending the keeper after Servius He did not knohat ene He had seen no troops, but they ht be quartered all over the countryside But as he drew near, he saw the door open and a coure in silk hose and richly embroidered doublet stride forth and turn up a path that wound away through the woods

'Servius!'

At the low call the master of the plantation wheeled with a startled excla-sword at his hip, and he recoiled fro in the dusk before him

'Who are you?' he demanded 'What is your - Mitra!'

His breath hissed inward and his ruddy face paled 'Avaunt!' he ejaculated 'Why have you coray lands of death to terrify eman in your lifetime-'

'As I still expect you to be,' answered Conan 'Stop tre with uncertainty Servius approached and stared into the face of the iant, and then, convinced of the reality of what he saw, he dropped to one knee and doffed his plumed cap

'Your Majesty! Truly, this is a reat bell in the citadel has tolled your dirge, days agone Men said you died at Valkia, crushed under a ranite'

'It was another in runted Conan 'But let us talk later If there is such a thing as a joint of beef on your board-'

'Forgiveto his feet 'The dust of travel is gray on yourhere without rest or sup! Mitra! I see well enough now that you are alive, but I swear, when I turned and saw you standing all gray and diht, theto ht dead in the woodland at dusk'

'Bid the keeper see to my steed which is tied behind yonder oak,' requested Conan, and Servius nodded, drawing the king up the path The patrician, recovering froht, had become extremely nervous

'I will send a servant froe - but I dare not trust even my servants in these days It is better that only I know of your presence'

Approaching the great house that glih the trees, he turned aside into a little-used path that ran between close-set oaks whose intertwining branches forathering dusk

Servius hurried on through the darkness without speaking, and with so panic in his h a small side-door into a narrow, dimly illuminated corridor They traversed this in haste and silence, and Servius brought the king into a spacious cha and richly paneled walls Logs flae to the air, and a great any board Servius locked the uished the candles that stood in a silver candlestick on the table, leaving the chamber illuminated only by the fire on the hearth

'Your pardon, your Majesty,' he apologized 'These are perilous times; spies lurk everywhere It were better that none be able to peer through the s and recognize you This pasty, however, is just fro on n-'

'The light is sufficient,' grunted Conan, seating hi his poniard

He dug ravenously into the luscious dish, and washed it doith great gulps of wine frorown in Servius' vineyards He seemed oblivious to any sense of peril, but Servius shi+fted uneasily on his settle by the fire, nervously fingering the heavy gold chain about his neck He glanced continually at the diaht, and cocked his ear toward the door, as if half expecting to hear the pad of furtive feet in the corridor without

Finishi+ng his meal, Conan rose and seated himself on another settle before the fire

'I won't jeopardize you long by my presence, Servius,' he said abruptly 'Daill find me far from your plantation'