Part 31 (1/2)

ELEVEN

So's taken the bait,” Conan said

Valeria sat up in the stern of the canoe and reached for her trident

She was clad in an Ichiribu waistcloth, a necklace of lionfish teeth, and a broad hat made of leaves tied with vine to a reed fra the fishi+ng line feed over the side

He wore a leather binding to protect his hand froer His sword and Valeria's, as well as her bow, lay in the bottom of the canoe, wrapped in fish skin, inside oiled leather, inside waxed linen

Neither of them cared to leave their weapons ashore on such an expedition as today's Nor did they care to risk theht not be the only traitor a the Ichiribu, and there were still warriors with doubts about the two strangers The nearest smith who could replace, or even repair their blades was at least a month's travel from the Lake of Death

At last the fish finished its run Conan braced hi it in Valeria crouched, trident ready, its line coiled lightly in the stern and knotted fir driven into the bottohter, but Conan wasted no tied the line would bear any strain the fish could put on it, and hauled aith a will

Ripples spread around the canoe as the fish's thrashi+ng reached the surface Valeria's eyes roved about, watching for the first patch of scales large enough to give her trident a mark Her movements lifted her breasts in a way Conan would have found agreeable, had he spared attention for such matters now

Suddenly, the fish leaped The trident was as swift, and blood and foam took the place of the ripples as the fish thrashed out its life an ar the tail and Conan the head, they heaved it aboard, a grisku, as the tribe called it-a third the length of the canoe and weighing as risku gave its last wriggle ”All that work for one of those? You know they taste like glue”

”The Ichiribu like them, so on't have to eat it Besides, you knoell that theback, the less anybody will suspect us”

”I trust the Ichiribu Don't you?”

”Most of theners when I' them It takes few enemies to make trouble then”

”In that case, let usthe idea of our fighting the Kwanyi into ht, Valeria Sohts we've passed otherwise”

She sniffed ”If I do lower reat loutish Cimmerian to my bed, the least he can do is not to throw it in ht”

”Where would you have ave an even hed ”I've no quarrel with the Ichiribu, and we'll reach the sea faster if ait until the rains A ith the Kwanyi see the time as any”

”Better than most If half they say of Chabano is true, his eye is on an e hioes unchecked”

”They're not my friends,” Valeria protested, but to Conan the protest seemed feeble Like hiood fight, even more so when one owed a debt as she and he did to the Ichiribu

Moreover-

”I've been thinking,” he said ”If Dobanpu thinks it well, we can explore the tunnels beyond the Ichiribu island If they reach to the Kwanyi shore of the lake, we can cliht”

”What of the Golden Serpents?”

”What of theood men at our side, no serpent will pass Besides, the more Golden Serpents, the more fire-stones”