Conan the Marauder by John Maddox Roberts Read Free Book Online Page B

confirmed your worst fears. The savage Bartatua has gathered the greatest host the nomads have seen in a generation, and he shall lead it against the city within thirty days."
    At this there was much agitation. One of the men in military dress rose to speak. "Can we be sure of this? We have had nothing but the reports of travelling merchants thus far. They have said only that the hordes gather. The target could as well be Malikta or Bukhrosha." There were those who agreed with him.
    "Honoured sir," Khondemir said in mock humility, "I must insist that my sources of information are infinitely more reliable than those of these travellers."
    "What boots it in any case?" asked a magistrate whose turban sported a pearl the size of a child's fist. "If the savage means to take one of the caravan cities, he will want to take them all. Whether we are first or last, he will come to Sogaria in time."
    The Turanian inclined his head toward the magistrate. "Exactly, sagacious sir. With the Hyrkanian nation on horseback, it is no good to wait until their raids begin. They campaign at a gallop, and they will be before the gates of your city before you know that they have crossed your borders."
    Amyr Jelair turned to a somewhat younger man whose features resembled his own. "My brother, as governor of the city, you must see to it that the granaries are full and that all appropriate livestock are brought within our walls." To another man: "Master of the armouries, see to it that all weapons are in order and ready to be issued to the citizens at need."
    Khondemir suppressed a grim smile at the thought of these merchants and artisans taking up arms against the wild warriors of Bartatua. "These preparations are noble and proper, my prince," he said, "but I have weapons at my disposal that will be of far more use to you. Your pardon for my saying so," he bowed toward those in military dress, "but your warriors, though they be brave as lions, have spent their lives on routine
    patrols and in chasing bandits across the plain. Sogaria has not seen real war since your father's day."
    "I have the utmost confidence," Amyr Jelair said, "in your great powers. Tell us of your plans."
    "What need have we of sorcery?" asked a tall captain in a gold-chased breastplate. "Are the walls of Sogaria not strong? Have these unwashed sub-humans not come here before? Arrows cannot take a great citadel. We can stand atop our walls and jeer at them while they rage, sicken and die. In the end, they will look for easier prey: unwalled villages and helpless caravans."
    "This chieftain, Bartatua," Khondemir continued, "knows more of war than did his predecessors. He has gathered a great host of slaves for his siege works. Your walls will be undermined, your ramparts assaulted by siege towers. Even if the siege were not successful, your land would be ravaged, the outlying villages destroyed, the profits of many caravans lost. Sogaria would be many years in recovering from such devastation."
    "These are words of wisdom," Amyr Jelair said. "And your proposal?"
    "I know of a way to draw this horde away from the city. Then, once it is in the place where I shall lead it, I shall call upon the most powerful of my demon servants to smite it."
    "Can you truly do this?" Amyr Jelair asked in awed tones.
    "I have not wasted such of my time here as I have not devoted to the wizardry arts," said the Turanian. "I have spent many hours in the city archives poring over ancient writings that tell of the steppe tribes. In one of them I discovered a fascinating tale."
    He had their total attention now, and the room sat quiet as they followed his story like children in the marketplace listening to the fables of a master storyteller.
    "Some five centuries ago, when Sogaria was a part of the short-lived kingdom of Katchkaz, that kingdom suffered the raids of one of these hordes. The king at that time, one Karun, was a warlike sovereign, so he gathered his army and gave chase. For many days they