Robert E. Howard

“ They wait for dawn, even as we."
"By Crom," muttered Conan. "I awoke with a feeling that doom was creeping on me in the night."
He stared up at the great golden lamp which shed a soft glow over the velvet hangings and carpets of the great tent. They were alone; not even a slave or a page slept on the carpeted floor; but Conan's eyes blazed as they were wont to blaze in the teeth of great peril, and the sword quivered in his hand. Pallantides watched him uneasily. Conan seemed to be listening. ”

“ The king and his allies moved westward at the head of fifty thousand men -- knights in shining armor with their pennons streaming above their helmets, pikemen in steel caps and brigandines, crossbowmen in leather jerkins. They crossed the border, took a frontier castle and burned three mountain villages, and then, in the valley of the Valkia, ten miles west of the boundary line, they met the hosts of Conan, king of Aquilonia -- forty-five thousand knights, archers and men-at-arms, the flower of Aquilonian strength and chivalry. ”

“ A furtive step!"
"Seven knights guard your tent, Your Majesty," said Pallantides. "None could approach it unchallenged."
"Not outside," growled Conan. "It seemed to sound inside the tent."
Pallantides cast a swift, startled look around. The velvet hangings merged with shadows in the corners, but if there had been anyone in the pavilion besides themselves, the general would have seen him. Again he shook his head.
"There is no one here, sure. You sleep in the midst of your host."
"I have seen death strike a king in the midst of thousands," muttered Conan. ”

“ What of this stranger who men say gives counsel to Tarascus?"
"He wears a veil," answered Pallantides; "they say he is a foreigner; a stranger from Stygia."
"A stranger from Stygia!" repeated Conan scowling. "A stranger from hell, more like! -- Ha! What is that?"
"The trumpets of the Nemedians!" exclaimed Pallantides. "And hark, how our own blare upon their heels! Dawn is breaking, and the captains are marshaling the hosts for the onset! Mitra be with them, for many will not see the sun go down behind the crags."
"Send my squires to me!" ”

“ A man -- at least he looked like a man -- wrapped in rags like a mummy's bandages, with a moldering cloak drawn about him, and a hood. All I could see was his eyes, as he crouched there in the shadows. ”

“ But his eyes were gray and he did not resemble Conan in his features.
"The king is stricken by a strange malady," said Pallantides briefly. "A great honor is yours; you are to wear his armor and ride at the head of the host today. None must know that it is not the king who rides."
"It is an honor for which a man might gladly give up his life," stammered the captain, overcome by the suggestion. "Mitra grant that I do not fail of this mighty trust!" ”

“ Such a wave of enthusiasm and rejoicing as swept the land is frequently the signal for a war of conquest. So no one was surprised when it was announced that King Tarascus had declared the truce made by the late king with their western neighbors void, and was gathering his hosts to invade Aquilonia. ”