Conan the Barbarian 157

Major Characters

 * Conan (Previous appearance in CB-156; next appearance in CB-158).

Minor Characters

 * Lord Karno (First and only appearance to date).
 * Brythunian King (First and only appearance to date).
 * Grynella (First and only appearance to date).
 * Symon (First and only appearance to date).

Locations

 * Brythunia
 * Berthalia

Time Frame

 * One day

Synopsis
Conan rides into the city of Berthalia and overhears a discussion of a reward. Upon investigating, he discovers the king needs someone to rescue his queen who has been kidnapped by a wizard and held on a nearby mountain. Many have tried and failed, and Conan decides to claim the large reward, although not before humiliating the local blowhard Lord Karno in front of the weak-stomached king. Conan makes his way towards the mountain and begins his ascent. Suspecting the narrow path up the mountain is trapped, he climbs the cliff face, but that too is trapped with avalanches and fire. He manages to make it to the top, though, and finds a cave in which a chained Queen Gwynella is being terrorized by a knife wielding wizard. She begs Conan to leave as her life is in danger with him here, but Conan instead lays the wizard out with one punch. He is astonished when Gwynella rises and drops her chains and slaps him. She runs to comfort the wizard, who takes off his mask to reveal a younger man, Symon, who explains that the two have known each other since childhood and were in love, but she was given by her father to the King of Brythunia. Heartbroken, Symon found the cave and moved there just to be near Gwynella, eventually hatching the plan to pretend to kidnap her to get her away from her cowardly and uncaring husband. They hoped the king would eventually give up sending men to their deaths on the narrow path, but are now resigned to Conan's taking her away. An amused Conan has other plans, and returns to tell the king the wizard is too powerful and only let Conan go to tell the king that he will be cursed with a flesh-eating plague unless the wizard is left alone. The weak stomached monarch acquiesces and swears to leave the wizard be, and gives Conan a pouch of gold for his trouble.

Reprinted

 * The Chronicles of Conan 20 - Night of the Wolf and Other Stories