'Do you know me, dogs?' he rumbled. 'Do you know me?'
The breathless silence was broken by a scream.
'The king!' shrieked Albiona, wrenching herself free from the slackened grasp of her captor. 'Oh, Mitra, the king!'
The three men stood like statues, and then the Aquilonian started and spoke, like a man who doubts his own senses.
'Conan!' he ejaculated. 'It is the king, or his ghost! What devil's work is this?'
'Devil's work to match devils!' mocked Conan, his lips laughing but hell flaming in his eyes. 'Come, fall to, my gentlemen. You have your swords, and I this cleaver. Nay, I think this butcher's tool fits the work at hand, my fair lords!'
'At him!' muttered the Aquilonian, drawing his sword. 'It is Conan and we must kill or be killed!'
And like men waking from a trance, the Nemedians drew their blades and rushed on the king.
The headsman's ax was not made for such work, but the king wielded the heavy, clumsy weapon as lightly as a hatchet, and his quickness of foot, as he constantly shifted his position, defeated their purpose of engaging him all three at once.
He caught the sword of the first man on his ax-head and crushed in the wielder's breast with a murderous counterstroke before he could step back or parry. The remaining Nemedian, missing a savage swipe, had his brains dashed out before he could recover his balance, and an instant later the Aquilonian was backed into a corner, desperately parrying the crashing strokes that rained about him, lacking opportunity even to scream for help.