sional fighters--why not fight for us? We have
wealth in abundance--precious jewels are as common in Xuchotl as
cobblestones are in the cities of the world. Some the Xuchotlans brought
with them from Kosala. Some, like the fire-stones, they found in the
hills to the east. Aid us to wipe out the Xotalancas, and we will give
you all the jewels you can carry."

"And will you help us destroy the dragons?" asked Valeria. "With bows
and poisoned arrows thirty men could slay all the dragons in the
forest."

"Aye!" replied Olmec promptly. "We have forgotten the use of the bow, in
years of hand-to-hand fighting, but we can learn again."

"What do you say?" Valeria inquired of Conan.

"We're both penniless vagabonds," he grinned hardily. "I'd as soon kill
Xotalancas as anybody."

"Then you agree?" exclaimed Olmec, while Techotl fairly hugged himself
with delight.

"Aye. And now suppose you show us chambers where we can sleep, so we can
be fresh tomorrow for the beginning of the slaying."

Olmec nodded, and waved a hand, and Techotl and a woman led the
adventurers into a corridor which led through a door off to the left of
the jade dais. A glance back showed Valeria Olmec sitting on his throne,
chin on knotted fist, staring after them. His eyes burned with a weird
flame. Tascela leaned back in her seat, whispering to the sullen-faced
maid, Yasala, who leaned over her shoulder, her ear to the princess'
moving lips.

* * * * *

The hallway was not so broad as most they had traversed, but it was
long. Presently the woman halted, opened a door, and drew aside for
Valeria to enter.

"Wait a minute," growled Conan. "Where do I sleep?"

Techotl pointed to a chamber across the hallway, but one door farther
down. Conan hesitated, and seemed inclined to raise an objection, but
Valeria smiled spitefully at him and shut the door in his face. He
muttered something uncomplimentary about women in general, and strode
off down the corridor after Techotl.

In the ornate chamber where he was to sleep, he glanced up at the
slot-like skylights. Some were wide enough to admit the body of a
slender man, supposing the glass were broken.

"Why don't the Xotalancas come over the roofs and shatter those
skylights?" he asked.

"They cannot be broken," answered Techotl. "Besides, the roofs would be
hard to clamber over. They are mostly spires and domes and steep
ridges."

He volunteered more information abou