While pit-fighting in Shadizar, Conan discovers his friend, Gambinus, is to be put to death on orders of Judge Luda. Conan gets his revenge that night, slaying the judge in his bedchambers. Unfortunately, he brags about it to the wrong wench that evening, and after she entices him into her room, she summons the guards. He fights well, but is ultimately brought down, as a woman watches the scene through a magical well. The woman, claiming to be Conan's wife, visits the Cimmerian the next day in the dungeon and offers his freedom in exchange for completing a task for her. Conan agrees, and she dissolves the chains with acids. Conan, after first dealing with the jailer, rides with the woman, Natari, and her eunuch servant, Strabo, east along the Road of Kings to a temple on a lake. Natari rev