Complete Chronicles of Conan (3). The Scarlet Citadel.

[via Wikipedia]

We meet again Conan, King of Aquilonia being the victim this time of a plot to get rid of him  and conquer his country and throne. This story from 1932 (as it was published in January 1933) was re-written into 1935 The Hour of the Dragon, which we will see in a further post.

Conan is fouled by treacherous Amalrus, King of neighbour Ophir, looking for the aid of the Aquilonians to fight the Kingdom of Koth and his ruler, Stradabonus who, supposedly is trying to invade Ophir. What Conan don't know is that the two Kings are allied to smash the Aquilonian force that Conan himself leads. 

But there is not enough to fight Conan and his knights in the battlefield. Stradabonus sends a magician, Tsotha, to  enslave Conan, who is sent to a dungeon where he perils from one place to another barely saving his life. In this dungeon he finds Pelias, another magician and arch-enemy of Tsotha. 

Conan fights a giant snake while Pelias fights helps him fight Tsotha. At the end of the story, Conan faces the two treacherous kings, behead Tsotha and regains his throne and Kingdom.

More about The Scarlet Citadel.

• Read it online at Wikisource and the PGA
• Conan Wiki
  
• Wikipedia
  
• Image taken from Wikipedia.