A Witch Shall Be Born

"You know how to reach the dungeons from the palace, Constantius?" said the witch-girl. "Good. Take this spitfire and lock her into the strongest cell. The jailers are all sound in drugged sleep. I saw to that. Send a man to cut their throats before they can awaken. None must ever know what has occurred tonight. Thenceforward I am Taramis, and Taramis is a nameless prisoner in an unknown dungeon."

A Witch Shall Be Born is a Conan the Barbarian story written by Robert E. Howard. First published in December, 1934.

Queen Taramis is woken in the middle of the night by a woman looking just like her, who reveals that she is Salome, Taramis's twin, and the born witch who stems from the curse on the royal family. She has let in an unscrupulous mercenary captain Constantius, and with his aid, seized the city and exiled Taramis to the dungeon.

Conan, the captain of her guard, is crucified by Constantius and rescued by wandering bandits. Meanwhile, Valerius, another soldier, hid despite his injuries, and in due course discovered the truth of why the queen had suddenly taken to the depths of evil. When Conan attacks, Valerius leads a rescue party and brings out the queen.

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Tropes used in A Witch Shall Be Born include:

• After-Action Patchup: Valerius and Ivga. Both the info-dumping and the UST reasons.
• Brain Fever: Valerius during the After Action Patchup, to give him an excuse to babble.
• The Caligula: Salome
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Used freely on Taramis
• Curse: Why the witch is born
• Crucified Hero Shot: Conan's crucifixion, which inspired a similar scene in the first Conan movie.
• Crystal Ball: Salome scorns using it for study, but does communicate with it.
• Deadly Decadent Court: What Salome creates
• Damsel in Distress: Taramis
• Dude in Distress: Conan is crucified.
• Evil Laugh: Salome
• Evil Sorcerer: Salome
• Evil Twin: Salome
• Eye of Newt: Salome doesn't like magic as such, and scorns gathering such things when she can just go for power.
• Fake King: Salome takes Taramis' place as queen and throws her in the dungeon to torment her.
• The High Queen: Taramis
• Hoist by His Own Petard: At the end of the story, Conan gives Constantius a taste of his own medicine by having him crucified like Constantius did to him. Constantius is nowhere near as enduring of the pain as Conan is.
• Hot Witch: Salome
• Human Sacrifice: Part of the Religion of Evil
• Kick Them While They Are Down
• Klingon Promotion
• Rescue Arc: Valerius's plan as soon as he learns she is a prisoner
• Religion of Evil: Salome institutes it.
• Rightful King Returns
• Scream Discretion Shot: The end of the opening scene, where Salome hands off her sister to Constantius to be raped.
• Sex Slave: One thing Salome wants.
• The Usurper: Salome.
• Villain Opening Scene: With Salome's seizure of her sister.
• Witch Species: Salome was born a witch.