The old soldier chuckled, looking on as Rhia gasped in delight at the sight of the gardens, rising tier after tier, topped at last by a structure consisting of a circle of pillars holding up an ornate, circular dome of stone. Within, there was a circle of back-to-back stone benches facing outward and inward. At the centre of the structure was another circle of benches. Here and there were ornate iron braziers, now cold and unlighted.
With a pang of misgiving, Kender noted a lone figure standing half-concealed from his view behind a pillar at the summit with his cape fluttering in the stiff breeze, whose gaze was turned east across the River Grey, past the high wall and through the gap in the mountains which was the mouth of the Valley of Baruk, towards the flickering guess of the ocean beyond the Burning Lands. Kender would have discretely intervened, but the girl had already caught the solitary watcher's attention. To his relief, instead of being annoyed at the unsupervised girl's intrusion on his thoughts, Baldric gave the old soldier an understanding, wry look. And then, watching the girl as she leaned unself-consciously on the wall beside him for a better view, his features became creased by a rare broad smile.
"I do hope the doughty Kender hasn't boasted that your homeland may be seen from atop the Tower."