"Where are we going?" Anest asked, becoming uneasy.

"Not far," said Belloc, mounting Nightwind. "Only a world or two away."

"How long will we be gone?" asked Anest, feeling a knot of anxiety on Lily's behalf.

"Not long," said Belloc, who began riding towards the gate. "Yet forever."

Anest mounted, hesitated a moment as he watched the robed rider gathering speed, then followed him out of Lund.

They rode through the city, back the way they'd come when their company had first entered it, and made their way to the west gate. The gatekeepers seemed wary, and asked that they wait in the gatehouse for the morning traffic to begin. Each raising and lowering of the massive port cullis was an arduous task, even for the sixteen strong men it took to turn the mechanism on either side, and the gatekeepers preferred people wait inside or out until their number was sufficient to

warrant entry or egress to and from the city.

Beyond boredom, waiting was no hardship. Food, shelter and use of the gatehouse barrack's facilities were a given, and the gatekeepers welcomed the distraction of visitors, bored as they were with each other's company. But one of their number, the man in charge, recognised Belloc, and ordered his men to spring into action at once, which they did with uncomplaining alacrity.




readonlinefreebook.com Copyright 2016 - 2024