the townsfolk are scared of the place.’ He gave a loud laugh. ‘When the tower’s all lit up, men like me come - the stories they tell of it might be right.’
And having said his piece, he moved on, making no effort to slow his pace for the blind woman’s comfort.
The road to the castle led off from the highway some fifty yards after the last house on that side of the river. It was overgrown, clearly seldom used, and led to a bare, windswept hill, but Ardela hardly noticed; a woman who’d travelled the wilds up and down the Land wasn’t bothered by this sort of thing.
Unbidden, a memory rose in her mind, of one castle that had truly frightened her - or at least, would have, had she not swallowed down a concoction brewed specifically to numb such thoughts. The great fortress deep in the forests northeast of Lomin had been abandoned until Cordein Malich discovered it. More than once she’d found herself waking screaming when she’d dreamed of the place and the horrors it contained. That was a castle to fear.
As though she could sense what was going through Ardela’s mind, Legana shifted her grip, slipping her arm through Ardela’s and wrapping her hand around the woman’s closed fist. Ardela felt a pang of gratitude for the comforting gesture and relaxed her fist, interlocking her fingers with Legana’s and giving a squeeze of thanks.
When they were close enough to be seen from the castle walls someone hailed them all from above the gate, shouting, ‘Come no further, identify yourselves.’
The white-eye spat on the ground. ‘I got invited here an’ I don’t like to be kept waiting. Open that sally-port window and I’ll show you,’ he said, pointing with his axe towards an iron grille set into the main gate.
‘And the rest?’
Them?’ the white-eye said before Ardela could respond, ‘dunno, but they’re interesting enough to let in.’
He walked up to the gate as a small hatch opened at head-height behind the grille. He raised the butt of his axe and pushed the brass cap of the handle between the bars for the man to look at. Whatever was embossed seemed to do the trick and seconds later they heard the bolts being pulled back.
As the four of them entered the castle, Ardela and Shanas looked around the courtyard in curiosity while Legana stared straight at the great tower opposite them. The small tower was a good size in its own right, big enough for a decent household and staff, with a large barracks and a long wooden stable - the latter currently full to bursting, judging from the restless clatter of hooves coming from it.
‘Stable my horse,’ the white-eye called to one of the men who’d opened the gates, carelessly tossing him the reins and heading on across the courtyard. He glanced back at Legana and laughed cruelly. ‘Good luck persuadin’ these boys they should let you in!’
The gatekeeper looked more like a knight on campaign to Ardela, dressed in functional fighting clothes with a crest on his collars and a sword on his hips, but the man just gave a wolfish grin and led the horse away to the stable. One of the remaining men nodded to his companion and headed back up the ladder to the lookout position; the other walked over to face the three women.
‘So, who are you?’ he asked in Farlan, the dialect the white-eye had used. ‘There’s no open invite to this party and anyone he thinks interesting means trouble to my mind.’
‘Who the buggery was he?’ Ardela demanded.
The soldier laughed. ‘You don’t know? Piss and daemons! And you still followed him here?’ He paused and stepped closer to Legana, prompting Ardela to close in protectively, until Legana raised a hand, calming her.
‘You look familiar,’ the man mused, stepping back a few seconds later. ‘I’ve seen you before.’ His voice was less than friendly.
Legana shrugged and tugged the blindfold down from her eyes. The only men from these parts she’d met, mercenaries aside, were King Emin’s bodyguards in Scree. Either he was one of those, or she’d be fighting her way out soon enough.
‘Fate’s eyes,’ the man breathed, peering at her, ‘you’ve changed a lot since then.’
Legana ignored the fact that his hand had moved to his hilt and lifted her slate to write on it. - When?
‘When? Just the summer, and considering the company you kept back then I’m not sure I like the fact you’re changed.’