to hold them up and, I’m assuming, to provide shortcuts onto the bridges.
“This whole city is an enormous fortress,” observes Percival. “And we’re in the courtyard.”
Soldiers turn their heads to watch the cart stocked full of barrels of ale. “I hope this works,” I mutter.
I turn the cart to head towards the left wall. Already shadows are getting longer as the day waxes on. All according to plan, of course.
“Where are we going, exactly?” asks Nathaniel as we pass a particularly malevolent soldier.
“Delivering the ale,” I respond, careful not to look at the guard. “The guardhouse, remember?” Then I look to him and nod as we pass. He shakes his head and continues down the street.
The dwellings here are enormous, but each one houses multiple families. Almost all have second stories and some even have three, with stairs along the wall leading to doors on each level. Every family must have their own house inside a much bigger house. Consequently the roads are more shadowy in the residential areas of the city.
The hooves of the oxen clack loudly on the street. Some rambunctious children play off to the side of the road, play fighting with wooden swords or sticks. It’s the usual hubbub of a city.
“How do you know where they are?” Nathaniel asks.
“I’m guessing,” I say. “The last guardhouse was next to one of those enormous supports holding up one of the overpasses. That guard said there was one on every side of the city, so I’m assuming that mean’s there’s one underneath every overpass.”
My hypothesis proves correct. When we reach the intersection of the four-story-high overpass and the wall, sure enough a guardhouse sits between the support and the wall.
The guard leaning against the wall helps us unload seven barrels in much the same way that the first guards did. When we ride away, the oxen are able to walk a little faster.
We travel under the bridge that leads into the Acropolis and I study it. Every bridge is easily wide enough for our cart to travel along it, though getting up would be a problem, if not impossible. The bridges are crenellated and probably a valuable vantage point for archers in the case of an attack. A portcullis stands at each of the four entrances from the bridges into the citadel. Penetrating the Acropolis may be much more difficult than any of us had envisioned.
The third guardhouse goes much the same as the two before, with no trouble. The guards put their love of ale before their doubt, if there is any doubt to be had.
The fourth sits to the right of the south gate that leads onto the bridge over the river and into the forest. This gate is smaller than the main gate, though it is the same shape and material. It’s just as well guarded as the main gate, if not better.
The sun is beginning to set as we unload the barrels of ale into the guardhouse. The sky turns orange and the clouds streak with color. I am reminded vividly of the same scene I had observed back in Virfith about a month earlier. It’s incredible to me how much time has passed since my adventure began with the attack on our little town.
There are yells of pleasure from inside the guardhouse when the guards see barrels of ale finding their way into the barracks.
“That’s a good sign,” Nathaniel mutters.
I hear a loud clank and somebody yells, “Break one of ‘em open, let’s give it a try!” More yells follow it and there are more clanks.
“That’s an even better one,” I say.
“Even with all that ale, there’s no way we’ll get all the guards!” says Jericho as we get back on the cart and ride towards the front gate.
“You’d be surprised,” responds Percival. “I wouldn’t be, if I saw them abandon their posts to get a drink before everyone else drinks it all.”
Jericho nods. “But four thousand?”
“Most of them are probably garrisoned in the citadel,” I say. “And it is nighttime so chances are most of them will be asleep. This might be easier than we had imagined.”
“Never say that,” Percival says. “Never say that…”
As we make our way back towards the front gate, the city begins to light up with torches. Orange firelight flickers at intervals down the streets.
The Acropolis is an even more menacing sight with its form lit against the dark sky. Shadows flicker with every torch, giving the entire structure an eerie aura.
“They won’t let us out,” I say.