A World Apart The Jake Thomas Trilogy - By Steven A. Tolle Page 0,132
terrace and looked over. Night had fallen, but he could see that the courtyard was at least one hundred feet below him. He could look down on the large abutment of stone over the gate and saw that it was a platform manned with soldiers. In the distance, the main gate and walls were lit with large torches.
Stepping back, in the light coming from his room, he noticed a small wooden table and two chairs near the rail. He went over and sat down, gazing up at the stars. The faint sounds of the courtyard slowly faded as he sat there, staring up and wondering again how he got into this whole mess.
He finally went back inside, cleaned up in the bathroom and crawled into bed. He sank into the comfort of a mattress and pillows, enjoying the feel after a couple of days sleeping on the ground, and was soon asleep.
...
Jake woke early, feeling surprising refreshed. He had slept deeply, dreamless. He got up, stretched and went over to the terrace. As he stood at the rail, taking in the early morning air, he saw that the sky was just starting to lighten in the east. He stood there for a while, then went in to dress for the day.
He came back out and sat down in one of the chairs, putting his feet up on the rail. He closed his eyes and just drifted for a bit.
"So, you are up already." Dominic's voice said quietly, intruding on his thoughts. Jake opened his eyes and saw Dominic leaning against the rail of the terrace of his own room, looking out over the Keep. "Since we are ready to go, rather than wait for the soldier, let's go see if we can find the barracks."
They left their rooms and headed back the way they had come last night. The Keep was quiet at this time; they only encountered the occasional servant. While Jake was slightly turned around, Dominic seemed to know where he was going. Before long, they had made their way back to the landing that overlooked the domed area.
There was more activity here, with people and soldiers moving about along the floor level. They went down the stairs and over to where they had left the horses. Dominic called a nearby soldier over and asked where the barracks were. The soldier offered to show them and led them through a nearby tall and wide passageway into another large natural cave.
The area was lighted with the same glowing balls of light as the main cavern. Around this cave, however, there were no landings, only twenty long, low stone buildings that were built along the walls. There were groups of soldiers forming up in front of several of the buildings, clearly starting their day. There were a couple of openings high on the cliff wall that let fresh air in, but no opening on the ground level to the courtyard.
What took Jake by surprise was a large opening near the back wall which led to a large grass-covered field, just visible in the early morning light. The soldier led them through the opening and to one of several medium-sized wooden buildings that were built next to it. Jake saw Deepwood standing on the porch of the building, speaking with a couple of his officers. They stopped a short distance away, waiting for him to finish.
Once he sent his officers away, Deepwood turned and approached them, dismissing the soldier. "Good morning. I hope that you had a restful night." He said politely.
"We did, thank you." Dominic replied urbanely. "I trust that we are able to come and go without an escort?"
"Of course. Tomaris has welcomed you as guests." Deepwood stated plainly.
"This is unexpected." Dominic said, gesturing out towards the large open field. The field stretched for several hundred yards and was at least one hundred yards wide, bordered on two sides by the cliff walls of the mountain. There seemed to be nothing but sky on the other two sides, even though there were large stacks of stones spread along the edge.
"It is our training area." Deepwood said. "The mountain shelters it and there is a sheer cliff on the other side. The stones are for any enemy stupid enough to try to scale the three hundred feet exposed."
He pointed to a large wooden building across the field. "We also stable the horses here. If you need your horses, simply speak with the stable master."