CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Merk sat on the stone floor in the Tower of Ur before the roaring fireplace, a dozen other warriors beside him, sitting in a loose circle, and as they all stared silently into its flames, he contemplated his life here. It had been a long day on duty, watching, and few of these men had much to say. They chewed on their sticks of dried meat, and Merk chewed, too, realizing how hungry he was from his journey, grateful to be able to stretch his aching legs at last, after so many hours of sitting at that window and watching the countryside.
Merk glanced around at the other men, men who, like him, seemed to have no other place to go in the world, men with hardened faces. They were, like he, lost souls, broken people; yet each, he knew, must have something special in order to ha
