Chapter Five
The iron hole. Duncan could not fathom what the reference meant, but the provosts who escorted him clearly were pleased with the prospect. They shoved him out of the fortress, not reacting when a handful of men in kilts threw stones at him. When the last stone, a sharp blow to his knee, caused him to stumble, his guards simply swung down their muskets, bayonets at the ready. He struggled to his feet with a clanking of chains. As they passed a stable, a man pitched a forkful of manure at him, eliciting a growl from a provost only when some landed on his boot.
They marched to the edge of town then onto a rough road before turning into a narrow gully through a gate of timbers where another squad of provosts stood guard. The twisting gully quickly darkened as they descended, the
