Once over the river, the footpath wound between the two burns, slippery under the hammering rain, dangerous, with ankle-wrenching potholes hidden under fallen leaves, winding upward and ever upward through the trees. After a further hour of climbing, they came to a cleared space that extended for five hundred paces. As if on order, the rain and the wind both stopped. The sudden silence seemed sinister.
"The killing zone." Bradan tapped his staff on the ground. "If any enemy reach this far, they have to cross to the outer wall with the defenders firing at them." He grinned. "Let"s hope the Constable doesn"t think we are hostile."
Two spearmen guarded an arched gateway in an eighteen-foot high stone wall, with others on top of the battlements. A portcullis blocked all entrance.
"This is B
