Dragon Stones Read Online Free Page B

from the villagers who scurried out of its path, splashing through the puddles, slipping in the mud.  They could scarcely dream of affording even such a simple wagon; the closest they would come to one would be when it nearly ran them down in the street.
    At length the cart bore her through a large square, where merchants hawked wares from shabby tents and children frolicked, or perhaps bathed, in the greenish water of a dribbling fountain.  After the square the buildings grew sparse and the road began to climb again, crossing a narrow stone bridge over a fast, grey river.  Tolaria looked down at the rushing water, foaming and splashing as it cascaded over rocks and debris, feeling its cold mist settle on her skin.
    Not far beyond the bridge, they came to the outer wall of Lord Dunshandrin's castle.  The road narrowed to the width of a single large carriage, hemmed in on either side by buttresses that extended from the primary stockade.  They stopped briefly at the main gate, where a guard questioned the driver as to his purpose.  He handed the man a rolled-up parchment, which the soldier did not open; but he clearly understood the wax seal well enough, calling other guards over and showing it to them, making quite a fuss.  Finally he returned the scroll to the driver and let the wagon pass into the bailey.
    Like the route they had taken through town, the cincture was partially paved with cobbles, forming a broad avenue that led to the main gate of the inner keep.  Most of the stones were reddish-brown or orange, but she noticed some variation in hue, perhaps indicating where repairs had been made.  To the left of the paved area she saw small, fallow gardens, not much larger than her own plot back at the Crosswaters; these ended at a high wall that looked freshly mortared.  Beyond that she could see an odd structure, like a gigantic cage, just peeking around the side of the keep.  To the right, a narrow stone path crossed wet, churned earth, leading to the shadowed arcade of a long, low building that flanked the high wall.  Storage or stables, she thought, probably both.
    The wagon pulled to the right and stopped.  A groom emerged from beneath the arches, hurrying through the mud to take the horse's reins.  Taking this as her cue, Tolaria climbed down from the buckboard, making sure to step onto the cobbles instead of the mud.  She began struggling with her chest again, but a page appeared at her side and said:  "A servant will get that for you.  Come."
    "I can manage," Tolaria said, continuing to tug at her trunk.
    "Leave it," the page said.  "You must come with me."
    Reluctantly, she let go of the chest and followed the boy toward the towering keep.  It rose five or six stories above the bailey, ruddy sandstone held together with blackened mortar.  A blank wall faced the courtyard at ground level, interspersed with tiny vertical slits for archers' arrows; windows appeared higher up, beyond the reach of invaders, each as tall as a man.  These alternated with additional chamfers, such that the defenders of the keep could direct a hail of shafts toward any invader who breached the outer wall.  She wondered how many men stood at the ready behind those dark, narrow openings.
    Like the outer gate, the entrance to the castle was flanked by protective walls that curled out and around, restricting traffic to two or three men abreast.  Guards stood on either side of the entrance, looking bored and alert at the same time; she noticed a further series of slits on either side, staggered from each other so that archers could create a punishing crossfire without inadvertently shooting each other.  Tolaria glanced at the ceiling and found it riddled with small holes, like a ground squirrel's warren, for more arrows or spear thrusts or boiling oil.
    Did Dunshandrin really have so many enemies? Did anyone?
    She had hoped for warmth and dryness, but got little of either inside the keep; the rain had found a path through