Dragonspell - Donita K. Paul [62]
Shimeran led them deeper into the fortress. As they traversed the different yards, Kale began to sense the layout of the grounds. Whether she picked up this information from the kimen’s thinking or from some intuition of her own, she could not tell. But she knew the general layout of the different parts of the fortress.
A tall stone wall designed for defense circled the entire domain. A second wall of finer stone was actually a ring of rooms. Horse stalls took up a bulk of this section, but there were quarters for the guards, a kitchen, a tavern, and storerooms. The rescuers moved through a feed room among sacks of oats and bales of hay to get from the outer circle to the inner.
Between the second wall and a third lay an expanse of groomed grass. Soft underfoot, it offered no place to conceal themselves should someone come by. Shimeran crossed immediately to the inner quadrant. The next wall was shorter, artistically constructed out of brick and carved black stone. They slipped over it and into a garden.
Here torches lit the pathways. Kale saw plants almost as big as trees and benches clustered as if for visiting as well as resting. Occasionally, as they moved around the center building, they saw porches with marble statues, balconies with engraved balustrades, and arched doorways into the castle itself.
Kale’s mouth hung open as she gaped at the castle. She’d been in huts and hovels, fine cottages and rough cabins, barns and sheds and chicken coops. The tallest house in River Away was the three-storied tavern. She’d seen the city Vendela and knew the capital city was far more splendid than this dark and dreary castle-fort. But she’d only seen Vendela from afar, and this fortress, where they might be caught and killed at any moment, was impressive. If it weren’t for the fear in her heart, Kale would have enjoyed gaping at the marvels around her.
Once they left the soldiers’ domain at the outer rim of the fortress, they encountered only a few servants. They had to hide while two maids sat and complained by a fountain. After only a minute, Kale realized these women were mariones. Her mouth dropped open, and she turned to Dar for an explanation.
Look! Do you see? They’re mariones. How can anyone of the high races serve Risto?
He scrunched up his face in a frown and shrugged. “Sometimes, they serve here because the life is easier, or so they think when they first come. Maybe the high wages attract them, maybe the nice clothes. They pretend to themselves that working here is just like working in a big house in one of our cities. Others are damaged by bitterness and anger. They serve here because they are most comfortable with others who harbor ugly feelings within their hearts.”
The rescuers detoured around two men, a tumanhofer and a doneel, playing cards on a stone bench beneath a torch. As she followed the others quietly around the edge of a terrace, Kale stared at the servants. She tried to see something about their appearance which would serve as a clue to why they chose a life within these dark walls. Nothing showed, save a certain hard look to their expressions. She wondered if the coldness in their faces came before or after they made their choice.
For the most part, Dar, Kale, and Shimeran easily avoided the house workers. The rescuers hid in the shadows and slipped from one place of security to the next. Frequently, Kale touched the slight bulge in her cape that was the healing dragon. Little Gymn helped her to relax, shaking off tension and fear.
Shimeran knew the way to the dungeons. He led them to the back side of the fortress, the part closest to the cliff. In stark contrast to the gardens and castle terraces, a grim enclosure surrounded a great yawning hole that served as entry to the area below. The barren courtyard held little beyond a few wooden benches. The full moon glowed in the night sky, and here, where there were no high walls, trees, or overhanging structures, it cast an eerie half-light. Kale felt more