Then began
to inch toward it with his back against the stone, arms spread
plaintively behind him.
"Be cautioned," said Ballard as he drew closer. "You must walk past
the guards at the end of the corridor as if nothing has happened, then
lie low till I've had time to deal with the Master. His men are
ruthless, and the Lord only knows what they'll do if they
suspect....."
The young man looked back at him, confused, then suddenly burst
through the opening and out into the corridor beyond.
Ballard sealed and locked the barrier once more. And thinking of the
girl, so utterly helpless in the cold dark cell, he smiled.
Thirty-Six
Perhaps a mile from the garrison, the bony ridge to the left of the
road began to decline and pull back, leaving in its place a high,
grassy plateau. This continued largely unbroken to the Castle, due
north, ending to westward in a stark precipice that fell for a
thousand feet into the churling seas below. At this same point the
road began a long, slow loop to the right, at length bending back to
meet the fortified drawbridge at the Castle's eastern gate.
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