Chapter 20

Over thirty feet of stone rose up to form Aldersberg’s last line of defense in southern Aedirn. To the east Lyria and Rivia kept watch, to the west the Mahakam Mountains made a natural shield. Aldersberg’s terrain made it easy to hold and hard to take, a serious obstacle to any Nilfgaardian push north.

Before the fortress ran a man-made moat, and across that moat a heavily guarded bridge led into the city. Farmers going to market, wagons piled high with goods, and travelers queued for inspection on the bridge, while the surrounding plain was dotted with the dozens of small villages that fed Aldersberg.

“Viper School Witcher Letho?” a soldier asked.

“That’s me.”

“Behave once you’re inside. The rebel business has been trouble enough, do not add to it, understand?” The soldier, spear held under one arm, eyed Letho from head to toe; the bright breastplate on his chest bore Aedirn’s emblem, two right angles stacked, red and yellow, like a burning arrow.

After scanning Letho’s pass, the guard looked back to the smaller figure at his flank. “The boy with you, is he with you?”

“Yes.”

“What’s his relation to you?”

“He’s called Roy. He’s my hireling. From Kagen in Lower Posada. Came to Aldersberg to look for relatives.”

The soldier gave Roy a quick look. The lad’s delicate features and thin frame did not scream threat, so they let him pass.

For the country boy it was his first time inside a big city of this other world. Aldersberg, despite the ferment of rebellion, still thrummed with prosperity and noise. Beyond the tall gates a bustling commercial street unfurled, cries and hawking filling the air, storefronts of every sort, a river of people.