Isabella was filled with trepidation as she and Murdoch reached Ravensmuir. The sun was piercingly bright, which only made the shadows within the ruined keep seem more ominous.
From the road that approached the gates of the keep, Ravensmuir would not appear damaged, for the curtain wall remained mostly intact. From this vantage point, Murdoch having ridden across the fields, Isabella could see that the wall was a mere facade. One tower yet pointed at the sky, its windows as dark as midnight, and the rest of the once majestic keep lay in piles of tumbled stones.
Murdoch rode Zephyr through the gates, where once a sturdy portcullis would have blocked the path. Alexander had had the smith remove the portcullis and install it at Kinfairlie, for it was strong and there was little to defend at
