Aldwin gazed at the distant walls of Tewsbury. "It looks quite formidable," he said.
"And so it is," added Sir Heward, "but we"re not assaulting the city. You"ll notice the gates are still open."
"I"m surprised," admitted the young smith. "I would have thought they"d be locked up inside."
"Why would you think that?" asked Albreda.
"Aren"t they at war?" he asked.
"In their minds, the war is a long way from here," she explained.
"Yes," agreed Heward, "and they won"t expect an attack from Bodden, we haven"t the troops."
"And yet," queried Aldwin, "isn"t that exactly what we"re going to do, offer battle?"
"Not yet," replied the knight, "you two still have to get inside and poke about. We need to know what kind of troops they have and how many."
"I wish you were going with us," remarke
