By daylight they ate and slept, and some of Jarvey’s strength returned as the aches and bruises healed themselves. Jarvey sneaked down into the stairwell after the first day and spent hours standing at a narrow window looking out toward the palace. He saw a high brick wall, with guard boxes on either side of a barred iron gate. Inside the boxes stood two unsmiling men at all times, beefy fellows who looked dangerous. That was where he and Zoroaster had emerged when Jarvey first arrived. From the window’s height, Jarvey could see a broad green lawn shaded by scattered trees, and beyond them a boxy stone house with arched windows and white shutters a hundred yards or so inside the gate. As far as he could see, the brick wall surrounded the grounds. Sometimes people got in, though. In the mornings, small carts loaded with food rumbled up, and the guards would unlock the gate. The carts took a route that Jarvey couldn’t quite see, a pathway around the inside of the wall, toward the back of the house.
