Aymar’s white towers speared through the tops of the trees in the distance. Against the peerless blue sky their beauty was staggering. They seemed to float above a sea of green. Rohan would have stopped to simply admire the view of the summer palace, surrounded by the elegant city of white stone, but there were too many people on the road pushing the caravan inexorably forward. Slowly but surely. Unlike earlier in their trip, when the caravan had been alone, now travelers clogged the roads making it slow going.

“Keep your hood up, Serxio,” Rohan reminded the foppish lord.