The New Battle Hint (2)

The lamplight shimmered over wet stone as Lyan and Wilhelmina advanced along the parapet, their footfalls echoing in gentle counterpoint to the drip‑drip of evening rain. Below, the river breathed a low metallic hush, its swollen current swirling with torch‑reflections that broke and re‑formed like molten coin. The siege‑scars were everywhere—chips of fresh masonry, mortar still damp where engineers had hastily patched cracks—and yet the whole wall seemed to stand a little taller tonight, as if determined to prove that conquest could be followed by renewal.