The walk from the back gardens to the Knightage didn't take too long, and from what Delphina could tell, the entirety of the outside section of the Castle was connected by an oval concentric wall.
Considering that the Castle itself was approximately a tiered square in design, the oval outer defences must have been remodelled after the larger attacks. Originally, they would have roughly followed the Castle's shape as the inner walls did.
Though Delphina certainly agreed that the updated concentric shape fit into the volcano's caldera much better.
To get to the Knightage, they had walked to one of the corners of the garden, where a heavily guarded gatehouse stood. From there, they could have gone up to the inner walls' ramparts, which cut backwards at an angle.
If they had, they would have seen a second large dividing wall cutting across the shortest axis of the outer defences, splitting it into two different sections. Where the front was far larger and more open in design, housing the Castle Town. The back being the Family's private area, also containing the Knightage and barracks for security.
Instead, they had gone straight through the gatehouse and down a slightly sloped cobblestone road- their backs to the thick, angular wall.
From what Delphina could see as they continued to walk, except for around the gatehouse, there weren't many people around. Constantly glancing around to learn the route, she had also noted a few other peculiarities.
The cobbled floor wasn't deeply worn at all, and despite being wide enough for at least two carriages side by side. There was no sign of horse tracks, nor heavy machinery passing through.
They had passed various workshops that lined the inner wall, all of which stood empty. Doors closed and clearly not open for business.
"Is this the norm? Ah, despite how bright it is, it is still quite early in the morning. Maybe the workshops have separate living quarters? But the floor showed little wear and tear despite being near a gatehouse… Were the cobbles recently replaced?"
Mentally shrugging at her own ponderings, Delphina continued to keep quiet as they finally came to the end of the road, which opened into a wide plaza.
Behind the plaza, there lay a series of large buildings, clearly surrounding a military encampment formed of thick brick walls. The space in front was to allow enough room for mounted practice or mock battles.
Taking a steadying breath, Delphina slowly turned her head to look back the way they had just come. Despite the now dazzling Sun, her pupils dilated a little as she realised how large the de Velasques Castle actually was.
The view from the window earlier only showed the side of the caldera, so she had assumed they were at the very back of the defences- she hadn't exactly had time to look down to fully appreciate that they were, in fact, some distance from the caldera's edge.
The warped perspective had been caused by the height at which she had been in the Castle, relative to the inner walls' parapets. They were significantly higher than the outer wall at the back.
Hence, all this time, they had been walking slightly downslope.
"There must be some distance between the lip of the caldera's edge and the outer walls; otherwise, being lower down and that close to the edge would be disadvantageous for defence."
From what she could see, the inner defensive rampart and buttresses facing the Knightage were also covered in trailing thorny vines and various berry bushes along their base. No doubt they also covered part of the inside section by the gardens, too.
"Tch, of course they wouldn't allow children to play somewhere unsafe, the Orangery must not be as deep into the back gardens as it appeared. Invaders who don't know the layout of the interior would be fucked."
It wasn't a skill that caused the disorientation. It was great architectural design and defensive engineering, combined with her lack of knowledge of the area, that had caused it.
"Sister, is there a problem?"
Snapping her head back towards where Pietro's voice had come from. Delphina could see that both Jenkins and he were looking at her from a distance, rather quizzically. How she knew that Jenkins was looking at her that way was a mystery- just a gut feeling.
Laughing sheepishly, she simply scratched the back of her head and walked past them.
"Just lead the way, brother, before I end up changing my mind."
********
The first building Pietro led them to was the barracks. Supposedly, Delphina had never visited them as they exclusively housed the Knights during campaigns, wars, or those whose turn it was to guard the Castle.
He practically boasted about how this was where he now spent most of his time. But noticing the ever-rising brow of Delphina, he swiftly changed tack to point out the great facilities.
However, he failed to dodge a ringing slap on the back from her.
"Stop playing at poverty and go back to sleeping in the Castle, you twat. Hang out with the Knights all you want, but don't stress them out by having a superior come back to sleep in the same quarters as them!"
Nodding and promising that he now knew better, they swiftly moved on to the walled-off encampment. Pietro explained as they went that the training grounds, where they were to meet everyone, occupied the largest portion of the encampment.
But just as they were about to enter, he turned to look at Delphina with some concern.
"Sister, are you sure you'll be fine if the Burgesses are there?"
She almost had to use her fingers to stop her eyes from rolling back into her head. Was the concern genuine, or was this belittlement?
"Brother, we're both almost adults, let's try and handle this maturely. I'm happy to let bygones be bygones (unless they provoke me first), haha".
Sticking a finger in his ear and giving it a good swirl, Pietro seemed to have briefly heard a dog barking. But he certainly must have imagined it, as his hearing seemed fine.
"Regardless, I'm going to take us to the Hunters first. If their Knights are here and cause any issues, you'll have someone to stand behind you then."
Nodding her approval at this, despite noting how he made it sound like 'he' wouldn't stand with her, they moved towards the left-hand side of the building that surrounded the training area.
As they came closer to the building, Delphina could see Knights dressed in different armour patterns in the centre field. Some of whom had looked their way to watch them pass.
Plastering a political smile across her face, she simply nodded in their direction before turning to continue forward. Leading some of the Knights to exchange glances with each other.
Did they think she wouldn't catch that?
Despite briefly pausing due to this 'exchange', she was determined to move on. However, whilst Pietro was in front, leading the way. Jenkins, who had stayed behind Delphina, unfortunately witnessed the situation.
Is there a problem, my Lady?
Squeezing her eyes shut in exasperation, she decided to stop to answer his question.
"Hmm? No, I just thought I saw some bugs, that's all. Aha, no offence, Jenkins."
None taken, my Lady, I am in fact. Not really an insect. Though I have been compared to a cockroach before.
Clearly, this tête-à-tête had been overheard by the nearest Knights, as a wave of coughing and spluttering spread across the training ground.