Lily gave him a disconcerting look that made him very uncomfortable, but she said nothing.
Leaving the stables, riding Danin and Thunder, Lily and Anest took a seldom used path, very faint now with disuse, that led just west of north from the barn until it struck the eaves of the Black Wood, then traced the Wood's border as it meandered north. By late morning they found themselves in a bare-treed, hilly country, a last remnant of the cultivated deciduous forests that had been planted during the golden years of ancient Nith, the elven city whose crumbling ruin lay atop a hill two miles north of Belloc's house.
They came eventually upon a deep, narrow glen to their left that stood like a great, open-topped gate, leading directly into the Black Wood. The rock of the glen appeared very ancient, like great, weathered stone blocks piled one atop the other until it reared high above; the rock at the opening was overgrown with clinging cypress, and to either side the wall of rock fell off into the obscurity of the deep forest.
Anest brought Thunder to a halt and frowned. Hearing this, Lily turned Danin about to face him.
"You did not tell me you meant to come this way," Anest said. "This is an ill-omened place! As you can see, the trail has not faded yonder where it enters the Black Wood. But neither man nor elf has set foot in this place for many an age, and neither is it an animal track. Are you sure you mean to go this way?"