Tell a story about old city with a lack of protection (8)
I believe the answer is:
exposure
'a lack of protection' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'tell a story about old city' is the wordplay.
'tell a story' becomes 'expose' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'old city' becomes 'ur' (ancient city state).
'expose' placed around 'ur' is 'EXPOSURE'.
'with' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for exposure that I've seen before include "Uncovering" , "Lack of shelter" , "public attention" , "Unveiling" , "Laying open to public view" .)