Lora of Two Worlds

The old duke, died of sudden illness?

Everyone knew better. Investigating was pointless.

Windsor Yvain stood in the wreckage of his feelings. His father had just tried to kill him, and now his father was dead.

Had the guards chosen him, the gentler son? Or were they simply terrified of ending up like Lothair below the wall? He looked up at Roland, a fellow general's son, and gave a bitter smile:

"Lord Odenheim, trust me. Withdraw fifty li. A letter of surrender will reach Augustburg shortly."

The look he gave Lora was even more complicated. He was about to turn and leave with Kendrick Wyman when Kendrick Wyman's face changed. Following his gaze, in the blazing sun, a cloud of dust rose in the distance.

Only one thing kicked up that kind of dust: thousands of hooves.

"Quick! Back to the city!" Kendrick Wyman shoved Windsor Yvain onto a horse, mounted behind him, and rode for the gate without a word of thanks.

"Stand to!"

Friend or foe? General Conrad barked the order. The Redmane army drew bows, a wall of arrows aimed at the approaching dust.

"Lord Odenheim, we're Weybrook forces, under General Hayes Hadrian..."

The column slowed. From the dust, Hayes Hadrian rode out first, waving at Roland and Leon:

"You made me hunt all over. Hiding in the Redmane army!"

He'd arrived at Stoneford before them. Sent men everywhere. Word came: Redmane army at White Horse Gate. Only when they deployed south of the city did scouts spot them.

"You said you wouldn't lend troops. Why are you here?" Roland was puzzled.

"I didn't lend. I came myself. You tell me how to fight, I fight."

Hayes Hadrian was in excellent spirits. Seeing the men who'd run back to the city, clearly, Roland's group had already arranged things. He was here to add the finishing touch.

"At Gibford in the south, we besieged it two days. Zhaozhou and Shefford sent reinforcements. Yarrowvale feinted at Wuyi. We feinted at Yuanshi. Led them in circles. Finally, a false report: we'd turned toward Deepford. That shook them off."

"Like a horse in a halter, led by the nose."

Hayes Hadrian shook his head: "We need to move fast here. Yarrowvale's men brought three days of dry rations. No more. They've probably pulled back by now. When they realize and turn around to save Stoneford, we won't be so comfortable."

Every neighboring domain had marched. The duke was isolated. He'd surrender eventually. Hayes Hadrian had come because he feared Roland's small force might get hurt at Stoneford. Reinforcement.

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After a few words, he and General Conrad exchanged names. Two armies joined. Dust settled.

"You planted someone inside? When do you move?" Smuggling men into the city to burn supplies or assassinate the duke, that was Hayes Hadrian's idea of a stealth strike.

Roland was about to answer when a rider came out from Stoneford. He dismounted, bowed, and presented a letter to Roland:

"Greyhollow March's letter of surrender. The original has been dispatched to Augustburg. Also, which is Lady Odenheim? Our lord warden requests that the lady leave the divine medicine."

Hayes Hadrian finally noticed Lora, standing behind Leon and Roland. He gave Roland a loaded glance: So, your "guardswoman" isn't only pretty, she's a miracle-working physician.

Lora smiled:

"Your lord's condition is blood deficiency. Have the house physician prescribe blood-tonic medicine. Three months of rest, he'll be fine."

The guard, surprised, bowed and rode back.

The "letter of surrender" addressed to the King didn't need to be copied to them. Roland opened it, read, and passed it to Leon. It was no surrender letter, it was Windsor Yvain's personal letter to them.

He wrote: he would submit to the crown's authority. Starting with the autumn tax, he would convert the arbitrary "levy" into proper tax payments under the dual-tax system.

If true, Windsor Yvain would be the first of the three northern domains to pay taxes.

"Lord Waleran... So Stoneford has already changed hands?"

Hayes Hadrian was amazed. They'd only just come through White Horse Gate, and the city had fallen so fast? But then, Leon's "economic and governance papers," delivered through Chancellor Clifford Quentin, had been thorough and farsighted. Was it so surprising that he'd been ahead of the game?

"You used the duke's son? Clever. Is he with you? May I meet him?"

Hayes Hadrian asked Roland, quietly.

But Leon's wheelchair was on Alvin's carriage, not appropriate to reveal. Though they shared aims, the crime of deceiving the King wasn't a weapon to hand to others.

Roland laughed: "What's the rush? Weybrook and the Lohenheim district are separated by one river. Someday, you shoot a deer, bring it to our house. We'll eat it together."

Both armies withdrew fifty li south. Waiting for Deepford's news, and for Alvin's carriage convoy to reach Stoneford.

The evening wind from the mountains was infinitely cooler than the day's furnace.

Hayes Hadrian sat with Roland and Leon, discussing the economic reform plan. The plan Lora had explained to Leon was now perfect for presenting to Hayes Hadrian.

"We don't implement the dual-tax system, not because we want free population movement. If everyone leaves the land, who do we conscript? But your proposal, when land is sold, the buyer must settle the people on that land. They don't become refugees..."

Leon smiled:

"In Weybrook, most of the land belongs to your household guards. If the common people stay on the land, farming or working in craft workshops, using the canal that runs through Weybrook's provinces, you can turn southern raw materials into higher-value goods. The people lose their land but gain income. They earn enough to pay taxes. Why would they flee?"

"The northern domains are full of abbeys. Pros and cons. Copying scriptures needs more and better paper... I've heard of a southern paper-making method. Cheap raw materials. High quality. Someday, we could bring it to Weybrook's craftsmen."

Roland, hearing this, was: How come my sister never told me this? He blurted:

"Is that from the prophetic scroll too?"

Leon paused, then went with it: "Indeed."

"Heavenly book?" Hayes Hadrian, envious: "No wonder your words sound like heavenly music. If only I could see it, that would be Weybrook's fortune."

Roland laughed: "You want to follow him? Follow him, and Weybrook won't be far from prosperity."

Lora hadn't joined the discussion. She noticed General Conrad sitting alone under a tree. She walked over.

"General Conrad, I never thanked you for your help in Yorvik."

Conrad smiled: "You're not here to thank me. You want to know why I helped."

"That too, of course. I owe you a debt, I'd like the chance to repay it." Lora smiled at him: In this world, there's no love without reason, and no hatred without reason.

But Conrad shook his head:

"This is our repayment to you. Not even a tenth of what we owe. Why would you need to return it?"

"Repay me? But we've never met before. What debt?"

Lora had been in this world only months. The events were countable on one hand.

Unless... the original Lora?

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