Lora of Two Worlds

Watching Lora's carriage depart, Lyle wheeled Leon out. They entered the adjacent horse stall. The frame bore the horse's weight while letting his hoof touch the ground, preventing panic. Without the windlass, impossible. Days of healing. The initial pain had faded. Golden Lion's mood was much improved. Seeing his master, he stamped happily, lowered his head, nudged Leon's palm. "Hm? What did the young lady feed him? He's still looking for it." "A pale yellow cube... the lady said it was a secret... Golden Lion was very happy, rubbed his neck on her face." The stable hand reported. "Secret? Understood. You may go." Pale yellow foods were many. If it was a secret, not ordinary horse feed. Better to ask her next time. "Take me to the carriage. They should be arriving soon." Leon hadn't come only for the horse. He was waiting for someone. Fewer eyes outside the city. And not knowing who he'd be meeting, he'd chosen to meet them in his carriage on the road. The carriage rolled toward the city. At a crossroads, three men on horseback dismounted. Lyle and Mo swapped places with two of them. Linn greeted Leon and took the driver's seat. Claude Sheffield led a man of about forty into the carriage. He returned the token and medallion with both hands, smiling: "My lord, mission accomplished. I've brought the Frost Raven captain, Claude Cedric." The man bowed: "I greets you, my lord! The carriage is cramped, I can't perform the full obeisance... The Frost Ravens have waited sixty-eight years. At last, the master has come!" "To hear you still existed, I marveled at your devotion. Sixty-eight years, the world has changed beyond recognition. Such loyalty is rare. It speaks to the spirit of the old King who first appointed you. The original captain, what was he to you?" Claude Cedric smiled: "You may not believe it, but the old commander is still alive. The captains who managed affairs have changed three times. The old commander is hale, one hundred years old this year. Sadly, he can't travel. He couldn't come in person." "The original commander, appointed by the old King, is still alive?" Leon was stunned. A miracle. Tales of men living to a hundred or hundred and twenty circulated, but he'd never met one. Lora had joked they'd "become saints." And here, a centenarian. He marveled: "No wonder the Frost Ravens endured generation after generation. The soul was always here..." "No, my lord, not only because of the old commander. Even without him, we'd have continued." Claude Cedric's face was solemn: "Because the Frost Ravens guard the Empire's lifeblood. As long as the lifeblood endures, the Empire can be reborn.  Every man who joins the Frost Ravens is handpicked by the old commander. Each swears, on the names of his parents and forefathers, never to betray the Empire. Never to abandon this oath." "The Empire's... lifeblood?" "Yes. The old commander also said: he must see the bearer of the token in person, confirm he's of the royal bloodline, before surrendering our piece of the medallion.  So we investigated you in both Augustburg and Lohenheim. We didn't explain everything to your two envoys. Please forgive us." "Yes. The old commander also said: he must see the bearer of the token in person, confirm he's of the royal bloodline, before surrendering our piece of the medallion. So we investigated you in both Augustburg and Lohenheim. We didn't explain everything to your two envoys. Please forgive us." Claude Cedric drew the second medallion from his tunic. Presented it with both hands. Leon fitted the two pieces together. The patterns matched, but their positions were offset. The cloud motifs were complex. With the offset, one piece couldn't be copied from the other. They were... a key. The "Empire's lifeblood" that the Frost Ravens spoke of, drew Leon like a flame. As a royal descendant and as a man who meant to seize the realm, this held infinite magnetism. "With subjects like you, why couldn't the Empire be reborn? I'd like to meet this forefather's commander. The Cliff Sanctuary is twenty-odd li from here. Let me change, and go with you." Claude Cedric hadn't expected the lord to come in person. He was so moved, he wiped a tear for the old commander. Soon, five horses split from the carriage. The carriage returned to the city. The horses galloped toward the Cliff Sanctuary. The Cliff Sanctuary's caves honeycombed the cliffs on both sides of the Yarrow River. Claude Cedric pointed with pride: "My lord, look. These niches and caves, many were carved by us. Some spots require ropes dropped from the clifftop. By day, we carve. By night, we drill. The Frost Ravens could stand against any elite in the Empire!" "I believe it. Men who can swing hammers on cliff faces, not ordinary soldiers." Claude Sheffield had bought an estate with forest nearby. Two or three dozen households. Coincidentally, the estate already supplied food to the stonemasons on the cliff. "No wonder Little Penn Village has been sending us extra grain lately. They'd even started raising pigs and sheep, we've been eating well. I didn't know my lord arranged this." Claude Cedric's eyes warmed further. Leon had originally planned to hide a private force at a farm. But when he'd redeemed the Odenheim forests, he learned they lay upriver along the Yi, from here to the Luhun and Yarrow region. Truly, one family, one river. When Leon entered the mountain cottage, a white-haired old man was intently directing ants on a stone table: "Dodge, dodge, your neck's about to be bitten! Counterattack!" "Old Ancestor, the lord has come to see you!" "My lord..." The old commander had lost all his teeth. His mouth was sunken. His speech slurred. But his eyes, clear and sharp. He looked at Leon for a long moment. Then slowly, moved his legs, slid from the wooden chair, and knelt: "I... greets you, my lord..." Leon rushed forward. Lifted him back into the chair. Bowed: "Commander, no need for ceremony. You're a hero of the realm. Leon, seventh-generation descendant of the old King, pays his respects to the blessed elder." "Seventh generation... My liege... I has finally lived to see your descendant! That bastard Urso of Anjou and that brute Simon of Anjou " The old man opened his mouth, no sound came. Claude Cedric called: "Ruth's! Water!" The door curtain lifted. A young woman stepped out, blue headscarf, wheat-colored skin, pretty: "Old Ancestor, drink."

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