Lora of Two Worlds

Leon heard the voice behind him and remembered, the Venn family's women should be in the back quarters. He'd been so focused on the men all leaving that he'd forgotten about the women.

All four of them were masked. She wouldn't recognize them.

Leon caught Lyle's eye. Lyle and his mate Armand walked over.

The woman shrieked: "What are you doing? I'm the liaison commissioner's daughter, you wouldn't dare ah!"

Wouldn't dare? Let's give you something to remember us by. The Venn bitch, today I'll make an exception and hit a woman. Lyle struck the back of her neck with the edge of his hand, no mercy in it.

The two of them dragged the unconscious Grace Venn and her maid into a side room and dropped them hard on the floor.

They'd barely stepped out when Armand stopped, grabbed Lyle's arm: "Wait here."

He ducked back in. Came out quick, looking sly:

"I slit her gown to ribbons with my blade."

"Why'd you do that? You ?" Lyle's eyes went wide.

"You're thick. If I'd done that, you think I'd be out this fast? Fine ladies care about their honor. If her clothes are in shreds, she won't dare testify to anything she saw in the back courtyard."

Lyle scoffed: "Waste of effort. When the Bill of Attainder comes down, the whole family gets sold into bondage. Her word won't save anyone."

They led the horses, unhitched from the cart, out through the gate.

"My lord, Felix has brought his men to the front door of the Liaison Office." Linn dropped from the wall.

"Good. We stay hidden. We move once they've reached the back."

Soon torches lit the back courtyard. The noise swelled, the ring of drawn steel, the sheriff's men shouting, women screaming, all jumbled together.

"I wonder how Roland's doing... Let's go back and wait for word."

Before the fires began, Gareth, Roland, and Carl had stationed men around the Crown Granary gates. With Brendan on the gate tower, they had one more brother in position, it felt safer.

There was no curfew in Lohenheim anymore, which meant the gates shut earlier, at Vespers. Lately, entry and departure had been strictly screened, a man's accent, the calluses on his hands, even a visit to a relative required the relative to come vouch in person.

Add to that Gareth's city-wide manhunt for Aprille, south to north, street to alley, hiding a few hundred soldiers in the city was nearly impossible.

The first fires broke out in the south, near the south market, and spread.

"Roland, the south's burning!"

Carl had been in the garrison two years, but only for drill and practice. He'd never faced a real enemy. For all his tough talk, it was bluster, House Odenheim had always been at his back. Now, with real combat looming, his nerves sang.

"Yeah. Father and Alvin are over there with the extra patrols, they should hold it.

We hold the Crown Granary. We knew they'd set fires, but the bastards are clever, trying to split our attention. If we hadn't gone through the granary today, it would've been a goner."

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Carl felt something twitch at the back of his mind. What was it?

The Crown Granary on fire?

Saving it to win glory?

His scalp prickled. Brendan had said something today, at least let him come put out the fire. He'd known. Known in advance that it would burn.

"Roland, there's something "

Before he could finish, two figures slipped from the shadows. The men-at-arms nearly struck, then recognized Shawn and Keane.

The two bent low and reached Roland and Carl. Shawn whispered:

"Lord Roland, the young lady sent us. She says: the south-side fires are a decoy. Hold the Crown Granary. And, she says: don't open the city gates to haul water. Under any circumstances." He turned to Keane: "Did I miss anything?"

Keane: "She said, absolutely, positively, don't!"

Open the gates for water? The Aldgate was right next to the granary... Brendan?

Carl had no time to explain. He seized his brother's arm:

"Roland, I'm going to the Aldgate. To Carl."

"Go. Our men are outside the walls. Hold the gate, coordinate with them to round up the marauders. Don't open the gate. Don't let anyone slip in."

Carl snatched up his sword and broke into a run.

"Shawn, Keane, go with him!" Roland called, watching his youngest brother sprint away without his men-at-arms.

Running along the wall toward the Aldgate, Carl's thoughts were a tangle. Behind him, with a boom, the Crown Granary gate went up in flames.

Four chests of black powder. The one they hadn't found, it had been hidden in the granary gate tower. The Silver Shield guarded that section. They couldn't have searched it even in daylight. The Silver Shield was in on it, no doubt now.

Carl bounded up the gate tower stairs. From above, he heard Brendan bellowing:

"Open the gate! All garrison men, to the moat! Haul water and fight the fire!"

"Young commander, without orders from above, we can't just open the gate "

The deputy commander, Jonas, knew better than that.

Brendan roared:

"What do you know? The Crown Granary is a royal storehouse inside Lohenheim! The Silver Shield and the garrison, aren't we all the King's men? I'm the Captain of the Gate now, I order you: open the gate!"

"Jonas, you want to defy orders? In an emergency, we're bound by duty to assist the Silver Shield. Go rouse the off-watch men too!"

Brendan hadn't expected Tam to back him so hard. He gave the man a grateful nod.

Carl met Jonas on the stairs, pelting up. He shouted, breathless:

"Don't open the gate! Staff Officer's orders, hold the gate at all costs! Beware marauders outside trying to slip in!"

"Brendan? What are you raving about? Look for yourself, where are the marauders?" Brendan, furious to see his brother blocking him, pointed south:

"Look, the whole city's burning. That's what the garrison should be dealing with. My men not fighting the fire next door, what, we wait till it reaches the gate?"

He had a point. Tam and the others went quiet.

This stretch was near the royal park, no civilians lived here. Firefighting fell to the garrison and the Silver Shield, alone.

In the silence, a banging on brass basins rose from outside the gate, and a voice: "We're folk from outside the walls, Captain, open up! Let us in to fight the fire!"

"See that? Commoners with more conscience than you." Brendan dragged his brother to the parapet and forced his head down:

"Look, are those marauders? Do you see a single weapon?"

It was true. Below, a cluster of men in plain woolens, carrying buckets and basins, had already started drawing water from the moat.

"Brendan." Carl's chest was tight, his brother's elbow on his neck. When Brendan looked at him, Carl said, low:

"You knew the fire was coming tonight. You came here to win glory."

"What does it matter now? You'd do better hurrying back to catch the brigands in the city."

Brigands? The fire-setters are brigands? You knew, why didn't you tell Father?

"Two, three dozen of them. If you run, you might still catch them."

"You opened the gate to let them out?"

"That's right. Let them think they can get out, then I round them up in one sweep."

Brendan spoke the way you'd lecture a slow child:

"Get it? You can't ride your brothers' coattails forever. Learn to use your head. I'm selfish, I wanted my own glory. So what? If the outcome's good, Father can even petition the King for relief funds."

Carl stood blank. He'd grown up at Brendan's side. In his memory, he was always the one dragging Brendan down, Brendan had never wronged him.

Brendan glanced at Shawn, who stood with his hand ready on his blade, and went on:

"Take your men to the gatehouse. When the brigands come through, you can have your share of the glory. Tam, prepare to open!"

Tam had been listening. He thought Cedric Salt was a genius, using this hot-headed Brendan as a catspaw, no need to show his own face. When the dust settled, the credit would filter down and the blame would stick to the fool.

"Yes! Prepare to open!"

"My lord, you can't let them open the gate! Didn't you hear what Lord Roland said? What the young lady said?" Shawn, seeing Tam head for the stairs, threw himself in the way, left arm out.

Tam shoved him aside. Shawn's left arm was already hurt, the shove tore the wound open. He didn't let go.

Keane drew his blade with a rasp:

"Are you defying orders?"

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