Lora of Two Worlds

In the square, Askar Corin's staff missed its target. He heard a sound behind him, turned. The man who'd charged the woman lay face-down at her feet, not moving.

The other Turkic men, arms folded, waiting to see the veil come off, stared.

He pulled a veil and she kills him?

That face beneath the veil, so delicate. A red-cheeked demoness?

"Brother? Brother! My brother is dead!" The Turkic man who'd baited Corin ran forward and threw himself on the body:

"She killed my brother! Kill her! Kill her!"

A dozen Turkic men closed in. The two companions of Askar Corin, battered, on the ground, hauled themselves up and stood with him, in front of Lora.

"We want that woman's life. Walk away now, we won't say we killed our own kind."

The leader drew a leather whip. Crack, it snapped at Askar Corin's feet.

"Not a chance. While I stand, you don't touch her." Corin stepped forward.

"Touch? She killed my man. I'll touch her all I like."

"You can try. And then we'll see who dies." That wasn't Corin. It was a Redmane man who'd been standing on the sidelines, watching, ignoring everyone.

Twenty-odd Redmane men had materialized. Silently, they'd ringed the Turkic group.

What now?

What did the Redmane want with this woman?

Another group pushed through the crowd. At the front, a face Lora was overjoyed to see.

She couldn't follow half the foreign babble. The young man in front of her was on her side, clear. The twenty behind him, Good Samaritans? She called out:

"Lord Horn!"

Horn nodded to her, then walked to one of the Turkic men: "Sir Howard Baldwin, let it go today. Last time your men killed a Mohar man, I mediated that too..."

"Mohar? What right do they've to challenge me?" Sir Howard Baldwin said coldly.

Horn smiled and pointed at the Redmane: "Do they've the right? Yorvik doesn't belong to you alone. Others just don't show off like you do. Take the win, walk away."

Sir Howard Baldwin's face was ugly. Strength-wise, the Redmane couldn't match him in Yorvik. But here, now, he was outnumbered.

And these Black Eagle, they said they were peacemakers. But the way they stood, each man watching his counterpart, if fighting started, peacemakers would become fighters in a blink.

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What was this woman? Redmane and Black Eagle, both on her side?

Sir Howard Baldwin straightened, drew a breath. Before he could speak, two more men pushed through the crowd, straight to Lora:

"My lady, are you all right?"

Lyle and Shawn. They'd searched the shrine gate, found no one, then spotted Linnie hiding behind a tree. She'd pointed at the crowd. They'd realized the young lady was in the middle of a siege.

"We're leaving." Sir Howard Baldwin, seeing the opposition grow, ordered his men.

"Ah " Horn stopped him, smiling:

"Sir Howard Baldwin, it's not that simple. You'll swear an oath, publicly.

Never seek trouble with this young lady over this matter. Otherwise, you slight Horn. And you make an enemy of these Redmane brothers."

Sir Howard Baldwin didn't want to stay in a position of weakness. He gritted his teeth: "I swear, this ends here. I pursue no one."

The Turkic men carried off the body. The Redmane, seeing Lora's people had arrived, bowed to her and Horn, said nothing, and melted away.

Faye fluttered back like a happy bird: "Yangyang, you're amazing! Teach me, how did you kill him with one strike?"

"Is this the place to learn martial arts?" Horn scolded his daughter. He glanced at Lyle and Shawn, then said to Lora:

"Young lady, let's talk inside."

Lora nodded. As she turned to follow Faye, Askar Corin called after her:

"That... young lady!"

"Hm? What's it?" She looked at the Turkic youth, battered, swollen-faced, covered in blood.

"I... my people haven't eaten their fill in a long time. We've left only one sheep and this cheese... I want... to sell myself to you. As a laborer."

"Corin, no!" His companion grabbed his arm, appalled.

He shook off the hand. His eyes were steady.

He'd seen the whole thing. The two groups who'd stepped in, neither had come for him. They'd come for this woman who killed from a distance.

He still bore the name "Askar", but it no longer meant royal power. Why had he led his people south from the steppe into Empire territory? He knew the suffering better than anyone.

Winter grew colder each year, and longer. No food. The people couldn't survive in their old lands.

The north wind had pushed them, step by step, closer to the Empire's frontier.

But inside the Empire, the land and resources had already been claimed by peoples who'd arrived earlier. They had no papers, no official recognition. In Yorvik, they were driven from place to place.

Better, then, to go to the Heartlands. Find a place to settle. Gain official status to protect his people. Then bring them.

Even if it meant changing his name. His house would survive.

Sell himself to me? Wow, I've never bought a person before!

Looking at the trampled sheep's curd on the ground, Lora reached for her pouch.

Horn watched from the side. Lyle whispered: "My lady, this isn't the time to buy a man..."

Lora pulled out an "Empire at Peace" gold coin and pressed it into Askar Corin's hand:

"I'm not buying a person. Take this coin, exchange it for food. Consider it a loan. Repay me when you can."

Corin stared at the coin in his palm. Before he could react, Lora had turned and walked away with her people.

"Hey!" he called after her. "I'm Askar Corin. What's your name?"

"I'm Chayl Yangyang."

"Yangyang?" He'd heard the Black Eagle girl call her that. She hadn't lied.

His companion said: "Chayl Yangyang? Chayl is a Redmane royal surname. She's Redmane, no wonder they helped her."

"Corin, let's buy grain! With this much gold, it'll last us till we can earn our own!"

His companions ran happily to gather the wicker baskets. But Askar Corin's resolve to follow the wealthy young woman had only hardened.

On the way back, Lora noticed that Horn's Black Eagle men had all vanished. But on the street, one here, two there, they appeared, following at a distance.

They wore iron swords under their robes and leather breastplates beneath, as well-equipped as imperial soldiers. And they moved as one, on command.

Disciplined Black Eagle, more frightening than brawling Turkic men.

Why had he helped her?

Lora had a very large question mark in her mind.

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