Lora of Two Worlds

Morning. Leon iron pote, sniffed his wine-soaked clothes with distaste: "Lyle, draw water for a bath." "Already drawn. I knew you'd want one when you got up." "Did I drink a lot last night?" "I don't know. You held the young lady and wouldn't let go." Held...? I don't remember any of that. Leon was stunned. He'd disgraced himself drunk? Left a bad impression. How to fix this. "Don't listen to Lyle." Linn brought clean clothes. Leon, sitting on the bed, reaching for a shoe with his foot, heard that half-sentence and kicked the shoe at grinning Lyle. Linn laughed: "You just leaned on the young lady and fell asleep." Leaned on...? How's that different from held? The other shoe flew. To avoid running into his little cousin, Leon rode at the head of the column. The Turkic men, who'd drunk plenty, were none the worse. Still high-spirited at the rear. The column left Gibford. Between Gibford and Highgarden, only one small county, Yewtree, offered lodging. They needed to reach it by nightfall. Horn's eldest son, coming from Yarnford, would meet them at Yewtree. This stretch was a little-traveled track. It skirted the eastern edge of the Yanshan range. They were about to stop for lunch when drowsy Lora heard Corin at the carriage window: "My lady, my lady!" She lifted the curtain. Corin, dismounted, jogging beside the carriage: "Someone's been following us since we left Gibford." "Are you sure?" Lora looked out. They were approaching the mountains, Roland had said: at the mountains, you're halfway. "Go tell Lord Roland. We can't stop at the mountain's edge." "Right, that's what we think too." Corin ran his horse to the front. Faye, dozing beside Lora, perked up: "Yangyang, are we being hunted by bandits?" "Just precaution. The Yanshan range could hide a thousand bandits. And this hour, everyone stops to eat. Perfect timing." As they spoke, Roland swung into the carriage: "Lora's right.  This spot has the advantage of terrain and timing. Eat dry rations in the carriage. We push one more hour, through this mountain section before resting. In the mountains, you ride separately. The carriage is too heavy for one team." "Then I'll go. I'll find my father." "Good. We've split the three carriages. Your father takes the first. Lora, we go last. Linnie in the middle. Don't be afraid. Your brother's right outside." "Mm. You be careful too." After Roland left, the carriage moved faster. Behind them, bleating sheep, tethered to the carriage, driven by a Turkic youth with a light whip. A gift from the Gibford prefect, road provisions. "My lady, hold on. We're entering the mountains!" Keane was driving. Shawn sat on the box. He leaned in, pointed at Lora's seat: "Open the seat panel. Weapons inside." Lora knelt, lifted the seat board. Swords, short swords, a crossbow with bolts. She took out a bow case and sat back down. A soft bow. Thirty arrows. She strung it, difficult in a bouncing carriage. Tested the draw. Not bad. Her brother's lessons on the boat hadn't been wasted. "Hold up!" The horses stopped. Lora lifted the front curtain. Ahead, a narrow pass. Fallen tree trunks blocked the road. The bandits didn't want you to skip lunch. They'd arranged it for your dining convenience. Lora heard sheep bleating behind, and Corin shouting in Turkic, ordering his men into position. Had they already spotted the enemy? She didn't wait for her brother. Bow in hand, she pushed Shawn and Keane: "Go! Into the trees!" A good plan, concealment plus maximum archery advantage. Shawn and Keane, carrying bows and crossbows, their large brown leather quivers full, a hundred arrows, long and short, hoisted Lora into a tree in seconds. Leon, riding toward the carriage to protect his cousin, saw she'd already acted. Better this way. He turned his horse and galloped to the front. Corin silently approved. He whistled, waved. Four Turkic men followed Lora's example, up into the trees. Soon, Turkic arrows flew from the treetops. "Take cover! They're in the trees!" Someone on the hillside shouted. Shawn and Keane's crossbow bolts flew, one after another. The bandits had few archers, their bows mismatched, looted from different victims, awkward in their hands. The moment they located a shooter and raised bows, a bolt from the trees cut them down. Bandits leaped from behind rocks, blades high, charging downhill. "Charge!" No wonder they were confident. Two, three hundred men poured down the slope. Far outnumbering Lora's group. Now even Lora could shoot freely. She drew, released, drew again, then reached back. Empty. Shawn and Keane, faster, were nearly out too. They called to Lora: "Stay in the tree. We'll go down and help." Keane shoved his last three arrows into her quiver. The two men drew swords and dropped from the tree. Corin and the Turkic men held the last carriage, now reinforced by Shawn and Keane. The middle carriage, Linnie's, was worse off. Yannic Xavier's men were mostly mining engineers.  Some, quick-witted, crawled under the carriage and held on. Those who ran, unprotected, were cut down by bandits. Corin and the Turkic men held the last carriage, now reinforced by Shawn and Keane. With Lora out of the carriage, they had no encumbrance. They fought freely. Their only concern: the sheep tethered behind, don't let them be stolen. The middle carriage, Linnie's, was worse off. Yannic Xavier's men were mostly mining engineers. Some, quick-witted, crawled under the carriage and held on. Those who ran, unprotected, were cut down by bandits. Half the Turkic men were at the middle carriage. The first carriage, Horn's Black Eagle and Roland's guards held it. Lora wanted to find her brother, but leaves blocked her view of the front. She climbed higher. And saw, on the mountain above, more figures moving. She caught her breath: The Yanshan range hid this many people? Even if every traveler was robbed, the haul couldn't feed them all. And if there were bandits here, why hadn't the Gibford prefect mentioned it? Did they rob, kill... and eat?

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