Lora of Two Worlds

Claude Sheffield was more and more certain of one thing: Lord Leon was a man who kept his depths hidden.

For instance, their trip to the South Market today wasn’t random. Leon was looking for a man named Hugh Horn, a wine merchant newly arrived from the southern provinces.

How did Leon, barely ten days in Lohenheim, know a wine trader who’d just come a thousand miles?

They’d asked about Hugh Horn’s background, looked over the wine he’d brought, and Leon had bought every cask, telling him to deliver the lot to the baronial residence.

What did that mean? Armand couldn’t fathom it either. They’d observed: Leon wasn’t a man who cared for wine, his sleep was poor, and the royal physician had told him to drink less.

So why buy in bulk?

Leon would never tell them: he’d been waiting for this day. In his former life, Hugh Horn had met Lord Legard on the opening day of the cloth fair. Leon could only wait and watch.

That meeting had been the spark. Legard had noticed that Horn’s background matched a man the King had been searching for, and sent him to Augustburg, to the Royal Exchequer, as a wine-tax agent.

Then Voss had ”happened” to discover that this southern agent was, in fact, the long-lost brother of the Queen Mother. Hugh Horn had shot to the heights. He’d lorded it over Augustburg, and become Voss’s chief accomplice.

In Leon’s former life, the false ”Queen’s brother” outlived him. It was only later, when the King raised up Kursall to counter Voss, that Kursall found a new fraud ”brother” named Hobson, and had Horn exposed as an impostor.

The biggest confidence scheme in the Empire’s history, Leon hadn’t lived to see its end. But Horn had fooled the King and the Queen Mother, swanned about Augustburg, and done Voss’s dirty work. Leon wouldn’t let that happen again.

Claude Sheffield couldn’t understand the wine purchase. Nor did he expect Leon to send him back to find out what that business with Rufus was really about.

When he reported the ironmonger’s story word for word, Leon sighed: ”She seemed sharp enough before. When did she go blind? And she gave that knave half a pouch of my money...

I’ll wager the dog won’t be cared for. You and Lyle, go tonight. Find my money and the dog. Knock out the rogue’s two front teeth. That’ll cure him of running cons.”

Since the old reign, sheep farming in the north had made mutton cheap. Black pork had a gamey tang, fine folk didn’t care for it, except for the jowl. Pork was for common folk.

And the Church’s dietary teachings discouraged eating dog. So in an Empire where meat was plentiful, few ate dog. A dog had three uses: guard, hunter, pet.

A yellow mongrel wasn’t a lapdog. It couldn’t be a pet. And now it was crippled. Would Rufus spend good coin to treat it?

It was useless to him. It would be abandoned.

Only after Claude Sheffield left for the baronial residence to find Lyle did Lora, full to bursting, surrounded by Shawn and Lucy laden with parcels, finally head home.

At the South Market gate, she saw a merchant-type hurry down from a carriage. A cold voice from inside:

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”Hugh Horn, one more mistake and you’ll never leave the dungeon.”

”Yes, yes, I won’t dare.” The merchant straightened his cap, clutched his bundle, and asked, trembling: ”What if the Lord Regent’s already gone ”

”Get him out of here.”

The driver cracked his whip. The horses stamped and bolted, leaving a servant to lead Horn into the market. The servant had already run back and forth several times and couldn’t help muttering:

”If you didn’t have the luck to share a background with the Queen’s brother...” After they passed, Lora asked: ”The Queen’s brother? Who’s the Queen’s brother now?”

”I don’t know who the Queen’s brother is, but I know there’s one who went missing.” Lucy shifted her parcels: ”Once you were playing in the Countess’s room. The Count came in and mentioned it. You wouldn’t remember.”

”Horn? Hugh Horn? A missing Queen’s brother?” Lora muttered, frowning.

Walking empty-handed had been fine. Walking with armfuls of parcels, that drew looks. A carriage pulled up beside them. Felix lifted the curtain:

”Lil? Why no carriage?” ”Felix? What luck, we’ll hitch a ride.” Lora was delighted.

Felix had been preparing to offer his seat and walk alongside if his little cousin was too shy to share a carriage.

She hopped in on her own, and didn’t mind sitting beside him. Felix swallowed the rest of his sentence.

Lora piled the parcels in and climbed up: ”Cousin, why aren’t you with the Lord Regent? You snuck out?”

”The ministers and the General were with him, all ancient and doddering... ah, I don’t mean Uncle, he’s hale and hearty. No, that’s not right either ”

Lora giggled behind her hand:

”Father’s not here. You can flatter him all you like. You really are funny, where’s the stiff Sheriff act?”

Felix smiled wryly: ”In that seat, you don’t have a choice. Even if you don’t smile, the higher ranks and bigger titles push you down anyway.

I didn’t sneak out, I’m on an errand for the Lord Regent. A merchant from the south wine country came in. Legard asked him a few questions, and the man caught his eye. I’m going back to the sheriff’s hall to pull a case file.”

The wine merchant, wasn’t that Hugh Horn? Lora pressed: ”What file? Is it about the missing Queen’s brother?”

”What, how did you know? Don’t tell me, another dream?” Lora laughed so hard she buried her face in her palms, shoulders shaking.

”He said there’s never been a girl who loved to laugh as much as you.” Felix grinned.

”No, no, not a dream this time.” Lora looked up, tears of laughter in her eyes, and Felix’s heart skipped. She said:

”We saw him run into the market just now.”

Felix’s face went half-serious: ”Just now? That’s wrong. He said he arrived yesterday, stayed at his warehouse in the South Market, just seen off a wine buyer ”

Their eyes met. Lora was thinking of the voice in that carriage. ”Cousin, we’ll pass the sheriff’s hall. Drop us there, and you go do your work.”

”No, take my carriage home. The hall has its own.”

The hall was two wards from the South Market. Felix went in to find the archived royal notices about the missing Queen’s brother.

When he came out with the case file, his carriage was gone, but Lora was still standing there. ”Lil? Why haven’t you left?”

”I want to ride back to the South Market with you.” Lora didn’t mince words. Under Felix’s astonished gaze, she gathered her skirts and climbed in.

Did she... still like sticking close to him? Lora hadn’t stayed to tease her tongue-tied cousin. She’d stayed to confirm a suspicion.

From what she knew, the Empire’s greatest imposture had happened in the reign of King Edmond, and it involved the Queen Mother.

The Queen Mother had lost her parents young. Her one brother had vanished in childhood. After she became Queen, she thought of nothing but finding him. And so, every so often, a man came forward claiming to be the Queen’s brother. One of them lasted ten years.

This false ”Queen’s brother” had served as a palace guard captain, a minister, a marcher duke, he’d had it all. In the end, he was exposed and beheaded.

Felix didn’t show her the file. But he told her the contents.

Lora had a new question: if Hugh Horn was the false Queen’s brother, who was in the carriage arranging his meeting with the Lord Regent?

”You’re saying someone sent Hugh Horn to meet Legard? That means even his background might have been arranged. If Legard recommends him to court... the one who benefits most is whoever’s behind him.”

Felix saw the gravity. He took a longer route, dropped Lora at the Odenheim gate first, and leaned out:

”Thanks for the tip. I understand. I’ll handle it.” Lora waved and walked inside.

Walking the gallery, she spotted the two pairs of swans flapping their wings, and a bold idea struck her.

She scanned the grass, no ready-made feathers lying about. She gathered her skirts and charged at them, shouting: