Lora of Two Worlds

Lora told Linnie the plan she and Horn had agreed on. Then she isolated the parts Linnie needed to play, and repeated them.

Linnie’s tears dried. She nearly bounced out of bed.

The dark was terrifying, but if you blew on the fire-stick, even a tiny flame could lead you to dawn.

”I’ll do it! My dear Yangyang, I’ll do it! You’re saying, if I talk him into rebelling against the lord warden and rescuing my godfather and the others, then my godfather will petition the King to grant him the full title?”

No more palace. A marcher duke was the biggest lord in the north, and the title was hereditary.

”Yangyang, do you really think this Sheffield is capable?”

Of course he’s capable. In two years he’ll kill the rebel and take over anyway. You don’t do that without some ability.

”Of course. Why else would the King have chosen him?”

”Yes, the King chose him...”

Lora answered Linnie’s questions until she finally fell asleep.

In her dream, a familiar hand took hers. She looked up, Leon.

”Why you?”

”Why not me?”

”I can’t go with you. I have to go back to the modern world.”

”Why go back?”

”Why, why, stop asking why!” Lora sat up in bed, fuming.

Linnie, who’d been up and dressing, looked guilty, then laughed openly:

”Did I ask too many questions last night? I went over it all again.

Now I understand, like you said, I’m not doing this for myself. I’m doing it for the Empire’s stability.

And only I can help Sheffield succeed. He’s a soldier, can barely read.

He doesn’t know honor, duty, propriety. He needs someone from the Heartlands to guide him.

And only I can help Sheffield succeed. He’s a soldier, can barely read. He doesn’t know honor, duty, propriety. He needs someone from the Heartlands to guide him.

A woman should have her own convictions. Life is short, Linnie wants to be a woman of principle. A woman remembered.”

Tsk tsk... did I say all that last night?

Half-asleep, and I brainwashed her?

Linnie’s ideological work was done. The things she didn’t need to know, Lora hadn’t told her. Now, action.

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Her brothers were still in prison. Every day was a risk.

Hidden near Sheffield’s gate, they waited until the side door creaked open. Sheffield rode out with a dozen guards.

Lyle heard the hoofbeats again, that crisp ”teka-teka” sound, different from central Empire horses.

He was about to ask the ”encyclopedia” young lady, but saw her staring, tense, at Sheffield on his horse.

The four of them sat in a tavern across the road. Three jars of small ale on the table. Lora and Faye both in men’s clothing.

Today, they were only observers.

Sheffield neared the crossroads. From a side alley, Linnie’s scream:

Sheffield kneed his horse forward, racing into the lane. Several Kyren-dressed men were chasing a beauty in red.

As their hands nearly reached her, she stretched toward Sheffield on his horse:

Sheffield kneed his horse forward, racing into the lane. Several Kyren-dressed men were chasing a beauty in red. As their hands nearly reached her, she stretched toward Sheffield on his horse:

”Hero, save me!”

Unbearable. A woman harassed before his eyes. Sheffield waved: ”Get them!” His guards charged.

Sheffield seized Linnie’s hand and pulled her onto the saddle.

A man who’d shed blood in battle, the flash of red on a woman’s body iron pote the beast in him. He looked down:

”Why was a young lady walking this lonely lane alone?”

Linnie, seated sideways, looked up. The man she’d throw in with, not handsome, but the hard authority of a career soldier gave him a magnetism that plain features couldn’t.

She relaxed, leaned into his chest, and sobbed:

”General, save me. Linnie has no father. Alone in Yorvik. I can’t survive...”

A fatherless orphan. Sheffield’s face softened. He smiled:

”Don’t be afraid. Stay by my side. See who dares touch you.”

”Report, the Kyren men jumped the wall and ran.” A guard returned.

They’d chosen this lane precisely because it was too narrow for horses. The ”Kyren men”, Black Eagle in disguise, had leaped onto the wall and vanished.

”Bah! Kyren, all thieves. Can’t sell their ginseng honestly, always causing trouble. Next time, I’ll gut their nest.”

A soft, fragrant woman weeping in his arms, what man wouldn’t feel for her?

Yesterday, his kinsman Cedric had told him to wait. Let the rebel provoke the crown first, then the crown would send troops.

The northern domains would rise together. When the crown was bled dry, then the Sheffield family would act.

Nonsense. Kill an envoy and the crown sends an army? Merchants, always counting coins instead of counting swords.

Sheffield had been in a foul mood this morning. And then, a rare beauty. Trouble faded. He felt better.

He exhaled, put his arm around her shoulder: ”Back to the house.”

”Back to the house? But the lord warden ”

”Tell him I’m unwell. At home. Seeing no one. Go!”

At his courtyard, he lifted her from the horse. To the gatekeeper:

”If my kinsman comes, I’m not here. I’ve gone to the governor’s palace. Let him wait in the side hall. Don’t let him wander.”

Linnie pretended to resist. Sheffield laughed: ”You called me hero. I saved you. How will you repay me?”

”I... I swore, whoever saves my father, I’ll give myself to him...”

”Your father?”

So Father wasn’t dead. Sheffield was about to ask what trouble, but Linnie’s arms were around his neck. Her lips at his ear, breath warm:

”For a general like you, saving my father is nothing. If you promise... Linnie is willing...”

His legs were already carrying him toward the inner chambers.

He laughed low: ”Little minx. So pretty. So skilled at stirring a man. Whatever you say now, how could I refuse? I love women, but I’ve never brought one into the inner hall. You’re the first.”

She was inside his door. No turning back. This man, she would lift him up.

Steady his seat in Yorvik. He was her future. Tenderness overflowed, from her heart to her eyes, and became a look of adoring devotion.

Linnie’s heart soared: ”Then you’ll save my father?”

She was inside his door. No turning back. This man, she would lift him up. Steady his seat in Yorvik. He was her future. Tenderness overflowed, from her heart to her eyes, and became a look of adoring devotion.

Sheffield wasn’t a fool. He’d seen women before, plenty. But I’s eyes were different. A beauty’s adoration, it inflated him:

”Of course. In Yorvik, what can’t Sheffield solve?”