Lora of Two Worlds

The little fishing village of Highgarden was, in Lora’s mind, an unhatched griffin egg. They used the excuse of waiting for Linnie, and didn’t follow her the remaining dozens of miles.

Yannic Xavier preferred it that way. They were the lady’s ”family”, but the wealth already bore the Sheffield name.

After Linnie’s carriage departed, the mining engineers began looking for a spot to sink a shaft.

The coal here wasn’t deep. Forty zhang down, they hit coal. Ten more, the engineers were certain: a massive seam lay below.

Roland and Leon exchanged a look: Lora’s wandering herbalist had been right again!

Coal in Gibford wouldn’t be discovered for centuries. Leon, reborn a mere four years, couldn’t possibly have known.

The Empire mined very little coal, partly because shaft technology topped out at seventy zhang. Deeper deposits were beyond reach.

When the engineers brought up a bucket of coal, the most moved was Horn.

Last night, Leon had asked him to build a salt pan. Salt pans barely profited, the margin went to the government and the salt merchants. The pan sold at a fixed official price.

It was like a copper-mine owner choosing to cast statues rather than coins, the profit was elsewhere.

But to cover the far more lucrative coal and iron, Horn agreed. He had one condition:

”I have two sons and a daughter. Faye is my treasure. Could she serve beside His Highness? One day, if she gained a title, even a mistress’s, my family would benefit from royal favor.”

This... Leon was in his early days. He didn’t have much to bargain with.

The fishing village needed careful management. One misstep, a capital crime. Horn’s ask wasn’t unreasonable.

But Leon frowned:

”When I left the palace to set up my household, the Queen Mother offered me two concubines. I refused, told her I’d take no wife, no concubines. If I now take a mistress before a wife, I’ve broken my word to the Queen Mother. Where would Faye stand at court?”

Horn heard the sense. He wouldn’t push his daughter into a fire.

They continued walking, surveying house sites. The matter was dropped.

Or so it seemed. Then Horn said:

”The young lady wants my son to go south with her. He’d be alone out there. If the Odenheim house doesn’t mind, could he marry the young lady? With Odenheim’s protection, I could run Highgarden from afar without worry...”

So that had been his game all along?

Not to mention Roland, Leon was the first to object: Why should she? She’s her own person. Her parents might not even decide for her, and you’d have her sacrifice for me? What does that make me?

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This needed to come from her brother. Leon looked at Roland.

Roland smiled, bowed to Horn: ”Your regard for House Odenheim does us honor. But my sister has been raised freely, I can’t decide for her. However, I’ve come of age, unmarried. I’d like to ask for Lady Faye’s hand. As my proper wife. Whether or not we’ve children, if she wishes it, I will take no mistress, all my life.”

Leon panicked: I looked at you, not told you to volunteer!

But yesterday, Roland had saved Horn’s life. The gratitude was fresh. And a formal proposal, that carried feeling. Roland was talented, Leon’s right hand.

As long as he knew his place, Leon would never mistreat him.

And Highgarden was Odenheim land. Faye marrying in, eventually the property would pass to their children. The wealth stayed in the family.

Horn agreed on the spot.

The two families were far apart. The marriage contract would be written when they returned to Yorvik, and Chester Horn would carry it to Lohenheim. For now, discreet. Leon was the witness. A three-way pact.

The road ahead suddenly felt easier. Horn walked beside his future son-in-law, approving every suggestion.

House layout, streets, roads, salt-pan direction, city wall height, defense plans, the Horn family’s portion was sketched out in broad strokes.

Leon, following behind, chatted with Chester Horn. Learning that Lora had asked him to go south, Leon marveled. How large a soul lived inside that small body, to think of everything?

Last night, he’d heard her and Roland discuss: Corin and his Turkic men would replace the guards lost on the boats. They’d go back to Lohenheim with the convoy.

Corin’s remaining thousand-plus clansmen would all relocate to Highgarden. It would be hard at first. But with labor, this place would become their home.

She’d waited until the coal sample came up, then she’d tell Corin.

Leon, in his former life, had been raised in luxury, steeped in classical learning, nowhere did it teach commerce. And Lora, like a book he’d never read, filled the gaps he didn’t know he had.

Lora had placed two mutually checking forces in Highgarden. Neither could dominate. Neither could seize control.

And so, when they set the bucket of coal before Corin, Lora said, earnest:

”Corin, the day we raided the prison, without you and your people, we couldn’t have done it. To repay that debt, I’d like to invite your mother and your house to settle in Highgarden.”

”Settle?” Corin could hardly believe it. He’d looked around, his boys, who’d never seen the sea, had played in it till they dropped.

”My house, young and old, is one thousand four hundred and seventy-three souls. We’re not farmers. You’d have us settle?”

Lora pointed at the coal bucket: ”Farming isn’t hard. We’ve land. Whatever grows, as long as it feeds people, that’s enough. The key is, beneath our feet, there’s mineral wealth. Bring it to market, it’s worth more than grain.”

”No, that’s not what I mean. I mean, you invite us in. Aren’t you afraid we’ll take everything for ourselves?”

What Corin couldn’t believe was that Lora, who’d known him only days, handed him trust more precious than gold.

”Your forefather was the great Askar Sher, who pacified Gallowscap and Quarthe for the Empire. My forefather was Aldric of Ironhold, who conquered Baeland, campaigned against Gorheim, and subjugated the Highland fastness. Both of them, heroes who expanded the Empire’s borders, who died in battle without regret. That’s why I trust you.”

Lora’s little speech was well-delivered, because she believed it first.

The tears shimmering in her eyes told Corin: this wasn’t pity. It was recognition.

He knelt, one knee, in the deepest bow the Askar gave, reserved for forefathers and parents:

”Askar Corin, with three hundred warriors, follows the lady. And one thousand one hundred seventy more, swear to guard Highgarden with their lives.”

Horn could manage Highgarden. But his people had lived in the Empire for generations, they couldn’t be truly subjugated, only bound by shared interest.

And interest was a snake that always wanted more. Aside from holding his son as leverage, Lora had no foolproof method.

But the Askar were newcomers. Fresh gratitude, fresh loyalty, this was the moment to earn it.

And Corin’s three hundred weren’t raw recruits. They’d been eagles of the steppe.

Everything was in place. But Leon’s heart was troubled. His friend had married, for him, a woman he didn’t love. Was this what they’d set out to do?

In the dark, he stood before Roland’s door. Hesitated. Then pushed it open.