I said, "Should I do something about this? Should I allow her to hold us up like this? We can make a lot of miles yet before we make camp."

Chowwick’s grump seemed to melt from him a little. “Ah, leave it be, lad. Dirk is a good man, a hard man. You’ll have use for him, and he’ll treat you well if you do the same to him. Let him have his meeting. Look, some of the merchants are setting up to leave the train and roll over to Kansas. We’d have had to stop anyway. As long as they don’t take all day, we can spare the time.”

As he spoke, Racquel detached from Dirk’s group and swayed back toward us.

She said, “You’re coming back from Dodge? I expected to see nothing but wagons piled high with salvage, but many of these are carrying wounded people. Not rich folk by the looks of them.”

I said, “We’re rebuilding Dodge. Some of the survivors are staying on, but some can’t. There was a lot of trauma in the attack.”

She said, “There are people here with wounds that will never really heal. What will you do with them? There’s not much point carting them to Boston if you’re only going to dump them there as well.”

I said, “I’m still trying to figure that out. I have a new house, new lands, a castle to build, I suppose. I’ll try to find roles for them.”

Her eyes widened slightly, barely perceptibly. She said, “Is that so? And you? You’re the new Sword of Boston the whole world’s been talking about.”

“H-have they?” I said.

She nodded. “Mmm-hmmm. The boy wonder who used BEAM at the start of the Choosing, employed Footfield halfway through, and had POWER in the last round. I don’t know how much of that I believe, but your legend definitely precedes you.”

She continued to inspect me brazenly. She let her eyes travel over me without veiling the action. I felt my cheeks grow hot.

Chowwick said, “Well, if you’re done, lass, we’ll be on our way. Time is money, and you’ve cost us.”

Racquel’s brows shot up, feigning shock and injury. She said, “I have cost you, haven’t I? I should compensate for the inconvenience.”

Chowwick started to say something, but Racquel flew to me. Her swiftness was unnatural. She moved softly and instantly, like a sudden breeze. She put her hands on my chest, leaned up, and kissed me on the mouth. It was brief, and I was sure it was a mocking gesture, but I felt a jolt run through me.

I was aware that there was something predatory about this. She was making a show of me—maybe a show of herself—but it was hard to argue as those lips touched mine.

As quickly as she touched me, she pulled away. The sensation of her body being close to mine lingered in my mind. The strange sense of her armored form being near, her hands on my chest… The suit should have made me feel physically separated from her, but if anything, the sensitivity, the sensory input, made her feel closer.

She paused to inspect my face, smiling devilishly at my flustered but clearly not displeased reaction. She said, “You know, I delayed you and took your man’s time!”

She stepped up again, a little more slowly, and kissed me again. My head was a fuzz at the abruptness of it, the surprise. This time, it was briefer, more fleeting, but softer too.

Chowwick made a sound that I couldn’t attribute to any particular feeling.

Then she stepped back again, watching my eyes. She said, “You’re not a bad-looking boy wonder, you know. I suppose the next time we meet, it will be across swords with Flows to be won. Thank you and apologies for the disruption. Good day, my lords.”

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“M’lady,” Chowwick said darkly as she turned and started to bound away. Her movements were so smooth, so energetic, and yet so calm.

I belatedly said, "M’lady."

Footfield enveloped her, and she was gone once again, burning across the prairie.

Chowwick spoke in a voice that was equal parts disappointment and mirth. “You know, she took up my time as well.”

I looked at him, a little stupidly.

Dirk was suddenly there. He said, “Apologies for the delay, my lords. Though, yinz don’t seem too upset about the intrusion.”

I gathered my senses and composed myself. Chowwick said, “Will we get this show back on the road?”

Dirk nodded, and there were a few minutes of commotion as the merchants that intended to remain in Kansas rolled away from the convoy. Then I could feel the shift in the space around us, and the pull on the reserves of my own Footfield, as Chowwick projected the Footfield around the convoy.

Once we were rolling again, Dirk marching briskly alongside our wagon, Chowwick said, “So what was all that about?”

Dirk shrugged, unconcerned, contentedly mysterious. “Lady Racquel is sympathetic to the Jaxwulfs that were banished from the Hills. She would offer us a place in her own estate if we wanted it.”

I said, “And do you?”

I was still thinking about the easy way she had kissed me. The way it hadn’t seemed to matter to her. I knew she was being blasé, but my mind wouldn’t let go of the moment.

Dirk said, “That’s a good question. My plan had been to make some coin, then take the clan to Houston. There’ll be work there as a new city is founded, opportunities. There are many Griidlords in the history of my clan, fine Axes. There could be a chance to gain lands and title and a fresh start.”

Chowwick said, “I’ve heard nothing of what’s become of the new Tower.”

Dirk said, “I’ve heard some. Not a lot. The founder took the Scepter suit, but as far as I know, the other four suits lie unclaimed. Miami and Dallas are posturing. It’s hard to see how this plays out without a war breaking out. A new Tower, five new suits, all that Order—it’s too much for either side to leave alone easily.”

Chowwick said, “Strange stuff going on down there. Why don’t they fill those suits? Give themselves a little more bite? And whoever heard of a founder taking a Scepter suit? It’s always a Sword.”

Dirk said, “Aye, right enough. I don’t think five suits would mean a lot to Miami or Dallas, though.”

I said, “I know Dallas has a reputation for being able to put men in the field, but Miami holds sway over three other cities. Dallas can hardly mean anything in the face of that.”

Chowwick said, “Don’t be so sure, lad. The Free Men are a mighty force in the field, and they can muster a mighty mass of them. Dallas can march on Houston easily, and quickly, with easy supply lines. Miami has to come a long way, through swamps. It’s almost surprising Dallas didn’t just march on the new Tower straight away and dare the Queen to do something about it.”

Dirk nodded. “Aye, there’s goings-on afoot that defy explanation. They’re about something in Houston. I’ve sent some kin down to tell me more.”

I said, "And when will you head south, if that’s what you decide to do?"

Dirk said, "Not for a while yet. I’ve purses to fill before we do that. It’s a chance to stake a claim in a new city, but it’s a city with no way to earn right now. And war looms all over it."

I said, "Well, if you’re looking to keep working, I could make an offer."

Dirk said, "Aye, my lord?"

I said, "I’ve been thinking about a few things. My father’s business has been injured, but it’s not dead. I’ve made arrangements with Cassius, and I have to consult with managers in Boston, but we’ll need caravan guards to replace the losses from the Horde attack. And I’ll have an estate to build and guard. There would be work for you, if you wanted it. And space. I assume it wasn’t just a couple hundred fighting men that left Pittsburgh—you must have other kin, women, children."

Dirk said, "Aye. We’ve a camp out in the wilds not far from Burgh territory."

I said, "Well, I’ll have lands soon. I suppose I’ll need to have those lands worked. I’ll have space. A new estate will probably be on the verge of the settled lands around the city, on the edge of our territory, but it will still be more secure than camping in the wilds."

Dirk didn’t say anything at first. He just walked alongside us, staring ahead. He wore the hard-man face, but somewhere in there I could swear he was moved by the offer. It hadn’t been my intention. It had just seemed practical.

The landscape burned past us. My thoughts turned to Boston. To burying my father. To seeing Chowwick tended to. To what would become of Father’s—no, my—trade empire. And the Fall, and leveling… so much seemed to lie ahead, so much of it so busy, so demanding. And yet…

I was still left reeling as to what the point of it was. I had won the suit… now what?