Having permanent access to the Footfield was going to take some getting used to. It was going to change how I thought about so many things.

I had been standing on the rise outside the main gates of the city. It was a strange time, a strange experience. On one hand, gone were the pressures, the anxieties. I had won the suit; it was done. I was a Griidlord, now I was Lord Tiberius Bloodsword. I didn’t need to worry about Father’s control anymore, even if I did find him. I was my own man now.

But on the other hand, there were new pressures. Of course, there was Father. Even then, I was waiting for the convoy to assemble so that we could depart. And there was this new strange status. I stood at the gate, one of the five most powerful beings in Boston, but I felt exposed. I was a valuable target now for our city’s enemies. I was unmistakable to the people, and they moved past me with a strange new deference that I couldn’t say I enjoyed.

It would all take some getting used to.

As I stood there, I saw the carriage moving. What utter joy it was that I could use my SIGHT any time I wanted now. It was rolling down a road a mile or so yonder, heading away from the city. My human eyes would have been left to wonder if it really was the carriage I believed it to be. But my helm magnified the object of my focus as I willed it to. I saw the carriage as though it was only yards away. And I had been right. It was their carriage.

On a whim, I went after it. I flashed my footfield to life as I stepped forward and the world melted around me. I raced towards the carriage at twice the speed of a horse galloping flat out, and the carriage seemed to hold still. The sheer joy and power I felt brought a surge of emotion to me. This was what my life would be now. I was more god than man.

I skirted around the carriage, giving it a wide berth. I no more wanted the distortion of the field to shred the molecules of the occupants than I wanted it to play havoc with the integrity of my own physical makeup. The driver reacted to me. To him, I must have been an indistinct haze, bolting by him like a blur.

The driver reined the horses in, and I let go of the footfield. It was with no small reluctance that I returned to the normal flow of time. Looking back now, it’s funny. Griidlords learn to detest the footfield—so much time is spent ferrying armies and merchant convoys from place to place that the footfield becomes synonymous with boredom. But when you are new to it, the novelty is delicious.

I approached the carriage. I wondered a little how they would react to me. I knew my armor was still shifting, growing, forming itself to express how it perceived me. Ridges grew across my helmet, sharp peaks grew from my chest and shoulders. I was a Griidlord; even noble ladies would be awed by a Griidlord.

Katya’s face appeared at the window of the carriage, and it bore an expression of unbridled glee. She shouted, "Tibby! You’ve come!"

I let the helmet peel back from my face. My expression could only have been one of despair. I said, "Tibby? I’m sure you meant Lord Bloodsword."

Katya’s smile widened, then she feigned embarrassment. "Of course, Lord Bloodsword, how forgetful of me."

Lauren’s face appeared beside Katya’s. She said, "Bloodsword sounds like a name someone might choose in their teens and then regret in their later years, when they’ve matured a little."

I said, "Oh, well, that’s a useful point, Lauren. I’ll just go back and choose again, shall I."

We laughed together then. It wasn’t completely unnatural, but there was a tension among us that forced a kind of joviality. As the laughter faded, I could see they were expectant, waiting for me to explain why I had stopped them.

I cleared my throat, straightened myself a little, and said, "I saw you passing, and I… I won’t be here tomorrow, for your big day. I just wanted to give you both my best wishes and my apologies that I can’t attend."

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Lauren said, "You’re the Sword now, you have new duties. Imagine, tomorrow you will be on your way to the wastes, hundreds of miles away. I’ve never been beyond the borders of the family’s lands."

Katya interjected, saying, "Bed a woman on your travels, Tiberius."

My eyebrows shot up and I felt the color drain from my face.

Lauren said, "Katya!"

Katya said, "It’s for the best. You’re a sweetheart, Tiberius, a true gem, and now a Griidlord, but you’re too shy. You need to get over it. You’ll stop somewhere on your journey—Kansas City perhaps—find a pretty whore and get it over with."

I stammered, "I… I would…"

Lauren slapped Katya lightly on the shoulder and said, "Katya! No! Stop it. He’s not shy; he’s sweet and genuine. It’s a positive that he’s not the sort to go whoring."

Katya cast her eyes skyward and said, "He’s easy meat. You’ll be easy prey, Tiberius. Some pretty vixen with ambitions will eat you up."

I continued to stammer, unable to process the turn in topic.

Lauren grew firmer, and Katya retreated slightly. Lauren said, "Enough of this. I’ve told you, that’s not how we talk in Boston. We’re civilized."

Katya returned a look that asked the question, is Miami not civilized?

Lauren ignored her and said, "Thank you for the gesture, Tiberius."

Silence gathered slightly. My blood-drained face was flushed with heat now. I said, "Well... I shouldn’t delay you. I have my own business to get back to as well."

Lauren said, "Thank you, Tiberius."

I hesitated, then added, words bursting forth, "Would it be wrong of me to call on you two? I haven’t… I know we’ve only…"

I gathered my words, "I haven’t many friends, and I like to think that friendship has grown between us. I wonder if it would be alright for me—"

Katya cut me off, saying, "Tiberius! We would be overjoyed to entertain you. Once your adventure in the East is done, come to us. We’ll have dinner and drinks."

Lauren said, "You simply must. Father would be overjoyed to host a Griidlord! To host the Sword!"

I smiled broadly at them. "Well, ah, I will do that then. Don’t let me keep you further. I’ll see you both when I return."

I had a long moment of peace as I watched the carriage roll away from me. I turned and looked back at the city. What a thing it was, to be able to peer at the walls a mile away, and know that I could be there in what felt like a single stride. I turned back to watch the carriage roll away. I felt embarrassed somewhat by my display, but equally, I felt hopeful and maybe even a little elated.

As I stood there, I became aware of a sensation. It was like a sound, but also like a vibration. The suit itself seemed to react—I felt it prickle as though goosebumps were rising on its surface. I turned again to the walls of the city and saw a bolting haze of distortion approaching me. It was my first time as a Griidlord experiencing another of our class approaching under Footfield. The unnatural perversion of reality that the field created resonated oddly within me. I watched curiously as the shape streaked toward me.

With just a little more experience, I would learn to have my hand on my sword when I felt those vibrations. Or to have it drawn. This time, such a stance was unnecessary. The field dissipated at 50 yards distance. The lifting haze revealed the powerful form of Lord Morningstar. He jogged toward me.

“Tiberius!” he called. “I would speak a moment if you could spare it.”

I turned my gaze back to the walls of the city. Harold had appeared, and some of the Pittsburgh mercs were gathering, but neither the city knights nor Lord Chowwick had shown up yet.

I said, “I have time. Even if I didn’t, I would make time for you, sir.”

Morningstar’s helmet melted back to show his face. He smiled, but his eyes seemed furtive.

He said, “Tiberius, when I first met you, in your home, that night you told me that you heard a voice when you were in the suit.”

I shifted, uncomfortable. I still remembered. I remembered his scornful reaction, but also the way he seemed to consider me after I said it.

He asked, “Is it true? Do you hear a voice in the suit?”

I hesitated. Should I reveal it? Griidlords grew mad with age if they didn’t give the suit up. Did some of us suffer that madness early? Was he probing, testing me? But his expression wasn’t one of suspicion, it was one of strange desperation. I thought back to the moment the fiend’s maw descended, how I saw the end of my life approaching, and decided that I would trust this man. If not for his sword, I would have died the same day I won the suit.

I said, “Yes. Not... not now, but often. Yes, I hear a voice.”

He nodded, his face growing firm.

I asked, “Why do you ask that now?”

He said, “Because I hear it too.”