Debriefing in Boston was a distraction that I didn't feel I had the time for. Enki could summon me at any moment and I had so much to do.

When I returned to the Tower I was stunned to discover my suit was essentially unwounded. Olaf was still in excellent fighting shape, but his suit was marred and injured in places. Thus the debriefing took place in the Pod Chamber on the upper floors of the Tower.

When we entered the chamber, we found the rest of our team occupying their pods. Even Alya had been injured, though none of them would be in the pods for long. Balthazar reported to me that the feint at the Chowwick lands had contained more Griidlords than expected, all three of the other Buffalo suits. Tara was underpowered compared with them, but Magneblade and Alya had made up the difference. The armed force that had attacked was not of major concern, Fort Albany had been the main thrust.

Balthazar said, "We need to account for these x-factors. Why are suits from other cities fighting in their ranks? You should have brought more of the force back with you, Tiberius, a thrust could come from anywhere now. Cleveland? New York? Arrayed with the Green Men. It seems impossible. But we must take appropriate action."

I said, "We don't have action to take. That river crossing is the single most vital element we have to defend our lands with. If anything, the forces there need reinforcing. They played the speed and surprise game, bringing a smaller army than they could have fielded to try and catch us off guard. If they bring the full host, then the units stationed there will be easily overwhelmed."

Balthazar said, "But if another city—"

I cut him off. I could clearly see how little he thought of being interrupted, but I pressed on. "There won't be another thrust from another city. The war is with Buffalo. Morningstar and Kestrel didn't come out here to lull us into a false sense of security. They want no part of this war. They want to stand aside and quietly watch us dealing with the Green Man threat without becoming an empirical danger ourselves. If they were aligned together the hammer would have fallen harder and heavier. Olaf and I came out on top against four suits. If there had been six, eight, ten, you would be down two Griidlords now and would already be thinking about coming to terms. The same goes for the feint. If the cities were truly aligned, there would have been more than Bonefrost, Snowfang and Jythorne in that attack, then you'd probably have lost all of us and the war would be over. No, a secret alliance is not what we're dealing with."

Balthazar stared at me like a dog that had just bitten him. He seemed to be reconsidering what he knew of me. But his eyes showed that the gears were turning. He was a smart man, an experienced man. He could see the truth in my words.

Balthazar crossed his arms. "What's happening then?"

I said, "The Green Men have been recruiting."

Balthazar raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Recruiting Griidlords? Tiberius… they're nobles. Everything the Green Men stand for is against the nobility. Given the chance, they'd do away with classes and titles. And anyway, we'd know, my intelligence—"

Again I cut him off, and this time I could see him backpedaling. "Your intelligence didn't know they had Sorrowfell, Slayfast or Withertouch. Let's not assume, it's the fastest way to be made a fool of. If intelligence hadn't reported they had those three, what else has been slipped past us? We were fortunate all three were only leveled in their 20s, otherwise I wouldn't have had a hope."

Olaf aside to Magneblade, "He slaughtered two of them himself, while three on one, before I even got there. One of them was an Axe!"

Magneblade chuckled darkly. "That's my boy."

Balthazar narrowed his eyes. Maybe he felt for the first time he didn't have the room. Magneblade was his creature, yes, but he was my friend and ally. Alya was almost openly hostile to him, Olaf my friend, Tara neutral at best. There was a momentum here that I could feel, and I could see him feeling it too.

I said, "I have intelligence resources of my own. I'm going to go tap them now."

Balthazar said, "Go where?"

"I have to protect my sources."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Balthazar said, "We need to ready our next actions!"

I said, "No one is more capable of that than you. If I know you, it's less a case of readying actions than choosing one of two dozen that have already been meticulously prepared. What you need, what I need, what we all need is more intelligence. I'll be back in a couple of hours."

I turned to leave, then paused. "Oh. You should know. I may be called away at short notice. Only for a day, I think."

Balthazar's eyes went wide with shock. "Called away? Tiberius, son, we're at war. We were just attacked. We can't be without our Sword. It's your job, your duty, to be here."

I shook my head sadly. "I made an oath. It's something I can't avoid, but it will help us in the long run. More than you can imagine."

I turned and started to walk away. Enki was my golden goose, but Enki was absent again. I had other veins to tap. I needed to know if Danefer had gathered more than Griidlords to his cause. Were there secret armies of disaffected knights lurking beyond our borders? What was his game, what did he really hope to achieve?

Balthazar shouted at my back, "Sword of Boston! Get back here! You can't walk out of here! You can't absent yourself! Tiberius! This is treason."

I didn't look back. "Then arrest me."

And I was gone.

***

Castle Bloodsword loomed above us. Not much of substance had changed from this angle, far below. There were stacks of stone blocks waiting to be employed, and the ground looked like it had been trampled by machined wheels. Harold had been spending some of our Flow to progress the work.

Dirk strode alongside me, having joined me from the Jaxwulf camp.

Dirk spoke, slightly out of breath as he raced to keep pace with my suit-enhanced strides. "What is it then? Yinz note made it sound urgent."

I said, "Several things. I didn't want to commit it to writing, so I am sorry if it seemed like I was playing a game of mysteries."

"Yinz a lord. Lords love to be mysterious and high-handed."

I felt briefly wounded. I didn't think he thought of me like that. Then I saw the crooked grin he flashed me and smiled weakly in return. "How many warriors do you have, Dirk?"

He shrugged. "Yinz have fair idea of that. 'Bout 200. Not counting some of the younger boys who could hold an axe and do alright for themselves. 200 real warriors, like came with yinz to tackle that Green Man camp in the hill."

I smiled more broadly. Those men had been terrifying. That's what they said of the Burghsmen. Only the Minneapolis could field soldiers with a savagery to rival the clansmen. Other cities had their unique strengths. Boston had a disciplined machine. Indy had cavalry. Dallas the Freemen. But warriors of the likes of the Jaxwulf tribe were… special.

I unhooked the axe I'd taken from the assassin in the City of Angels and handed it to him.

"What's this?" he said.

I said, "What do you make of it?"

"Mighty nice. Out of one of our own foundries. Worth a small fortune."

I said, "It's a gift."

His eyebrows shot up. I went on, "The first of quite a few, if we could come to some terms."

He chuckled, eying me with sudden wariness. "When it's given in exchange of terms, we call that payment in the hills, not gifts."

I just continued, "Your part of the clan are aimless. You spoke for a long time of going to Houston, of trying to find a place for your families there. But that talk seems to have faded. You people like it here?"

Dirk said, "Well, there's opportunity here I think as well… yinz need someone to mind these lands, work 'em…"

I said, "I might need more than that. The main clan didn't let your people take much with them after the rift."

Dirk shook his head.

I said, "When we attacked the Green Men in the mountains I didn't see much by way of armor, no relics, mostly steel weapons."

Dirk said, "We did well enough with steel."

I stopped and looked at him, caught his gaze and held it. Slowly I said, "And how well would you do with power weapons?"

He returned my gaze for a long moment before a nasty smile took hold of his face. "Yinz can probably imagine how well we'd do."

I said, "Burghsmen don't fight from horseback?"

We started walking again. He said, "We don't. Terrain where we come from isn't much good for horses. We can ride, but we fight on foot."

"I'll bet 200 Jaxwulf warriors, with the best of armor and all the power weapons they need, would look and fight as well as 200 knights on foot. Maybe better."

"Fuck of a lot better."

I said, "House Bloodsword needs a standing force as well. It's part of the contract, every lord must supply men and knights. And… if things get complicated in the city, it might be best that I have people I can really, truly rely on. People with real teeth."

We walked in silence for a moment. I didn't want to push him or pressure him. I desperately wanted him to agree. I wanted his warriors, equipped with the finest gear my money could buy. It would immediately make House Bloodsword a force to be reckoned with within the city. It would take years for me to populate my lands enough to support a significant force of regulars. But with two hundred fighters of their savagery, geared to the hilt, I'd have something no other lord could approach.

I saw a figure walking towards us from the construction site. SIGHT showed it to be Harold. His face was lined with concern. My heart twinged at the way I had used him on our last meeting.

Dirk mumbled something while I was distracted.

I said, "What was that?"

He said, "Bloodwulfs. That's what they'd call us. The Bloodsword Jaxwulfs. Bloodwulfs. Can't lie. I like the sound of that."

Harold reached us. "Young master, your letter has left me most agitated."

I said, "Did you gather the documents? Like I asked?"

"Of course, of course. But you must relieve me now, what is this about?"

I sighed. Then I told him. "We have to arrange the sale of Dodge."

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