He turned to Penelope and asked “What can I do you for?”
“I was just…” Her hand started to shake. She gripped it tightly with its twin and took a deep breath. “I wanted to know what happens next. What are you going to do?”
“Well, the Solution is a wash. I promised Shadows Fade I’d go to her band when this was done. I reckon I’ll go there.”
“And after that?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to see what happens next.”
“You mean, see what story Eleanor tells people?”
Dust nodded. “I’m a fugitive now, I don’t doubt that. The size of the bounty’ll determine what I do next. And that’ll depend on what Naismith tells people and how much they believe her.”
Penelope waited for him to continue, needing more from him.
“Which in turn depends on how far the conspiracy in the Solution goes,” he said. “If it’s low level, they might set a small bounty or only give a reward if I’m taken alive. If most of the Solution is against us, they’ll offer a ton for me, dead or alive, and I’ll be hunted by every bounty hunter worth a damn. The other cults of the Triangle will know that too and they’ll come at me when I’m fighting the world of men. It’ll be… interesting.”
Penelope made a small, non-committal noise and looked away. Her fingers shook still.
“It’s not me you’re worried about.”
“No.”
“I won’t sugar-coat it; you’re not going to have a good time either. From what Emmett said, I reckon Naismith’ll sell the story that I turned on her, fuelled by Resistance or greed or something, and tortured her for trying to save you. She’ll know I survived by now – might even know you did – so she’ll probably weave you into the story. She’ll say you came willingly, are beyond redemption, because you’re the only one who could implicate her. The only one folk might believe, anyway.”
“But what if I stayed in Crucifix, talked to the Solution officials who come to interview people? What if I told them what really happened? That could make a difference, right?”
He shrugged. Then remembered she was looking down at the ground and said “Maybe.”
“I don’t like ‘maybe’.”
“Look, it’s not impossible. Again, it’ll depend on how deeply the Solution has been compromised; if it’s shallow people might listen to you, do some investigations into their own ranks. Your pa’s influence will help and it might make the difference. You could go back home and this’ll be a story for your grandkids. But if it’s not that shallow then they’ll capture you like the cult did, tell observers, friends, family… Hell, they’ll tell everyone that you were scrambled by the magic or traumatised by me. And then…”
Dust caught himself before he predicted they’d kill her.
She closed her eyes. “I just want to go home.”
He put a hand on her shoulder. “I know. But I wouldn’t risk it. I’m sorry”
She sobbed twice then wiped her cheek.
“Sorry,” he said again.
Penelope looked up, smiled and put a hand on his arm. “Thank you.”
“What for?”
She wiped her cheek again. “Why, for saving me.”
He smiled back. “It’s been a while since someone thanked me.”
“Then I thank you too,” someone said.
Dust turned. It was Shadows Fade. She stepped out of the chapel, stretching. Godly Claw was at her heel. The people of Crucifix chatted and moved around behind her, trying to return to some semblance of normality now their troubles were over. Or, rather, now they would be once Dust left with the Word.
“Morning,” Dust said.
The warrior closed the chapel door. “Morning. But I mean it; thank you for ridding my land of an evil like that Soulless.”
“Soulless? You mean the masked man?”
She nodded.
This was beginning to get a little embarrassing. Dust coughed, then turned to change the subject. “What do you want to do now?”
Penelope coughed. Her hand started shaking again. “Well, Shadows Fade and I took a walk earlier and we were talking… If it turned out there was no hope of getting my life back, I was going to ask if I could perhaps come with you?”
Dust frowned. “To Shadows Fade’s band?”
“At first, yes. Then, if you’d let me, further?”
