Thanks for the fast feedback!
I just wanted to make some quick remarks.
@hubay. Thanks for the suggestion regarding the wheel lock point. I really like that sentence. I like to think I'm good at killing my darlings, but that one managed to slip by. Your suggestion is simple and still conveys what it needs to :-)
As to Mathieu taking the shot anyway, I'll just point out that he's recently back from the wars (and suffering from ptsd), he's just had some very bad financial news, he's been upset over Carrera due to their history, and when given the chance Carrera wanted to continue the duel when Mathieu was injured. Share and share alike? I don't think Mathieu's decision was the most honorable. I struggled with it, but I had to be real to the character. And I think the character, in that split second decision, isn't thinking of honor. It's unfortunate, but I've never liked heroes without flaws. As to your last comment, I think you're going to like the next chapter alot.
@akoebel
I too worry that the main arc is a little slow in appearing. I've had half a dozen alpha readers go through it though and they haven't seemed to mind. I think it might be the nature of a single chapter a week as I do think it's a fast read up to the introduction of the conflict. Having said that, I think I need to get more first time readers because it is definitely a pause for concern. Thanks for pointing it out..I've got some thinking to do.
As to the richochet, Mathieu was facing Carrera with a profile view, his right leg forward. The ball struck the inside of his thigh where his stiletto was. It struck his stiletto hilt and richocheted off. The leg still took the brunt of the force and shards from the hilt/ball hit his leg. I might need to work on that part to make it clearer to the reader.
During this timeframe flintlocks haven't been invented yet. Initially, firearms were fired using slow burning matches that were really pieces of rope. The invention of the trigger used that to lower the match to the touch hole. This led to a variety of issues. Outright misfires of course, but also an unpredictable delay in firing. Wheel locks were the next step in the evolution, utilizing an internal firing mechanism that still had misfires and a delay, but much more predictable when they did fire. Flintlocks came after as a simpler mechanism that was stillmore predictable than the matchlock.
You're quite correct that the rifling had more to do with accuracy than the trigger mechanism. In Mathieu's time, wheellocks are a new, rare invention, and the predictability of the firing made them easier to aim and thereby more accurate than matchlocks, though not nearly as accurate as the rifled flintlock or percussion.
Thanks again for the feedback, definitely some things to look at!