Chapter 18: The Healer's Scars
Eris ate like she hadn't seen food in a week.
Marta kept refilling her bowl. Stew. Bread. More stew. The healer didn't speak while she ate. Just shoveled food into her mouth with single-minded focus. Her hands shook slightly. Old tremor. Maybe from cold. Maybe from something else.
Ian watched from across the table. Sera sat beside him, taking mental notes. Kael stood by the door, arms crossed, eyes never leaving the newcomer.
Ren had been sent upstairs. Varya stayed, sitting quietly in the corner. Her presence was calm. Observant. Like she was reading a witness in court.
When Eris finally pushed the bowl away, she looked up. Her eyes were dark. Tired. But sharp underneath.
"Thank you," she said. Her voice was still rough. "I haven't eaten like that since before they took me."
"Who took you?" Ian asked.
"The watchers. Though they don't call themselves that. They call themselves the Aetherium Circle. Scholars. Researchers. They study Old Empire relics. Titans. Anything that survived the collapse."
Sera leaned forward. "How did they find you?"
Eris laughed. Bitter. "I found them. I was a healer in a village two hundred miles south. Good at my work. Too good. People said I had a gift. They weren't wrong." She held up her hand. A faint glow flickered around her fingers. Warm. Golden. "Old blood. Traces of Aether sensitivity. I can sense injury. Speed healing. Nothing dramatic. But enough."
Ian's eyes narrowed. "Aether sensitivity. Like the relics."
"Like the relics. The Circle has devices that detect it. They showed up one day. Polite at first. Offered me a position. Research. Good pay. I refused. They came back with soldiers. Took me in the night."
Marta's face darkened. "They kidnapped you."
"They called it recruitment. Six months in their facility. Tests. Samples. They wanted to see if Aether sensitivity made me a better candidate for bonding. For the Seed System."
Kael's voice was sharp. "Did they force a bond on you?"
Eris shook her head. "No. They couldn't. Their relic is broken. It can detect compatibility, but not initiate. They needed a Warlord. A Voss. They didn't have one. So they studied me instead. Poked. Prodded. Tried to understand why some women are more 'valuable' than others."
"Value," Ian said. "You know about the ranking?"
"I heard them talk. E-Class. D-Class. C-Class. They classify women based on potential. Education. Willpower. Aether sensitivity. Emotional depth. They believed I was B-Class. High value. That's why they kept me alive."
Sera's jaw tightened. "How did you escape?"
"One of the guards got careless. I was being transferred between facilities. The wagon hit a rough patch. Door latch broke. I ran. They chased. I kept running. For three weeks. Then I heard rumors about a lord in the Western Reaches. A man with monsters who protected women. I took a chance."
Ian studied her. The tremor in her hands. The way she held herself like she expected to be hit. The sharp intelligence behind the fear.
"You're a healer. You could have gone anywhere. Why come to a man with monsters?"
Eris met his eyes. "Because the monsters protected you. Protected them." She nodded at Marta, Sera, Varya, Kael. "I saw it in a village two days ago. People talk. They said Lord Voss's women weren't prisoners. They walked free. Spoke their minds. One of them chased a Titan away from sheep like it was a misbehaving dog."
Marta smiled slightly. "Gnasher. He listens to me."
"That's when I knew. The Circle wants to create what you have. But they can't. Because they see women as resources. You see them as..." She struggled for the word. "Partners. Maybe more. I don't know. But it's different."
Ian was quiet. Then he said, "You know the Circle's operations. Their methods. Their weaknesses."
"I know some. I was a prisoner, not a member. But I listened. I watched. I can tell you things."
Sera glanced at Ian. A silent question. Do we trust her?
Ian answered aloud. "You can stay. But you work. You help Marta. You tend injuries. And you tell us everything you know about the Circle. If you're lying, if you're still working for them, I'll know. And my Titans will handle it."
Eris nodded. "Fair."
Marta stood. "I'll show you to a room. You need sleep more than anything."
Eris rose. Her legs wobbled. Marta caught her arm. Steadied her.
"Thank you," Eris whispered. "All of you."
She let Marta lead her upstairs.
Kael waited until the footsteps faded. "She's either genuine or a very good liar."
"Agreed," Sera said. "But her information could be vital. The summit is in two weeks. We need to know what we're walking into."
Varya spoke softly. "She's been traumatized. That's real. I've seen it in witnesses. Victims. She's not faking the fear."
Ian nodded. "We watch her. We learn from her. And if she's genuine, she becomes one of us."
Kael raised an eyebrow. "One of us. Meaning another bond?"
"Maybe. If she wants it. If it happens naturally."
"You're collecting another stray."
Ian looked at her. "I collect people who need a place. Same as I did with you."
Kael's expression softened. Just slightly. "Fair."
---
Over the next three days, Eris settled in.
She was quiet. Helpful. She assisted Marta in the kitchen without being asked. She tended a cut on Ren's hand after he scraped it climbing a fence. Her hands glowed faintly golden, and the wound closed faster than it should have.
Ren stared at his healed palm. "That's amazing."
"It's useful," Eris said. "Nothing more."
Varya watched the interaction from across the room. Later, she found Ian in the study.
"She's good with Ren," Varya said. "Patient. Gentle. He likes her."
"That's good."
"She's also terrified. Not of us. Of being found. Every time someone walks too fast or speaks too loud, she flinches."
Ian leaned back. "You see yourself in her."
Varya nodded. "I was that scared once. Different circumstances. Same feeling. Like the ground could open up and swallow you at any moment."
"How did you stop feeling it?"
She smiled. Small. "I found something to hold onto. My son. Then Lumina. Then..." She hesitated. "Then you."
Ian reached out. She took his hand.
"I'm not saying you should bond with her," Varya said. "I'm saying she needs what we all needed. Safety. Purpose. A reason to stop running."
"I'll give her that. Bond or not."
Varya squeezed his hand. "I know. That's why we stay."
---
That night, Ian found Eris in the stable.
She was sitting with Lumina. The Silent Titan had her hand pressed to the ground, a soft vibration humming through the earth. Eris had her own hand on the dirt. Her eyes were closed.
"What are you doing?" Ian asked.
Eris opened her eyes. "Listening. She communicates through vibration. I can feel it. Faintly. My sensitivity helps."
"What is she saying?"
"She's showing me the land around us. The trees. The road. She feels everything through the ground. It's... beautiful."
Ian sat beside her. Not too close. "You have a connection with her."
"Maybe. Or maybe she's just curious about the new person." Eris looked at Lumina. "She's maternal. Protective. She watches over everyone like they're her children."
"She's Varya's bond. Varya is a mother. It fits."
Eris nodded slowly. "The Circle believed bonds reflected something in the woman. Gnasher is anxious because Marta worries about everyone. Grip is precise because Sera is analytical. Bulwark is defensive because Kael protects. Lumina is silent and watchful because Varya observes and judges."
Ian blinked. "You figured that out in three days."
"I had six months of their research in my head. They were wrong about many things. But that part... I think they were right."
"What else did they believe?"
Eris was quiet. Then she said, "They believed the Warlord shapes the bond too. Not just the woman. Your personality. Your needs. The Titans fill gaps in you as much as they reflect the women."
"What gaps?"
She looked at him. "You were alone. Powerless. Invisible. Now you have an army of monsters and women who would die for you. The Titans give you strength. The women give you connection. Together, they make you whole."
Ian didn't answer. The words hit too close.
Lumina hummed. A soft vibration that felt like agreement.
Eris stood. Brushed dirt from her clothes. "I should sleep. Tomorrow I'll tell Sera everything I know about the Circle's leadership. Their numbers. Their weaknesses."
"Eris."
She paused.
"Thank you. For being honest."
She smiled. The first real smile he'd seen from her. It changed her face. Made her look younger. Less haunted.
"Thank you for not treating me like a specimen."
She walked back to the manor.
Ian stayed with Lumina. The Titan pressed her hand to his shoulder. A gentle vibration. Comforting.
He stayed there until the cold drove him inside.
---
Two days later, Ian woke to find Eris in the kitchen with Marta. They were laughing about something. Eris's laugh was rusty, like she hadn't used it in years.
Marta saw him and smiled. "She's teaching me about herbs. Apparently I've been using the wrong ones for Gnasher's stomach."
"He has a stomach?"
"Something like it. He ate a boot yesterday. It didn't agree with him."
Ian sighed. "Of course he did."
Eris grinned. "I can make a tonic. Help him pass it."
"You're already more useful than half the household."
"I heard that," Sera called from the study.
"Meant for you," Ian called back.
Marta laughed. Eris looked between them, something soft in her expression.
Later, Ian found Kael in the field with Bulwark. The black Titan stood motionless while Kael hacked at his armored arm with her blade. Sparks flew. No damage.
"She's fitting in," Kael said without stopping. "The healer."
"Seems that way."
"You're going to bond with her."
"I don't know."
Kael lowered her blade. Turned to face him. "Yes, you do. She's valuable. She's healing. And she looks at you like you're the first safe thing she's seen in months. It'll happen."
"And if it does?"
"Then we get another Titan. And another woman in this strange family." She shrugged. "I've stopped questioning it. The more of us there are, the harder we are to break."
Ian stepped closer. "You're really okay with this? With more women?"
Kael met his eyes. "I'm okay with anything that makes us stronger. And I'm okay with anything that makes you happy. That's what a bond is, isn't it? Caring about more than just yourself."
He kissed her. She kissed back. Brief. Solid.
"Now let me train," she said. "Bulwark is judging my form."
Ian looked at the Titan. Bulwark's red eyes flickered. Almost amused.
"He doesn't have a face. How can you tell?"
"I just know."
---
That evening, Eris knocked on the study door.
Ian looked up from the maps Sera had drawn. "Come in."
She entered. Closed the door behind her. Stood awkwardly.
"I wanted to talk. About the bond. About what it means to be... one of your women."
Ian set down his quill. "Sit."
She sat across from him. Her hands were clasped tight in her lap.
"I've been watching. Marta, Sera, Varya, Kael. They're all different. But they're all... yours. Not in a bad way. In a way that makes them stronger. I want to understand."
"It's not complicated. They chose to stay. I chose to protect them. The bond formed from that. The Titans came after."
"And the physical part? The intimacy?"
Ian met her eyes. "That's part of it. But not the foundation. Marta and I share a bed because we want to. Not because I demand it. Same with the others. It's mutual."
Eris nodded slowly. "The Circle believed the bond required physical consummation. They tried to force it. It never worked. Because the women didn't want it. Didn't choose it."
"Yes."
She was quiet. Then she said, "I've never chosen anything. My whole life, things happened to me. My gift. My kidnapping. My escape. I've never had the power to say 'this is what I want.'"
"And now?"
She looked at him. Her dark eyes were steady. "Now I'm in a house with a man who collects broken women and makes them whole. And I'm wondering if I want to be collected."
Ian didn't move. "That's your choice. Always."
"I know. That's what makes it different." She stood. Walked around the desk. Stood in front of him. "I'm not ready. Not yet. But I want you to know. When I am ready, it won't be because I'm scared or desperate. It'll be because I choose you. Like they did."
Ian reached up. Touched her hand. Gentle.
"Take your time. I'm not going anywhere."
She smiled. Soft and real. "I know. That's why I'm still here."
She left the study.
Ian sat in the quiet. The maps forgotten.
Outside, Grip hummed. Lumina's vibration rippled through the ground. Gnasher chittered at something. Bulwark stood silent guard.
His empire. Small. Strange. Growing.
And somewhere in the house, a healer was learning to choose.