Chapter 7: The Duke's Answer
The rider left at dawn.
Sera handed the letter to a boy from the village. Twelve years old. Scared of his own shadow. She paid him three coppers and told him to leave it at the Duke's gate and run. He nodded so fast his cap fell off.
Ian watched from the manor window. The boy vanished down the road, kicking up mud.
"Now we wait," Sera said.
"Now we wait."
Waiting was the worst part.
---
Marta made breakfast. Porridge with honey. Real honey. She'd found a jar in the back of the pantry, forgotten behind a crate of dusty bottles. Lira sat at the kitchen table in Marta's spare dress. It was too big. Made her look even younger.
She ate slowly. Eyes down. Not speaking.
Ian sat across from her. "You sleep?"
"Yes."
"The bed okay?"
"It's fine."
Silence. The spoon scraped the bowl.
Sera came in and sat without asking. Marta put a bowl in front of her. Sera nodded thanks. Marta nodded back. Small things. Building something.
Lira looked up. "What happens to me when my uncle pays?"
Ian chewed his porridge. Swallowed. "You go home."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
"You won't..." She hesitated. "Hurt me? Before I go?"
Marta set down her spoon. "No one's hurting you, girl. You're safe here. Safer than you think."
Lira's eyes flicked to Marta. Something passed between them. Woman to woman. Lira's shoulders dropped slightly.
"Okay," she said quietly. "Okay."
---
After breakfast, Ian went to the stable.
Gnasher was awake. Pacing. His beady eyes were wild. He kept looking at the door like he expected something bad to come through it.
"What's wrong with you?" Ian asked.
Gnasher chittered. Pointed at the road. Made a biting motion.
"You think someone's coming?"
More chittering. More pointing. Gnasher was agitated. Not his usual nervousness. Something else.
Grip was sitting in the corner. Still. But his long fingers were drumming against the floor. Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap. He never drummed.
"You feel it too," Ian said.
Grip hummed. Low and long. Not a happy hum.
Ian's stomach tightened. He'd learned to trust the Titans. They sensed things he couldn't.
He walked back to the house fast.
"Sera. Marta. Get Lira upstairs. Now."
Sera looked up from her ledgers. "What?"
"Something's coming. The Titans feel it."
Marta didn't question. She grabbed Lira's arm and pulled her toward the stairs. Lira stumbled but followed.
Sera stood. "Soldiers?"
"Maybe. Maybe worse."
"How many?"
"I don't know. But the Duke didn't wait for the letter. He moved last night."
---
They came at noon.
Not soldiers. Something else.
Ian saw them from the second-floor window. Three figures walking up the road. No horses. No banners. Just three men in dark cloaks. Moving in perfect step. Like they shared one brain.
Behind them, at the treeline, something massive shifted. A shape. Hulking. Wrong proportions.
"Fuck," Ian breathed.
Sera pressed beside him at the window. "What is that?"
"Trouble."
The three men stopped at the edge of the property. The one in front raised a hand. The massive shape behind them stepped into the light.
It was a construct. Not a Titan. Something mechanical. Twelve feet tall. Brass and iron. Steam hissing from joints. Two arms ending in hammer heads. A single red eye glowing in a featureless face.
War Golem. Old Empire tech. Expensive. Illegal. The kind of thing only a Duke could afford.
The lead man spoke. His voice carried. Amplified somehow.
"Lord Voss. You have something that belongs to the Duke. Return it now and you die quickly. Refuse and you die slow."
Ian opened the window. Leaned out.
"I have a counter-offer. You turn around and walk away. I forget you exist. The Duke pays what he owes. Everyone lives."
The man laughed. "You have a crumbling manor and no army. What could you possibly threaten us with?"
Ian smiled. Cold.
"I don't have an army. I have something better."
He whistled. Sharp and loud.
The stable doors exploded outward.
Gnasher came first. Screeching. All teeth and pale limbs. He moved fast. Faster than something his size should move. Straight at the three men.
Grip followed. Silent. Smooth. His long arms swinging.
The men scattered. The War Golem stepped forward. Raised its hammer arms.
Gnasher hit it first.
The impact shook the ground. Gnasher's teeth sank into the Golem's shoulder joint. Metal screamed. Steam burst. The Golem swung its other arm. Caught Gnasher in the ribs. The Titan flew backward and crashed into the frozen field.
Gnasher whined. Got up. Shook himself. Charged again.
Grip circled wide. His long fingers grabbed one of the cloaked men from behind. Lifted him like a doll. The man screamed. Grip held him up. Looked at Ian.
Ian shook his head. "No kill. Yet."
Grip hummed. Set the man down gently. Then slapped him. Open palm. The man spun twice and collapsed.
The other two men were running. Back toward the treeline. The War Golem was still fighting Gnasher. The Biter Titan had learned. He wasn't biting the metal parts anymore. He was going for the joints. The hoses. The soft spots.
Steam poured from a torn hose. The Golem's left arm went limp.
Gnasher chittered triumphantly. Ripped out another hose with his teeth.
The Golem shuddered. Stopped. The red eye flickered and died.
Silence.
Ian walked out of the manor. Sera behind him. Marta at the door with Lira peeking over her shoulder.
The field was a mess. Torn earth. Scattered brass. One unconscious man. Two others vanished into the trees.
Gnasher sat beside the dead Golem. His vertical mouth was bleeding slightly. He didn't seem to notice. He was patting the Golem's head like it was a toy.
Grip was examining the unconscious man's cloak. Feeling the fabric. Humming.
Ian nudged the man with his boot. "Wake up."
The man groaned. Rolled over. His face was bloody from Grip's slap.
"Who sent you?" Ian asked.
"The Duke. Who else?"
"The letter didn't reach him yet. How did he know?"
The man laughed. Wet and bitter. "You think the Duke doesn't have spies? Word reached him last night. Girl kidnapped by monsters. Lord Voss behind it. He sent us before dawn."
"And the Golem?"
"Insurance. Didn't work."
Ian crouched down. "You're going back to the Duke. You're going to tell him what you saw. Two Titans. Loyal. Hungry. And I have more where they came from. Tell him the ransom stands. Double now. For the inconvenience."
The man's eyes widened. "Double?"
"Double. And if he sends more toys, I'll send his niece back in pieces. Not big pieces. Small ones. In a box."
The man nodded frantically.
"Now get up. Walk. Don't look back."
The man scrambled to his feet. Stumbled toward the road. Didn't look back.
---
That evening, the manor was quiet.
Marta was cleaning Gnasher's cuts with a wet cloth. The Titan sat perfectly still. Beady eyes half-closed. Enjoying the attention.
"You did good," she said softly. "Brave boy."
Gnasher chittered. Leaned into her touch.
Grip sat nearby. Touching a piece of the broken Golem he'd dragged back. Brass plate. Smooth on one side. Rough on the other. He was in heaven.
Sera stood with Ian by the window. Watching the road.
"He'll pay," she said. "He has to. That Golem was his best weapon. If your Titans tore it apart, he has nothing left."
"Or he has more. We don't know."
"Then we prepare for more."
Ian nodded. Turned to look at the room. Marta tending Gnasher. Grip humming over his brass plate. Lira sitting in the corner, watching everything with wide eyes.
The girl stood. Walked over to Ian.
"Thank you," she said.
"For what?"
"For not killing those men. For not hurting me. I know you said you wouldn't. But men say things."
"I'm not most men."
"No. You're not." She hesitated. Then reached out and touched his hand. Brief. Light. "I'll tell my uncle. That you kept your word. Maybe it will help."
Ian looked at her small hand on his. "Maybe."
She pulled back. Went to sit with Marta. Asked if she could help with Gnasher's cuts. Marta handed her the cloth.
Sera watched. "She's warming up."
"Trauma does strange things."
"Not trauma. She sees something in you. Same thing we see."
"What's that?"
Sera leaned against him. Shoulder to shoulder.
"A future. Something to hold onto."
Ian didn't answer. Just stood there. Warm bodies around him. Monsters and women and a kidnapped girl.
His strange little empire.