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Short filmTranscript
00:00I was born with heavy breasts and lush curves.
00:03My sister Helena was afraid her husband Damon would lose his mind over me.
00:07So she arranged for me to be wed to an impotent man.
00:10She patted my shoulder.
00:13A man who can't perform there is probably exceptional everywhere else.
00:17Three months later, I was begging for mercy every single night.
00:21I desperately wanted to ask Helena what she meant by can't get hard.
00:25Funny, he seemed good at everything.
00:28Alexander.
00:29Arathon's undefeated commander in the king's most trusted world
00:32was carried back from the northern border on a littered strip through the flood.
00:37The spear had gone high.
00:38By the time the army reached the city gates, he had lost consciousness twice.
00:42If a dying man was bound to a living, healthy woman,
00:46her vitality could tether him back to life.
00:48His mother, Lady Corinna, had already buried her husband.
00:52Now she stood at the edge of burying her son.
00:54Helena presented me to Lady Corinna before I could find words to object.
00:58I had no real choice, or I would starve.
01:01If I refused, she would have me sent to work in the outer estates, the salt flats, the ones that
01:06broke people in a season.
01:07I knew she had never forgiven me for my history with Damon.
01:10Please! I swear Damon and I are just friends!
01:16What good is a vow? Do you have any idea how distracting your big boobs are?
01:21I wanted to tell her to bind my chest.
01:24I'd wrapped myself layer after layer in the sweltering heat, until I broke out in a rash.
01:30Walking through this house with that body, which man here wouldn't lose himself the moment he looked at you?
01:36It's not that I don't trust you.
01:38It's that I don't trust men.
01:41Do you know who he is?
01:43The Aries.
01:44If my mother and Corinna weren't old friends, you wouldn't even be considered for this.
01:49Helena, I don't want to be anyone's deathbed offering.
01:52Please don't make me-
01:56Iris.
01:58Are you loose your mind?
01:59You should be grateful.
02:01The door opened.
02:02A household servant stepped in, breathless.
02:05My Lady Helena.
02:06Word from the Vos Estate.
02:08Alexander has woken up.
02:09Helena dragged me to the Vos Estate.
02:11I followed her through the entrance hall to a heavy door.
02:14Through the gap, I caught the shape of a man on a low bed.
02:17Thin, still.
02:19His chest moves with the shallow, effortful rhythm.
02:21Lady Corinna stood near the window, eyes red.
02:25She took Helena's hands.
02:26Helena, thank you for everything you've done for my son.
02:29He's pulled through.
02:31There's no need to bind a girl to a dying man.
02:33I won't destroy someone's future over it.
02:35Helena's eyes moved.
02:36Calculated.
02:37Quick.
02:37Lady Corinna, the marriage should still go forward.
02:40Iris arrived the same morning Alexander woke.
02:43That's the God's doing, not coincidence.
02:45Complete the rite properly.
02:47Her vitality will keep drawing him back towards health.
02:50Corinna hesitated.
02:50She looked at me.
02:52The household physician stepped out from the room, his face tight.
02:56Lord Alexander has regained consciousness, but the spear struck deep into his inner thigh
03:00and the damage to the surrounding tissue.
03:02I'm afraid he will no longer be able to perform as a husband.
03:06He can't.
03:06Helena looked more stricken than Corinna.
03:08He will not be able to get hard, possibly ever.
03:11Corinna's knees gave.
03:12I caught her before she hit the floor.
03:14She looked up at me with hollowed eyes.
03:17Knowing this, do you still want this?
03:19Of course she does.
03:20She's no one.
03:21She should be grateful for the name.
03:23I didn't speak right away.
03:24My mother had been a physician's assistant.
03:26A skilled one.
03:27My father had courted her without mentioning he already had a wife.
03:31She found out when she was already carrying me.
03:33She died the night I was born.
03:35He brought me into the household anyway.
03:37Gave me a roof, a name, a place that was never quite mine.
03:41When he died, that ended.
03:43Helena's mother had never wanted me there.
03:45Without my father, I had no ground.
03:47I learned healing technique from my mother's old notes, the only thing left of her.
03:51The one skill that kept me from being put out.
03:53There had been a young scholar in the narrow streets behind our estate.
03:57Damon.
03:58Poor.
03:58Hungry.
03:59Grinding toward the city examinations on nothing.
04:02I had passed food through the fence for two years.
04:05I thought he would remember.
04:06I went to him the night before everything fell apart.
04:09He didn't open the gate.
04:10Iris.
04:11I'm betrothed now.
04:12It wouldn't be proper.
04:13A small coin purse dropped over the wall into the dirt.
04:16Consider the debt repaid.
04:18I picked it up and walked away.
04:20That scholar became Helena's husband.
04:22I acted as though I had never known him.
04:24Helena found out anyway.
04:26My lady.
04:27I'm willing.
04:28I'll complete the right, care for Alexander, and serve your household as long as you need me.
04:33Corinna kept her word.
04:34She had a proper wedding garment prepared.
04:36She treated the ceremony with full dignity.
04:39Helena chose a day when Damon was away on city business to walk me out.
04:42She pressed my papers into my hands, guilt on her face.
04:46Even though Alexander can't perform, at least you're spared the pain of bearing children.
04:52Don't worry.
04:53A man who can't perform there is probably exceptional everywhere else.
04:57None of it had crossed my mind, honestly.
04:59I told myself I was simply moving to a new household.
05:02Alexander was too weak to stand through the full wedding rite.
05:05I completed the ceremony beside his sword.
05:08The one hanging on the wall of the great room.
05:10Iron and plain.
05:11The kind of weapon that had actually been used.
05:14Lady Corinna watched from the front.
05:16Eyes wet the whole time.
05:18When it was done, I was Alexander's wife.
05:20His chamber was quiet when I pushed the door open.
05:23He was already inside.
05:24Half sitting against the headboard.
05:26A plain linen robe open at the throat.
05:29He turned when he heard me.
05:30Up close, he was strikingly handsome.
05:32Strong jaw, dark eyes that looked at things directly without apology.
05:37A face that had been outdoors for years and carried it well.
05:40I never intended to have a wife.
05:42He said, low and even.
05:44If it doesn't trouble you, we can keep this arrangement simple.
05:48In name only.
05:49Tonight the bed is yours.
05:50He pointed to the couch against the far wall.
05:53Tomorrow you move to the guest quarters.
05:55He had thought through all of it.
05:56It wasn't what I'd expected.
05:58Alright.
05:58Before the ceremony, one of Corinna's older servants had pressed something into my hands.
06:03A small scroll.
06:04There are other ways between a husband and wife.
06:07You might find this useful someday.
06:11I hadn't understood her until I unrolled it.
06:14Heat moved through me just from the first illustration.
06:17Alexander was watching me from bed.
06:18Is it too warm here?
06:19Eyes steady, direct.
06:21The wedding garments are heavy.
06:22I'm a little warm.
06:24Wash up and rest then.
06:26He pulled the blanket over himself.
06:28And within minutes, his breathing had evened out.
06:30I set the scroll on the side table.
06:32I unpinned my hair.
06:34Then I changed.
06:35Layered robes off piece by piece.
06:38Until I was standing in nothing but my sleeping shift.
06:40I turned to the polished bronze mirror on the wall.
06:43The shift was not thick enough.
06:45Heavy breasts straining against the linen.
06:47Waist narrow.
06:48Hips full.
06:49Years of trying to make myself smaller.
06:52In a thin shift at midnight, there was nothing left to hide behind.
06:55I stepped toward the lamp to turn it down, and walked straight into his gaze.
06:59He wasn't asleep.
07:01His chest rose hard.
07:02The tips of his ears had gone red.
07:04His throat worked as he swallowed.
07:06I grabbed my outer robe.
07:08Alexander, I thought you were asleep.
07:10A long pause.
07:11I could sleep later.
07:13Low.
07:13Controlled.
07:14Like he was holding something back by force.
07:16My breath caught.
07:18He rose to his feet slowly.
07:19Tall.
07:20His shadow fell over me.
07:34Every image from that scroll flooded back.
07:36My breathing shifted without me meaning it to.
07:39Somehow falling into the same rhythm as his.
07:41Then Alexander turned and walked to the door.
07:43The moment night air rushed in from the courtyard, I came back to myself.
07:48He was already gone.
07:48I stood there in the lamplight.
07:51When he looked at me just now, the shock in his eyes.
07:54Had I actually rattled the most feared warlord in Aerithon?
07:57I decided that tomorrow morning, I was going to wear three layers of linen and a belt.
08:02He came back sometime in the night.
08:04His hair was damp at the ends.
08:06When I woke in the morning, he was already gone.
08:08The room was empty and orderly.
08:10His attendant Theo came in to check on me.
08:16Alexander, the night is cold.
08:19Why didn't you call for someone to heat water?
08:21I'll have Nikos make you something for that.
08:24A cold bath in your condition?
08:26I don't know what you were thinking.
08:28I looked at Theo.
08:30Does he usually take cold baths?
08:33Theo shrugged with the expression of someone who had seen many things and commented on none of them.
08:38I was fine.
08:39And closed the door.
08:40Then I added a third layer of linen.
08:42Every woman in the upper city was fine-boned and carefully composed.
08:46That was what was considered beautiful in Aerithon's court circles.
08:50My body was different.
08:51Full, warm, soft in ways that drew the wrong kind of attention.
08:56Alexander not wanting to look at me was entirely predictable.
09:00I went to greet Corinna that morning.
09:02Alexander was already seated beside her.
09:04She smiled like the sun had come out the moment she saw me.
09:07Her face only changed when Alexander coughed.
09:11Alexander, give us a moment.
09:13I need to speak with Iris alone.
09:14He left without argument.
09:16Corinna waved to me to sit beside her.
09:18She took my hand and looked at me with eyes that were still a little wet.
09:21Iris, my sweet girl.
09:24My son waking up is more than I dared ask for.
09:28But I can't let that gift become your cage.
09:30Her smile faded at the edges.
09:31Nico says the damage may be permanent.
09:34No one knows how much time he has.
09:37Some in the household have suggested I name a cousin's son as heir.
09:41But that would trap here for nothing.
09:43You came to give him strength and I am already grateful for it.
09:46I can't ask you to give him the rest of your life, too.
09:49I've already thought it through.
09:50If the worst comes, I'll have him release you from the marriage.
09:54You'll be free.
09:55I'll give you property and enough silver to live on your own terms.
09:59I reached over and dried the corner of her eye.
10:02Something ached in my chest, quiet and unannounced.
10:05I had come here telling myself this was just a new household.
10:08I hadn't expected her to be thinking of my future before her own.
10:12It made me think of my mother.
10:13If she had lived.
10:14If someone had done this for her.
10:16Corinna laughed through her tears.
10:17Look at me making you cry.
10:20Iris, call me mother if you like.
10:22You might as well.
10:23Her voice softened.
10:24Helena mentioned, you know, healing technique.
10:28Alexander's daily care.
10:30The food.
10:31The remedies.
10:32Could you take that on?
10:33I just want him here a little longer.
10:36That's my one small selfishness.
10:38Her voice roughened at the end.
10:40I nodded.
10:41I went to find Nikos and asked what he needed.
10:44The last time I had done serious healing work was years ago.
10:48Back when Damon was still just a hungry student living in two rented rooms behind our estate wall.
10:54He had collapsed at our back gate one afternoon from not eating for two days.
10:59I was the one who found him.
11:00I made him soup.
11:01I went through my mother's notes and put together a proper recovery regimen.
11:06Herbs.
11:07Timing.
11:07What to avoid.
11:08He got strong.
11:10He passed his examinations.
11:12He told Helena.
11:13She used it to push me out.
11:15He helped her do it.
11:16I carried the tray down the long corridor to Alexander's room.
11:20He was at his desk giving instructions to a young aide about supply routes along the northern road.
11:28I'll eat later.
11:29He said without looking up.
11:30You should eat now.
11:32The compounds in the broth lose their effect if the stomach is empty.
11:35He looked at the tray.
11:37Then at me.
11:38Going forward, have Theo bring these.
11:40He knows the schedule.
11:41I can bring them.
11:42It isn't necessary.
11:44It makes no difference.
11:45It does.
11:46Have Theo's do it.
11:48He finished the broth and a few efficient swallows.
11:49I'll be in the map room if you need me.
11:50Said something to the aide and walked past me without pausing.
11:54That settled it.
11:55Alexander of House Vos did not want me in his space.
11:58I followed his instruction.
12:00After that, Theo delivered every meal to the study.
12:03A week later, at morning check with Corinna, she was glowing.
12:07Nikos came for his routine visit.
12:09He says Alexander's color is better than he's seen since the injury.
12:13Iris, that's your doing.
12:15Back in my room, I added it to the small chest I kept by the window.
12:19Bracelet, an amber pin, a pair of earrings.
12:22Everything Corinna had given me since I arrived.
12:27You never wear any of it.
12:29I will eventually.
12:31If I ever leave, it all converts to something useful.
12:34Leave?
12:35You'd sell what Lady Caritta gave you?
12:37Not while I'm here.
12:39But if the marriage is dissolved one day, yes.
12:42That's just practical.
12:49Lord Alexander.
12:51I turned.
12:52Alexander stood in the doorway.
12:56Corinna had said his color was better.
12:59He was still pale, his expression closed and unreadable.
13:03He looked at me with flat, measuring eyes.
13:06My pulse jumped.
13:08Alexander, did you need something?
13:11I left a field map in this room.
13:13Looking for it.
13:15I'll help you find it.
13:16What does it look like?
13:19Theo had disappeared.
13:21Quietly and completely, as though he had never been there.
13:24Rolled leather, brown cord.
13:28I started checking the shelves.
13:30He moved to the other side.
13:33Any idea where you left it?
13:35No.
13:37We searched in silence.
13:38I reached up toward the top shelf, and his hand arrived at exactly the same moment.
13:44His fingers covered mine for half a second.
13:47The skin under his touch went instantly warm.
13:51I tilted my head up to look at him from this close.
13:54He was genuinely handsome.
13:58Fair against dark brows, sharp-cut features, eyes that held something underneath the surface
14:03that I couldn't name.
14:05Like still deep water.
14:07My throat tightened.
14:09I turned back to the shelf.
14:11I went up on my toes to reach further, and lost my balance.
14:15He caught me instinctively.
14:18My chest was pressed tightly against him.
14:20I pulled back fast.
14:22Alexander's chest was rising and falling too hard.
14:25His face was red.
14:27Your map.
14:28I held it out.
14:30Keep it.
14:31He took it without looking at me and left.
14:33Right.
14:33Now he thought even less of me.
14:35After that, I avoided him deliberately.
14:37He was healing.
14:38He needed stillness.
14:39I was apparently not conducive to stillness.
14:41But a new problem arrived by messenger.
14:44Damon had been sending letters.
14:45Three in the past week.
14:47Brief, angled, the kind that said, meet me without saying it.
14:51I burned them in the lamp without responding.
14:54Today, Theo appeared at my door.
14:56Voice low.
14:57Lady Iris, someone is waiting at the side gate.
15:01He says he won't leave until you come out.
15:04I already knew.
15:05I walked out fast.
15:07Through the garden, I noticed another shape following at a distance.
15:12Someone keeping pace along the far colonnade.
15:15But I didn't stop.
15:17I pushed open the side gate.
15:20Damon stood outside.
15:22He smiled the easy smile I used to believe in.
15:25Iris!
15:26You finally came.
15:29You can call me Lady Vos.
15:31Or nothing at all.
15:35I'm being considered for a senior position at the council.
15:40When that comes through,
15:43I won't need Helena's family connections anymore.
15:46Iris, come with me.
15:48Alexander is finished.
15:50Everyone in the city knows it.
15:52It's foot in the grave.
15:53One foot in the grave.
15:54What kind of future is that?
15:56He reached toward me.
15:57I stepped back.
15:59You want me as your kept woman?
16:01He nodded like it was a reasonable offer.
16:04I laughed.
16:05Actually laughed.
16:07Why would I leave a Vos marriage to be your secret?
16:10I have standing.
16:12I have a name.
16:14I have a household that has served this kingdom for three generations.
16:18Everyone in the upper city knows Alexander is done.
16:22It seems like a waste.
16:25Something cold moved through me.
16:26Damon, you had one thing from me, loyalty, and you returned it with a coin purse over a wall.
16:34You want to push this?
16:35I have every letter you've sent me.
16:36I can have them in Helena's hands before sundown.
16:39How does your council appointment look after that?
16:42His face went white.
16:44I turned and walked back through the gate.
16:46I spun around inside and nearly walked into Alexander.
16:49He was standing two feet away in a plain dark cloak, still as a wall.
16:57Alexander, I...
16:58You just called yourself a Vos.
17:00His eyes were level.
17:01My face went warm.
17:03I was making a point.
17:05I didn't mean to presume.
17:06You told him I was a warlord who had served this kingdom for three generations.
17:11That's just true.
17:14Something moved behind his eyes.
17:16A moment ago you called me your husband.
17:20Now you're back to Alexander?
17:23I...
17:24I should go check on your afternoon remedy timing.
17:28I tried to step past him.
17:30His hand caught my arm.
17:32Steady, not rough.
17:33I stumbled sideways and fell against his chest.
17:36Again.
17:37I looked up at him from very close.
17:39His eyes were dark and direct.
17:42The things you said to him.
17:44Low.
17:46Were they true?
17:47I couldn't tell him it had all been a bluff for Damon's benefit.
17:50So I looked up at him.
17:52Alexander's eyes stayed on my face.
17:54The distance between us was wrong.
17:56Too close.
17:57His breath steady and warm.
17:59His hand still around my arm.
18:00Iris.
18:02The remedy timing, I said.
18:04I should go check.
18:05He let go.
18:07I walked away without looking back.
18:10Around the corner I stopped.
18:12Pressed my back against the stone wall.
18:14My heart was going completely haywire.
18:16That was the first time I had seen anything other than controlled distance in Alexander's face.
18:23That night I dreamed about him.
18:25His voice saying my name made the whole dream feels like standing close to a fire.
18:31I woke with my pulse pounding and the sheets twisted around me.
18:35I called for a basin of cold water.
18:37Theo brought it without comment and looked at my damp hair on the way out.
18:41I pressed a handful of cold water against my face.
18:44Then I thought about Alexander getting up in the middle of the night to take a cold bath.
18:51I pushed the thought out immediately.
18:54His thigh was still healing.
18:56This was completely absurd.
18:59At midday, Corinna's attendant found me in the herb garden.
19:02Lady Corinna is taking supper in the courtyard this evening.
19:04She'd like you both there.
19:06I had been finding excuses to avoid shared meals all week.
19:09Corinna had noticed.
19:10I couldn't keep saying no.
19:12I walked out to the inner courtyard as the evening light came through the carved stone screens.
19:17The long table had been set simply.
19:19The old laurel tree in the corner was in flower.
19:21White blooms catching the last of the sun.
19:24The spread on the table was everything I liked.
19:27I stood there looking at it.
19:28Alexander remembered.
19:30He asked the kitchen this morning.
19:34I looked across the table.
19:37Alexander looked at his cup.
19:42How did you know today was my birthday?
19:44I forgot it myself.
19:45My mother had died the night I was born.
19:48No one had ever made a point of the date.
19:50The marriage documents.
19:53Your birth date was listed.
19:55Something moved in my chest.
19:57Small and uninvited.
20:00Iris, I've been saving this.
20:02Good wine.
20:03From the hillside estate, the old press.
20:06Don't let either of you drink too much.
20:08Actually, the evening air troubles my joints.
20:13I'll leave you two to enjoy it.
20:16She was gone before I could say anything.
20:18The courtyard went quiet.
20:20Just the two of us and the sound of wind through the laurel.
20:23To cover the silence, I poured a cup and drank it faster than I should have.
20:27It was sweet.
20:28It was also considerably stronger than it tasted.
20:31I poured another.
20:32Then another.
20:33The warmth spread through my chest and up behind my eyes.
20:36And everything softened slightly at the edges.
20:38I reached toward the last small honey cake on the plate between us and found it empty.
20:46Where did the last one go?
20:49I ate it.
20:50I don't know where the nerve came from.
20:52I leaned toward him across the table.
20:54Who let you take the last one?
20:56Give it back.
20:57Alexander looked at me for a long moment.
21:01Then he opened his mouth.
21:03Come and find it yourself.
21:04I stared at him.
21:05Then at his mouth.
21:07Then back at his eyes.
21:09I leaned forward and kissed him.
21:11He went completely still.
21:13His breath stopped.
21:14Then something gave way.
21:16His hand came up to the back of my head and the kiss deepened.
21:19Slower.
21:20More certain.
21:21Like he had been waiting for exactly this and was not going to waste it.
21:25Footsteps on the stone path.
21:28We broke apart.
21:29It was Theo carrying cloaks.
21:32Lord Alexander.
21:34Lady Karina said the night is getting cold.
21:38She wanted me to...
21:39I'll just leave these here.
21:44My legs went unreliable.
21:46Everything went dark.
21:48I woke to morning light coming through the window at the wrong angle.
21:52When I woke up, the morning light shone through the window.
21:55I sat up fast.
21:57Karina.
21:58The temple visit.
21:59I had promised to go with her this morning.
22:01Don't rush.
22:02Theo appeared in the doorway.
22:05The carriage isn't ready yet.
22:09How did I get back here?
22:11Alexander carried you in.
22:13I looked at him.
22:16He nodded seriously.
22:18Did I...
22:19Did I say anything strange?
22:22You kept grabbing his sleeve and calling him my husband.
22:25Over and over.
22:26He went so red I thought he was going to need Nikos.
22:28Theo.
22:29If you tell anyone.
22:31If you tell anyone.
22:32He was already gone.
22:38I found Karina at the front gate.
22:43We took the carriage to the temple of the healing god.
22:47She went every week, she said, to give thanks.
22:51Karina glanced over.
22:52You're not thinking about what I think you're thinking about.
22:57I'm not thinking about anything.
22:59Iris.
23:01She was smiling at the window.
23:04I set that dinner up deliberately.
23:08I'm not even slightly sorry.
23:15Alexander and I aren't...
23:17I know, I know.
23:18I just want you two to actually speak to each other.
23:21Even if it stays simple.
23:23I'd rather you were at ease together than strangers under the same roof.
23:27I was about to answer her.
23:28The carriage lurched.
23:30The horses screamed.
23:31The brake!
23:32A sharp shout from the driver.
23:34We were moving and not stopping.
23:38The carriage swerved hard to the left and the road tilted under us and kept going.
23:43I looked ahead through the carriage window.
24:01And the moment I pulled us both out, we hit the slope hard.
24:09The carriage struck the wall ahead of us with a sound like the world was bidding.
24:14Karina, tell me where it hurts.
24:16Tell me everything.
24:18I'm...
24:18Iris, you're bleeding.
24:19The gravel had opened my shoulder and one side of my face.
24:22I didn't feel it yet.
24:25Where are you hurt?
24:26Specifically?
24:27Nothing serious.
24:30Iris, you held me the entire way down.
24:33You took all of it yourself.
24:35I helped her sit upright against the slope and looked back up the road.
24:39The driver had been thrown clear earlier.
24:41I could see him moving, alive.
24:43Theo's horse was already coming down the hill at speed.
24:45They'll be here in moments.
24:47Stay still.
24:48I heard my own voice from a distance.
24:50Calm.
24:51Even.
24:51While my whole body was screaming.
24:53Footsteps running, coming fast down the embankment.
24:56Then a voice I was not expecting.
24:57Iris, don't move.
24:59I have you.
25:00Alexander came down the slope in three long strides.
25:04Pale.
25:04Jaw locked.
25:06Eyes already scanning me for damage.
25:08He took my arm in both hands and turned it over.
25:11How much of this blood is yours?
25:14Surface wounds.
25:16I'm fine.
25:17Stop saying that.
25:19He pulled off his cloak and pressed it hard against my shoulder.
25:23You are not fine.
25:24He looked at his mother.
25:26She raised her hand.
25:27I'm alright.
25:28And pointed back at me.
25:30He turned back.
25:31He tied the cloak around my shoulder and then, without asking, lifted me off the ground.
25:36I was in his arms.
25:38Off the slope.
25:39Against his chest.
25:40I could feel how fast his heart was going, he said.
25:43You could have been killed.
25:44Quiet.
25:45Like he was saying it to himself and couldn't stop.
25:49He carried me to the road.
25:51I can walk by myself.
25:52He did not respond to this.
25:54By the time Nikos arrived, Alexander's face was still wrong.
25:58Too tight.
25:58Something in his eyes that had not been released.
26:02Iris pulled me out.
26:03She covered me completely.
26:06I came away without a mark because of her.
26:09Alexander stood at the edge of the group, arms crossed, looking at me.
26:12I looked back.
26:13You need to stay still.
26:15I know.
26:16We're going straight back and Nikos is doing a full examination.
26:19I know.
26:20He helped me into the carriage.
26:22We rode back in silence.
26:23His hand stayed on the seat behind me the whole way.
26:26Not touching, just there.
26:27At some point, I felt something hit my face.
26:30I looked up at the clear afternoon sky.
26:32Then I understood it wasn't rain.
26:34I reached over and covered his hand with mine.
26:36He turned it palm up immediately and held on.
26:38I didn't let go.
26:39Stay off it for a week.
26:41No broken bones.
26:43Deep bruising across your back.
26:44Two fingers he wrapped tightly and told me not to use.
26:48I lay there after he left and looked at the ceiling.
26:51Theo came in with broth.
26:52The carriage had been tampered with.
26:55Something in the wheel mechanism.
26:57The household guard was already investigating.
26:59Who would go after Karita's carriage?
27:02And why now?
27:04I was still turning it over when the door opened.
27:07Alexander.
27:08He came in and sat in the chair beside the bed without speaking.
27:12He set a small wooden box on the nightstand.
27:14The wheel pin was pulled.
27:16It wasn't an accident.
27:17Do you know who?
27:19Working on it.
27:19He looked at my wrapped hand.
27:21The muscle in his jaw moved.
27:23You kept my mother from going over that wall.
27:25She would have done the same for me.
27:26That isn't the point.
27:28Quiet again.
27:29When he looked at me this time, something in it had shifted entirely.
27:32Iris, I need to tell you something.
27:34I've known for weeks that I was going to have to dissolve this marriage.
27:37I asked Nikos to begin preparing the docutation.
27:39My chest went completely still.
27:42I knew you were waiting for it.
27:43The way you kept your distance.
27:45The chest you were filling.
27:47You were always going to leave.
27:49I told myself I was simply doing it for you before you had to ask.
27:52The papers are ready.
27:53You can go whenever you choose.
27:55I've had an account prepared.
27:56Property and silver.
27:57Enough to live on your own terms for as long as you need.
28:00You don't have to wait for the worst.
28:01You don't have to keep pretending.
28:03I know you've been counting the days.
28:05You don't have to do that anymore.
28:06Just go.
28:07He stood up and walked out.
28:08I sat there in the silence after the door closed.
28:11In your mind.
28:12That is who I am.
28:13My throat was burning.
28:14I could not find words for what was sitting in my chest.
28:17I just looked at the door for a long time.
28:19The next morning Alexander was gone before I woke.
28:22By midday, word had reached the household from the city council offices.
28:26Corinna found me before I heard it from anyone else.
28:28Iris.
28:30Alexander, there's been a formal accusation submitted to the war council.
28:35Someone has filed a report claiming he deliberately surrendered the northern pass two years ago.
28:40That he passed defensive positions to the enemy.
28:42That the army's losses that season were his doing.
28:45I read the council notice twice.
28:46Alexander had held that pass for three weeks against a force three times his size.
28:51And he had rushed to dissolve our marriage before this broke.
28:54Theo found me in the corridor.
28:56He would never.
28:57You know that.
28:58I sat down.
28:59I made myself think.
29:00My mother had treated a council official years ago.
29:03He had come to thank my father afterward.
29:05I remembered his name.
29:06I remembered his face.
29:07He was still on the war council board.
29:09I spent the next hour finding out where his offices were.
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