- 3 hours ago
The Scar of Vengeance - FULL EP 2026
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00My sister died because the king said she was pretty, that's all it took, one compliment, and by nightfall
00:06Chloe had driven a bronze stylus through her throat until she stopped breathing.
00:11They brought her home under white linen, I pulled it back myself.
00:14She was cold, already stiff.
00:16I held her until I had no more tears, what was left wasn't grief, it was revenge.
00:22To get to Chloe, I had to get inside the palace.
00:25I knew she suffered from the curse of Helios
00:27The blinding headfire that comes without warning
00:30So I spent a year learning the old remedies
00:32The herbs
00:34The pressure points the Thessalian healers passed down in silence
00:37When the palace opened for servant selections
00:39I stood in front of my mirror
00:41And painted a long, ugly scar down my left cheek
00:44Purple-black, grotesque
00:46I walked in
00:47I was assigned to the laundry quarters
00:49I waited
00:50Then Chloe's episodes came back
00:52And the court physicians failed her
00:54My turn
00:55They brought me to her
00:56She was gripping her own head
00:58Face twisted in agony
01:00I can try, my lady
01:01She looked at my scar
01:02If you fail, I'll have your tongue
01:05I pressed my fingers to the points along her skull
01:08And ground the herbs into her temples
01:10With slow, deliberate circles
01:12Her face relaxed within minutes
01:14You're useful
01:16Stay
01:16She trusted me completely after that
01:19My skills helped her
01:20My face made her feel safe
01:22She had no idea those were both lies
01:24One night the king sent it to her
01:26She was preparing herself when the episode hit
01:29She called me in
01:30The king waited in the outer chamber
01:32I could only see the edge of his robe
01:34Deep, tyrian purple
01:36Heavy wool
01:37I knelt at her side
01:38And worked the pressure sequence
01:39One pass at a time
01:41Then I reached into my case
01:42For the final compound
01:43The one I had prepared weeks before
01:46Odorless
01:47Tasteless
01:48It would not be felt in contact
01:49But it would move
01:51Slowly
01:52Through her blood
01:53Toward her heart
01:54I just had to be patient
01:55Her pain cleared
01:57But the king had already lost interest and left
02:00Chloe was furious
02:01She smashed everything in the room
02:03Then had three servants dragged out and beaten
02:06I was one of them
02:07Twenty strokes
02:08Face down on a cold stone
02:10I bit through my lip and didn't make a sound
02:12Lying there, I thought about my sister
02:14How she'd been in this same position
02:16How she'd never done anything wrong
02:18Killing Chloe isn't enough
02:20I thought
02:21I'm going to take everything she has first
02:23The next day
02:24The king came to check on her
02:26The first time I saw his face
02:28Dark robes
02:29Straight back
02:30And handsome
02:31Chloe had already ordered us
02:33To cover our bruises before he arrived
02:35She didn't want him knowing what she was
02:38As he turned to leave
02:39I let my sleeve fall
02:40He saw the marks on my arm
02:42What happened to you?
02:43I looked up
02:44Let my eyes fill
02:45Used the voice I'd practiced a hundred times
02:48Nothing, my king
02:49Please don't worry
02:51Just
02:52Please visit her more often
02:54When the pain comes
02:55She gets
02:56Upset
02:57He was a king
02:58He wasn't going to investigate a servant's bruises
03:01But the seed was planted
03:03Spring
03:03The king's mother held a garden gathering
03:06Chloe arrived late
03:07Leaning on my arm
03:09And spent the first hour insulting every other woman at court
03:12Those people were cheap
03:14That hairstyle was sad
03:16That woman had the taste of a fish wife
03:19I was pouring her wine when I let my wrist tip
03:21Just slightly
03:22The cup emptied across her skirt
03:24She grabbed a cup of water and threw it in my face
03:27You stupid girl
03:28The scar dissolved on contact
03:31I felt the pigment peel away
03:33I had no time to think
03:34I didn't bother
03:36A voice from behind us
03:37What's going on?
03:39The king
03:39Chloe transformed instantly
03:41My king
03:42Just a clumsy servant
03:44He glanced at her
03:45Then at me
03:46His gaze stayed one beat too long
03:49I excused myself to change
03:51I didn't go to my room
03:52I went to the stone columns near his root back and waited
03:55When I heard his footsteps
03:56I started crying
03:58Not loudly
03:59Just enough
04:01Who's there?
04:02I stumbled out and dropped to my knees
04:05Forgive me
04:06I didn't know you were passing
04:08He recognized me
04:10You
04:11Chloe's healer
04:12He was already moving on
04:14I had seconds
04:15I raised my face
04:16Please
04:18Pretend you didn't see me
04:20Don't tell anyone what I really look like
04:22I'm begging you
04:23He looked down at me
04:25A woman in the dirt
04:26Tears on a face that wasn't scarred at all
04:28A face he wasn't expecting
04:30After a long moment
04:32I won't say anything
04:35What's your name?
04:36I shook my head
04:37Said nothing
04:38Let him wonder
04:39I was nearly back
04:40When one of the younger servants came looking for me
04:42And called my name down the corridor
04:44Behind me
04:45I heard him say it quietly to himself
04:47Daphne
04:48That was the first real move
04:50Chloe hosted a feast
04:51Three days later
04:52The hall was full and loud
04:54She sat in the place of honor
04:56Wearing the king's gifts
04:57And every woman there
04:58Had to pretend to be happy for her
05:00I stood behind her
05:01And remembered what day it was
05:03One year ago today
05:04This same hall
05:06My sister
05:06When the feast hit its loudest point
05:08I slipped out to the garden pool
05:10At the far edge of the grounds
05:12A few small oil lamps
05:13Floating there by other servants for luck
05:15I lit a bundle of dried laurel
05:17And lowered a plain white lamp
05:19Into the water
05:21Sister
05:22Wait for me a little longer
05:25I'll give it all back
05:26Every bit of pain she put you through
05:28A hundred times over
05:29Footsteps
05:30The king
05:31I didn't turn around
05:32I had about two seconds to decide
05:34I stood up and stepped off the edge into the pool
05:37It wasn't deep
05:38Only waist height
05:39But I went under it
05:40And when I came up
05:41My scar had washed away completely
05:43He was calling for someone to come help
05:45Lamplight behind me
05:46Hair loose and wet
05:48I looked at him across the water
05:49With the expression I'd practiced
05:51Until it felt like breathing
05:52Someone who had run completely out of hope
05:54Don't help me
05:55I let him look
05:56Counted to three
05:57Then I took a breath
05:58And went under
05:59Swam hard along the bottom
06:01To the far bank
06:01And was gone
06:02Before anyone reached the water
06:04By morning
06:04The story was everywhere
06:06The king had seen a woman
06:07Appear in the garden pool
06:08And vanish
06:09Searched all night
06:10Hadn't slept
06:11Chloe put her fist
06:12Through her favorite
06:13Balm's mirror
06:14Some sorceress
06:15Is working tricks on him
06:17When I find her
06:18She drowns
06:20For real
06:22I'm sure it was nothing
06:23My lady
06:25Even if it wasn't
06:26I could make her disappear
06:28A ghost
06:29She called me
06:30She was more right
06:31Than she knew
06:33After the garden
06:34The king and I
06:35Had a secret
06:36Neither of us named it
06:37He kept coming
06:38To see Chloe
06:39I kept staying out
06:41Of his line of sight
06:41Or
06:42Keeping the scarred side
06:43Toward him
06:44Eyes down
06:45Movements
06:46Stiff and correct
06:47Men like him
06:48Were used to women
06:49Who came to them
06:50Distance
06:51Was more interesting
06:52Then came the royal hunt
06:54The whole court
06:55Rode out to the countryside
06:56Banners
06:57Horses
06:58Noble sons
06:59Showing off
07:00Halfway through the morning
07:01A storm hit fast
07:02Cold and hard
07:04Everyone scrambled back
07:05To the hunting lodge
07:06That night
07:07The king had a fever
07:08The head fire
07:09Came back with it
07:10The court physicians
07:11Failed him
07:12One after another
07:13Chloe paced the corridor
07:15Outside his room
07:16Turning in circles
07:17Then she grabbed my arm
07:18You treat these episodes
07:20Go
07:21My face was her guarantee
07:22She wasn't worried
07:23The room smelled of medicine
07:25And sweat
07:26The king was on the bed
07:27Flushed
07:28Jaw locked with pain
07:30Chloe tried to go to him
07:31My lady
07:33He needs quiet
07:34Perhaps the healer
07:35Should work alone
07:35Chloe didn't like it
07:37Just me and two servants
07:39In the corner
07:39I sat at the edge
07:40Of the bed
07:41And opened my case
07:42When my fingers
07:43Touched his temple
07:44He opened his eyes
07:45Blurred with fever
07:46But they found me
07:48You
07:49I'm going to help
07:50With the pain
07:51I kept my hands moving
07:52Ground herb paste
07:54Into the points
07:54Along his skull
07:55Dipped my fingers
07:56In cool olive oil
07:57And worked down his neck
07:59His breathing slowed
08:00The tight lines
08:01Around his mouth
08:02Softened
08:02I started to pull back
08:04I'll leave you to rest
08:05My king
08:05His hand closed
08:06Around my wrist
08:07He pulled
08:08I had no time
08:09To catch myself
08:10I went backward
08:11And landed across the bed
08:12His arm locking around me
08:14Before I could move
08:15Cedar and fever sweat
08:16Close and overwhelming
08:18His arm was around my waist
08:20His weight behind me
08:21His mouth near my ear
08:23Don't go
08:24The two servants
08:25Had already slipped out
08:26And pulled the door shut
08:27You still have a fever
08:28Let me get you back
08:30On the pillow
08:31He sat up instead
08:33Keeping me with him
08:34His eyes moved over my face
08:36The scar side
08:37Then the other
08:38Come serve me
08:39Not her
08:41Me
08:42Too soon
08:43Too easy
08:44Easy things don't last
08:45I tried to shift
08:46Onto my knees to bow
08:48He wouldn't let me move
08:49My king
08:50I'm grateful
08:50But Chloe gave me a place
08:52When I had nothing
08:52I can't repay that
08:53With betrayal
08:54Please
08:55Let me keep this much
08:57I looked at his face
08:58Loyalty to someone
08:59Who hurts you
09:00That was the thing
09:01That would work on him
09:02Every woman at court
09:03Came toward him
09:04A woman who held a line
09:06Was something different
09:07He looked at me
09:08For a long time
09:09Something shifted
09:10Behind his eyes
09:11Frustration
09:12And underneath it
09:13Sharper interest
09:14He let me go
09:15Fell back on the pillow
09:17But his hand stayed loosely
09:18Around my wrist
09:19All night
09:20His fever broke
09:21Before dawn
09:22His grip loosened
09:23I fixed my robe
09:25And left quietly
09:26Outside
09:26Chloe was still waiting
09:28How is he?
09:30The fever's down
09:31The pain eased
09:32He's sleeping
09:34Then she slid a bracelet
09:35Off her wrist
09:36And held it out
09:37Plain carnelian beads
09:38On a copper wire
09:39You did well
09:40Go rest
09:41I thanked her
09:42And walked away
09:43A dead girl's blood
09:44Is worth more
09:45Than a string of carnelian
09:47I thought
09:47I said nothing
09:48The hunt resumed
09:49Two days later
09:50Chloe was tired
09:51And it showed
09:52One of the other women
09:54At court noticed
09:54And smiled
09:55You've been working
09:56So hard sister
09:57Why not ride out today?
09:59Show the king
10:00What you can do
10:01Everyone knew
10:01Chloe couldn't ride
10:02The woman was doing it
10:04To watch her fail
10:04Chloe started to make an excuse
10:06I stepped forward
10:08My king
10:10Lady Chloe hasn't been well
10:11She shouldn't strain herself
10:13I'd be honored
10:14To ride in her place
10:15Every eye in the courtyard
10:17Went to the scarred servant
10:18Who'd just put herself forward
10:19In front of the king
10:20Chloe caught on fast
10:22She's rough
10:22But she can ride
10:23My king
10:24Let her go
10:25Permitted
10:26I walked to the horse
10:27They'd brought out
10:28Big, white, bad-tempered
10:30It was stamping
10:31And tossing its head
10:32The other women watched
10:33With expressions
10:34Ranging from bored
10:35To amused
10:36A scarred servant
10:38Playing at hunting
10:39I ran my hand
10:40Along the horse's neck
10:41And pressed my thumb
10:42Into the hollow
10:43Below its jaw
10:44The point my sister
10:45Had shown me
10:45For calming animals
10:47The horse stilled
10:48Nuzzled my palm
10:49I mounted and rode
10:51Into the field
10:51Fast and low
10:53A hair broke from cover
10:55I took the shot
10:56Without thinking
10:56Cleaning
10:57Through the neck
10:58I didn't go deeper
10:59This wasn't about
11:00Showing off
11:01A king doesn't want
11:02A hunting dog
11:03He wants something
11:04He can't fully predict
11:05I brought the hair back
11:07And knelt
11:07I hope it serves my king
11:09He looked at me
11:10For longer than he needed to
11:12Undisguised
11:13Interest
11:14Good instincts
11:14Then he praised Chloe
11:16For keeping useful
11:17People around her
11:18He praised her
11:19Not me
11:20Smart move
11:21Chloe beamed
11:22He gave her gifts
11:23She looked at me
11:24Differently after that
11:26Like I was actually
11:27Worth something
11:27You did well Daphne
11:29She said back at the tent
11:30And gave me two gold pins
11:32I accepted them
11:34And bowed
11:34That night
11:35His summons came again
11:37Another episode
11:38Chloe waved me off
11:39Without hesitating
11:40The scar
11:41The loyal servant
11:42The safest woman
11:43In the palace
11:44An attendant led me
11:46To a building
11:46At the back of the lodge
11:47The thermal baths
11:49Low light
11:50Steam
11:50Rose petals in the water
11:52The king was already
11:53In the pool
11:54Eyes closed
11:55One shoulder bare
11:56The attendant disappeared
11:58The door closed
11:59Your servant didn't know
12:00The king was bathing
12:01I'll wait outside
12:02Stay
12:02I stopped
12:04He stood up
12:05Come here
12:06My king
12:07It wouldn't be appropriate
12:08For me to
12:09A wet hand
12:10Closed around my wrist
12:11And I was in the water
12:12Before I finished
12:13The sentence
12:13Water over my face
12:15My robe soaked through
12:16Instantly
12:17I came up coughing
12:18He was right in front of me
12:20The scar had washed off
12:22Steam
12:22And lamplight
12:23His eyes on my face
12:25Fully
12:26With no polite distance
12:29My king
12:30I'm a servant
12:31Please let me go
12:32He took my chin
12:34And turned me back
12:35Then he kissed me
12:36No question asked
12:37I pressed both hands
12:39Flat against his chest
12:41And pushed
12:41Useless
12:42He didn't move
12:43The resistance seemed
12:44To interest him more
12:46Eventually he let me breathe
12:47I shoved
12:48And got a foot of space
12:49Between us
12:50I belong to Chloe's household
12:52She trusted me enough
12:53To send me here
12:54I can't repay trust
12:56With betrayal
12:56I hit hard
12:57On those last words
12:58A king who commands
13:00Everything
13:00Is rarely told no
13:01Someone who holds a line
13:03And means it
13:04Is rare
13:04Rare things are interesting
13:06He didn't come closer
13:07Go
13:08The next morning
13:09I was leaning over
13:10To pour Chloe's wine
13:11When her eyes
13:12Stopped on my neck
13:13Daphne
13:14What is that?
13:18I didn't flinch
13:19The bathwater was cold
13:21My lady
13:21I must have bruised myself
13:23On the tile
13:23I'll cover it
13:24She stared at me
13:25At my face
13:26At the scar
13:27She was looking for a reason
13:29To be suspicious
13:29She found none
13:31My face did its job
13:32Put some save on it
13:34That evening
13:35The king held a fire feast
13:37Torchlight
13:38Roasting meat
13:39The noise of people
13:40Who'd been writing
13:40For three days
13:41Chloe fed him
13:42From her plate
13:43And laughed
13:44Too brightly
13:44And kept her body
13:46Angled toward him
13:47She needed his eyes
13:48On her
13:49His eyes kept
13:50Moving past her
13:51I felt the direction
13:52Of that gaze
13:53Even with my back turned
13:54I stepped half a pace
13:56To the left
13:56Behind her shoulder
13:57And out of his sight
13:58Chloe noticed him drifting
14:00She looked around
14:01Found nothing
14:02On the ride home
14:03She sat in the carriage
14:05Complaining in the dark
14:06He wasn't with me tonight
14:08Some woman is pulling
14:09His attention
14:10I can feel it
14:11Her hand went to her temple
14:12The head fire building
14:14Come here
14:15I pressed my fingers in
14:17Moved down her neck
14:18Her shoulders
14:19To the base of her spine
14:21I pressed one point
14:22She cried out
14:23And spun around
14:24What are you doing?
14:25Are you trying to cripple me?
14:27My lady
14:27I'm so sorry
14:29I felt a blockage
14:30There's nothing there
14:31You're just clumsy
14:32Kneel here for the rest of the ride
14:34Two hours on jolting wood
14:36In the dark
14:37I smiled the whole way
14:38The compound was moving faster
14:40Than I'd planned
14:41Back in the palace
14:43The king stopped coming as often
14:45Chloe paced
14:46Like something caged
14:47No child
14:48No guarantee
14:49Fifteen months of position
14:51And nothing to show for it
14:52That couldn't be taken away overnight
14:54Without a child
14:56I'm nothing
14:56But I heard it
14:57A few days later
14:58She turned to me
14:59Do you have more of that first remedy?
15:01The one that helped with my cycle?
15:03There it was
15:03That compound is hard on the body
15:05Using it again so soon
15:07Could damage you
15:08But I have another idea
15:09I'd learned the king often walked alone
15:11In the palace gardens at dusk
15:12Down near the laurel pool
15:14He went to think
15:15Go to him
15:16Not dressed for court
15:17Go simply
15:18Be there by chance
15:19Bring your kiaka
15:20I described exactly what to wear
15:22Hair loose
15:23Nothing showy
15:24Just her and the music
15:25And the evening air
15:26I pressed a small cloth pouch
15:28Into her hand
15:29And a vial of oil
15:30Bathe with these tonight
15:31The oil on your wrists and throat
15:33The pouch held dried crocus
15:35And iris root
15:36The oil was infused
15:37With something older
15:38Chloe took them
15:39Hungry for it
15:40The following evening she went
15:42She found the spot
15:43Arranged herself with the kithara
15:45Across her knees
15:46And played
15:47The king heard it
15:48Sent his attendants back
15:49And followed the sound alone
15:50I watched from the shadow
15:52Of the colonnade across the water
15:53He slowed down when he saw her
15:55New dress
15:56Dark water
15:57Music in the still air
15:59She looked up at exactly the right moment
16:01Surprised
16:02Composed
16:03Quietly glad to see him
16:04It worked
16:05The lights in her chambers
16:06Didn't go out until near dawn
16:08I stood outside in the dark
16:09And waited
16:10Before sunrise
16:11I moved to a covered walkway
16:13Near the crossing point
16:14Between her chambers
16:15And the king's morning route
16:16I arranged myself
16:17On a stone bench
16:18Mies up
16:19Arm under my head
16:20Robes slightly disordered
16:21I let my lips go pale
16:23I didn't fake the cold
16:24It was genuinely cold
16:26I heard the chamber doors open
16:27I slowed my breathing
16:29Let my eyes go to half focus
16:31The king crossed the courtyard
16:32His gaze picked up the shape
16:34On the bench
16:34I jolted awake
16:35Tried to stand
16:37And let my knee buckle
16:38Just enough to pitch me into him
16:40His hands caught me
16:41For a moment
16:41I was very close to his face
16:43He took in the loose hair
16:44The crumpled robe
16:46The pallor
16:46I pulled back
16:47And tried to straighten myself
16:48Forgive me my king
16:50I didn't hear you coming
16:51I'll go
16:52What are you doing out here?
16:54Waiting for Lady Chloe
16:55In case she needed anything
16:57I must have fallen asleep
16:58All night?
16:59Please don't be angry with her
17:00She doesn't know I stayed
17:02I chose to
17:03The more I defended Chloe
17:04The worse she looked
17:06I'd learned that
17:07He was quiet
17:07Looking at me
17:08Pale
17:09Shaking slightly
17:10Defending the woman
17:11Who'd put me out here
17:12He turned and told his attendant
17:14To send a physician
17:15To check on me
17:15Call the doctor
17:18Before he left
17:19He looked back once
17:20I stood very still
17:22And watched his procession
17:23Disappear around the corner
17:24Then I smiled
17:25Chloe
17:26You were warm
17:27And comfortable all night
17:29And this is what he saw this morning
17:31Everything you don't know I'm doing
17:33Costs you something
17:36When Chloe came back
17:38The head fire
17:39Hit within hours
17:40The remedy I'd blended for her
17:42Had done its work
17:43I worked the pressure sequence
17:44Three minutes
17:45And the worst of it broke
17:46When she closed her eyes to rest
17:48I pressed my fingers to her wrist
17:50The pulse was there
17:51And something else
17:52Deep in it
17:53An irregular pull
17:54Faint but real
17:56The compound had reached
17:57The edge of her chest cavity
17:58Almost there
17:59Chloe recovered
18:00She complained that the episodes
18:02Weren't going away for good
18:04The symptoms I have
18:06Are not gone yet
18:07These old afflictions take time
18:09I said
18:10But you're improving
18:11The frequency is down
18:13Give it a few more months
18:15Not a lie
18:16Her episodes were improving
18:18The physician said so too
18:20No one was looking
18:21At the other thing
18:22The king had been coming
18:23Nearly every day
18:24Since the garden evening
18:25Chloe was pleased with herself
18:27She thought she'd fixed it
18:28She didn't know
18:29He came partly to find reasons
18:31To be in corridors
18:32And side rooms
18:32While she sat in the main hall
18:34For these moments
18:35I was always exactly
18:37What he expected
18:38Careful
18:38Eyes down
18:39Loyal
18:40Slightly afraid
18:41Never easy
18:42Never coming toward him
18:44Men who have everything
18:45Want the one thing
18:46That won't come to them
18:47I prepared a new compound
18:49For her evenings
18:49With the king
18:50Something that would make
18:51The hours more vivid
18:52He'd associate those feelings
18:54With her
18:55It also contained
18:56Something slower
18:57Something she'd never taste
18:58The poison was almost in her heart
19:00The compound
19:01Was building in her blood
19:03Good things come
19:04To those who wait
19:05A court feast
19:06The hall was packed
19:07Wine and music
19:08And everyone pretending
19:09To enjoy themselves
19:10I'd spent a week
19:12On two separate preparations
19:13The first Chloe had been wearing
19:15On her skin for weeks
19:16Worked into the oils
19:18I gave her each night
19:19The second I carried on myself tonight
19:21In a small cloth pouch
19:23When the two met
19:24In the same space
19:25They reacted
19:26Slowly
19:27Just a soft thickening
19:28Of the air
19:29I moved carefully
19:30Through the banquet hall
19:31Close to the king's table
19:32Close to Chloe
19:34Spreading the second scent
19:35As I went
19:36The king's eyes went heavy
19:37He excused himself
19:38To rest in the back rooms
19:40Chloe watched him go
19:41The haze was already
19:42Working on her too
19:43She moved to follow
19:44I intercepted her smoothly
19:46Called her handmaiden
19:47Suggested the side rooms
19:49Guided her away
19:50Without her noticing
19:51Then I turned back
19:52I picked up the shawl
19:53Chloe had left on her chair
19:55And walked toward
19:56The king's rest chamber
19:57I pushed the door open softly
19:59My lady
19:59Your shawl
20:00He opened the eyes
20:02Looked at me
20:02I started backing out
20:04Wrong room
20:04I'm sorry
20:06An arm came around
20:07My waist from behind
20:08The second compound
20:10Suddenly this close
20:11Hit the first
20:12The reaction was immediate
20:13What followed was exactly
20:15What I'd planned
20:15I lay still afterward
20:17Watching the door
20:18Counting time
20:19A crash
20:20The door came in hard
20:21She stared at the clothes
20:22Scattered on the floor
20:24And at us embracing on the bed
20:25Her face went white
20:29What is this?
20:48The king moved fast
20:49He pulled me in and got the blanket over my face
20:51Before she could look at me directly
20:53I lay still in the dark
20:54I'd set this up down to the attendant I'd sent
20:57To put the idea in Chloe's head
20:59A strange woman in his chambers
21:00Knowing she'd come running
21:02Knowing she couldn't stop herself
21:03She lunged for the blanket
21:05I felt her fingers grab at it
21:07The king's hand shot out and shoved her back
21:09She sat down hard on the floor
21:11How dare you?
21:12How dare I?
21:13You do this and ask how I dare?
21:15Everything in this palace is mine
21:17Every room
21:17Every person in it
21:18You pushed me!
21:19You've never pushed me before!
21:20Get out!
21:22Alexandra!
21:23Take her back!
21:24She doesn't leave her chambers until I say
21:26I heard her footsteps
21:27Fast
21:28Then slower
21:29Then running
21:30Her crying fading down the corridor
21:32The room went quiet
21:33He lifted the blanket
21:34I was trembling
21:35I made sure of it
21:37Are you hurt?
21:38I shook my head
21:39Kept my eyes down
21:40Let me give you a formal place here
21:41You don't have to go back to her
21:44My king
21:45She was kind to me when I had nothing
21:46Everyone will say I used her
21:48Please let me go back
21:49Please let me keep what little I have
21:52Go
21:52I dressed and walked back through the palace
21:54When I came through Chloe's courtyard
21:56Her servants were kneeling in rows across the stones
21:59Chloe stood above them on the step with a riding whip
22:02I went through the gate and knelt
22:04Chloe's eyes locked onto me
22:06Where were you?
22:07Getting food from the kitchens, my lady
22:09I heard something had happened and took the long way back
22:13She stared
22:14No holes in it
22:15But her anger needed somewhere to go
22:16The whip came down across my back
22:18Then again
22:19I pressed my forehead to the stone and made no sound
22:22Hit harder, I thought
22:24Every mark is evidence
22:25She moved down the line
22:27The courtyard was filled with crying and begging
22:29She moved through it like the weather
22:31Stop!
22:33Then from the gate, the king walked in
22:35He stood still and took in the scene
22:37The kneeling servants
22:38The whip, my back
22:40His face went flat
22:42My king
22:44These servants have been impossible today
22:46I was just
22:47I can see what you were doing
22:48Alexandrus, I have every right to discipline my own
22:50Not like this
22:51He crossed the courtyard and looked at the blood on my robe
22:54His jaw tightened
22:57Not ever like this
22:58Chloe started explaining herself
23:00He didn't let her finish
23:01He announced her confinement in front of all of them
23:04One month
23:05No exceptions
23:06You should stay in your palace
23:07And reflect for a month
23:08Chloe went pale
23:09Then
23:10She made the mistake of talking back
23:24She said things she couldn't say
23:27Old closeness is used as a weapon
23:29She'd known him long enough to know where to cut
23:31She forgot she was talking to a king
23:33He slapped her
23:34She fell
23:35Grabbed at the column beside her
23:36Then doubled over
23:38Hand pressed to her chest
23:39Face draining white
23:40And went down
23:41The servants screamed
23:42The king stood there for one frozen second
23:45Then he shouted for the physicians
23:47The court physician ran in
23:49Knelt beside her
23:50Checked her
23:50Once
23:51Twice
23:52Three times
23:53Then he knelt lower
23:54Very formal
23:55My king
23:56The lady Chloe is with child
23:58Approximately one month
23:59Silence
24:00Chloe's eyes opened
24:01The words reached her slowly
24:03Then she started to cry
24:05The real kind
24:06Not the kind she performed
24:07The king crossed to her immediately
24:09He took her hands
24:10Cancel the confinement
24:12Send for gifts
24:13I watched from the back of the room
24:15A child
24:16I thought
24:17How convenient
24:17From that day Chloe treated the pregnancy like a siege
24:21Triple tasted food
24:22Four servants walked her from room to room
24:24Someone at her bedside every night
24:26She also became worse
24:28Much worse
24:29A handmaiden was flogged for sneezing during her rest
24:32Another beaten for pulling a single hair while dressing her
24:36I was punished several times
24:37I kept counting
24:38I kept preparing her medicine too
24:40The compound I was adding to her morning coffee was carefully measured
24:44Just enough to hollow her out slowly
24:46While making her feel she was improving
24:48Good days would keep her trusting me
24:50Bad days would keep her scared enough
24:51To need me
24:52The poison was almost at her heart
24:54The child won't survive it
24:56And after that
24:57Neither will you
24:59The pregnancy was not peaceful
25:01Within weeks
25:01She bled three times
25:03Physicians rotated through her room
25:05They all said the same thing
25:06Weakness
25:07Rest
25:09Strengthening herbs
25:10None of them looked further
25:11After the third episode
25:13Chloe threw her medicine cup across the room
25:15If I lose this child
25:17Every one of you dies with me
25:19I swept up the pieces while she raged
25:22Careful what you threaten
25:23I thought
25:24You'll be first
25:26The physicians couldn't find what I'd put inside her
25:28They weren't looking for a compound with no taste and no smell
25:32That had been building in her body for months
25:34They weren't looking for a slow extraction from a root
25:37That grows in gorges no court physician ever visits
25:40They just kept refilling her with remedies I kept quietly undermining
25:43She was pouring water into a cracked jar and calling it healing
25:47One afternoon she grabbed my hand
25:49Her nails bit into my skin
25:50Daphne
25:51You have to save this baby
25:53If you do this I'll give you anything
25:56Anything
25:57I looked at her hollowed out eyes and her desperation
26:00My lady
26:01I said gently
26:02I'll do everything I can
26:04I added something new to her morning coffee that week
26:07Something that would lift her energy for a few days
26:09She noticed it within two days
26:13You see
26:15You're better than all of them
26:17The lady is very strong
26:19I said
26:20Not for much longer
26:22The coffee was making Chloe's temper savage
26:25In ways she couldn't control
26:27She threw things away
26:29She had her oldest attendant kneeling in the courtyard for two hours
26:33Because of a single pulled hair while dressing her
26:36She swung between rage and weeping
26:38With nothing in between
26:39When the king visited she managed to hold herself together
26:42Barely
26:43He came every day now
26:45Officially to check on her
26:47In practice
26:48He kept finding reasons to be in side rooms and corridors
26:51I slipped out of the main hall one afternoon
26:54And had barely stepped into the adjoining room
26:56When he pulled me in by the wrist
26:58She was half asleep in the next room
27:00Her hearing had been getting worse for weeks
27:03Another thing no one had connected to anything
27:08He turned my arm over
27:10And looked at the bruising around my wrist
27:12She did this
27:15I was careless
27:18Stop covering for her
27:19From the main room
27:23Daphne
27:23Where are you?
27:25I straightened my robe
27:26And stepped back through the doorway
27:27Chloe looked at me with narrow eyes
27:30What were you doing in there?
27:32Preparing your afternoon remedy, my lady
27:34She stared
27:35Then her face darkened
27:37And her hand came up
27:38He stepped through the doorway
27:40Who are you about to hit?
27:42Her hand froze in midair
27:44She softened everything immediately
27:46My king
27:47Just correcting a servant
27:49Rest
27:50He said
27:51Stop working yourself up
27:52He left
27:53She didn't hit me
27:55She made me kneel in the corridor
28:25I knelt in the afternoon sun
28:26She took the physicians to save the baby
28:28She made promises to gods she hadn't thought about in years
28:31The poison had been moving through her body for nine months
28:34The compound had been layering in her blood since the beginning
28:37The body she was fighting this birth with was already running on nothing
28:40The midwives worked until the room smelled of blood and exhaustion
28:44Near dawn, Chloe's screaming stopped
28:46A midwife said
28:47He is coming
28:48The room went completely still
28:50Everyone held their breath
28:52We waited for the cry
28:53It didn't come
28:54The midwife's voice, when it came, was barely a voice at all
28:58My king, the boy has no breath
29:01The king pushed through the curtain
29:03I stood near the wall and watched the midwife holding the small, still shape
29:07Perfect hands, perfect mouth, not moving
29:09There it is
29:12Chloe turned her head
29:14Let me see
29:15They gave her the baby
29:17She held him
29:18And her whole body understood before her mind did
29:20Then the sound came out of her
29:22A single cry with nothing held back
29:25I dropped my head
29:26Under my breath
29:27Quiet enough that no one would ever hear
29:29That is for my sister
29:34Chloe held the dead child and couldn't be separated from him for hours
29:38The king summoned every physician in the palace
29:41They knelt in a row
29:43Last month you told me everything was stable
29:47Explain this
29:48No one could
29:49Chloe's brother was not the kind of man who accepted that
29:53He wanted a cause
29:54He wanted someone to blame
29:56I waited three days
29:57Then, while bringing Chloe her afternoon remedy
30:00I deliberately let a folded piece of cloth slip from my hand
30:04I moved to get it back quickly
30:06One of the brother's men reached it first
30:09The cloth held dried plant residue
30:11Dark-pedaled, with a faintly bitter smell
30:14The court physician was brought to examine it
30:16He held it to the light, then looked up
30:19This is black hellebay
30:20Forbidden to pregnant women
30:24Even a small amount causes repeated bleeding
30:26It can prevent a child from surviving full term
30:29Chloe turned to look at me
30:31Everything she'd never let herself suspect landed on her face at once
30:35Daphne
30:36I stayed kneeling
30:37I said nothing
30:38The poison was at her heart now
30:40She had days, maybe less
30:42There was nothing useful left to say to her
30:44She threw herself out of bed toward me
30:46Her legs barely held
30:48A cough ripped through me
30:50And blood came with it
30:51Dark, onto the white wall
30:53She pointed at me from the floor
30:56You
30:58It was you
31:01You killed my son
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