- 13 minutes ago
The Scar Of Vengeance Ep
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Mi hija murió porque el rey dijo que era muy hermoso.
00:03Eso es todo lo que tomó.
00:04Una compliment, y por la noche,
00:07Chloe ha llevado un brazo de estilos de su boca hasta que se despede respirar.
00:11Ellos llevaron a casa de la limón de blanco.
00:13Lo llevó de vuelta a mí mismo.
00:14Ella era caliente, ya que era muy caliente.
00:17Yo heldé ella hasta que no hubiera más lágrimas.
00:19Lo que había dejado no era la tristeza.
00:21Era la recompensa.
00:22Para llegar a Chloe,
00:24tenía que entrar a la palestra.
00:25Sabía que ella sufriera de la cruz de Helios,
00:28la blinding head-fire que viene sin warner.
00:31Así que yo spento un año aprendiendo el remedio.
00:33El hermos.
00:34El pressión de la presión de Helios pasaron en silencio.
00:38Cuando la palestra abrió para la selección de Servantes,
00:40me quedó en frente de mi mirada y pintó una larga,
00:43una larga, una cara de la cara de mi izquierda.
00:45El negro negro.
00:46Grotesque.
00:47Yo entré.
00:48Yo estaba sentado a la laundry quarters.
00:50Yo esperaba.
00:51Luego, Chloe se quedó.
00:53Y la corte physicians faileda.
00:54Mi turno.
00:56Me llevó a ella.
00:59No.
01:12No.
01:22No.
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05:57No.
06:14No.
06:18No.
06:21No.
06:22No.
06:25No.
06:26If it wasn't, I could make her disappear.
06:29A ghost, she called me.
06:31She was more right than she knew.
06:33After the garden, the king and I had a secret.
06:36Neither of us named it.
06:38He kept coming to see Chloe.
06:40I kept staying out of his line of sight.
06:42Or, keeping the scarred side toward him.
06:45Eyes down, movements stiff and correct.
06:48Men like him were used to women who came to them.
06:51Distance was more interesting.
06:53Then came the royal hunt.
06:54The whole court rode out to the countryside.
06:57Banners, horses, noble sons showing off.
07:00Halfway through the morning, a storm hit fast.
07:03Cold and hard.
07:04Everyone scrambled back to the hunting lodge.
07:06That night, the king had a fever.
07:08The headfire came back with it.
07:10The court physicians failed him.
07:12One after another.
07:14Chloe paced the corridor outside his room, turning in circles.
07:17Then she grabbed my arm.
07:19You treat these episodes.
07:20Go!
07:21My face was her guarantee.
07:23She wasn't worried.
07:24The room smelled of medicine and sweat.
07:26The king was on the bed, flushed, jaw locked with pain.
07:30Chloe tried to go to him.
07:32My lady, he needs quiet.
07:34Perhaps the healer should work alone.
07:36Chloe didn't like it.
07:37Just me and two servants in the corner.
07:40I sat at the edge of the bed and opened my case.
07:42When my fingers touched his temple, he opened his eyes.
07:45Blurred with fever.
07:46But they found me.
07:49You.
07:49I'm going to help with the pain.
07:51I kept my hands moving.
07:53Ground herb paste into the points along his skull.
07:56Dipped my fingers in cool olive oil and worked down his neck.
07:59His breathing slowed.
08:00The tight lines around his mouth softened.
08:03I started to pull back.
08:04I'll leave you to rest, my king.
08:06His hand closed around my wrist.
08:08He pulled.
08:08I had no time to catch myself.
08:10I went backward and landed across the bed.
08:13His arm locking around me before I could move.
08:15Cedar and fever sweat.
08:17Close and overwhelming.
08:18His arm was around my waist.
08:20His weight behind me.
08:22His mouth near my ear.
08:23Don't go.
08:24The two servants had already slipped out and pulled the door shut.
08:28You still have a fever.
08:29Let me get you back on the pillow.
08:32He sat up instead, keeping me with him.
08:34His eyes moved over my face.
08:36The scar side.
08:37Then the other.
08:38Come serve me.
08:40Not her.
08:41Me.
08:42Too soon.
08:43Too easy.
08:44Easy things don't last.
08:46I tried to shift onto my knees to bow.
08:48He wouldn't let me move.
08:49My king, I'm grateful.
08:51But Chloe gave me a place when I had nothing.
08:52I can't repay that with betrayal.
08:55Please.
08:56Let me keep this much.
08:57I looked at his face.
08:59Loyalty to someone who hurts you.
09:01That was the thing that would work on him.
09:03Every woman at court came toward him.
09:05A woman who held a line was something different.
09:07He looked at me for a long time.
09:09Something shifted behind his eyes.
09:11Frustration.
09:12And underneath it, sharper interest.
09:15He let me go.
09:16Fell back on the pillow.
09:17But his hand stayed loosely around my wrist.
09:20All night.
09:21His fever broke before dawn.
09:22His grip loosened.
09:24I fixed my robe and left quietly.
09:26Outside, Chloe was still waiting.
09:29How is he?
09:30The fever's down.
09:31The pain eased.
09:32He's sleeping.
09:34Then she slid a bracelet off her wrist and held it out.
09:37Plain carnelian beads on a copper wire.
09:40You did well.
09:40Go rest.
09:41I thanked her and walked away.
09:44A dead girl's blood is worth more than a string of carnelian, I thought.
09:48I said nothing.
09:49The hunt resumed two days later.
09:51Chloe was tired and it showed.
09:53One of the other women at court noticed and smiled.
09:56You've been working so hard, sister.
09:58Why not ride out today?
09:59Show the king what you can do.
10:01Everyone knew Chloe couldn't ride.
10:03The woman was doing it to watch her fail.
10:05Chloe started to make an excuse.
10:07I stepped forward.
10:08My king.
10:10Lady Chloe hasn't been well.
10:12She shouldn't strain herself.
10:14I'd be honored to ride in her place.
10:16Every eye in the courtyard went to the scarred servant who'd just put herself forward in front
10:20of the king.
10:21Chloe caught on fast.
10:22She's rough, but she can ride, my king.
10:24Let her go.
10:25Permitted.
10:26I walked to the horse they'd brought out.
10:28Big, white, bad-tempered.
10:30It was stamping and tossing its head.
10:33The other women watched with expressions ranging from bored to amused.
10:36A scarred servant playing at hunting.
10:39I ran my hand along the horse's neck and pressed my thumb into the hollow below its jaw,
10:44the point my sister had shown me for calming animals.
10:47The horse stilled, nuzzled my palm.
10:50I mounted and rode into the field, fast and low.
10:53A hair broke from cover.
10:55I took the shot without thinking, cleanly, through the neck.
10:58I didn't go deeper.
11:00This wasn't about showing off.
11:01A king doesn't want a hunting dog.
11:03He wants something he can't fully predict.
11:05I brought the hair back and knelt.
11:08I hope it serves my king.
11:10He looked at me for longer than he needed to.
11:12Undisguised interest.
11:14Good instincts.
11:15Then he praised Chloe for keeping useful people around her.
11:18He praised her, not me.
11:21Smart move.
11:21Chloe beamed.
11:23He gave her gifts.
11:24She looked at me differently after that.
11:26Like I was actually worth something.
11:28You did well, Daphne.
11:29She said back at the tent.
11:31And gave me two gold pins.
11:32I accepted them, and bowed.
11:35That night, his summons came again.
11:37Another episode.
11:38Chloe waved me off without hesitating.
11:41The scar.
11:41The loyal servant.
11:43The safest woman in the palace.
11:45An attendant led me to a building at the back of the lodge.
11:48The thermal baths.
11:49Low light.
11:50Steam.
11:51Rose petals in the water.
11:52The king was already in the pool.
11:54Eyes closed.
11:55One shoulder bare.
11:57The attendant disappeared.
11:58The door closed.
11:59Your servant didn't know the king was bathing.
12:01I'll wait outside.
12:02Stay.
12:03I stopped.
12:05He stood up.
12:06Come here.
12:07My king, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to-
12:09A wet hand closed around my wrist, and I was in the water before I finished the sentence.
12:14Water over my face.
12:15My robe soaked through instantly.
12:17I came up coughing.
12:19He was right in front of me.
12:20The scar had washed off.
12:22Steam and lamplight.
12:24His eyes on my face.
12:26Fully.
12:26With no polite distance.
12:29My king, I'm a servant.
12:32Please let me go.
12:33He took my chin and turned me back.
12:35Then he kissed me.
12:36No question asked.
12:38I pressed both hands flat against his chest and pushed.
12:42Useless.
12:43He didn't move.
12:44The resistance seemed to interest him more.
12:46Eventually, he let me breathe.
12:48I shoved and got a foot of space between us.
12:50I belong to Chloe's household.
12:52She trusted me enough to send me here.
12:54I can't repay trust with betrayal.
12:57I hit hard on those last words.
12:59A king who commands everything is rarely told no.
13:02Someone who holds a line and means it is rare.
13:05Rare things are interesting.
13:06He didn't come closer.
13:08Go.
13:09The next morning, I was leaning over to pour Chloe's wine when her eyes stopped on my neck.
13:13Daphne!
13:14What is that?
13:18I didn't flinch.
13:20The bathwater was cold, my lady.
13:22I must have bruised myself on the tile.
13:24I'll cover it.
13:24She stared at me.
13:25At my face.
13:26At the scar.
13:27She was looking for a reason to be suspicious.
13:30She found none.
13:31My face did its job.
13:33Put some save on it.
13:34That evening, the king held a fire feast.
13:37Torchlight, roasting meat.
13:39The noise of people who'd been writing for three days.
13:42Chloe fed him from her plate and laughed too brightly and kept her body angled toward him.
13:47She needed his eyes on her.
13:49His eyes kept moving past her.
13:51I felt the direction of that gaze even with my back turned.
13:54I stepped half a pace to the left, behind her shoulder, and out of his sight.
13:59Chloe noticed him drifting.
14:00She looked around.
14:02Found nothing.
14:03On the ride home, she sat in the carriage, complaining in the dark.
14:06He wasn't with me tonight.
14:08Some woman is pulling his attention.
14:10I can feel it.
14:11Her hand went to her temple.
14:13The head fire building.
14:15Come here.
14:16I pressed my fingers in.
14:17Moved down her neck, her shoulders, to the base of her spine.
14:21I pressed one point.
14:22She cried out and spun around.
14:24What are you doing?
14:26Are you trying to cripple me?
14:27My lady, I'm so sorry.
14:29I felt a blockage.
14:31There's nothing there.
14:32You're just clumsy.
14:33Kneel here for the rest of the ride.
14:35Two hours on jolting wood in the dark.
14:37I smiled the whole way.
14:39The compound was moving faster than I'd planned.
14:41Good.
14:42Back in the palace, the king stopped coming as often.
14:45Chloe paced like something caged.
14:48No child.
14:49No guarantee.
14:50Fifteen months of position and nothing to show for it that couldn't be taken away overnight.
14:55Without a child, I'm nothing.
14:57But I heard it.
14:58A few days later, she turned to me.
15:00Do you have more of that first remedy?
15:01The one that helped with my cycle?
15:03There it was.
15:04That compound is hard on the body.
15:06Using it again so soon could damage you.
15:08But I have another idea.
15:09I'd learned the king often walked alone in the palace gardens at dusk, down 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.
15:20Bring your kyaka.
15:20I described exactly what to wear.
15:22Hair loose.
15:23Nothing showy.
15:24Just her and the music and the evening air.
15:27I pressed a small cloth pouch into her hand and a vial of oil.
15:31Bathe with these tonight.
15:32The oil on your wrists and throat.
15:34The pouch held dried crocus and iris root.
15:36The oil was infused with something older.
15:39Chloe took them.
15:40Hungry for it.
15:41The following evening, she went.
15:42She found the spot, arranged herself with the kithara across her knees, and played.
15:47The king heard it, sent his attendants back, and followed the sound alone.
15:51I watched from the shadow of the colonnade across the water.
15:54He slowed down when he saw her.
15:56New dress.
15:57Dark water.
15:57Music in the still air.
15:59She looked up at exactly the right moment.
16:02Surprised.
16:02Composed.
16:03Quietly glad to see him.
16:05It worked.
16:06The lights in her chambers didn't go out until near dawn.
16:08I stood outside in the dark and waited.
16:10Before sunrise, I moved to a covered walkway near the crossing point between her chambers and
16:15the king's morning route.
16:16I arranged myself on a stone bench.
16:18Me's up.
16:19Arm under my head.
16:20Robe slightly disordered.
16:22I let my lips go pale.
16:23I didn't fake the cold.
16:25It was genuinely cold.
16:26I heard the chamber doors open.
16:28I slowed my breathing.
16:29Let my eyes go to half focus.
16:31The king crossed the courtyard.
16:33His gaze picked up the shape on the bench.
16:35I jolted awake.
16:36Tried to stand.
16:37And let my knee buckle just enough to pitch me into him.
16:40His hands caught me.
16:41For a moment, I was very close to his face.
16:43He took in the loose hair, the crumpled robe, the pallor.
16:47I pulled back and tried to straighten myself.
16:49Forgive 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, in case she needed anything.
16:57I must have fallen asleep.
16:58All night?
16:59Please don't be angry with her.
17:01She doesn't know I stayed.
17:02I chose to.
17:03The more I defended Chloe, the worse she looked.
17:06I'd learned that.
17:07He was quiet, looking at me, pale, shaking slightly, defending the woman who'd put me out
17:12here.
17:13He turned and told his attendant to send a physician to check on me.
17:16Call the doctor.
17:18Before he left, he looked back once.
17:21I stood very still and watched his procession disappear around the corner.
17:25Then I smiled.
17:26Chloe, you were warm and comfortable all night.
17:29And this is what he saw this morning.
17:32Everything you don't know I'm doing costs you something.
17:36When Chloe came back, the head fire hit within hours.
17:40The remedy I'd blended for her had done its work.
17:43I worked the pressure sequence.
17:45Three minutes, and the worst of it broke.
17:47When she closed her eyes to rest, I pressed my fingers to her wrist.
17:51The pulse was there, and something else, deep in it.
17:54An irregular pull, faint but real.
17:56The compound had reached the edge of her chest cavity.
17:59Almost there.
18:00Chloe recovered.
18:01She complained that the episodes weren't going away for good.
18:04The symptoms I have are not gone yet.
18:08These old afflictions take time.
18:10I said.
18:11But you're improving.
18:12The frequency is down.
18:14Give it a few more months.
18:16Not a lie.
18:17Her episodes were improving.
18:18The physician said so too.
18:20No one was looking at the other thing.
18:22The king had been coming nearly every day since the garden evening.
18:26Chloe was pleased with herself.
18:27She thought she'd fixed it.
18:28She didn't know he came partly to find reasons to be in corridors and side rooms,
18:33while she sat in the main hall.
18:35For these moments, I was always exactly what he expected.
18:38Careful.
18:39Eyes down.
18:40Loyal.
18:40Slightly afraid.
18:42Never easy.
18:43Never coming toward him.
18:44Men who have everything want the one thing that won't come to them.
18:48I prepared a new compound for her evenings with the king.
18:50Something that would make the hours more vivid.
18:53He'd associate those feelings with her.
18:55It also contained something slower.
18:57Something she'd never taste.
18:59The poison was almost in her heart.
19:01The compound was building in her blood.
19:03Good things come to those who wait.
19:05A court feast.
19:06The hall was packed.
19:08Wine and music.
19:09And everyone pretending to enjoy themselves.
19:11I'd spent a week on two separate preparations.
19:14The first, Chloe had been wearing on her skin for weeks.
19:17Worked into the oils I gave her each night.
19:19The second, I carried on myself tonight.
19:22In a small cloth pouch.
19:23When the two met in the same space, they reacted.
19:26Slowly.
19:27Just a soft thickening of the air.
19:29I moved carefully through the banquet hall.
19:31Close to the king's table.
19:33Close to Chloe.
19:34Spreading the second scent as I went.
19:36The king's eyes went heavy.
19:37He excused himself to rest in the back rooms.
19:40Chloe watched him go.
19:41The haze was already working on her too.
19:43She moved to follow.
19:45I intercepted her smoothly.
19:46Called her handmaiden.
19:48Suggested the side rooms.
19:49Guided her away without her noticing.
19:51Then I turned back.
19:52I picked up the shawl Chloe had left on her chair.
19:55And walked toward the king's rest chamber.
19:57I pushed the door open softly.
19:59My lady.
20:00Your shawl?
20:01He opened the eyes.
20:02Looked at me.
20:03I started backing out.
20:04Wrong room.
20:05I'm sorry.
20:06An arm came around my waist from behind.
20:09The second compound.
20:10Suddenly this close.
20:11Hit the first.
20:12The reaction was immediate.
20:14What followed was exactly what I'd planned.
20:16I lay still afterward.
20:17Watching the door.
20:18Counting time.
20:19A crash.
20:20The door came in hard.
20:22She stared at the clothes scattered on the floor.
20:24And at us embracing on the bed.
20:26Her face went white.
20:30What is this?
20:48The king moved fast.
20:49He pulled me in and got the blanket over my face.
20:52Before she could look at me directly.
20:53I lay still in the dark.
20:55I'd set this up down to the attendant I'd sent to put the idea in Chloe's head.
20:59A strange woman in his chambers.
21:01Knowing she'd come running.
21:02Knowing she couldn't stop herself.
21:04She 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.
21:18Every person in it.
21:18You pushed me.
21:19You've never pushed me before.
21:21Get out.
21:23Alexandra.
21:23Take her back.
21:24She doesn't leave her chambers until I say.
21:26I heard her footsteps.
21:28Fast.
21:29Then slower.
21:29Then running.
21:30Her crying fading down the corridor.
21:32The room went quiet.
21:34He lifted the blanket.
21:35I was trembling.
21:36I 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.
21:47Everyone will say I used her.
21:48Please let me go back.
21:50Please let me keep what little I have.
21:52Go.
21:53I dressed and walked back through the palace.
21:54When I came through Chloe's courtyard, her 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.
22:10I 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.
22:17The whip came down across my back.
22:19Then again.
22:19I pressed my forehead to the stone and made no sound.
22:22Hit harder, I thought.
22:24Every mark is evidence.
22:26She moved down the line.
22:27The courtyard was filled with crying and begging.
22:30She 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.
22:39The whip.
22:39My back.
22:40His face went flat.
22:49He 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.
23:02He announced her confinement in front of all of them.
23:04One month.
23:05No exceptions.
23:06You should stay in your palace and reflect for a month.
23:09Chloe went pale.
23:10Then, she made the mistake of talking back.
23:25She 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.
23:32She forgot she was talking to a king.
23:34He slapped her.
23:34She fell.
23:35Grabbed at the column beside her.
23:37Then doubled over.
23:38Hand pressed to her chest.
23:39Face draining white.
23:41And went down.
23:42The servants screamed.
23:43The king stood there for one frozen second.
23:46Then he shouted for the physicians.
23:47The court physician ran in.
23:49Knelt beside her.
23:50Checked her.
23:51Once.
23:52Twice.
23:52Three times.
23:53Then he knelt lower.
23:55Very formal.
23:56My king.
23:56The lady Chloe is with child.
23:58Approximately one month.
24:00Silence.
24:01Chloe's eyes opened.
24:02The words reached her slowly.
24:04Then she started to cry.
24:05The real kind.
24:06Not the kind she performed.
24:08The king crossed to her immediately.
24:10He took her hand.
24:11Cancel the confinement.
24:12Send for gifts.
24:14I watched from the back of the room.
24:16A child.
24:16I thought.
24:17How convenient.
24:18From that day Chloe treated the pregnancy like a siege.
24:21Triple tasted food.
24:22Four servants walked her from room to room.
24:25Someone at her bedside every night.
24:27She also became worse.
24:29Much worse.
24:30A handmaiden was flogged for sneezing during her rest.
24:33Another beaten for pulling a single hair while dressing her.
24:36I was punished several times.
24:38I kept counting.
24:39I kept preparing her medicine too.
24:41The compound I was adding to her morning coffee was carefully measured.
24:44Just enough to hollow her out slowly while making her feel she was improving.
24:48Good days would keep her trusting me.
24:50Bad days would keep her scared enough to need me.
24:53The poison was almost at her heart.
24:54The child won't survive it.
24:56And after that, neither will you.
24:59The pregnancy was not peaceful.
25:01Within weeks, she bled three times.
25:03Physicians rotated through her room.
25:05They all said the same thing.
25:07Weakness.
25:08Rest.
25:09Strengthening herbs.
25:10None of them looked further.
25:12After the third episode, Chloe threw her medicine cup across the room.
25:15If I lose this child, every one of you dies with me.
25:19I swept up the pieces while she raged.
25:22Care for what you threaten.
25:23I thought.
25:24You'll be first.
25:26The physicians couldn't find what I'd put inside her.
25:29They weren't looking for a compound with no taste and no smell that had been building in her body for
25:33months.
25:34They weren't looking for a slow extraction from a root that grows in gorges no court physician ever visits.
25:40They just kept refilling her with remedies I kept quietly undermining.
25:44She 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.
25:51Daphne, you have to save this baby.
25:54If you do this, I'll give you anything.
25:57Anything.
25:58I looked at her hollowed out eyes and her desperation.
26:01My lady.
26:02I said gently.
26:03I'll do everything I can.
26:05I added something new to her morning coffee that week.
26:07Something that would lift her energy for a few days.
26:10She 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.
26:21Not for much longer.
26:23The coffee was making Chloe's temper savage in ways she couldn't control.
26:27She threw things away.
26:29She had her oldest attendant kneeling in the courtyard for two hours because of a single pulled hair while dressing
26:35her.
26:36She swung between rage and weeping with nothing in between.
26:40When the king visited, she managed to hold herself together.
26:43Barely.
26:44He came every day now.
26:46Officially to check on her.
26:47In practice, he kept finding reasons to be in side rooms and corridors.
26:51I slipped out of the main hall one afternoon and had barely stepped into the adjoining room when he pulled
26:57me in by the wrist.
26:59She was half asleep in the next room.
27:01Her hearing had been getting worse for weeks.
27:03Another thing no one had connected to anything.
27:08He turned my arm over and looked at the bruising around my wrist.
27:13She did this?
27:15I was careless.
27:18Stop covering for her.
27:20From the main room.
27:23Daphne!
27:24Where are you?
27:25I straightened my robe and stepped back through the doorway.
27:28Chloe looked at me with narrow eyes.
27:30What were you doing in there?
27:33Preparing your afternoon remedy, my lady.
27:35She stared.
27:36Then her face darkened and 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.
27:48Just correcting a servant.
27:50Rest.
27:50He said.
27:51Stop working yourself up.
27:53He left.
27:54She didn't hit me.
27:55She made me kneel in the corridor.
27:57I knelt in the afternoon sun and looked at nothing.
28:00Not much longer now, Chloe.
28:02The night she went into labor, the whole household fell apart.
28:06It started at midnight.
28:07Screaming that carried across three courtyards.
28:10The queen mother sent her two best midwives.
28:12The king broke protocol and waited in the side room.
28:15Chloe's brother, who commanded armies on the border, rode through the night and stood in
28:19the outer courtyard.
28:20This was the first child.
28:22Nobody could afford it to go wrong.
28:24Chloe gripped the bed frame until her knuckles split.
28:26She begged 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.
28:41The midwives worked until the room smelled of blood and exhaustion.
28:44Near dawn, Chloe's screaming stopped.
28:47A midwife said.
28:48He is coming.
28:49The room went completely still.
28:51Everyone 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.
29:02The king pushed through the curtain.
29:03I stood near the wall and watched the midwife holding the small, still shape.
29:07Perfect hands.
29:08Perfect mouth.
29:09Not moving.
29:10There it is.
29:12Chloe turned her head.
29:14Let me see.
29:15They gave her the baby.
29:17She held him, and her whole body understood before her mind did.
29:21Then the sound came out of her.
29:22A single cry with nothing held back.
29:25I dropped my head, under my breath, quiet enough that no one would ever hear.
29:30That is for my sister.
29:35Chloe held the dead child and couldn't be separated from him for hours.
29:39The king summoned every physician in the palace.
29:42They knelt in a row.
29:43Last month, you told me everything was stable.
29:47Explain this.
29:49No one could.
29:50Chloe'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.
29:58Then, while bringing Chloe her afternoon remedy, I deliberately let a folded piece of cloth slip
30:04from my hand.
30:05I moved to get it back quickly.
30:07One of the brother's men reached it first.
30:09The cloth held dried plant residue, dark-petaled, with a faintly bitter smell.
30:14The court physician was brought to examine it.
30:17He held it to the light, then looked up.
30:19This is black hellebay, forbidden to pregnant women.
30:24Even a small amount causes repeated bleeding.
30:27It can prevent a child from surviving full term.
30:30Chloe 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.
30:47Her legs barely held.
30:48A cough ripped through me, and blood came with it.
30:51Dark, onto the white wool.
30:53She pointed at me from the floor.
30:56You.
30:58It was you.
31:01You killed my son.
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