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