- 10 hours ago
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00:01For three years, Seraphine has been saying that she is pregnant with a dragon child.
00:06The midwife brought the bundle out and the room went completely silent.
00:10It was not a dragon. It was not even a snake.
00:14It was a small, soft, pale worm. A common earthworm wrapped in royal linen.
00:19And I thought, this is her punishment.
00:22My name is Wren. I have lived twice.
00:24The first time, I came into the world as Seraphine's daughter.
00:27Just a black snake that nobody wanted.
00:30My dragon father only glanced at me.
00:32My snake mother decided I was the reason her life had fallen apart.
00:36She cut out my tongue and gouged out my eyes.
00:39She threw me into the thrall pens before I was six months old.
00:42Finally, they fed me to the hunting dogs and ate me.
00:45When I died, I met the Ancient. She gave me a chance.
00:49I chose to be Aunt Selene's child.
00:51What I didn't account for was Seraphine.
00:54She had been given the same second chance.
00:56The healer had just confirmed the pregnancy.
00:59The moment she heard the news, she demanded three doses of an abortifacial draught.
01:04Give me abortion pills right now.
01:04She thought that if she ended the pregnancy, Aldric would never leave her.
01:08But what she was carrying this time was a true dragon heir.
01:13The Dragon King had declared it plainly.
01:16Whichever of his nine princes fathered a dragonborn child would inherit the throne.
01:20Of all nine princes, the third prince, Aldric, had the strongest claim.
01:25His own blood was pure, and his chosen consort, Seraphine, carried traces of true dragon lineage.
01:32This is wonderful, Seraphine.
01:35We are both with children.
01:37I never thought I would carry it again.
01:39The familiar voice confirmed it.
01:42I was truly inside my Aunt Selene's womb.
01:45Selene was gentle and kind.
01:47Her health, however, was fragile.
01:49She had entered the palace at the same time as Seraphine, and been given to the seventh prince.
01:53A man as quietly ailing as she was.
01:56While Seraphine was tormenting me, Selene had been the only one who treated me with any kindness.
02:01After I died, it was Selene who wrested my body from the dog's mouths.
02:06She built me a small grave marker, and said prayers over it every day.
02:10That was how I accumulated enough spiritual merit to stand before the ancient at all.
02:15Before I had long to enjoy it, I heard Seraphine's voice from outside.
02:20Physician, I don't want this child. Give me a droth to end it.
02:26Seraphine, have you lost your mind?
02:28You have waited so long for this child. Why would you end it?
02:32In my previous life, Seraphine had been cautious throughout her pregnancy.
02:36Now she was demanding an abortifacient the moment the healer confirmed the news.
02:41She had been reborn too. There was no other explanation.
02:46Because it's a wretched thing!
02:48Selene, I know what I'm carrying.
02:51It is not a dragon. It's a little black snake.
02:54And when Aldric sees it, he will leave me. I won't let that happen.
03:01The child isn't even born yet. How can you know what it is?
03:05And if Aldric truly leaves you over a child, your anger belongs with him, not with it.
03:11Seraphine wasn't listening.
03:13Physician! Come here at once!
03:15My lady. Dragon blood is sacred. By the Dragon King's own decree, no one may end a pregnancy of their
03:22own will.
03:23Those who do are exiled from Dragonkin permanently. If you persist, I will have no choice but to report this
03:29to the Dragon King himself.
03:30Seraphine would die sooner than leave Aldric. She would never willingly leave the Dragon Court.
03:36I was joking. Of course I want this child. I love this child dearly.
03:43But the moment she stepped somewhere with no one watching, she drove her fist hard into her own belly.
03:50You little wretch! This life I will be rid of you!
03:58News of both pregnancies reached the Dragon King quickly. With only two of his prince's consorts expecting heirs, he was
04:05openly delighted.
04:06The seventh prince, Edric, was so overjoyed when he learned of Selene's pregnancy that he didn't sleep the whole night.
04:13He pressed his lips to her belly.
04:15Little one, don't give your mother trouble. Be good and quiet. And when you come out, I'll take you to
04:21the market and buy you meat pie.
04:22The child won't even have teeth.
04:27Whatever she wants, I'll find a way. I'd pull stars out of the sky if she asked.
04:33Edric, what if it isn't a dragon? What if it's only a snake? Would you still want us?
04:37He went still. Then he pulled her close.
04:39Selene, do you want to leave me? He held her tighter.
04:43Dragon or snake or anything else in between, I won't let either of you go. Not ever.
04:48It sounded like something a lovesick boy would say. Selene laughed and cried at the same time. I felt it
04:54too, that warmth.
04:55He built my cradle himself and carved small wooden horses for me to play with.
05:00Every evening, he pressed his ear to Selene's belly and told me stories.
05:04He even sought out the most experienced midwives in the palace and learned everything they knew about tending to mothers
05:10and infants.
05:11Selene, for her part, took care of everything. Every step, every movement, so as not to disturb me.
05:18I did my part in return. And whenever I found something wrong in Selene's body, old illness, stagnant blood, a
05:25quiet weakness she had carried for years, I quietly consumed it.
05:31Four months would pass like this. Selene had not gained so much as an ounce. But her face was flushed
05:37and healthy. Her skin had colour. The shadows under her eyes were gone.
05:46Most women weaken during pregnancy. Their bodies are drawn upon. But Your Highness has grown stronger. Old elements I once
05:52thought permanent have simply vanished.
05:54The only time I have ever seen a pulse like this was when the late Dragon Queen carried the Dragon
05:58King himself.
06:01Edric, did you hear that? The baby is healing me. She's so small and already so thoughtful. She's going to
06:08be the kindest, most remarkable child.
06:11She really is a blessing. And she hasn't even arrived yet.
06:14Neither of them had paid any attention to the physician's final words. That my pulse resembled the Dragon King's own.
06:22Whatever I turned out to be, they would have held onto me. Selene, once she had calmed herself.
06:26How Seraphine was faring.
06:29At the mention of Seraphine, the physician's expression darkened.
06:32I have never in my life seen a mother less willing to protect her own child.
06:37Seraphine had spent the past four months making herself miserable.
06:40She ate food that inflamed the baby. Hot, bitter things in turns.
06:44The child reacted violently, kicking without rest. And Seraphine's own suffering was considerable.
06:50She vomited constantly.
06:54Aldric found her revolting and stayed away.
06:57Seraphine, furious, blamed everything on the child inside her.
07:01When she heard that strenuous movement might disturb the baby's sleep, she began moving without pause.
07:07When she learned the hot springs could cause damage, she soaked in them until her skin peeled.
07:14Whatever is inside her is remarkable, frankly. After everything she's done to it, it's still holding on.
07:20Thank every power that existed that I was not the one there.
07:28Selene was genuinely kind. When she heard what Seraphine had done to herself, she packed a cart full of tonics
07:33and medicinal parcels and went to see her.
07:35She wanted to try one more time to talk sense into her.
07:38She had barely crossed the threshold when she smelled something wrong.
07:41Seraphine was standing in the middle of the room and drinking in long, desperate gulps.
07:45Seraphine! What is this? What are you drinking?
07:49It's a remedy. It can turn what's inside me. Change the snake to a dragon.
07:56Seraphine, there is no such drug in the world. You will kill your child. Good.
08:02I'd rather it die than have to do it myself.
08:05Seraphine, whatever you carry, it is still your child. If it ever knew how you'd treated it, it would hate
08:09you.
08:09Easy for you to say, Selene. You didn't end up carrying a wretched little snake.
08:12And don't pretend you don't know what's in your belly. Everyone's whispering that you're carrying a true heir.
08:16Try swapping what you have for what I have. Then we'll see how saintly you are.
08:19Since the physician's visit, rumors have spread through court that Selene might be carrying a true dragon heir.
08:25But everyone who knew them understood. Edric loved Selene truly.
08:28Only Seraphine believed the child was the reason.
08:38Bring both women into the palace and place them under careful watch.
08:41Even surrounded by the Dragon King's own people, Seraphine found ways to punish the child inside her.
08:47Selene watched and grieved and said nothing more.
08:49She had stopped trying.
08:50Seraphine stopped eating.
08:52Her belly swelled enormously.
08:53Her skin went dull and yellowish.
08:55Aged a decade in months, she stopped.
08:57Then she came to Selene and confessed, with tears in her eyes.
09:00I believed I had been under some kind of enchantment.
09:05All of it! I had been bewitched!
09:08I was herself again now.
09:10I intended to be a proper mother.
09:12Whatever the child was, I would raise it with love.
09:15That is all I have ever wanted to hear from you, Seraphine.
09:18I have been reading the old histories.
09:20Even a serpent-born child can ascend, with training and time.
09:23It is not hopeless, Seraphine said, and smiled back.
09:26You are right, sister. I should have come to you sooner.
09:31She stayed to ask questions about the pregnancy.
09:33Selene answered everything with patience.
09:35When Seraphine left, Selene even pressed a package of restorative herbs into her hands.
09:40That night, she told Edric,
09:44I think Seraphine has finally grown up.
09:47Everyone said she had changed.
09:50Seraphine has finally come to her senses. She's a changed woman now.
09:54The warmth, the questions, the tears. It was a performance. She was planning something.
09:59A month later, with Selene's birth nearing,
10:03I need you to do something for me.
10:06The girl slipped something into Selene's drink that put her under.
10:14I heard Seraphine enter with several others.
10:18Give her the forcing drage. Once we've both delivered, swap the inference.
10:23She moved to Selene's side and laid a hand on her belly.
10:30Selene, you always love to lecture me about how it doesn't matter what comes out.
10:35Well, let's see how enlightened you are when you're the one holding the wretched thing.
10:41She laughed softly to herself, pleased with the thought.
10:44I understand it all now.
10:46The kindness, the visits, the questions.
10:48Learning which handmaids could be bought.
10:50Panic spiked through me.
10:51I kicked hard against the wound.
10:53Selene didn't stir.
10:54I felt the walls of Selene's body begin to contract.
10:56I kicked it again, more desperate now.
10:58Wake up! Please wake up!
11:00And then, impossibly...
11:05Selene's voice.
11:06She was awake, shouting, calling for help.
11:09Get away from me!
11:10Within moments, voices flooded in from the hall.
11:13Edric, the dragon king.
11:14The relief that moved through me was so complete.
11:19Make way. She is in labour.
11:22Light hit me from every direction at once.
11:24I was the only one.
11:26The room went quiet.
11:29People looked closer.
11:30It was true.
11:31A dragon should have four.
11:32This one had one.
11:33Then someone else said, quietly...
11:35It hasn't opened its eyes.
11:37It's been some time now.
11:38It should have opened its eyes.
11:40It doesn't look right.
11:41It looks like it's fading.
11:43You dare!
11:44My dragon is perfectly well!
11:46Don't you put that on my child!
11:48But even as she said it, the small golden dragon in the dragon king's arms began to convulse.
11:53Its mouth foamed white.
11:55It shuddered once.
11:56Its head fell to the side.
11:58It was dead.
11:58The physician pushed through and examined the child.
12:01Your majesty.
12:02The air was healthy at the start.
12:03But the third princess concept consumed something during the pregnancy.
12:06I believe a harmful compound that damaged the child from the inside.
12:09It held on as long as it could.
12:11But it was never going to survive.
12:14Aldric's face darkly grabbed Seraphine by the collar.
12:16What did you take?
12:18What did you put into your body?
12:21What did you do to my son?
12:23Seraphine had gone grey.
12:25I didn't.
12:25I never.
12:26I only...
12:27Her eyes sharpened.
12:29Then she saw Selene across the room.
12:30It was her.
12:32It was Selene.
12:33She pointed.
12:34She gave me those herbs.
12:35She was jealous.
12:37She knew what I was carrying and she poisoned me.
12:39She poisoned my child!
12:40It was the gaze of a man who wanted someone to blame and had just been handed a target.
12:45Aldric turned his gaze on Selene.
12:49Seventh prince!
12:50Your wife killed my son.
12:52What do you intend to do about that?
12:54Selene was calm.
12:55She waited a beat, then spoke.
12:57Seraphine.
12:58You say the herbs I gave you were poisoned, but I ate from the same supply.
13:03My child is right here perfectly well.
13:05Can you explain that?
13:06Have you forgotten the potion you drank?
13:08You said it could turn snakes into dragons.
13:11Everyone in that room knew about Seraphine's pregnancy.
13:14Every foolish thing she had done had been witnessed and whispered about for months.
13:19Selene's words shifted the room.
13:21People murmured.
13:21People remembered.
13:23Seraphine scrambled.
13:23She insisted compound was harmless.
13:26She demanded someone fetch the formula to prove it.
13:28The physician read it over.
13:29This compound is dangerous.
13:31It is almost certainly why the child had only two claws.
13:35Whatever was inside her, it did not deserve what it endured.
13:38It is remarkable it survived as long as it did.
13:40Seraphine heard this and the color drained entirely from her face.
13:44You're saying...
13:44You're saying I did this?
13:46I turned it into that?
13:48I had a true dragon all along and I did that to it myself?
13:52She stood there pulling at her own head, sinking under the weight of it.
13:56Then, all at once, she looked up.
13:58Then we try again!
13:59She grabbed Audric's arm with both hands.
14:02She said...
14:03Husband!
14:04We try again!
14:05Her smile was wrong.
14:07I did it once.
14:08I can do it again.
14:09Like another pregnancy!
14:11Another heir!
14:12Another heir!
14:13I know I can give you a dragon!
14:16Seraphine's story spread through the dragon court like fire through dry grass.
14:21She had delivered a true dragon heir and it had died in the dragon king's arms within minutes of birth.
14:27Most people said it behind their hands and laughed.
14:30Seraphine didn't care.
14:31She shut herself in her chambers with Aldric and got to work.
14:34She was serpent born and serpent born women were extraordinarily fertile.
14:38Within two months she was with child again.
14:40This time she was careful.
14:42Obsessively careful.
14:43She ate well.
14:44She rested.
14:44She took every tonic and restorative the palace healers prescribed without argument.
14:49She told everyone who would listen...
14:50I had a feeling, a certainty, that this child was a dragon.
14:54People were skeptical.
14:56But they believed her more than they might have otherwise.
14:58She had, after all, conceived a true dragon voice.
15:01That was more than anyone else in a hundred years could claim.
15:04The dragon king sent attendants from the palace to watch over her.
15:07Aldric stayed close.
15:08For the first time in their marriage, he was faithful and present.
15:11Everyone assumed this pregnancy would follow the same pattern as the first.
15:15That when the time came, the child would arrive and be a dragon.
15:17Instead, she carried it for three years.
15:20Three years was unnatural by any measure.
15:23It should have been a scandal.
15:24But Seraphine had heard of a figure from old legend,
15:27whose mother had carried him for three years before he was born.
15:30And he had become something close to divine.
15:32So she put that story in circulation.
15:34He told everyone...
15:35This child was no ordinary little dragon.
15:39It was something rarer.
15:41The court chose to believe her.
15:45Those three years were very good to me.
15:47Just as I'd expected.
15:49Edric and Selene gave me everything.
15:51They played with me, taught me, took me everywhere.
15:54Even the dragon king had grown fond of me,
15:55despite me being only a snake-born child.
15:57On my third birthday, he held a feast in my honour
16:00and placed around my neck the dragon seal pendant
16:02that only dragon-born princesses were meant to wear.
16:05He patted my head, little Ren.
16:07Tell me.
16:07What do you want most?
16:08Whatever you say, your grandfather will provide it.
16:12I want the dragon king to live forever.
16:16The room laughed.
16:18Warm, genuine laughter.
16:19Seraphine, standing at the edge of the crowd,
16:22looked like she had bitten into something rotten.
16:24She muttered under her breath.
16:25The old man has lost his senses,
16:27fussing over a little black snake.
16:29That charm belongs on my child's neck, not hers.
16:32The feast wound down.
16:34The dragon king invited me to spend the night in the palace.
16:36A nursemaid led me toward my rooms.
16:38But the walk felt wrong.
16:40The corridors were unfamiliar.
16:42We turned into an empty courtyard with no torches lit,
16:44and I saw Seraphine waiting in the dark.
16:46I ran.
16:47She caught me by the shoulder before I cleared the gate.
16:49Rin, where are you going?
16:52I'm not going to hurt you.
16:54Aunt Seraphina, did you want something?
16:56I have a birthday gift for you.
16:58I made it myself.
16:59Go on, eat it.
17:01I looked at the cake.
17:01I looked at her.
17:02Every instinct I had said,
17:04Do not.
17:05I took it from her hand,
17:06raised it toward my mouth,
17:07and threw it directly at her face.
17:09Then I ran again.
17:10The gate slammed shut before I reached it.
17:12Seraphine caught me and wrapped one hand around my throat.
17:14Her expression had dropped all pretense.
17:18You little ingrate.
17:19I brought you a gift and you wasted it.
17:21Open your mouth.
17:23I fought her.
17:25I was three years old and she was a grown woman.
17:28Help!
17:28Someone help me!
17:29The third princess consort is trying to kill me!
17:32Seraphina, if you kill me again,
17:35I will ask the ancient to turn your child into a worm.
17:38She stared down at me with an expression I had never seen on her face.
17:42Something between fury and terror.
17:44No!
17:44The gate burst open.
17:45Selene stood in the frame.
17:47Red.
17:47I ran to her.
17:48Mother, she tried to poison me.
17:51Edric and the Dragon King were right behind Selene.
17:54Someone had noticed I was missing and raised the alarm.
17:56They had gone from courtyard to courtyard looking for me.
17:58The Dragon King looked-
17:59You were trying to harm Wrynt?
18:01Father, please, don't listen to her.
18:04I brought her a birthday gift.
18:05She threw it at me and started screaming.
18:08I don't know why she would say something like this.
18:10Wrynt, I know you're young,
18:12but to accuse me of something so terrible, what were you thinking?
18:15She had her attendants bring forward the gift box she had prepared.
18:18Inside, a neat arrangement of small cakes, beautifully made.
18:22Her attendants confirmed-
18:24She had been in the kitchens all afternoon working on them.
18:26She had done it in secret, they said.
18:28Because Selene didn't like Wren eating sweets.
18:31And she hadn't wanted Selene to confiscate them.
18:34People started looking at me the way adults look at children who lie.
18:37Seraphine pressed her advantage.
18:39Little Wren, I know you were afraid I'd get you in trouble,
18:42but you don't have to make things up.
18:44Your aunt forgives you.
18:45Just say sorry and we can forget it.
18:48Children do invent things when they're frightened.
18:50I had heard enough!
18:53She didn't bring me here for cake.
18:55Lies! You're lying!
18:56She's been trying to get rid of me since before I was born.
18:58Three years ago, she bribed one of Mother's handymaids and drugged Mother's drink.
19:03She was going to use a forcing draft to deliver both of us early and switch us.
19:06She only failed because Mother woke up in time.
19:09That is a lie!
19:10Three years ago, I was carrying a true dragon heir.
19:12Why would I swap anything?
19:14What could I possibly have gained?
19:16Because you weren't sure yet, you thought Mother might be carrying the dragon and you might be carrying the snake.
19:21So you wanted to switch us before anyone found out.
19:24Seraphine's face went into a very particular shape.
19:26Father, she is a three-year-old child making accusations about things she could not possibly have witnessed.
19:31Exactly.
19:33Everyone went still.
19:34Selene spoke before the silence could stretch too long.
19:37My daughter does not lie.
19:39If you want to know whether this is true, ask the handymaid.
19:41The handmaid was found.
19:43The Dragon King's people had ways of getting at the truth.
19:46It didn't take long.
19:48The testimony came back in writing.
19:50Every detail confirmed.
19:52Seraphine had bribed her.
19:53The draft had been administered.
19:55Selene had woken before the swap could happen.
19:57The Dragon King read it.
19:58Then he dropped the paper on the floor at Seraphine's feet.
20:01Seraphine had gone white to the lips.
20:03She's lying!
20:04The testimony is a forgery!
20:06Selene put her up to this!
20:07She and this li-
20:08You tried to kill my child.
20:09You wanted to destroy her before she was born.
20:11You have been trying to destroy her since.
20:14And now you stand here and call on our bond as sisters.
20:18She looked at Seraphine directly for a long moment.
20:21Did you think of that bond when you went after her?
20:23Selene and Edric pushed together for the Dragon King to render punishment.
20:26Sister!
20:27We are blood!
20:29Would you truly have me punish her over a snake?!
20:32The moment you went after my child, you made your choice about what our bond was worth.
20:38The Dragon King straightened.
20:39He was about to speak.
20:40Seraphine dropped to the ground with a shriek.
20:42My stomach!
20:44The baby!
20:45I think it's coming!
20:46Someone fetch the midwife!
20:47Now!
20:49Nothing in the Dragon Court could stop her anything.
20:51Not for punishment.
20:52Not for justice.
20:53Not for truth.
20:54If a possible Dragonair was on its way into the world.
20:57The Dragon King called for the midwives immediately.
20:59Half the court ran to find her.
21:01The other half followed Seraphine to her chambers to watch history happen.
21:04This time, birth was easy.
21:06Not even half a day.
21:07The bundle was brought out and placed in Seraphine's arms.
21:09The room went absolutely silent.
21:11It was a small, soft, pale worm.
21:15Barely moving.
21:16A common earthworm wrapped in royal linen.
21:18The Dragon King's face did something complicated.
21:21Aldric looked as though the floor had dropped out from under him.
21:23Seraphine didn't understand.
21:24She was reaching for the bundle.
21:26Her face still open and expectant.
21:28Let me see...
21:28Let me see my little dragon!
21:30She looked.
21:32What is this?
21:33She whispered.
21:33Where is my dragon?
21:35This isn't mine!
21:36Someone has switched them!
21:37Someone switched my child!
21:39This isn't...
21:40Aldric said.
21:41His voice was flat and terrible.
21:43Whose child is it then?
21:44Then, just as she had done the first time,
21:46Seraphine's gaze found me across the room.
21:49You...
21:49You did this!
21:50She said.
21:50I know you did this!
21:52I stepped back.
21:53One small step.
21:55Instinctive.
21:55Nobody in the room was ready for what happened next.
21:58Seraphine moved fast.
22:00She had a hand around my throat before anyone reached her.
22:02And she had a sword from the nearest guard's belt before anyone knew she'd taken it.
22:06She pressed the blade on my neck.
22:07She had lost her mind entirely.
22:09Her voice shook with it.
22:11Tell me what you did.
22:13I left you alone this life.
22:15I left you alone and you still came after me.
22:17What did you do to my child?
22:19Why won't you just let me have this?
22:22Nobody else mastered what she meant.
22:23Selene went white.
22:25Edric learned forward.
22:26Put the blade down.
22:27Rink is three years old.
22:29She hasn't done anything.
22:31You don't understand!
22:32Seraphine's grip tightened.
22:34She's done this to me before!
22:35She ruined everything before!
22:37And now she's done it again!
22:39She won't stop until I have nothing!
22:41She looked at me.
22:42Her eyes were wild and wet.
22:43Die!
22:45She said.
22:45Just die!
22:46She dropped the sword into my chest.
22:48I heard Selene and Edric scream.
22:50And then, light.
22:51A warmth so sudden and total, it swallowed the pain whole.
22:55My feet scattered and then pulled back together, sharp and clear.
22:58I remembered the Ancient.
23:00After my first death, I had stood before she.
23:02She had offered me another chance.
23:04And then, as I was leaving, she had said something else.
23:07What had she said?
23:08I had almost forgotten.
23:09She had told me,
23:10You are a true dragon.
23:13You are a true dragon.
23:15You have always been one.
23:17But your dragon blood was sealed at birth.
23:19It is locked in your heart.
23:20And the seal can only be broken one of two ways.
23:23The first is to wait until you come of age.
23:26The second is to break it open yourself.
23:28Something vast was on my chest.
23:31It rose through the wound.
23:32It filled my ribs, my throat, my skull.
23:35I opened my mouth, and what came out was not a scream.
23:38It was a dragon's roar.
23:40It tore through the wound.
23:42Flapped the thunder.
23:43I felt my body leaving the ground.
23:44I felt myself expanding into something enormous.
23:48Something with wings and scales and weight.
23:50And I circled the hall twice.
23:52Enormous and gold and real.
23:54And then, I came back down.
23:56When I returned to my small human shape,
23:58The wound was gone.
23:59The room stared at me.
24:00It shifted.
24:02It weren't shifted.
24:02She's a true dragon.
24:04She's been a true dragon this whole time.
24:06I knew she wasn't ordinary.
24:08The dragon kin has an heir.
24:10We have an heir.
24:11The room erupted.
24:13Seraphine stood completely stiff in the middle of it.
24:17Staring at me.
24:19She said.
24:21I was always one.
24:22I told her.
24:23I was one in my first life too.
24:24There were two ways to unlock my blood.
24:26The first was to reach adulthood.
24:27The second was for my heart seal to be broken by force.
24:30I looked at the sword she was still holding.
24:32You never had any patience.
24:33That's why you'll never be a dragon's mother.
24:36Before Seraphine could raise the sword again, it was over.
24:39Several people moved at once.
24:40She died there in the hall.
24:42The small worm she had carried for three years did not outlive her for long.
24:46Within a few years, it was gone too.
24:48Because I had revealed my true form, the dragon king honored the oath he had made before all the court.
24:53The prince whose bloodline produced a true dragon heir would take the throne.
24:57On the day Edric was crowned, I told them everything.
25:00The first life.
25:01The second.
25:02All of it.
25:02I expected to be scolded for keeping it secret.
25:05Instead, they both wept.
25:07Work.
25:07She said.
25:08We should be thanking you.
25:09You chose us.
25:11Out of everyone you could have gone to, you chose us.
25:14That is not something we will ever take lightly.
25:16Dragon or snake or anything in between.
25:19You were always exactly who we wanted.
25:21Two lives.
25:22A lot of dying.
25:23A lot of cruelty to wade through before I got here.
25:26But I got here.
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