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[Hot 2026]
(2026) - FULL ENGSUB | Reelshort Hot HD
Full Chinese Movie EngSub
Chinese Drama English Sub Full HD
#shortdrama #bestdrama #actionmovie #Drama #Film #Show #Anime #Movie #cdrama #Movies #BILLIONAIRE #shortdrama #dramashort #shortfilmdrama #minidrama #shortstorydrama #webdrama #indiedrama #shortfilmseries #shortdramaseries #dramashorts #englishmovie #cdrama #drama #movieshortfull
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Short filmTranscript
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.
00:17A common earthworm wrapped in royal linen.
00:19And I thought, this is her punishment.
00:22My name is Wren. I have lived twice.
00:25The first time, I came into the world as Seraphine's daughter.
00:28Just 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.
00:48She gave me a chance.
00:49I chose to be Aunt Selene's child.
00:52What 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 abortifacient draught.
01:04Give me abortion pills right now.
01:05She 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.
01:14The dragon king had declared it flaming.
01:16Whichever of his nine princes fathered a dragonborn child would inherit the throne.
01:21Of all nine princes, the third prince, Aldric, had the strongest claim.
01:25His own blood was pure, and his chosen constant, 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.
01:40The familiar voice confirmed it.
01:42I was truly inside my Aunt Selene's womb.
01:46Selene was gentle and kind.
01:48Her health, however, was fragile.
01:49She had entered the palace at the same time as Seraphine, and been given to the seventh prince, a man
01:54as 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.
02:22Give me a droth to end it.
02:26Seraphine, have you lost your mind?
02:28You have waited so long for this child.
02:31Why 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.
02:43There 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.
02:53It's a little black snake.
02:54And when Aldrich sees it, he will leave me.
02:57I won't let that happen.
03:01The child isn't even born yet.
03:03How can you know what it is?
03:05And if Aldrich truly leaves you over a child, your anger belongs with him, not with it.
03:11Seraphine wasn't listening.
03:13Physician!
03:14Come here at once!
03:15My lady, dragon blood is sacred.
03:18By the Dragon King's own decree, no one may end a pregnancy of their own will.
03:23Those who do are exiled from Dragon King permanently.
03:26If you persist, I will have no choice but to report this to the Dragon King himself.
03:31Seraphine would die sooner than leave Aldrich.
03:33She would never willingly leave the Dragon Court.
03:36I was joking.
03:38Of course I want this child.
03:40I 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!
03:52This life I will be rid of you!
03:59News of both pregnancies reached the Dragon King quickly.
04:02With only two of his prince's consorts expecting heirs, he was openly 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.
04:17Be good and quiet.
04:19And when you come out, I'll take you to the market and buy you meat pie.
04:23The child won't even have teeth.
04:27Whatever she wants, I'll find a way.
04:29I'd pull stars out of the sky if she asked.
04:33Edric, what if it isn't a dragon?
04:35What if it's only a snake? Would you still want us?
04:37He went still. Then he pulled her close.
04:40Selene, do you want to leave me?
04:42He 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.
04:51Selene laughed and cried at the same time.
04:53I felt it too, that warmth.
04:55He built her 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.
05:12Selene, for her part, took care of everything.
05:14Every step, every movement, so as not to disturb me.
05:18I did my part in return.
05:20And whenever I found something wrong in Selene's body, old illness, stagnant blood, a quiet weakness she had carried for
05:27years, I quietly consumed it.
05:31Four months that passed like this, Selene had not gained so much as an ounce.
05:36But her face was flushed and healthy.
05:38Her skin had color.
05:39The shadows under her eyes were gone.
05:46Most women weaken during pregnancy.
05:48Their bodies are drawn upon.
05:49But your highness has grown stronger.
05:51Old elements I once thought 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
05:59king himself.
06:01Edric?
06:02Did you hear that?
06:03The baby is healing me.
06:05She's so small and already so thoughtful.
06:08She's going to be the kindest, most remarkable child.
06:11She really is a blessing.
06:13And she hasn't even arrived yet.
06:15Neither of them had paid any attention to the physician's final words.
06:18That my pulse resembled the dragon king's own.
06:22Whatever I turned out to be, they would have held onto me.
06:25Selene, 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, popped bitter things in turns.
06:45The child reacted violently, kicking without rest.
06:48And Seraphine's own suffering was considerable.
06:50She vomited constantly.
06:54But Aldric 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,
07:05she began moving without pause.
07:07When she learned the hot springs could cause damage,
07:11she soaked in them until her skin peeled.
07:14Whatever is inside her is remarkable, frankly.
07:17After everything she's done to it, it's still holding on.
07:20Thank every power that existed that I was not the one in there.
07:28Selene was genuinely kind.
07:30When she heard what Seraphine had done to herself,
07:32she packed a cart full of tonics and medicinal parcels and went to see her.
07:36She wanted to try one more time to talk sense into her.
07:38She had barely crossed the threshold.
07:40When she smelled something wrong,
07:41Seraphine was standing in the middle of the room
07:43and drinking in long, desperate baths.
07:45Seraphine!
07:47What is this?
07:48What are you drinking?
07:50It's a remedy.
07:51It can turn what's inside me,
07:53change the snake to a dragon.
07:56Seraphine,
07:57there is no such drug in the world.
07:59You will kill your child.
08:01Good.
08:02I'd rather it die than have to do it myself.
08:05Seraphine,
08:05whatever you carry, it is still your child.
08:07If it ever knew how you treated it, it would hate you.
08:10Easy for you to say, Selene.
08:11You didn't end up carrying a wretched little snake.
08:13And don't pretend you don't know what's in your belly.
08:14Everyone's whispering that you're carrying a true heir.
08:16Try swapping what you have for what I have.
08:18Then we'll see how saintly you are.
08:20Since the physician's visit,
08:21rumors have spread through court
08:22that Selene might be carrying a true dragon heir.
08:25But everyone who knew them understood.
08:27Edric loved Selene truly.
08:28Only Seraphine believed the child was the reason.
08:38Bring both women into the palace
08:39and place them under careful watch.
08:41Even surrounded by the Dragon King's own people,
08:44Seraphine found ways to punish the child inside her.
08:47Selene watched and grieved,
08:48and 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.
08:57She stopped.
08:57Then she came to Selene and confessed,
08:59with tears in her eyes.
09:00I believed I had been under some kind of enchantment.
09:05All of it.
09:07I had been bewitched.
09:09I was herself again now.
09:10I intended to be a proper mother.
09:13Whatever the child was, I would raise it with love.
09:16That is all I have ever wanted to hear from you,
09:18Seraphine.
09:19I have been reading the old histories.
09:20Even a serpent-born child can ascend,
09:22with training and time.
09:24It is not hopeless.
09:25Seraphine said and smiled back.
09:27You are right, sister.
09:29I 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,
09:37Selene even pressed a package of restorative herbs into her hands.
09:41That night, she told Edric,
09:44I think Seraphine has finally grown up.
09:48Everyone said she had changed.
09:50Seraphine has finally come to her senses.
09:53She's a changed woman now.
09:54The warmth.
09:55The questions.
09:56The tears.
09:57It was a performance.
09:57She was planning something.
09:59A month later,
10:01with Selene's birth nearing,
10:03I need you to do something for me.
10:06The girl slipped something into Selene's drink
10:08that put her under.
10:14I heard Seraphine enter with several others.
10:18Give her the forcing drage.
10:20Once we've both delivered,
10:22swap the inference.
10:23She moved to Selene's side
10:25and laid a hand on her belly.
10:29Selene,
10:31you always love to lecture me about how it doesn't matter what comes out.
10:35Well,
10:37let's see how enlightened you are when you're the one holding the wretched thing.
10:42She laughed softly to herself,
10:43pleased with the thought.
10:44I understand it all now.
10:46The kindness,
10:47the visits,
10:47the 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.
10:57I kicked it again,
10:57more desperate now.
10:59Wake up!
10:59Please wake up!
11:00And then,
11:01impossibly...
11:05Selene's voice.
11:06She was awake,
11:07shouting,
11:08calling for help.
11:09Get away from me!
11:10Within moments,
11:11voices flooded in from the hall.
11:13Edric,
11:13the Dragon King.
11:14The relief that moved through me was so complete.
11:19Make way!
11:20She is in labour.
11:22Light hit me from every direction at once.
11:24I was born.
11:26I was lifted and placed against Selene's chest.
11:30I smelled her.
11:30I had been smelling her for months from the inside.
11:33And now,
11:33here it was from the outside.
11:35Edric,
11:36look.
11:37She's smiling already.
11:39She's only just arrived and she's already smiling at us.
11:42I was still looking around the room when I spotted Seraphine pushing through the crowd.
11:48Selene noticed her too.
11:52Seraphine,
11:53come and look.
11:54She's beautiful.
11:56Seraphine stepped forward.
11:57Her brow was tight.
11:59Then she looked at me.
12:00Her gaze caught in something at my forehead.
12:02She went completely right.
12:03It's you.
12:04She lunged forward and seized my arm.
12:06It's you.
12:09You.
12:10How do you have that mark?
12:12What mark?
12:13Seraphine's grip was trembling.
12:15There was a mark.
12:16On her forehead.
12:17Glowing.
12:20She looked again.
12:21The glow was gone.
12:23I lay there, ordinary and unremarkable.
12:26A small, dark snake child blinking up at the torchlight.
12:32Seraphine's face crumpled.
12:36How can you be hers?
12:38Then what am I carrying?
12:40Who is inside me?
12:42Before anyone could answer.
12:43A rush of water soaked the floor to it.
12:46Seraphine doubled over, shrieking.
12:49She was in labour.
12:50No!
12:55Compared to Selene's birth, Seraphine's was a nightmare.
12:59She laboured for three days and three nights.
13:02She screamed for all three.
13:03The sound kept me from sleeping.
13:05Thank every power it wasn't like this for us.
13:08She told Edric.
13:09Her voice still shaken.
13:10I didn't suffer at all.
13:11I have a name now.
13:12Two lives and I finally had a name.
13:14In my first life I had been called nothing.
13:17Nothing kind anyway.
13:18Seraphine had two names for me.
13:20Little Wretch and Little Whore.
13:22This life, Selene named me Wren.
13:24Not dragon.
13:24Not serpent.
13:25Just Wren.
13:27Whatever I was, only wanted you safe.
13:31Edric came and pinched my cheek and declared me in the history of the Dragon Court.
13:35The best behaved child.
13:36Him.
13:37Most newborns fuss and wail for days.
13:39You only ate and slept.
13:41I smiled up at them both.
13:43Just as the warmth was settling in, someone ran to find you.
13:46Seventh Prince, your highness.
13:48The third princess concert has delivered.
13:50Edric and Selene carried me over to sea.
13:52The room was packed.
13:53Seraphine's laughter rang out over everything.
13:56The heavens have not forgotten me.
13:58I knew it.
13:59I always knew I could do this.
14:03Hello, my sweet girl.
14:06Like a prize and pressed it into Aldric's arms.
14:09Husband, didn't I tell you?
14:12Aldric's face had gone soft in a way I had never seen.
14:15He took the child and carried it straight to the Dragon King.
14:20The heir is born.
14:22The curse is broken.
14:24The Dragon King took it with great care.
14:26Turned it over slowly.
14:27Examined it from every angle.
14:28Then his expression changed.
14:32He said,
14:33This dragon, why does it only have two claws?
14:37The room went quiet.
14:39People looked closer.
14:41It was true.
14:41A dragon should have four.
14:43This one had one.
14:44Then someone else said quietly,
14:46It hasn't opened its eyes.
14:48It's been some time now, it should have opened its eyes.
14:50It doesn't look right.
14:52It looks like it's fading.
14:54You dare!
14:55My dragon is perfectly well!
14:57Don't you put that on my child!
14:59But even as she said it,
15:01The small golden dragon in the Dragon King's arms began to convulse.
15:04Its mouth foamed white.
15:06It shuddered once.
15:07Its head fell to the side.
15:09It was dead.
15:09The physician pushed through and examined the child.
15:12Your majesty, the heir was healthy at the start.
15:14But the third princess concept consumed something during the pregnancy.
15:17I believe a harmful compound that damaged the child from the inside.
15:21It held on as long as it could.
15:22But it was never going to survive.
15:25Aldric's face darkly grabbed Seraphine by the collar.
15:27What did you take?
15:29What did you put into your body?
15:32What did you do to my son?
15:34Seraphine had gone grey.
15:35I didn't.
15:36I never.
15:37I only.
15:38Her eyes sharpened.
15:40Then she saw Selina cross the roof.
15:41It was her.
15:43It was Selina.
15:44She pointed.
15:45She gave me those herbs.
15:46She was jealous.
15:47She knew what I was carrying and she poisoned me.
15:50She poisoned my child!
15:51It was the gaze of a man who wanted someone to blame and had just been handed a target.
15:55Aldric turned his gaze on Selene.
15:59Seventh prince!
16:01Your wife killed my son.
16:03What do you intend to do about that?
16:05Selene was calm.
16:06She waited a beat, then spoke.
16:08Seraphine.
16:09You say the herbs I gave you were poisoned.
16:11But I ate from the same supply.
16:13My child is right here perfectly well.
16:16Can you explain that?
16:17Have you forgotten the potion you drank?
16:19You said it could turn snakes into dragons.
16:22Everyone in that room knew about Seraphine's pregnancy.
16:25Every foolish thing she had done had been witnessed and whispered about for months.
16:30Selene's words shifted the room.
16:32People murmured.
16:32People remembered.
16:34Seraphine sprung.
16:35She insisted compound was harmless.
16:37She demanded someone fetch the formula to prove it.
16:39The physician read it over.
16:40This compound is dangerous.
16:42It is almost certainly why the child had only two claws.
16:46Whatever was inside her, it did not deserve what it endured.
16:48It is remarkable it survived as long as it did.
16:51Seraphine heard this, and the color drained entirely from her face.
16:55You're saying...
16:55You're saying I did this?
16:57I turned it into that?
16:59I had a true dragon all along and I did that to it myself?
17:03She stood there, pulling at her own head, sinking under the weight of it.
17:07Then, all at once, she looked up.
17:09Then we try again!
17:11She grabbed Audric's arm with both hands.
17:13She said...
17:14Husband, we try again!
17:16Her smile was wrong.
17:18I did it once, I can do it again.
17:20Like another pregnancy!
17:22Another heir!
17:23Another heir!
17:24I know I can give you a dragon!
17:27Seraphine's story spread through the dragon court like fire through dry grass.
17:32She had delivered a true dragon heir, and it had died in the dragon king's arms within minutes of birth.
17:38Most people said it behind their hands and laughed.
17:41Seraphine didn't care.
17:42She shut herself in her chambers with Audric and got to work.
17:44She was serpent-born, and serpent-born women were extraordinarily fertile.
17:49Within two months, she was with child again.
17:51This time, she was careful.
17:53Obsessively careful.
17:54She ate well.
17:55She rested.
17:55She took every tonic and restorative the palace healers prescribed without argument.
17:59She told everyone who would listen, had a feeling, a certainty, that this child was a dragon.
18:06People were skeptical, but they believed her more than they might have otherwise.
18:09She had, after all, conceived a true dragon voice.
18:12That was more than anyone else in a hundred years could claim.
18:15The dragon king sent attendants from the palace to watch over her.
18:18Aldric stayed close.
18:19For the first time in their marriage, he was faithful and present.
18:22Everyone assumed this pregnancy would follow the same pattern as the first.
18:26That when the time came, the child would arrive and be a dragon.
18:28Instead, she carried it for three years.
18:31Three years was unnatural by any measure.
18:34It should have been a scandal.
18:35But Seraphine had heard of a figure from old legend.
18:37Whose mother had carried him for three years before he was born.
18:40And he had become something close to divine.
18:43So, she put that story in circulation.
18:45He told everyone.
18:46This child was no ordinary little dragon.
18:50It was something rarer.
18:52The court chose to believe her.
18:56Those three years were very good to me.
18:58Just as I'd expected.
18:59Edric and Selene gave me everything.
19:01They played with me.
19:02Taught me.
19:03Took me everywhere.
19:04Even the dragon king had grown fond of me.
19:06Despite me being only a snake-born child.
19:08On my third birthday, he held a feast in my honor.
19:11And placed around my neck the dragon seal pendant that only dragon-born princesses were meant to wear.
19:16He patted my head.
19:17Little Ren, tell me.
19:18What do you want most?
19:19Whatever you say, your grandfather will provide it.
19:23I want the dragon king to live forever.
19:27The room laughed.
19:28Warm, genuine laughter.
19:30Seraphine, standing at the edge of the crowd, looked like she had bitten into something rotten.
19:35She muttered under her breath.
19:36The old man has lost his senses.
19:38Fustling over a little black snake.
19:40That charm belongs on my child's neck.
19:42Not hers.
19:43The feast wound down.
19:44The dragon king invited me to spend the night in the palace.
19:47A nursemaid led me toward my rooms.
19:49But the walk felt wrong.
19:51The corridors were unfamiliar.
19:52We turned into an empty courtyard with no torches lit.
19:55And I saw Seraphine waiting in the dark.
19:57I ran.
19:58She caught me by the shoulder before I cleared the gate.
20:00Rin, where are you going?
20:02I'm not going to hurt you.
20:05Aunt Seraphina, did you want something?
20:07I have a birthday gift for you.
20:09I made it myself.
20:10Go on.
20:11Eat it.
20:11I looked at the cake.
20:12I looked at her.
20:13Every instinct I had said,
20:15Do not.
20:16I took it from her hand.
20:17Raised it toward my mouth.
20:18And threw it directly at her face.
20:20Then I ran again.
20:21The gate slammed shut before I reached it.
20:23Seraphine caught me and wrapped one hand around my throat.
20:25Her expression had dropped all pretense.
20:28You little ingrate.
20:30I brought you a gift and you wasted it.
20:32Open your mouth.
20:34I fought her.
20:36I was three years old and she was a grown woman.
20:39Someone help me!
20:40The third Princess Consort is trying to kill me!
20:44Seraphina, if you kill me again,
20:46I will ask the Ancient to turn your child into a worm.
20:49She stared down at me with an expression I had never seen on her face.
20:52Something between fury and terror.
20:54No!
20:55The gate burst open.
20:56Selene stood in the frame.
20:57What?
20:58Ren, I ran to her.
20:59Mother, she tried to poison me!
21:02Edric and the Dragon King were right behind Selene.
21:05Someone had noticed I was missing and raised the alarm.
21:07They had gone from courtyard to courtyard looking for me.
21:09The Dragon King looked-
21:10You were trying to harm Rint?
21:12Father, please don't listen to her.
21:14I brought her a birthday gift.
21:16She threw it at me and started screaming.
21:18I don't know why she would say something like this.
21:22Ren, I know you're young, but to accuse me of something so terrible, what were you thinking?
21:26She had her attendants bring forward the gift box she had prepared.
21:29Inside, a neat arrangement of small cakes, beautifully made.
21:33Her attendants confirmed-
21:34She had been in the kitchens all afternoon working on them.
21:37She had done it in secret, they said.
21:39Because Selene didn't like Ren eating sweets.
21:41And she hadn't wanted Selene to confiscate them.
21:45People started looking at me the way adults look at children who lie.
21:48Seraphine pressed her advantage.
21:50Little Wern, I know you were afraid I'd get you in trouble.
21:52But you don't have to make things up.
21:55Your aunt forgives you.
21:56Just say sorry and we can forget it.
21:59Children do invent things when they're frightened.
22:01I had heard enough!
22:04She didn't bring me here for cake.
22:06Lies!
22:06You're lying!
22:07She's been trying to get rid of me since before I was born.
22:09Three years ago, she bribed one of Mother's handymaids and drugged Mother's drink.
22:14She was going to use a forcing draft to deliver both of us early and switch us.
22:17She only failed because Mother woke up in time.
22:20That is a lie!
22:21Three years ago, I was carrying a true dragon heir.
22:23Why would I swap anything?
22:25What could I possibly have gained?
22:27Because you weren't sure yet.
22:29You thought Mother might be carrying the dragon and you might be carrying the snake.
22:32So you wanted to switch us before anyone found out.
22:35Seraphine's face went into a very meticulous...
22:37Father, she is a three-year-old child making accusations about things she could not possibly have witnessed.
22:42Exactly.
22:43Everyone went still.
22:45Selene spoke before the silence could stretch too long.
22:48My daughter does not lie.
22:49If you want to know whether this is true, ask the handymaid.
22:53The handmaid was found.
22:54The Dragon King's people had ways of getting at the truth.
22:57It didn't take long.
22:59The testimony came back in writing.
23:01Every detail confirmed.
23:03Seraphine had bribed her.
23:04The draft had been administered.
23:06Selene had woken before the swap could happen.
23:08The Dragon King read it.
23:09Then he dropped the paper on the floor at Seraphine's feet.
23:12Seraphine had gone white to the lips.
23:14Well...
23:14She's lying!
23:15The testimony is a forgery!
23:17Selene put her up to this!
23:18She and this li-
23:18You tried to kill my child.
23:20You wanted to destroy her before she was born.
23:22You have been trying to destroy her since.
23:25And now you stand here and call on our bond as sisters.
23:29She looked at Seraphine directly for a long moment.
23:32Did you think of that bond when you went after her?
23:34Selene and Edric pushed together for the Dragon King to render punishment.
23:37Sister!
23:38We are blood!
23:40Would you truly have me punished her over a snake?
23:43The moment you went after my child, you made your choice about what our bond was worth.
23:49The Dragon King straightened.
23:50He was about to speak.
23:51Seraphine dropped to the ground with a shriek.
23:53My stomach!
23:55The baby!
23:56I think it's coming!
23:56Someone fetch the midwife!
23:58Now!
23:59Nothing in the Dragon Court could stop the midwife.
24:02Not for punishment.
24:03Not for justice.
24:04Not for truth.
24:05If a possible Dragonair was on its way into the world.
24:08The Dragon King called for the midwives immediately.
24:10Half the court ran to finally.
24:12The other half followed Seraphine to her chambers to watch history happen.
24:15This time, birth was easy.
24:16Not even half a day.
24:18The bundle was brought out and placed in Seraphine's arms.
24:20The room went absolutely silent.
24:23It was a small, soft, pale worm.
24:25Barely moving.
24:27A common earthworm wrapped in royal linen.
24:29The Dragon King's face did something complicated.
24:32Aldric looked as though the floor had dropped out from under him.
24:34Seraphine didn't understand.
24:35She was reaching for the bundle.
24:37Her face still open and expectant.
24:39Let me see...
24:39Let me see my little dragon!
24:41She looked.
24:42What is this?
24:43She whispered.
24:44Where is my dragon?
24:46This isn't mine!
24:47Someone has switched them!
24:48Someone switched my child!
24:50This isn't...
24:51Aldric said.
24:52His voice was flat and terrible.
24:54Whose child is it then?
24:55Then, just as she had done the first time, Seraphine's gaze found me across the room.
25:00You...
25:00You did this!
25:01She said.
25:01I know you did this!
25:03I stepped back.
25:04One small step.
25:06Instinctive.
25:06Nobody in the room was ready for what happened next.
25:09Seraphine moved fast.
25:10She had a hand around my throat before anyone reached her.
25:13And she had a sword from the nearest star's belt before anyone knew she'd taken it.
25:17She pressed the blade on my neck.
25:18She had lost her mind entirely.
25:20Her voice shook with it.
25:22Tell me what you did.
25:24I left you alone this life.
25:26I left you alone and you still came after me!
25:28What did you do to my child?!
25:30Why won't you just let me have this?!
25:32Nobody else mastered what she meant.
25:35Selene went white.
25:36Edric learned forward.
25:37Put the blade down.
25:38Ring is three years old.
25:40She hasn't done anything.
25:42You don't understand!
25:43Seraphine's grip tightened.
25:44She's done this to me before!
25:46She ruined everything before!
25:48And now she's done it again!
25:50She won't stop until I have nothing!
25:52She looked at me.
25:53Her eyes were wild and wet.
25:55Die!
25:55She said.
25:56Just die!
25:57She dropped the sword into me.
25:59No!
25:59I heard Selene and Edric scream.
26:01And then, light.
26:02A warmth so sudden and total, it swallowed the pain whole.
26:06My feet scattered and then pulled back together, sharp and clear.
26:09I remembered the Ancient.
26:11After my first death, I had stood before she.
26:13She had offered me another chance.
26:15And then, as I was leaving, she had said something else.
26:18What had she said?
26:19I had almost forgotten.
26:20She had told me.
26:21You are a true dragon.
26:24You are a true dragon.
26:26You have always been one.
26:27But your dragon blood was sealed at birth.
26:30It is locked in your heart.
26:31And the seal can only be broken one of two ways.
26:34The first is to wait until you come of age.
26:37The second is to break it open yourself.
26:39Something vast was on your chest.
26:41It rose through the wound.
26:43It filled my ribs.
26:44My throat.
26:45My skull.
26:46I opened my mouth.
26:47And what came out was not a scream.
26:49It was a dragon's claw.
26:51It tore through the wound.
26:53It flapped the thunder.
26:53I felt my body leap in the ground.
26:55I felt myself expanding into something enormous.
26:58Something with wings and scales and weight.
27:01And I circled the wall twice.
27:03Enormous and gold and real.
27:05And then I came back down.
27:07When I returned to my small human shape.
27:09The wound was gone.
27:10The room stared at me.
27:12Shifted.
27:13Word shifted.
27:13She's a true dragon.
27:15She's been a true dragon this whole time.
27:17I knew she wasn't ordinary.
27:19The dragonkin has an heir.
27:21We have an heir.
27:22The room erupted.
27:24Seraphine stood completely still in the middle of it.
27:28Staring at me.
27:30How?
27:30She said.
27:32I was always one.
27:33I told her.
27:33I was one in my first life too.
27:35There were two ways to unlock my blood.
27:37The first was to reach adulthood.
27:38The second was for my heart seal to be broken by force.
27:41I looked at the sword she was still holding.
27:43You never had any patience.
27:44That's why you'll never be a dragon's mother.
27:47Before Seraphine could raise the sword again.
27:49It was over.
27:50Several people moved at once.
27:51She died there in the hall.
27:53The small worm she had carried for three years.
27:55Did not outlive her for long.
27:57Within a few years.
27:58It was gone too.
27:59Because I had revealed my true form.
28:01The dragon king honored the oath he had made before all the court.
28:04The prince whose bloodline produced a true dragon heir.
28:07Would take the throne.
28:08On the day Edric was crowned.
28:10I told them everything.
28:11The first life.
28:12The second.
28:12All of it.
28:13I expected to be scolded for keeping it secret.
28:15Instead.
28:16They both wept.
28:18Were.
28:18She said.
28:19We should be thanking you.
28:20You chose us.
28:22Out of everyone you could have gone to.
28:24You chose us.
28:25That is not something we will ever take lightly.
28:27Dragon.
28:28Or snake.
28:28Or anything in between.
28:30You were always exactly who we wanted.
28:32Two lives.
28:33A lot of dying.
28:34A lot of cruelty to wade through.
28:36Before I got here.
28:36But.
28:37I got here.
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