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Bound to Ares of Olympus HD
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Short filmTranscript
00:01I was born with heavy breasts and lush curves. My sister Helena was afraid her
00:06husband Damon would lose his mind over me, so she arranged for me to be wed to
00:10an impotent man. She patted my shoulder. A man who can't perform there is
00:17probably exceptional everywhere else. Three months later I was begging for
00:21mercy every single night. I desperately wanted to ask Helena what she meant by
00:25can't get hard. Funny, he seemed good at everything. Alexander, Arathon's undefeated
00:31commander in the king's most trusted world, was carried back from the northern border on a littered
00:37straight through the flood. The spear had gone to him. By the time the army reached the city gates,
00:43he had lost consciousness twice. If a dying man was bound to a living, healthy woman,
00:48her vitality could tether him back to life. His mother, Lady Corinna, had already buried her
00:53husband. Now she stood at the edge of burying her son. Helena presented me to Lady Corinna
00:58before I could find words to object. I had no real choice, or I would starve. If I refused,
01:04she would have me sent to work in the outer estates, the salt flats, the ones that broke people in
01:09a
01:09season. I knew she had never forgiven me for my history with Damon. Please, I swear Damon and I
01:16are just friends. What good is a vow? Do you have any idea how distracting your big boobs are? I
01:24wanted
01:25to tell her to bind my chest. I'd wrapped myself layer after layer in the sweltering heat until I broke
01:31out in a rash. Walking through this house with that body, which man here wouldn't lose himself the moment
01:38he looked at you. It's not that I don't trust you. It's that I don't trust men. Do you know
01:45who he is?
01:45The Aries. If my mother and Corinna weren't old friends, you wouldn't even be considered for this.
01:52Helena, I don't want to be anyone's deathbed offering. Please don't make me...
01:59Iris, are you loose your mind? You should be grateful. The door opened. A household servant
02:07stepped in, breathless. My Lady Helena. Word from the Vos Estate. Alexander has woken up.
02:13Helena dragged me to the Vos Estate. I followed her through the entrance hall to a heavy door.
02:17Through the gap, I caught the shape of a man on a low bed, thin, still. His chest moves with
02:23the
02:23shallow, effortful rhythm. Lady Corinna stood near the window, eyes red. She took Helena's hands.
02:30Helena, thank you for everything you've done for my son. He's pulled through. There's no need to bind a
02:35girl to a dying man. I won't destroy someone's future over it. Helena's eyes moved. Calculated.
02:40Quick. Lady Corinda, the marriage should still go forward. Iris arrived the same morning Alexander
02:46woke. That's the God's doing, not coincidence. Complete the rite properly. Her vitality will
02:51keep drawing him back towards health. Corinna hesitated. She looked at me. The household physician
02:57stepped out from the room, his face tight. Lord Alexander has regained consciousness,
03:02but the spear struck deep into his inner thigh, and the damage to the surrounding tissue. I'm
03:07afraid he will no longer be able to perform as a husband. He can't. Helena looked more stricken
03:12than Corinna. He will not be able to get hard, possibly ever. Corinna's knees gave. I caught her
03:17before she hit the floor. She looked up at me with hollowed eyes. Knowing this, do you still want this?
03:23Of course she does. She's no one. She should be grateful for the name. I didn't speak right away.
03:28My mother had been a physician's assistant. A skilled one. My father had courted her without
03:33mentioning he already had a wife. She found out when she was already carrying me. She died the
03:38night I was born. He brought me into the household anyway. Gave me a roof, a name, a place that
03:44was
03:44never quite mine. When he died, that ended. Helena's mother had never wanted me there. Without my father,
03:50I had no ground. I learned healing technique from my mother's old notes, the only thing left of her.
03:55The one skill that kept me from being put out. There had been a young scholar in the narrow streets
04:00behind our estate. Damon. Poor, hungry, grinding toward the city examinations on nothing. I had
04:07passed food through the fence for two years. I thought he would remember. I went to him the night
04:12before everything fell apart. He didn't open the gate. Iris, I'm betrothed now. It wouldn't be proper.
04:18A small coin purse dropped over the wall into the dirt. Consider the debt repaid. I picked it up and
04:24walked away. That scholar became Helena's husband. I acted as though I had never known him. Helena found
04:30out anyway. My lady, I'm willing. I'll complete the right, care for Alexander and serve your household
04:37as long as you need me. Corinna kept her word. She had a proper wedding garment prepared. She treated
04:42the ceremony with full dignity. Helena chose a day when Damon was away on city business to walk me out.
04:48She pressed my papers into my hands, guilt on her face. Even though Alexander can't perform,
04:54at least you're spared the pain of bearing children. Don't worry. A man who can't perform there is
05:00probably exceptional everywhere else. None of it had crossed my mind, honestly. I told myself I was
05:05simply moving to a new household. Alexander was too weak to stand through the full wedding rite.
05:11I completed the ceremony beside his sword. The one hanging on the wall of the great room. Iron and plain.
05:17The kind of weapon that had actually been used. Lady Corinna watched from the front,
05:22eyes wet the whole time. When it was done, I was Alexander's wife. His chamber was quiet when I
05:27pushed the door open. He was already inside, half sitting against the headboard. A plain linen robe
05:33open at the throat. He turned when he heard me. Up close, he was strikingly handsome. Strong jaw,
05:40dark eyes that looked at things directly without apology. A face that had been outdoors for years and
05:45carried it well. I never intended to have a wife, he said, low and even. If it doesn't trouble you,
05:52we can keep this arrangement simple. In name only. Tonight the bed is yours. He pointed to the couch
05:58against the far wall. Tomorrow you move to the guest quarters. He had thought through all of it. It
06:03wasn't what I'd expected. All right. Before the ceremony, one of Corinna's older servants had pressed
06:08something into my hands. A small scroll. There are other ways between a husband and wife.
06:14You might find this useful someday. I hadn't understood her until I unrolled it. Heat moved
06:21through me just from the first illustration. Alexander was watching me from bed. Is it too warm here?
06:26Eyes steady, direct. The wedding garments are heavy. I'm a little warm. Wash up and rest then.
06:33He pulled the blanket over himself and within minutes his breathing had evened out. I set the scroll,
06:38on the side table. I unpinned my hair. Then I changed, layered robes off piece by piece,
06:45until I was standing in nothing but my sleeping shift. I turned to the polished bronze mirror on
06:50the wall. The shift was not thick enough. Heavy breasts straining against the linen, waist narrow,
06:55hips full. Years of trying to make myself smaller. In a thin shift at midnight, there was nothing left
07:01to hide behind. I stepped toward the lamp to turn it down and walked straight into his gaze. He wasn't
07:07asleep. His chest rose hard. The tips of his ears had gone red. His throat worked as he swallowed.
07:14I grabbed my outer robe. Alexander, I thought you were asleep. A long pause.
07:19I could sleep later. Low, controlled. Like he was holding something back by force. My breath caught.
07:25He rose to his feet slowly. Tall. His shadow fell over me.
07:42Every image from that scroll flooded back. My breathing shifted without me meaning it to,
07:46somehow falling into the same rhythm as his. Then Alexander turned and walked to the door.
07:51The moment night air rushed in from the courtyard, I came back to myself. He was already gone. I stood
07:58there in the lamplight. When he looked at me just now, the shock in his eyes. Had I actually rattled
08:03the
08:04most feared warlord in Aerathon? I decided that tomorrow morning, I was going to wear three layers
08:09of linen and a belt. He came back sometime in the night. His hair was damp at the ends. When
08:14I woke
08:15in the morning, he was already gone. The room was empty and orderly. His attendant Theo came in to check
08:21on me. Alexander, the night is cold. Why didn't you call for someone to heat water? I'll have Nikos make
08:31you something for that. A cold bath in your condition. I don't know what you were thinking.
08:37I looked at Theo. Does he usually take cold baths? Theo shrugged with the expression of someone who
08:44had seen many things and commented on none of them. I was fine and closed the door. Then I added
08:50a third
08:50layer of linen. Every woman in the upper city was fine boned and carefully composed. That was what was
08:56considered beautiful in Aerathon's court circles. My body was different. Full, warm, soft in ways that
09:03drew the wrong kind of attention. Alexander not wanting to look at me was entirely predictable.
09:09I went to greet Corinna that morning. Alexander was already seated beside her. She smiled like the sun
09:14had come out the moment she saw me. Her face only changed when Alexander coughed. Alexander, give us a
09:22moment. I need to speak with Iris alone. He left without argument. Corinna waved to me to
09:26sit beside her. She took my hand and looked at me with eyes that were still a little wet. Iris,
09:32my sweet girl. My son waking up is more than I dared ask for. But I can't let that gift
09:39become
09:39your cage. Her smile faded at the edges. Nikos says the damage may be permanent. No one knows how
09:45much time he has. Some in the household have suggested I name a cousin's son as heir. But that
09:51would trap here for nothing. You came to give him strength and I am already grateful for it.
09:56I can't ask you to give him the rest of your life too. I've already thought it through.
10:00If the worst comes, I'll have him release you from the marriage.
10:04You'll be free. I'll give you property and enough silver to live on your own terms.
10:10I reached over and dried the corner of her eye. Something ached in my chest, quiet and unannounced.
10:15I had come here telling myself this was just a new household. I hadn't expected her to be thinking of
10:20my future before her own. It made me think of my mother. If she had lived. If someone had done
10:25this for her. Corinna laughed through her tears. Look at me making you cry. Iris, call me mother if
10:32you like. You might as well. Her voice softened. Helena mentioned, you know, healing technique.
10:38Alexander's daily care. The food, the remedies. Could you take that on? I just want him here a
10:46little longer. That's my one small selfishness. Her voice roughened at the end. I nodded. I went to
10:52find Nikos and asked what he needed. The last time I had done serious healing work was years ago,
10:59back when Damon was still just a hungry student living in two rented rooms behind our estate wall.
11:04He had collapsed at our back gate one afternoon from not eating for two days. I was the one who
11:11found him. I made him soup. I went through my mother's notes and put together a proper recovery
11:16regimen. Herbs, timing, what to avoid. He got strong. He passed his examinations. He told Helena. She used
11:25it to push me out. He helped her do it. I carried the tray down the long corridor to Alexander's
11:31room.
11:31He was at his desk, giving instructions to a young aide about supply routes along the northern road.
11:39I'll eat later, he said without looking up. You should eat now. The compounds in the broth lose
11:45their effect if the stomach is empty. He looked at the tray, then at me. Going forward, have Theo bring
11:51these. He knows the schedule. I can bring them. It isn't necessary. It makes no difference. It does.
11:58Have Theo's do it. He finished the broth and a few efficient swallows. I'll be in the map room if
12:02you
12:02need me. Said something to the aide and walked past me without pausing. That settled it. Alexander of
12:07House Vos did not want me in his space. I followed his instruction. After that, Theo delivered every
12:14meal to the study. A week later, at morning check with Corinna, she was glowing. Nikos came for his
12:20routine visit. He says Alexander's color is better than he's seen since the injury. Iris, that's your doing.
12:27Back in my room, I added it to the small chest I kept by the window. Bracelets, an amber pin,
12:33a pair of earrings. Everything Corinna had given me since I arrived.
12:39You never wear any of it. I will eventually. If I ever leave, it all converts to something useful.
12:46Leave? You'd sell what Lady Coritta gave you? Not while I'm here. But if the marriage is dissolved
12:53one day, yes. That's just practical. Lord Alexander. I turned. Alexander stood in the doorway.
13:09Corinna had said his color was better. He was still pale, his expression closed and unreadable.
13:16He looked at me with flat, measuring eyes. My pulse jumped. Alexander, did you need something?
13:24I left a field map in this room. Looking for it. I'll help you find it. What does it look
13:30like?
13:32Theo had disappeared. Quietly and completely, as though he had never been there.
13:37Gold leather, brown cord.
13:41I started checking the shelves. He moved to the other side.
13:46Any idea where you left it?
13:49No.
13:50We searched in silence. I reached up toward the top shelf, and his hand arrived at exactly the
13:57same moment. His fingers covered mine for half a second. The skin under his touch went
14:03instantly warm. I tilted my head up to look at him from this close. He was genuinely handsome.
14:11Fair against dark brows, sharp cut features, eyes that held something underneath the surface that I
14:18couldn't name, like still deep water. My throat tightened. I turned back to the shelf.
14:25I went up on my toes to reach further, and lost my balance. He caught me instinctively.
14:32My chest was pressed tightly against him. I pulled back fast. Alexander's chest was rising and falling
14:38too hard. His face was red.
14:41Your map.
14:43I held it out.
14:44Keep it.
14:45He took it without looking at me and left. Right. Now he thought even less of me. After that,
14:50I avoided him deliberately. He was healing. He needed stillness. I was apparently not conducive to
14:55stillness. But a new problem arrived by messenger. Damon had been sending letters. Three in the past
15:00week. Brief, angled, the kind that said, meet me without saying it. I burned them in the lamp without
15:07responding. Today, Theo appeared at my door, voice low.
15:12Lady Iris. Someone is waiting at the side gate.
15:16He says he won't leave until you come out. I already knew. I walked out fast. Through the garden,
15:22I noticed another shape following at a distance. Someone keeping pace along the far colonnade.
15:30But I didn't stop. I pushed open the side gate. Damon stood outside. He smiled the easy smile I used
15:39to
15:39believe in. Iris. You finally came. You can call me Lady Voss. Or nothing at all.
15:50I'm being considered for a senior position at the council.
15:55When that comes through, I won't need Helena's family connections anymore. Iris, come with me.
16:04Alexander is finished. Everyone in the city knows it. It's foot in the grave.
16:08One foot in the grave. What kind of future is that? He reached toward me. I stepped back.
16:15You want me as your kept woman? He nodded like it was a reasonable offer.
16:19I laughed. Actually laughed. Why would I leave a Voss marriage to be your secret?
16:26I have standing. I have a name. I have a household that has served this kingdom for three generations.
16:34Everyone in the upper city knows Alexander is done. Seems like a waste.
16:41Something cold moved through me. Damon. You had one thing from me. Loyalty. And you returned it with
16:48a coin purse over a wall. You want to push this? I have every letter you've sent me. I can
16:53have them
16:53in Helena's hands before sundown. How does your council appointment look after that? His face went
16:59white. I turned and walked back through the gate. I spun around inside and nearly walked into Alexander.
17:05Alexander. He was standing two feet away in a plain dark cloak, still as a wall.
17:13Alexander. I-
17:15You just called yourself a Voss.
17:16His eyes were level. My face went warm.
17:20I was making a point. I didn't mean to presume.
17:23You told him I was a warlord who had served this kingdom for three generations.
17:27That's just true.
17:30Something moved behind his eyes.
17:33A moment ago, you called me your husband.
17:37Now you're back to Alexander.
17:39I- I should go check on your afternoon remedy timing.
17:45I tried to step past him. His hand caught my arm. Steady, not rough. I stumbled sideways and fell
17:52against his chest. Again. I looked up at him from very close.
17:56His eyes were dark and direct.
17:59The things you said to him.
18:01Low.
18:03Were they true?
18:04I couldn't tell him it had all been a bluff for Damon's benefit.
18:07So I looked up at him. Alexander's eyes stayed on my face.
18:11The distance between us was wrong. Too close.
18:14His breath steady and warm. His hand still around my arm.
18:18Iris.
18:19The remedy timing I-
18:21I should go check.
18:22He let go.
18:24I walked away without looking back.
18:28Around the corner I stopped, pressed my back against the stone wall.
18:31My heart was going completely haywire.
18:34That was the first time I had seen anything other
18:36than controlled distance in Alexander's face.
18:41That night I dreamed about him. His voice saying my name made the whole dream feels like standing
18:47close to a fire. I woke with my pulse pounding and the sheets twisted around me. I called for
18:53a basin of cold water. Theo brought it without comment and looked at my damp hair on the way out.
18:59I pressed a handful of cold water against my face. Then I thought about Alexander getting up in
19:05the middle of the night to take a cold bath. I pushed the thought out immediately.
19:12His thigh was still healing. This was completely absurd.
19:17At midday, Corinna's attendant found me in the herb garden.
19:20Lady Corinna is taking supper in the courtyard this evening. She'd like you both there.
19:24I had been finding excuses to avoid shared meals all week. Corinna had noticed. I couldn't keep
19:29saying no. I walked out to the inner courtyard as the evening light came through the carved stone
19:34screens. The long table had been set simply. The old laurel tree in the corner was in flower.
19:40White blooms catching the last of the sun. The spread on the table was everything I liked.
19:45I stood there looking at it. Alexander remembered. He asked the kitchen this morning.
19:52I looked across the table. Alexander looked at his cup.
20:00How did you know today was my birthday? I forgot it myself. My mother had died the
20:05night I was born. No one had ever made a point of the date. The marriage documents.
20:12Your birth date was listed. Something moved in my chest. Small and uninvited.
20:19Iris, I've been saving this. Good wine. From the hillside estate, the old press.
20:25Don't let either of you drink too much. Actually, the evening air troubles my joints. I'll leave
20:33you two to enjoy it. She was gone before I could say anything. The courtyard went quiet,
20:39just the two of us and the sound of wind through the laurel. To cover the silence, I poured a
20:44cup and
20:45drank it faster than I should have. It was sweet. It was also considerably stronger than it tasted. I
20:51poured another, then another. The warmth spread through my chest and up behind my eyes and everything
20:56softened slightly at the edges. I reached toward the last small honey cake on the plate between us
21:02and found it empty.
21:06Where did the last one go?
21:09I ate it. I don't know where the nerve came from. I leaned toward him across the table.
21:14Who let you take the last one? Give it back. Alexander looked at me for a long moment.
21:21Then he opened his mouth. Come and find it yourself. I stared at him, then at his mouth,
21:27then back at his eyes. I leaned forward and kissed him. He went completely still. His breath stopped.
21:34Then something gave way. His hand came up to the back of my head and the kiss deepened, slower,
21:40more certain, like he had been waiting for exactly this and was not going to waste it.
21:45Footsteps on the stone path. We broke apart. It was Theo, carrying cloaks.
21:52Lord Alexander. Lady Karina said the night is getting cold. She wanted me to... I'll just leave these here.
22:04My legs went unreliable. Everything went dark. I woke to morning light coming through the window
22:11at the wrong angle. When I woke up, the morning light shone through the window. I sat up fast.
22:17Karina. The temple visit. I had promised to go with her this morning.
22:22Don't rush. Theo appeared in the doorway. The carriage isn't ready yet.
22:30How did I get back here? Alexander carried you in. I looked at him.
22:37He nodded seriously. Did I... Did I say anything strange?
22:43You kept grabbing his sleeve and calling him my husband. Over and over. He went so red I thought
22:49he was going to need Nikos. Theo, if you tell anyone, if you tell anyone... He was already gone.
22:59I found Karina at the front gate.
23:05We took the carriage to the temple of the healing god.
23:08She went every week, she said, to give thanks.
23:12Karina glanced over.
23:14You're not thinking about what I think you're thinking about.
23:18I'm not thinking about anything.
23:20Iris.
23:23She was smiling at the window.
23:26I set that dinner up deliberately.
23:30I'm not even slightly sorry.
23:37Alexander and I aren't...
23:39I know, I know. I just want you two to actually speak to each other.
23:43Even if it stays simple. I'd rather you were at ease together than strangers under the same roof.
23:49I was about to answer her. The carriage lurched. The horses screamed.
23:54The brake!
23:54A sharp shout from the driver. We were moving and not stopping.
24:00The carriage swerved hard to the left and the road tilted under us and kept going.
24:05I looked ahead through the carriage window.
24:09Now!
24:12Hold on to me. We go on three.
24:16Iris, that wall is faster than we are.
24:18If we stay in the carriage, we die.
24:24And the moment I pulled us both out, we hit the slope hard.
24:31The carriage struck the wall ahead of us with a sound like the world was getting.
24:37Karina, tell me where it hurts. Tell me everything.
24:40I'm... Iris, you're bleeding.
24:42The gravel had opened my shoulder and one side of my face. I didn't feel it yet.
24:47Where are you hurt? Specifically?
24:50Nothing serious.
24:53Iris, you held me the entire way down. You took all of it yourself.
24:58I helped her sit upright against the slope and looked back up the road. The driver had been
25:03thrown clear earlier. I could see him moving, alive. Theo's horse was already coming down the hill at
25:08speed. They'll be here in moments. Stay still.
25:11I heard my own voice from a distance, calm, even, while my whole body was screaming. Footsteps running,
25:18coming fast down the embankment, then a voice I was not expecting.
25:21Iris, don't move. I have you.
25:24Alexander came down the slope in three long strides, pale, jaw locked, eyes already scanning me for
25:31damage. He took my arm in both hands and turned it over. How much of this blood is yours?
25:38Surface wounds. I'm fine. Stop saying that. He pulled off his cloak and pressed it hard
25:45against my shoulder. You are not fine. He looked at his mother. She raised her hand,
25:51I'm alright, and pointed back at me. He turned back. He tied the cloak around my shoulder and then,
25:57without asking, lifted me off the ground. I was in his arms, off the slope, against his chest. I could
26:05feel how fast his heart was going, he said. You could have been killed. Quiet, like he was saying
26:10it to himself and couldn't stop. He carried me to the road. I can walk by myself. He did not
26:17respond to
26:18this. By the time Nikos arrived, Alexander's face was still wrong. Too tight. Something in his eyes
26:24that had not been released. Iris pulled me out. She covered me completely. I came away without a mark
26:32because of her. Alexander stood at the edge of the group, arms crossed, looking at me. I looked back.
26:38You need to stay still. I know. We're going straight back and Nikos is doing a full examination.
26:43I know. He helped me into the carriage. We rode back in silence. His hand stayed on the seat behind
26:49me the whole way. Not touching, just there. At some point, I felt something hit my face. I looked up
26:55at
26:55the clear afternoon sky. Then I understood it wasn't rain. I reached over and covered his hand with mine.
27:01He turned it palm up immediately and held on. I didn't let go. Stay off it for a week.
27:06No broken bones. Deep bruising across your back. Two fingers he wrapped tightly and told me not to
27:12use. I lay there after he left and looked at the ceiling. Theo came in with broth. The carriage had
27:18been tampered with. Something in the wheel mechanism. The household guard was already investigating.
27:24Who would go after Karita's carriage? And why now? I was still turning it over when the door opened.
27:31Alexander. He came in and sat in the chair beside the bed without speaking. He set a small wooden box
27:39on the nightstand. The wheel pin was pulled. It wasn't an accident. Do you know who? Working on it.
27:45He looked at my wrapped hand. The muscle in his jaw moved. You kept my mother from going over that
27:50wall.
27:50She would have done the same for me. That isn't the point. Quiet again. When he looked at me this
27:55time,
27:56something in it had shifted entirely. Iris. I need to tell you something. I've known for weeks that I
28:01was going to have to dissolve this marriage. I asked Nikos to begin preparing the docutation.
28:05My chest went completely still. I knew you were waiting for it. The way you kept your distance.
28:11The chest you were filling. You were always going to leave. I told myself I was simply doing it for
28:16you before you had to ask. The papers are ready. You can go whenever you choose.
28:21I've had an account prepared. Property and silver. Enough to live on your own terms for as long as you
28:25need. You don't have to wait for the worst. You don't have to keep pretending. I know you've been
28:29counting the days. You don't have to do that anymore. Just go. He stood up and walked out.
28:34I sat there in the silence after the door closed. In your mind. That is who I am. My throat
28:40was burning.
28:40I could not find words for what was sitting in my chest. I just looked at the door for a
28:45long time.
28:45The next morning, Alexander was gone before I woke. By midday, word had reached the household
28:50from the city council offices. Corinna found me before I heard it from anyone else. Iris.
28:56Alexander. There's been a formal accusation submitted to the war council.
29:01Someone has filed a report claiming he deliberately surrendered the northern pass two years ago.
29:07That he passed defensive positions to the enemy. That the army's losses that season were his doing.
29:11I read the council notice twice. Alexander had held that pass for three weeks against a force three
29:17times his size. And he had rushed to dissolve our marriage before this broke. Theo found me in the
29:22corridor. He would never. You know that. I sat down. I made myself think. My mother had treated a
29:28council official years ago. He had come to thank my father afterward. I remembered his name. I remembered
29:34his face. He was still on the war council board. I spent the next hour finding.
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