- 2 days ago
عودة أروى لسحق الخونة
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00:25You don't want me anymore?
00:28I had returned back to the day of the choosing. Vendors shouting in the black market. Voices clashing with the
00:34snarls of caged beastmen. The truth is clear. I had returned to the day father had brought us to the
00:39black market to choose. Pac's unspoken blood laud.
00:42Every young man and woman, three years before coming of age, personally select an equally young beastman as their future
00:50mate.
00:51Bonded for life. No betrayal. No abandonment. Beastmen matured much quicker than humans. A puppet's love was to prevent a
00:59bonded beastman from growing into a resentful predator.
01:01But I had never fully understood why. Beastmen ranked beneath humans. Caged and passive. Waiting to be claimed like livestock.
01:09So why would our bloodline insist on binding us to them?
01:14Weren't they afraid of us being betrayed?
01:15Suddenly, I locked with Kale's eyes. Still young and naive. Memory of my past life resurfaced. The stinging pains of
01:22my throat being slipped are so vivid.
01:25God.
01:26I bit it back and steadied myself with a fist, pressed hard against the pain of my chest, and looked
01:31around. The massive holding cage ahead contained no fewer than twenty beastmen.
01:36Unsurprisingly, every one of them bore fresh wounds. My gaze locked instantly on Kale. Hunched in the corner. Arm torn
01:43by bite marks. His fox ears and tail no longer able to stay hidden.
01:47He caught my gaze, and something lit in his eyes. Then he moved toward me.
01:51Alara, which one do you like?
01:53Serafina appeared at my shoulder, her smile perfectly gentle. She was father's daughter from his first wife. A woman who
02:00had bled out in labor, and never held her child.
02:03Father had remarried, and my brother and I came after. For years, Serafina had maintained a flawless image. Gracious and
02:11elegant to the outside world. Warm and devoted sister within the walls.
02:15In truth, she burned with rabid jealousy. Convinced that my brother and I had stolen father's attention, and her birthright.
02:22So she had delayed her own choosing.
02:24Father, I'd like to wait a bit before choosing an orc. I want to go with my sister.
02:31Laying a trap she'd been tightening for years. Watching Serafina now, poised as a flower, I understood perfectly. This was
02:39the moment Kale had first set his sights on her.
02:41Serafina spotted Kale too, and murmured,
02:44You've always had a taste for pretty things. That fox suits you.
02:48Pretty, and nothing else.
02:51The color drained from Kale's face.
02:53In my last life, those words had fallen from Serafina's lips, and they had shattered him on the spot. This
02:59time was no different.
03:01He stared at me, ashen, his eyes flooding with disbelief. A question stirred in my gut.
03:06Serafina gave a small smile, drifted away, and began her own careful selection.
03:12Just as in my last life, she chose the powerfully built Shadow Wolf. Now I was the only one who
03:17hasn't chosen.
03:19Few beastmen remained in the cage. A quick sweep found Kale watching me with naked hope.
03:24My gaze moved past him, and settled on the beastman behind. Half human, half serpent. Coiled, and utterly still. If
03:31memory served, no one had chosen him in my last life. But a beastman had risen in this city after
03:37that. A name that made even hardened predators go still.
03:40Silas. Single-handedly, he had dismantled the black market. Led a mass exodus of captive beastmen. And years later, stood
03:48across a negotiating table from the humans. And won equal rights for every last one of his kind.
03:53I had crossed paths with Silas once, and that white serpent tail was burned into my memory. Right now, Silas
04:00could barely hold his human form. Every inch of him fragility.
04:03Made up your mind?
04:04Father's voice cut through the noise.
04:07Yes.
04:10I want him.
04:12Kale's expression cracked. He spun around to stare at the frail serpent in disbelief.
04:17You're not choosing me?
04:18I didn't acknowledge Kale. Behind him, Silas cracked open his eyes. A pair of serpent-slit pupils, fixing on me
04:25without a flicker of warmth. I held that gaze, my voice steady with conviction.
04:29Come with me, and I'll heal you.
04:31Silas pressed a palm to the floor, crawled toward me. He stopped at my feet. I crouched down and pressed
04:36a palm to his cheek.
04:37I'm taking you with me.
04:38Kale lunged forward and seized my wrist.
04:41Choose me. You're supposed to choose me. He's half-dead already. Why would you pick him?
04:47That settled it. Kale had been reborn, too. Before I could react, Silas's brow furrowed, and the blood-streaked serpent
04:54tail unquirred and snapped around Kale like a whip.
04:58Kale hit the wall hard enough to rattle the iron bars. Silas's eyes were cold-slit.
05:03Come closer again, and I'll kill you.
05:05Watching Kale clutch his ribs, I felt something close to joy rise in my chest, and I rewarded Silas with
05:12an approving pinch of his cheek.
05:13That was impressive.
05:15Silas's lashes trembled. He dropped his gaze fast. After Father paid and sent us home with our chosen beastmen, Kale's
05:22voice chased me out of the black market, shouting my name with a fury that echoed off the iron.
05:27I glanced sideways at the bodyguard beside me, and, as if deeply inconvenienced...
05:32He's so irritating.
05:34Understood.
05:36I let the corner of my mouth curl. In the black market, every unchosen beastman was sent to the fighting
05:42pit, a place where survival was measured in blood and screaming iron.
05:46I was very much looking forward to that. The good mood carried me all the way home.
05:50Father spared no resources on beastmen care. Manuals, medicinal compounds, and supply crates flowed into my room like a tide.
05:57Silas's wounds weren't deep, but a congenital defect in his body slowed his recovery to a crawl.
06:03It made me only more curious. How had he survived the fighting pit in his last life, dragging that broken
06:09body through it all?
06:10My stare must have been too obvious, because a slow flush crept up Silas's neck.
06:14Mistress? Do you need something?
06:19In my last life, Kale had never once called me anything but my name, saving reverence for Serafina.
06:25Being called mistress had a strange, particular weight to it. I tossed the medicine kit onto his lap.
06:32Dress your own wounds.
06:33Silas caught it and nodded, docile as still water. A few days of rest, and Silas had reclaimed his fully
06:39human form.
06:41Taller, too, his frame filling out overnight like a plant after rain.
06:45Beastmen really did grow at an inhuman pace. That morning, father tracked me down.
06:50A beastmen healer had come to the city. He said, a merkin named Mira.
06:54She could treat both beastmen and humans.
06:58Father wanted me to take Silas to see her.
07:00The merkin carried innate healing gifts from birth, the strength of which scaled with individual talent.
07:06Even the weakest among them could mend their own bodies, but the most gifted could restore life to the near
07:11dead.
07:12Father turned to leave. I stopped him with the question that had been sitting in my chest for days.
07:16Our bloodline status over beastmen is absolute.
07:20So why does the PAC law bind us to them as mates?
07:24He paused, let out a long breath.
07:26Alara, remember this. A beastman's loyalty is something no human being can replicate.
07:31Whether you earn that loyalty, that depends entirely on you.
07:35He waved the conversation closed and walked away.
07:38I knew as well as anyone how rare a beastman's loyalty was.
07:42But in the mess I'd inherited from my last life, rare felt like a polite word for impossible.
07:48Wasn't this just gambling with our lives?
07:50I watched Father go, then turned back and called Silas from his room, leading him out into the city for
07:56the first time.
07:57Mistress, what's that?
07:59Ice cream.
08:00He cataloged everything.
08:02Stall signs, storefronts, passing vehicles, with wide, hungry eyes.
08:07Mistress, what's that?
08:09An amusement park.
08:11Mistress!
08:11When we get back, I'll teach you to read, then you'll figure it out yourself.
08:15Okay.
08:16Silas beamed, falling into step just behind my shoulder.
08:20Out of the corner of my eye, I caught him eating the ice cream with total indifference.
08:25He didn't like it at all.
08:26While his gaze moved in quick, methodical sweeps across the street around us, the carefully performed helplessness had cracked.
08:33Just for a second.
08:34He didn't trust me, not even close.
08:37And beneath the docile surface, he was calculating.
08:40Of course he is, I thought.
08:41We arrived at the address Father had given me.
08:44I had expected something imposing.
08:46A high-rise, gilded signage.
08:48Because a beast man healer of rare power commanded human respect as much as fear.
08:53Instead, I found the most unremarkable courtyard I'd ever seen, identifiable only because it was packed shoulder to shoulder with
09:00people waiting.
09:01Inside, I spotted Kale.
09:03He was slumped against a girl's shoulder, barely breathing, more absent than present.
09:08As if he sensed me, Kale opened his eyes and found mine instantly.
09:13That one look was packed with a lifetime of grievances.
09:16He pushed himself upright from the girl's arms, eyes red-rimmed, and fixed me with an expression that begged without
09:23words.
09:24Then a hand closed over my eyes.
09:26Don't look at him.
09:28Glamour rat.
09:29I laughed and pulled his hand down.
09:32Get in line.
09:34Of course I could feel Kale's fox allure threading through the air, but it couldn't touch me now.
09:40Not with only hatred and wariness where softness used to live, and not when his glamour was still this juvenile.
09:48Silas gave me one more uncertain look, then moved to join the queue.
09:52What was Kale even doing here?
09:53But I wasn't the only one questioning it.
09:56A fox and an heiress whose family treats beasts like dirt?
09:59The pair drew everyone's attention.
10:02Someone gossiped among the crowd.
10:03On Kale's first day in the fighting pit, he had weaved his fox allure around a girl named Talia, making
10:10her desperate to buy him.
10:11Her father was a business partner of fathers.
10:14And when the black market saw how badly she wanted Kale, they drove the price up.
10:18Talia didn't have enough, went home to scrape together the rest, and spent several days doing it.
10:23During those days, on the bodyguard's quiet instruction, every beast man Kale faced in the pit was as brutal as
10:30they came.
10:31Talia had come back just in time to pull him out at death's door.
10:35I understood now.
10:36Kale was wounded badly enough that Talia had brought him here.
10:39I took a proper look at Talia.
10:41Peach bloomed skin, wide eyes, all open sincerity.
10:45Not a calculating bone in her body by the look of it.
10:48No wonder Kale had reeled her in so easily.
10:51He never does change.
10:52Suddenly, Kale tore free of Talia's grip and lurched toward me.
10:56Hey, where are you going?
10:58Talia reached for him, and he shoved her hand away viciously.
11:02Don't touch me!
11:03He glared at her with an expression I knew by heart.
11:07Revulsion.
11:08The specific kind reserved for things that had already served their purpose.
11:12He was certain Talia couldn't live without him, so he treated her with careless cruelty.
11:17Something sour moved through me, and I set my jaw.
11:20Silas' brow creased.
11:22His weight shifted.
11:23I stopped him with a look.
11:25Kale staggered to me in a few short steps, those steps costing him everything.
11:29His legs gave, he dropped to one knee, barely catching himself before he hit the ground entirely.
11:35He forced his chin up, and his eyes were sincere in a way that made my skin crawl.
11:40I'm sorry.
11:42I know what I did.
11:43He reached out, small and careful.
11:46Can you forgive me?
11:47So, he'd guessed I'd been reborn too.
11:50I didn't move, and a flicker of relief crossed his face.
11:53He was almost close enough to take my hand.
11:55I looked past him at Talia instead.
11:57Let me show you how to handle a beastman who won't behave.
12:00The next second, I drove my boot into the center of Kale's chest with every bit of force I had.
12:06He flew back and crashed through a low stone table in the choked room.
12:10A choked sound, then a mouthful of blood hit the flagstones.
12:14Kale sat in the wreckage, white-faced, hand pressed to his chest.
12:19Talia sprinted over and rounded on me.
12:21What do you think you're doing?
12:22He's my beastman!
12:23Even if he's mishaving, that's between us!
12:25Who gave you the right?
12:27I tilted my head.
12:29You can't control him.
12:30And I don't like Fox Beastmen getting too close to me.
12:33They carry a certain...
12:35Musk.
12:36Kale coughed up another mouthful of blood,
12:38and stared at me with the expression of someone whose world had just inverted.
12:42Talia flushed Scarlet.
12:44There's no...
12:45There's no musk!
12:45You're making that up!
12:46That's beastman discrimination!
12:48Careful.
12:49Statements like that tend to offend my beastmen.
12:52Silas looked at Talia, then let his gaze drop to the barely breathing Kale.
12:57You should be grateful it was my mistress who hit him.
12:59He said, his voice carrying the disinterest of someone announcing a weather forecast.
13:04Otherwise I would have killed him.
13:06The undisguised kill intent sat in the air like a blade.
13:10You...
13:10Talia sputtered at him, then whipped around to stare at me.
13:13At last, she made a disgusted sound, hoisted Kale up with visible effort, and marched straight for the door.
13:23Out of the way!
13:24Can't you see he's dying?
13:26Everyone in the queue had been waiting far longer, and had no interest in being cut.
13:31Talia ended up wedged at the entrance, Kale sagging against her.
13:35She raised her voice in desperation.
13:36Miss Mira, please, I'm begging you, save him! He really is!
13:41From inside the room came a voice, smooth as river water.
13:47He won't die. Wait your turn.
13:50I raised an eyebrow. I liked this Mira already.
13:53Talia had no choice but to stand there, seething.
13:56Kale was losing his grip on his human form.
13:59The fox ears and tail slipped free, trembling.
14:02She glared daggers at me.
14:04This isn't over!
14:05I looked at her.
14:06Does your father know how much you paid for that beastman?
14:09The Talia family and mine were nothing alike.
14:12Our bloodline maintained some measure of regard for beastmen.
14:16The Talias treated them like livestock.
14:18If her father found out she'd spent a small fortune on a useless fox,
14:22the fallout would be spectacular.
14:24Talia blinked.
14:25Do you know my father?
14:26Then her eyes went wide.
14:28You're threatening me!
14:29I just smiled.
14:30Talia's lip trembled.
14:32Tears spilled down her face and she cried openly, chest heaving.
14:35I hadn't expected the waterworks.
14:38A headache bloomed behind my eyes.
14:40Stop crying.
14:41Your beastman isn't worth it.
14:43I won't let you say that about him.
14:44He's weak.
14:45Yes, but to me he's worth a thousand times more.
14:48Right.
14:48I had nothing left to say to that.
14:50The queue crawled forward for several more hours before it was finally, mercifully, Kale's turn.
14:57I had arrived later and stood behind them.
15:00By the time Talia helped Kale out of the treatment room, an hour had passed and his color had returned.
15:05He looked at me and the wounded helplessness was gone, replaced by something close to resentment.
15:11You're heartless, Aloksa.
15:13I made a dry sound.
15:14I can't compete with you.
15:15Stop wasting breath on her.
15:17Let's go.
15:19Steering Kale away with a huff in my direction.
15:22Behind me, Silas spoke quietly.
15:24You know them?
15:27I pointed toward the treatment room door.
15:30Your turn.
15:32Silas pressed his lips together, said nothing, and stepped inside.
15:36I followed and watched Mira work.
15:38The merkin were extraordinary.
15:40No instruments, no diagnostic tools, only a touch, and she already knew.
15:46I said it without thinking.
15:47That's remarkable.
15:48Mira looked at me with a faint smile.
15:50Nothing special.
15:52There are dozens in my bloodline more gifted than I am, and the greatest among them is...
15:56Her expression dimmed.
15:58A shadow of grief crossed her face.
16:00And she let the sentence die.
16:02His body has a congenital gap.
16:05It's why he appears far weaker than other beastmen.
16:08And it will shorten his lifespan.
16:10The hand resting at Silas' side closed into a fist, and his voice came out tight.
16:15Please, help me.
16:16Then he turned to me, and the look in his eyes said everything.
16:20Money is no obstacle.
16:22But Mira shook her head, her smile faint and tired.
16:26A congenital gap is beyond my reach.
16:29I can't mend what was never formed.
16:32Silas' face fell in a way that was visible to the naked eye.
16:35Thank you anyway.
16:37He turned to leave, and Mira looked at me.
16:40If you happen to know Lucien, Miss Alara, there may still be a chance.
16:44I was caught off guard, not only because Mira had recognized me, but because of the name itself.
16:50Lucien was the most gifted, and most ungovernable of the Vos bloodline.
16:54The family's golden heir, known to everyone as their little crown prince.
16:58We had attended the same school once.
17:01I knew him after a fashion, but his health had declined, and he'd withdrawn from classes years ago.
17:07We hadn't spoken since.
17:08Does Lucien keep someone gifted near him?
17:11The merkin are born with healing in our blood.
17:13It's simply a matter of degree.
17:15Even the least gifted of us can mend our own bodies through instinct alone.
17:19But the rarest among us, the ones born with song,
17:23They can restore the dead to life.
17:25I stared at her.
17:27That sounds impossible! I've never heard of anything like it!
17:29It isn't surprising.
17:31Our bloodline hasn't produced that level of gift in centuries.
17:34Then her voice shifted, quiet, deliberate.
17:37But in the past twenty years, one merican was born, carrying that gift from her very first breath.
17:42Something clicked into place at the back of my mind.
17:45What is her name?
17:47Lyra.
17:48Of course.
17:50I understand. Thank you, Mira.
17:52I set a payment card on the table, and left with Silas.
17:55The moment we were outside, he asked, barely containing himself.
18:00Are we going to find Lyra?
18:01His eyes were bright with something almost desperate.
18:05If it's possible, I'll take you to her.
18:06I had heard Lyra's name once, in my last life.
18:10Lyra!
18:11She had been offered to the Vos bloodline by the merkin as a gesture of protection.
18:15Her extraordinary healing talent, the price of her bloodline's safety.
18:20And with her, Lucian had finally been free.
18:23She seemed to care for him, or so the rumors said.
18:25Lucian cared for someone else entirely, and treated her accordingly.
18:29What happened after that, I didn't know.
18:33Because by that point, I was already dead.
18:36Given Lucian's erratic temperament, approaching him directly and asking for Lyra would be met
18:42with a flat refusal, no matter how I framed it.
18:45The better path was to go around him.
18:47Reach Lyra herself.
18:49Silas must have sensed my hesitation, because some of the heat faded from his expression.
18:59That word, mistress, spoken aloud on a public street, turned heads up and down the block.
19:05A flush crept up the back of my neck.
19:08I cleared my throat twice.
19:10In public?
19:11You don't have to use that.
19:13Just call me by my name.
19:15Silas adapted without hesitation.
19:17All right, Lyra.
19:18When I got home, I sent Talia's father an anonymous letter, a quiet, detailed account
19:24of exactly how much she had spent on kale at the black market.
19:28I didn't want Talia to become what I had been.
19:30It took less than two days before the news reached me.
19:34Talia had been confined to the house, but the money was already spent, and her father
19:38was too proud to return kale to the black market, which meant he would find ways to extract
19:43that investment from kale's skin.
19:45The Talia household would be its own kind of hell.
19:49I was still turning that over when a servant came running.
19:51Miss Allura, something's wrong.
19:53Silas, Simus, and Raven are fighting.
19:56Raven was Serafina's beast man.
19:58I was on my feet before the sentence finished.
20:01I followed the servant to the garden outside the room, where Silas had been pinned beneath
20:06the flowering hawthorn tree, and Raven's massive fists were falling on him again and
20:11again, each blow landing like a hammer.
20:14Miss Allura, please, you have to help him.
20:16He'll be beaten to death.
20:18The servant pulled at my arm.
20:20I raised a hand.
20:21Silence.
20:22My eyes stayed fixed on Silas.
20:24After days of recovery, his body was mostly healed.
20:27And this was the Silas who, in his last life, had survived the fighting pit on a broken frame,
20:33which meant there was no possible world in which he was simply being dominated by Raven
20:38right now.
20:39He was hiding what he could do, because he didn't trust me.
20:42So I wouldn't save him.
20:43I had no use for a beast man who might drive a blade into my back.
20:47This first step towards trust, he would have to be the one to take it.
20:51Silas still didn't move.
20:52Arms folded over his head.
20:54The crack of breaking bone cutting through the garden like a gunshot.
20:58He turned his head, spat blood onto the flagstones, and through the gap in the flowering branches,
21:03saw me.
21:04Disbelief in his eyes.
21:05Hurt.
21:06A silent, furious question.
21:08Why aren't you coming?
21:10My hand clenched at my side, and my jaw locked.
21:13Raven, scenting blood, found the animal in himself rising to the surface.
21:18Both ears pushing through his hair.
21:20Every muscle lit up with predatory excitement.
21:22Barely a step from the edge of a full, feral shift.
21:25I held my breath.
21:27My entire body strung tight as a wire, and stared at Silas.
21:31Just take this one step towards me, and I swear I will never stop protecting you.
21:36Silas's pupils elongated, the calm human iris collapsing into serpent slit.
21:41In the moment before Raven lunged to bite him, Silas moved.
21:46His legs dissolved into a white serpent tail that coiled around Raven's body in one fluid motion,
21:52and then his fangs, long and curved and appearing from nowhere,
21:56drove into the side of Raven's neck without hesitation.
21:59Raven screamed and crashed, every muscle in his body convulsing.
22:03Silas's tail contracted like a closing vice.
22:06I watched Raven's face shift from red to violet in the span of seconds,
22:10and understood instantly.
22:12Silas's fangs were venomous, so he's a viper, I thought.
22:16Serafina arrived then, late and unhurried,
22:19and when she saw what was happening,
22:20Simus, you dare kill him.
22:24I stepped forward without hesitation.
22:27What if he does?
22:29Serafina's fierce expression shifted through several versions of itself when she saw me.
22:34She drew a breath, steadied herself.
22:37Alara, tell Silas to stop. Raven will die.
22:40I smiled.
22:41My brother keeps his head. Don't worry, Serafina.
22:44I glanced at Raven's still-owning body with meaning.
22:47I won't let my sister become a widow this year.
22:49Alara, Serafina finally snapped.
22:53One finger leveled at me.
22:54Aren't you afraid father will punish you for this?
22:57I put on an expression of perfect innocence.
22:59Silas has always been fragile and obedient.
23:02He wouldn't provoke Raven without reason.
23:04This was self-defense and you know it.
23:06Why would father punish me?
23:08My voice cooled.
23:09Shouldn't the punishment fall on the one who started it?
23:12You.
23:12Enough.
23:13Everyone stop.
23:14Father's voice rolled through the garden from somewhere behind me, heavy with displeasure.
23:19Before Serafina could arrange her face into something pitiable, I got there first, and
23:24let tears spill down my own.
23:26Father.
23:26She started it, and now she's turning it around on me.
23:30Serafina went pale.
23:31I didn't, father.
23:32Please, save Raven.
23:34He'll die.
23:35Father let out a cold sound.
23:36Spared Serafina one flat look.
23:39A lesson he needed to learn.
23:40And you.
23:41Don't think I don't know what you've been doing.
23:43The handbook I gave you covers how to suppress a beast man's feral instincts.
23:47What exactly have you been doing with it?
23:49Father's voice rose.
23:51Serafina's chin dropped.
23:52I was wrong, father.
23:54Serafina.
23:54Raven is going to be your mate.
23:56Your work isn't only to tame him, it's to build him.
24:00Otherwise, his gaze cut across her, cold and quiet, and said nothing more.
24:05Serafina dropped to her knees.
24:06Yes, father.
24:07As Raven finally went still, the desperation broke through Serafina's composure, and tears ran down her face.
24:14Father.
24:15Please.
24:15Save him.
24:16He's still going to be my husband one day.
24:18Please.
24:19Only then did father look at me.
24:21I nodded at Silas.
24:23Let him go.
24:23Silas released the coil.
24:25Raven's limp body hit the earth beside the hawthorn tree, scattering petals across the flagstones.
24:31I moved quickly to catch Silas.
24:33He had burned through everything he had, the serpent tail refusing to retract, his legs unable to carry him, his
24:40full weight dropping into my arms.
24:42Father made a sound of pure displeasure.
24:44I bought you beast men to bond with, not to put them against each other.
24:47If it happens again, you're both out of this bloodline.
24:52Understood, father.
24:55Quick, carry Raven inside.
25:01I looked at Raven's violet face and asked, will the venom kill him?
25:07I don't make problems for myself.
25:09Look at him and found his face stripped of everything he usually wore around me.
25:14The deference, the careful performance, all of it gone.
25:17What remained was cold and still, the slit pupils unmoved.
25:21This is who he actually is.
25:23Then Silas went boneless against my shoulder, head lolling, as if the last of his strength had left him at
25:28once.
25:29But I didn't believe it.
25:30Then again, a performance was only worth running to its end.
25:33So I slid an arm around that ice-cold tail, settled my other hand at his waist, and lifted him.
25:40Silas stared at me, startled into actual surprise, a flush climbing fast up his neck.
25:45Hold still.
25:48I carried him back to his room, where the physician was already waiting.
25:52The broken ribs were set.
25:54Silas endured it with his face gone paper white, the scales along his tail rippling open and closed with every
26:00wave of pain,
26:01until the sight made my own skin crawl.
26:03I turned away and rubbed the goosebumps down my arms.
26:06When the physician finished and left with a list of instructions, I looked at the pale expanse of serpent tail.
26:14Silas pressed his lips together, and under my gaze, drew it back in, the tail dissolving into human legs again.
26:22Oddly fascinating, man.
26:24And met those still unrecovered slit pupils, blinking at me without looking away.
26:30He was asking why I'd stood there and watched.
26:33I smiled.
26:34Have you ever heard the saying, which one?
26:36Real trust is earned in kind.
26:38You didn't trust me, so don't expect me to trust you first.
26:42After I left Silas' room, I did a quiet round of inquiries and pieced together what had happened.
26:47Silas had developed a fondness for the hawthorn tree in the garden.
26:50It was full bloom, and he'd been spending idle hours beneath it.
26:54He'd had the misfortune of crossing paths with Raven, who was wound tight and looking for something to hit.
27:00Serafina's standard for a beastman was raw power.
27:03And since a beastman who had learned to suppress their feral instinct lost much of that, she had never taught
27:08Raven to pull back from the edge.
27:10Instead, she trained him to his limits, and then patched him up herself with careful, gentle hands.
27:16Two sessions of that, and Raven was completely devoted to her.
27:19If I hadn't been blinded by Kale's fox allure in my last life, heart given over to him, every alarm
27:25in me silenced, I wouldn't have died so stupidly.
27:29Speaking of which, I wonder how Kale is doing in the Talia household.
27:33I asked, and promptly had to swallow a laugh.
27:36The Talia patriarch had been putting Kale's fox allure to work, entertaining guests with it, men and women alike, sparing
27:42no categories.
27:43Kale had always been beautiful.
27:45With his glamour on top of that, more than a few people had wanted him in my last life.
27:50To protect him, I had taken on damage I never should have absorbed.
27:54And every time, he had one thing to say,
27:56That's what you're here for.
27:58That's what I'm here for.
27:59As if I were furniture, a plan began to form in the back of my mind.
28:03I was humming to myself on the way back to my room, when I heard voices inside Silas's, and pressed
28:09myself quietly to the wall.
28:11Serafina's voice, all warmth and remorse.
28:14Silas, I'm so sorry.
28:16I should have kept Raven under control.
28:18You're hurt so badly.
28:19Can I help you with your bandages?
28:21I raised an eyebrow and leaned closer.
28:23Silas's voice came back flat as a locked door.
28:26Get out.
28:27Where's Alara?
28:28Didn't she stay with you?
28:29With injuries this serious, isn't this your future husband's work?
28:33Silas said.
28:34And the chill in his voice could have frosted glass.
28:36I bit down on a laugh hard enough to hurt.
28:39Serafina had clearly caught a glimpse of what Silas was capable of, and immediately wanted to pull him into her
28:45orbit.
28:45When it didn't work, she said a few perfunctory words of concern, and prepared to leave.
28:50I moved quickly back to my own room.
28:52But the next second, there was a knock on my door, and Silas was standing in the frame, eyes dark
28:57and steady, looking at me.
28:59I was genuinely surprised.
29:01He'd looked critically wounded moments ago, and he was already on his feet?
29:05Beastman healing was fast, but not that fast.
29:09Something you need?
29:10You said you'd teach me to read.
29:12I'd completely forgotten about that.
29:14Sorry.
29:15We can start now.
29:16Silas pressed his lips together and stepped inside.
29:18I started from the very beginning, the phonetic alphabet.
29:21And we sat across from each other until he looked up and said,
29:25Am I what you expected?
29:26I blinked.
29:27Hmm.
29:28Silas raised his eyes.
29:29Earlier.
29:30Was it worth watching?
29:31He meant, why didn't you come in?
29:33I smiled.
29:34Honestly, it was.
29:36Silas's brow drew together immediately.
29:38He looked genuinely displeased.
29:40The question in his voice coming out sharper than he probably intended.
29:44You have history with her.
29:45He'd picked up on the tension between Serafina and me.
29:48Of course he had.
29:49I let my lashes fall.
29:51Yes, that history.
29:52He was quiet for a moment.
29:54I can't.
29:54That one I genuinely hadn't seen coming.
29:57And then my father kills you in return?
29:59Silas's gaze didn't waver.
30:01You said it yourself.
30:02Real trust is earned in kind.
30:04For the first time I saw it.
30:06Actual sincerity in his eyes.
30:08But still, why?
30:10Trust for trust was one thing.
30:12But I hadn't done anything to earn it yet.
30:14A flicker of tension moved through his expression.
30:17I want Lyra to treat me.
30:19If I had a body that worked the way it should.
30:22I wouldn't have had to spend today looking as pathetic as I did.
30:25I softened my voice.
30:27You are anything but pathetic today.
30:29In your last life you survived the fighting pit using exactly that.
30:33Fain weakness, let them close in.
30:35Then coil and bite through their throats.
30:37Thinking that, I reached up without meaning to and touched my own neck.
30:41Learn what you need to learn first.
30:45Lyra, I'll find a way.
30:47Okay.
30:47For the first time, the usually cold boy let a genuine smile break across his face.
30:52A few days later, word came that the Vos family's grandmother was turning 80.
30:58And the Vos household had sent a formal invitation to ours.
31:02Because of the garden incident, father took only me and left Serafina behind.
31:07Beastmen were barred from formal events, so I left Silas at home.
31:11In the banquet hall, I found Talia, beaming at guests with practiced ease,
31:16until she caught sight of me and her expression went flat as stone.
31:19I fell and stepped beside her after the gift presentation.
31:24Where's Kale?
31:25You have a nerve asking.
31:27This is all your fault, you know.
31:30Talia, do we have a problem?
31:34I don't know.
31:35You're the one who's had it out to me from the start.
31:37I've never had a problem with you.
31:39Only with Kale.
31:41If you don't believe me.
31:46I don't believe he'd do that to me.
31:51Then test him.
31:52While the crowd was distracted, Talia guided me quietly toward the cellar below the manor.
31:58Go in, and remember, don't look directly at his eyes.
32:04Talia wrinkled her nose, gripped her composure, and clicked into the cellar on high heels.
32:09I slipped in behind her.
32:11It took a while before the light reached Kale's cage.
32:14He was chained at the neck like livestock, locked behind bars, filthy and broken-looking.
32:19A picture of wreckage.
32:21I stayed back around the corner, out of sight.
32:23Kale had his eyes closed, the fox ears flat and still.
32:27If his chest hadn't been faintly moving, he could have passed for dead.
32:32Kale.
32:35Kale.
32:35Talia's voice barely reached a whisper.
32:38He opened his eyes slowly, and when he saw her, something electric came back into his face.
32:44The chain snapped and rang at his sudden movement.
32:49You came to get me out?
32:51I can't get you out yet.
32:53My father is still angry.
32:54He's still angry.
32:58Then she rushed to add it.
33:00But I promise, I'll come back for you.
33:05I will.
33:06Talia, look at me.
33:07Just look at me.
33:09I'm begging you.
33:10I'm getting me out, the way you did, in the fighting pit.
33:16You were everything to me then.
33:17You were the only light.
33:19Please, just look at me.
33:20Talia kept her chin down, listening.
33:23Kale ran out of patience fast.
33:26Talia.
33:27Get me out.
33:28Now!
33:30Why not?
33:31Why can't you?
33:32You did it fine at the fighting pit.
33:35You were falling over yourself to help me then.
33:37And why is now any different?
33:39You're blaming me?
33:40When you were the one begging me to save you?
33:44Who even gave you permission to be that gullible?
33:46You were practically throwing yourself at me.
33:49Just like Alara.
33:51Alara.
33:54You've done this to her too?
34:01Do you see it now?
34:03He barely had to try,
34:05and you couldn't hand yourself over fast enough.
34:07Talia turned to look at me.
34:09And you ended up being the one blamed for it.
34:11I rested a hand on her shoulder.
34:13Go wait outside.
34:15She glanced back at Kale, uncertain.
34:20But...
34:23You'll be fine.
34:24Talia looked over her shoulder three times on the way out,
34:27and then the cellar was just the two of us.
34:29Kale watched me, something testing in his voice.
34:31What do you want?
34:34I'm curious.
34:36How were you reborn?
34:38Let me guess.
34:39After I died in our last life, you went to Serafina,
34:42but your foxalore never worked on her, did it?
34:44She kept her guard up.
34:45She knew what you were, and what you were capable of,
34:48so she was always watching.
34:49But your gift was too valuable to waste,
34:52so she put it to use.
34:53Until the very end,
34:55when you'd served your purpose completely,
34:57and her shadow wolf finished you the same way he finished me.
35:00That's not true.
35:00She cared about me.
35:01She cared about me.
35:02You don't know anything.
35:04Then why were you hoping I'd choose you in the black market?
35:09Elara!
35:10Elara!
35:11You have to take me back!
35:13Why won't you choose me?
35:14Why?
35:15I stepped back, just out of reach.
35:17The chain snapped taut around his neck.
35:21I'll give you something.
35:26One chance.
35:27To take back what was done to me.
35:32When I came up from the cellar,
35:35Talia was still outside,
35:36eyes raw.
35:37I almost sighed.
35:39I told you he wasn't worth it.
35:42Why are you this upset?
35:44Sorry.
35:45For what?
35:48I was...
35:49I was so stupid before.
35:52I thought it was destiny.
35:58I thought we'd be this epic human and beast man love story.
36:04She broke into full, shuddering sobs.
36:06I rubbed a spot on my temple.
36:08Even if you wanted an epic love story,
36:10you'd need your father's blessing first.
36:14Come on, let's go.
36:16She wept.
36:18Okay.
36:19After managing Talia back to some level of composure,
36:22I asked,
36:23Is Lucian on the guest list?
36:25That was the second reason I'd come tonight.
36:29Did he bring anyone with him?
36:32I didn't pay attention.
36:33He sent a gift and went to rest.
36:35His health isn't great.
36:36Where is he resting?
36:37I'll take you.
36:39Talia led me to the VIP lounge.
36:41And before we'd even reached the door,
36:43we both heard it.
36:44A melody,
36:45rising and falling like water over stone.
36:48The music moved through the air
36:49and straight into my chest.
36:53I feel like someone just told me it's going to be okay.
36:57I could go back in there and stab him about 15 times right now.
37:00I turned to look at her, surprised.
37:02It had that effect too?
37:04Then this was Lyra.
37:06It had to be.
37:08Walking up to Lucian directly and asking for her was out of the question.
37:12He was far too volatile for a frontal approach.
37:16Better to reach Lyra herself.
37:17I sent Talia off.
37:20Opened the door directly across from Lucian's suite.
37:23Sat down in the frame.
37:24And listened.
37:26The melody flowed without pause.
37:28And something in my bones began to unknot.
37:31The grief of a whole past life starting to quiet.
37:34I yawned.
37:36Fighting it.
37:37I kept my eyes open by force and waited.
37:40What I hadn't counted on.
37:42Waiting the entire night.
37:44Lyra's voice never stopped once.
37:46When I realized how angry I was on her behalf, the feeling surprised me.
37:51The morning meal arrived for delivery.
37:53I opened the door at the right moment.
37:56Lyra was stepping out of Lucian's suite, waving off the breakfast tray.
38:00I raised a hand.
38:02Hi.
38:03Lyra turned at the sound of my voice and smiled.
38:06She was genuinely beautiful.
38:08Skin that caught the light like satin.
38:10Eyes clear and bright.
38:12But what stayed with you was something underneath the beauty.
38:15Something that made you want to draw closer and stay.
38:19Her voice came out sand rough.
38:21That made the next part awkward.
38:23She seemed to read the awkwardness on my face and gave a small, tired smile.
38:28Do you need something for me?
38:29I stepped aside and gestured.
38:31Would you mind coming in for a moment?
38:33Lyra nodded and walked in.
38:34I poured her a glass of warm water first, let her settle, then said,
38:39I have a beastman.
38:40He was born with a congenital gap.
38:43I took him to see Mira.
38:44She can't mend it, but she directed me to you.
38:47Lyra listened and nodded.
38:48Mira is my aunt.
38:50I blinked.
38:51Mira looked barely older than Lyra.
38:53Lyra checked the time.
38:55I have about two hours.
38:57You can bring your beastman to a nearby hotel.
39:00The fee for a congenital repair is two million.
39:03She said it with her lashes lowered.
39:05The expression beneath them hidden.
39:07What I was thinking about was her voice.
39:10Right now?
39:10Your throat?
39:12It doesn't matter.
39:14Every day is like this.
39:16If you're waiting for it to recover, you'll be waiting forever.
39:19Something dropped in my chest.
39:21Every day is like this.
39:26Is Lucian that ill?
39:27I said.
39:28He isn't.
39:30Then why?
39:31Lyra's smile went pale at the edges.
39:33Cruelty, mostly.
39:34I thought of the rumors I'd heard once in another life.
39:38You don't have to stay devoted to one tree.
39:40You're overthinking it.
39:42Get the hotel sorted.
39:43If Lucian wakes and finds me gone, there won't be another chance.
39:46I booked the nearest suite fast,
39:47then contacted Silas.
39:49After I hung up, I turned back to Lyra.
39:52She was working through breakfast in small, unhurried bites.
39:56Every movement neat and somehow restful to watch.
39:59But there was something about that narrow back
40:01that made the chest ache for no clear reason.
40:04I sat down across from her, words rising and dying on my tongue.
40:08In the end, I said nothing.
40:10Silas arrived minutes later.
40:12He had clearly run the whole way, sweat still at his temple.
40:15Lyra extended her hand.
40:17He glanced at me first, and only after I nodded, did he approach with any care.
40:22Lyra laid her palm over his, and her brow began to draw together.
40:26I felt the tension move up through my own spine.
40:29I was desperate to intervene, but I forced myself to stay back.
40:34Lyra wasn't faring any better than Silas.
40:37Every note she sang seemed to tear something loose in her throat.
40:42Slowly, blood appeared at the corner of her mouth.
40:46I started forward.
40:48I started forward.
40:48She stopped me with a look and a small shake of her head.
40:52An hour later, the singing stopped.
40:56Silas and Lyra folded to the floor at the same moment.
41:00I moved fast to catch Lyra, wiped the blood from her mouth.
41:04Sorry.
41:04I didn't know it would be like this.
41:06Are you all right?
41:07She was breathing hard.
41:08You paid.
41:10I gave what was asked.
41:14There's nothing to apologize for.
41:17Let me take you back.
41:19Lyra looked at Silas, still on the floor, catching his breath.
41:24One moment.
41:27The gap is sealed, but he'll need a course of medicine to follow.
41:33And because the deficiency has held his body back, he's been presenting as a juvenile.
41:39But he's actually an adult beastman.
41:42Grown beastmen enter a heat cycle.
41:45Be careful.
41:46Don't let him hurt you.
41:48I understand.
41:49Rest for a moment.
41:50I nodded fast.
41:53Mmm.
41:54Lyra let her eyes close and went quiet.
41:57I arranged transport and personally saw her back to the Talia estate.
42:02My plan had been to slip her back to her suite unnoticed.
42:10But standing at the front entrance when we arrived was Lucien.
42:14Jaw set, an expression like incoming weather.
42:17Behind him, Talia.
42:19Red-eyed and...
42:23We'd been found out.
42:24I moved to step out of the car with Lyra.
42:27She stopped me with a hand on my arm.
42:29Go home.
42:30I shook my head.
42:32Lyra.
42:34I went to school with Lucien.
42:36He should give me at least a little room.
42:40Lyra smiled.
42:41If he were the type to give you room, he wouldn't have had to come to me directly.
42:47I'm alright.
42:47He still needs me.
42:49Go.
42:50Trust me.
42:52I gritted my teeth.
42:54In the end, I pressed the payment card into her hand.
42:58She gave it back.
42:59Give it to my aunt.
43:01She'll know what to do with it.
43:04I can't use it.
43:06There's nowhere it would go.
43:09She pushed the door open.
43:11The moment Lucien's eyes found her,
43:14his face darkened in a way that was visible from a distance.
43:19On the drive back to the hotel, I couldn't settle.
43:22What had happened?
43:23I asked Talia and she told me.
43:25Lucien had woken 30 minutes ago,
43:28couldn't find Lyra anywhere and had made a scene.
43:30Everyone knew how much Lyra mattered to him.
43:34So they'd all started searching too.
43:37Eventually, someone reviewed the security footage and traced it to me.
43:40Under pressure from Lucien's people,
43:42Talia had been forced to give up the whole story of how I'd spent the night waiting outside his door
43:47and caught a thorough dressing down for it.
43:51I had a feeling I was out to receive one too.
43:53But my worry about that was smaller than my worry about Lyra.
43:57I gripped the payment card in my hand and pushed into the hotel room,
44:01ready to call Silas and head home,
44:02when he launched himself at me the second the door opened.
44:05His usual cold was gone.
44:07He was burning.
44:08And he was bigger, taller, broader.
44:11The change in him unmistakable.
44:13Then Lyra's warning came back to me in a rush.
44:15Grown beastmen, enter a heat cycle.
44:18Be careful.
44:19Don't let him hurt you.
44:21Heat cycle.
44:22Not this fast.
44:23Surely not this fast.
44:26Simus, it's me.
44:28Look at me.
44:28Look at me.
44:29I pushed against his chest.
44:31His scorching hands closed around my waist.
44:33His forehead pressed down to mine.
44:35Mistress.
44:36Mistress.
44:37That word in a voice dropped three registers.
44:40A fully adult male's voice.
44:42I had vastly underestimated Lyra.
44:46Let go of me.
44:47You can't do this.
44:47It isn't right.
44:48Silas tilted his head just slightly,
44:50and the tip of his nose grazed my cheekbone.
44:53The heat off his breath landed against my face in waves.
44:56I threw every bit of strength into pushing him away.
44:59He didn't move an inch.
45:00That hurts.
45:01The grip at my waist drawing tighter.
45:04My waist was flesh, not iron.
45:06Silas buried his face at my shoulder,
45:08and his breath came out ragged.
45:09Help me.
45:11Please.
45:11I had absolutely no idea how to help with this.
45:14All right, okay.
45:16I'll help.
45:16Just let go of me first.
45:18Silas loosened his hold by a fraction.
45:20The next second, I spun for the door.
45:22My fingers were almost on the handle when a serpent tail coiled around my waist and reeled me back.
45:28I turned.
45:29The slit pupils had bled fully through,
45:31and faint scales had begun appearing along his cheekbones.
45:35Full shift starting.
45:36That was a catastrophically bad sign.
45:40Help me.
45:41The vertical pupils went deep and still.
45:43You promised.
45:45Okay, okay, okay, I'll help.
45:48In my last life, Kale had gone through heat and made it very clear he wanted nothing from me.
45:53He was saving himself for Serafina.
45:55So this particular experience was new territory.
45:58My hand, trapped in Silas' grip, had lost all sensation.
46:03By the time we made it back to the estate, night had fallen.
46:07I felt deeply and specifically guilty about several things.
46:12Father was in the main hall, waiting.
46:15I walked in, dropped to my knees on reflex, and grabbed Silas down with me.
46:22His voice shook the walls.
46:25Ellara.
46:27Have I been too lenient with you?
46:29Is that why you act like there are no rules?
46:32If you wanted Lyra to treat Silas, you could have come to me.
46:36Instead, you took her without permission.
46:39Did it ever occur to you what would happen if Lucian collapsed while she was gone?
46:45If that had ended badly, how would I face the Vos bloodline?
46:49Father's chest heaved with every word.
46:52I bent my head lower.
46:54I was wrong, Father.
46:56Please don't stress yourself over it.
47:02If your brother were here, I wouldn't have to be more like your sister.
47:07She's composed, well-mannered, and makes no trouble.
47:10I kept my head down and let the rest of it wash over me.
47:15Then Silas tapped my hand twice.
47:18I looked up.
47:20Serafina was coming in from outside, with Kale behind her, looking considerably less like something dragged through gutters.
47:28So, Kale had made his move.
47:30I couldn't stop one corner of my mouth.
47:32You think this is funny?
47:36I flattened my expression instantly.
47:41No, Father.
47:42Serafina came to Father's side and made all the right soothing gestures.
47:45Alara, what did you do this time to upset him this badly?
47:50So, Father ran through all of it again, from the beginning.
47:54Thanks for that, Serafina.
47:56In the retelling, she managed to look concerned while adding fuel to every sentence.
47:59The verdict, one month's house confinement.
48:02When you're done, go back to your room.
48:03Don't leave without permission.
48:04Yes, Father.
48:05When Father finally released me and I turned to go, Serafina said,
48:09I looked back.
48:17Silas was nearly the same height as me now.
48:19His features sharpened and settled into something older.
48:23The boyishness almost entirely gone.
48:26Yesterday, he had still looked like a boy of 12.
48:29But that whole development was connected to the heat cycle.
48:32And I was not going to explain the heat cycle to anyone in this room.
48:37Enough.
48:38I know.
48:40Go.
48:41Yes!
48:44I turned and walked.
48:46Quickly.
48:47Back to my room.
48:48Naturally, I did not miss the flash of jealous hatred in Serafina's eyes as I left.
48:53Back in my room.
49:00I crooked a finger at Silas.
49:02More?
49:03The look on his face was entirely too knowing.
49:06Silas!
49:07He laughed then, easy, unbothered.
49:10What does mistress require?
49:14I took a breath, steadied myself.
49:17All of this was exactly what you planned, wasn't it?
49:21The body that looked like a boy's had hidden a mind that had never been a boy's at all.
49:27Which meant from the beginning, I had been played.
49:31No.
49:33You choosing me, that was the thing I didn't plan for.
49:41He looked at me, and his eyes were level and serious.
49:46So everything else he had, I can't even be surprised.
49:49The beast man who dismantled the beast man who dismantled the black market and negotiated equal rights for his entire
49:54species.
49:55Of course he was always three moves ahead.
49:58I was gnashing my teeth.
49:59Silas smiled, you came out ahead, didn't you mistress?
50:32He drew that last word out deliberately.
51:03I was gnome.
51:09I was gnome.
51:13I was gnome.
51:46I was gnome.
51:49I was gnome.
51:56I was gnome.
52:02I was gnome.
52:06I was gnome.
52:22I was gnome.
52:25I was gnome.
52:38I was gnome.
52:49I was gnome.
52:56I was gnome.
53:21I was gnome.
53:39I was gnome.
53:41You hid them with no mother.
53:42You were busy.
53:43You gave me to the nurses.
53:45You gave me everything material I asked for, yes.
53:48But how many hours did you spend with me?
53:51How many times did you hold me, or come to quiet me, when I was scared?
53:56After you remarried, you held Elira.
53:59You came when Elira cried.
54:01You gave her the pay because she wanted the pay.
54:03You gave me all the card, something you thought I should want, not what I asked for.
54:09Every one of those small things you thought did,
54:11It didn't matter. They were scars, Father. Every single one.
54:15This bowl was never level. You just couldn't see it.
54:20Serafina, I'm sorry. You were right to feel it. I failed you.
54:26Sorry doesn't fix it! I want Elyra dead! I want all of them dead!
54:34She lunged for me, hands in my collar, and her face had gone somewhere I hadn't seen it go before.
54:41Alada, I had a dream. I dreamed you died.
54:46The fully shifted raven bit you right through the throat.
54:50You were dead! You were dead!
54:55The blood in my veins turned to ice water and stopped. It wasn't a dream. It happened.
55:00Father couldn't watch anymore. He had her removed and confined to her rooms.
55:06When Kyle came to me later, pleased with himself, I took him directly to Serafina's door.
55:12In the cellar of the Talia estate, I had made him a single offer.
55:17His freedom in exchange for his obedience.
55:20Seduce Serafina and do it until she broke.
55:23He'd agreed, and she had broken.
55:25So now, it was his turn.
55:27Through the door, Serafina's voice rose and fell, cresting and breaking.
55:32Kale! Why aren't you answering me? Don't you love me anymore?
55:37You said I was the one person who mattered most to you.
55:40You said you'd never leave.
55:43You said you'd give me anything I wanted!
55:45Serafina, you've gone insane!
55:47Elyra, open this door! Open it!
55:50I stood still and listened to what was happening on the other side.
55:53The frantic banging, and then gradually, silence.
55:57I went to Father's room instead.
56:00I've sent for your brother. I should never have sent him away.
56:04Little Elyra, everything she said, it was true?
56:08Or you wouldn't have done what you did.
56:11That's on me. It's all on me.
56:12Father didn't punish me.
56:14He showed me the Bloodline's founding records.
56:16And without exception, every paired name on the page was a human and a beastman.
56:22Long ago, the family's founding grandmother had a beastman against all opposition.
56:27And the world had denied them both.
56:30A disaster came, and the beastman gave his life to save her.
56:35Out of grief, and out of conviction,
56:37she had used her authority to set the law that had governed every generation since.
56:41So that one day, humans and beastmen might live in peace.
56:44When I came out of Father's study,
56:46Silas was in the hallway, leaning against the wall.
56:49All of it handled?
56:50I nodded.
56:52He had been busy this past month.
56:54I'd barely seen him.
56:55And I was starting to recognize,
56:56in the way he moved and held a room,
56:59the shape of who he was going to become.
57:01Father had warmed to him in ways he hadn't bothered to hide.
57:04Since Kale had moved into the house as Serafina's beastman,
57:08he'd been reporting to me faithfully.
57:10While in the background, Serafina's image had been quietly and methodically demolished.
57:15She had done to herself everything Kale once did to me.
57:18Then Father had stepped in.
57:20My brother came home,
57:21took over the business under Father's guidance,
57:23and the household found its footing again.
57:25As for Silas,
57:26the heat cycles kept coming back,
57:28more and more frequently as it happened.
57:31Every deep night,
57:32a cold serpent tail would find its way around my ankle.
57:35Silas.
57:35Hmm?
57:38I have a knife.
57:39The tail withdrew.
57:40As I thought,
57:41he had been exaggerating all along.
57:44Silas.
57:45Explain yourself.
57:46He leaned in and grazed his lips against the shell of my ear.
57:49Is it really so hard to understand?
57:51I turned on him.
57:53Plain words.
57:54He was quiet for a long moment.
57:56In my last life,
57:58you buried me.
57:59I jolted upright.
58:01You...
58:03You also...
58:04Silas sat up unhurried.
58:06After that,
58:07my spirit wouldn't leave.
58:08I stayed.
58:10And I watched you grieve for Kale,
58:12suffer for Kale,
58:12and finally die for nothing.
58:13And then,
58:15with you,
58:16I came back.
58:18Remarkable.
58:19And then he spoke again.
58:20Alara,
58:22do you remember the bloodline's founding law?
58:26What?
58:27He smiled,
58:28and the look in his eyes held something that had been there for a long time.
58:32Choose a beastman to raise.
58:34Bond with them for life.
58:37No betrayal.
58:38No abandonment.
58:40His voice dropped low.
58:42You chose me.
58:43He followed me.
58:43So,
58:44I knew that the свои quello is,
58:45Even though you've got huh.
58:47Loving the bloodline.
58:48You
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