- 2 hours ago
Vows Between Shadows and Moonlight
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00My sister Isabella and I were promised to two very different men on the same day.
00:04She chose Derek, a werewolf leader.
00:06So I was given to the fallen vampire, Lucian Ashwheel.
00:10No one could have predicted what came next.
00:12On the very day Isabella was wed and brought to Blackthorn Estate,
00:16Derek received urgent orders and rode out to war, and never came back.
00:20Meanwhile, Lucian passed every trial the Supernatural Academy set before him.
00:24His future is very bright.
00:26Isabella spent two years inside Blackthorn Estate,
00:28raging and weeping, clawing to be let go.
00:31Our father gave her a sharp slap across the face.
00:34You'll never leave.
00:37Isabella went mad.
00:38When I came to comfort her, something unexpected happened.
00:41A magical energy turned our destiny around.
00:43When I opened my eyes again,
00:45we were both standing in the parlor on the night of our betrothal ceremony,
00:49the night it had all begun.
00:50This time, Isabella spoke first.
00:53I want to marry a vampire.
00:54I smiled, a life of comfort and ease with no household to manage,
00:59and Isabella didn't want it.
01:01The moment Isabella snatched the vampire's token from the tray,
01:04I knew she had been reborn too.
01:06In my past life, she grabbed the Blackthorn obsidian pendant
01:09and threw a small bottle of crystallized roses directly at my feet.
01:14Clara, this fallen vampire suits you far better.
01:18Ashwell Manon is poor and cold.
01:19I've always looked out for you, so I'm giving you the better match.
01:22Blackthorn Estate is yours.
01:25Isabella!
01:25My stepmother's goblet shattered on the stone floor.
01:28My sister leaned close and whispered in her ear.
01:31My stepmother's expression shifted from alarm to something calculating.
01:35Are you certain?
01:36If something goes wrong, that's what I have you for, Mother.
01:40A long silence.
01:42All right, I'll allow it.
01:44And so our fates were sealed again.
01:46My stepmother cited Blackthorn's wealth against Asheville's poverty
01:50and quietly redirected my portion to Isabella's.
01:53I didn't mind, the only question was whether all that gold would fill the void waiting for her.
01:59In our previous life, she swept into Blackthorn Estate at the head of ten carriages.
02:04I arrived at Asheville Manor in a single plane coach
02:07and became the wife of Lucian Asheville, a fallen vampire.
02:12But the night Isabella arrived, Derek rode north,
02:15and not one Blackthorn man came back.
02:17Three months a wife, and she was a widow.
02:20She raged.
02:20My stepmother promised her she would take her away in three years.
02:24We both knew it was a lie.
02:26Isabella suffered for two years and tried to end her life more than once.
02:30The last time, Lady Evelyn summoned our father.
02:33Take her home.
02:34She is young.
02:36Our father knelt down on one knee, said...
02:38No.
02:38...and slapped Isabella.
02:40You'll never leave.
02:41When she learned Lucian had risen to a prestigious post,
02:44she demanded to see me.
02:46Lady Evelyn caught my hand first.
02:48Talk sense into her.
02:49I'd free her myself.
02:50But your father is too cautious.
02:53Walking the corridor, I thought,
02:54if Asheville Manor had anyone half as kind,
02:57I'd count myself blessed.
02:58The courtyard was dark.
03:00Clara found Isabella sitting in the grass,
03:02knees drawn up, facing nothing.
03:06She had been there a long time,
03:08judging by the dew that had soaked through her skirts.
03:10She looked up when she heard Clara's footsteps,
03:13her face looking tired.
03:14It isn't fair.
03:16Her voice was very quiet.
03:18She pressed her fingers into the cold grass.
03:20I chose correctly.
03:22I chose power.
03:24And what did I get?
03:25A husband who died before I learned the sound of his laugh.
03:28A house full of people who look at me like I'm already a ghost.
03:31I wasted two years.
03:35Isabella, don't tell me it will be all right.
03:37Her voice cracked on the last word.
03:40Clara's hand had just touched Isabella's shoulder.
03:42Suddenly, lightning flashed across the sky.
03:45Without any warning, there was no distant rumble of thunder.
03:49Only a fierce bolt of lightning struck Clara directly,
03:52along with Isabella, the current leaped between them,
03:54as if a matter of fate.
03:57The 3rd of September, both sisters were wed.
04:00The date had been chosen for Isabella alone,
04:03but she pestered my stepmother for weeks,
04:05to let us get married on the same day,
04:07because that was the day Derek was to be ordered to go to war.
04:10I just stepped into the new room.
04:13Hoofbeats thundered through the gate.
04:14A pair of dark riding boots stopped before me.
04:18Clara.
04:19Orders from the High Council.
04:21I ride within the hour.
04:23Forgive me for this.
04:24Derek Blackthorn.
04:25He had such a face.
04:27My lord, I had a dream.
04:30You rode into an ambush.
04:31Wounded, the roads snowed shut,
04:33the supply lines cut.
04:35Please take this.
04:37Be cautious.
04:38I will be here waiting.
04:40The amulet trembled along with my hand.
04:42I was no great lady, but I knew right from wrong.
04:45I could not bear to see Lady Evelyn lose everything,
04:48or tens of thousands of soldiers die for nothing.
04:51After a long silence, a broad hand lifted the charm from my palm.
04:58Derek rode to war, and I did not stand idle.
05:01My mother's family, the Vos Merchant Clan,
05:03had trading operations across the kingdom.
05:05I presented my mother's token at the nearest Vos office,
05:09and left word that I needed a trusted contact.
05:12Instead, the very next morning, a young woman arrived.
05:15Sophia Vos, eldest of the main branch.
05:17The Vos capital operations are mine to run.
05:19Name what you need.
05:22In my previous life, I had met Sophia only once.
05:25Three years into my marriage,
05:27when a maid tried to pawn one of my brooches.
05:30Sophia recognized it, came to Ashevale Manor herself,
05:33and quietly pressed banknotes into my hands.
05:35But the Lady of Ashevale Manor swept in and declared no self-respecting household dealt with merchants.
05:41Sophia left,
05:42but tucked the money under the tea tray before she walked out.
05:45I tore it to shreds in front of the lady.
05:48We cannot accept money from a merchant house.
05:50She threw a goblet at my head and made me tend her through the night.
05:54No matter how badly things got,
05:56I never went back to Sophia.
05:58But Lady Evelyn was nothing like that.
06:00When I mentioned my mother came from the Vos family, she smiled warmly.
06:04I didn't hesitate.
06:06I gave Sophia a full, earnest bow.
06:09Please help me.
06:12Sophia and I spoke privately for half an hour.
06:15When she rose to leave, she paused at the door.
06:18Clara, are you certain this is everything you own?
06:21I nodded.
06:22From the moment I had spoken to Derek on our wedding night,
06:25I had known I was wagering everything.
06:28The old Lord Blackthorn once saved my grandfather's life.
06:30I will not fail you.
06:31I stepped into a waiting carriage for the customary formal call on my family,
06:35a courtesy among noble houses after a wedding.
06:38Lady Evelyn had prepared gifts that filled two carriages.
06:42Oh, sister, look at you.
06:44This is quite an hour to finally appear.
06:47The estate keeps one occupied.
06:49You mustn't take the front too hard.
06:51Once things settle, Lucien will find something for you.
06:55On a battlefield, blades find no favorites.
06:58What if Derek were to...
06:59Oh, forgive me.
07:04Since you know you misspoke,
07:06shouldn't you stand and make it right?
07:07How dare you just because you married into Blackthorn!
07:10Her face went cold.
07:12And yet here you are speaking ill of Blackthorn in their own shadow.
07:16Is that the Asheville standard?
07:18We stopped arguing until our father arrived with Lucien.
07:22One glance told me Lucien had already won him over completely.
07:25He has promised he will never take another.
07:27Isabella moved closer to me.
07:29I nodded.
07:30Lucien had said the same to me in our previous life.
07:33He kept that promise, technically,
07:35right until the moment I died.
07:37After lunch, I made an excuse to leave.
07:40Just as I stepped out the gate,
07:41a simple black carriage was parked by the roadside.
07:44A gust of wind lifted the curtain,
07:46and I saw a beautiful girl who seemed to have been waiting for a long time.
07:50How interesting.
07:50I stepped into the Blackthorn carriage.
07:54Over the next two months, I asked Lady Evelyn to teach me how to manage an estate.
07:58She had me and Derek's sister Cecily learn about accounting, staff, the politics of supernatural
08:03nobles, and how to calmly manage a room full of werewolves.
08:07Cecily found most of it miserable.
08:09I absorbed everything.
08:11Before long, we were genuine friends.
08:13She offered to teach me to ride.
08:15I turned out to have a gift for it.
08:17Three days in, cantering unaided,
08:20Derek's notorious horse standing docile beneath my hands.
08:24Cecily laughed.
08:24You and my brother are made for each other.
08:27Even his horse agrees.
08:28Have you seen his letter?
08:30She marched me back to the manor, a sealed envelope on the writing desk.
08:34To my wife, Clara, for her eyes alone.
08:38One line inside.
08:40I dreamed of you.
08:41I hope the dream's true.
08:43He was alive.
08:46When news reached the capital that the Blackthorn forces were surrounded,
08:50Isabella arrived the very next morning under the guise of sisterly concern.
08:54She was told I was unwell and unable to receive guests.
08:58She performed her sympathy beautifully for Lady Evelyn's benefit,
09:01then left half disappointed, half pleased.
09:04Cecily sent me a note by pigeon that evening.
09:07I cannot believe you share blood with that woman.
09:09I've never seen such a despicable person.
09:11I had no paper to reply with.
09:13I folded the note and tied it back to the pigeon's leg.
09:17That was the signal we'd agreed on.
09:19Meant.
09:20I am safe.
09:21Don't worry.
09:22By then, I was less than a hundred miles from the northern front.
09:25The day Derek's letter arrived, I went straight to Lady Evelyn.
09:28I knelt before her, laid out the whole story.
09:31Every word I had given Derek on our wedding night,
09:34then placed his letter on the table between us.
09:37Lady Evelyn was quiet for a long time.
09:41But if something happens to you, how do I face Derek?
09:43How do I face your father?
09:44Grandmother, I go to stand beside him, not behind him.
09:48As for my father, he has never especially valued me.
09:50I have no illusions.
09:52I am no great lady.
09:54But since I came to this house, you treated me well.
09:57Cecily treated me well.
09:58Derek's sister-in-law taught me things worth knowing.
10:00And the little boy, still learning to walk,
10:02saved me the last piece of his honey cake because he said I looked tired.
10:06Lady Evelyn pressed a hand over her mouth and wept.
10:09Then slowly, Lady Evelyn rose from her chair.
10:12And to my astonishment, dipped into a formal bow.
10:15Lady Evelyn.
10:16Clara, when you return safely, I will go to the crown myself and petition for a title in your name.
10:20Not tied to Derek's, yours alone, whatever path your life takes.
10:23And if Derek ever fails to deserve you, I give you my full blessing to walk away.
10:27A title of her own, not borrowed, not conditional.
10:29Go.
10:30Come back to us.
10:31She personally chose her finest household guards to accompany me north,
10:35and arranged for the group to travel embedded within a Vos merchant convoy.
10:39What I had not anticipated was finding Sophia herself leading it.
10:43Did you think you could mobilize the entire Vos network without me noticing?
10:47And besides, when we win this, I want to be named Crown Merchant Supplier.
10:51You'll speak for me.
10:52I laughed genuinely, from surprise, I said,
10:55Done.
10:57We rode north through fog and frost,
11:00the land bleaching to grey and white,
11:02and the pale silver of bare trees.
11:04Even wrapped in the finest fur cloak and warmest boots I owned.
11:08I shivered in the cutting wind,
11:10the exposed skin of my face cracked raw.
11:13My fingers swelled red and stiff with frost.
11:15My arms and legs ached in waves.
11:18I pressed low against the horse's neck,
11:20and told myself again and again,
11:22Clara, this is the last stretch.
11:25After this, no one controls your life but you.
11:27Because of your birth, because of your blood,
11:29they look down on you.
11:31They put chains on you, layer by layer.
11:34Break everyone.
11:38Derek's horse suddenly screamed and lurched to a halt.
11:41I hauled back on the reins,
11:43and from behind the snowdrifts ahead,
11:45dozens of dark shapes poured out.
11:47Arrows split the air and thudded into the sleds and cartboards.
11:51Raiders, protect my lady!
11:55The guards threw steel and charged.
11:57But the attackers outnumbered us three to one and hit hard and fast.
12:02Within moments, two guards had taken arrows and gone down.
12:05A sled driver was cut from his seat.
12:07Blood spread bright against the white snow.
12:10The last guard at my side raised his blade to meet them.
12:13A raider caught him across the chest with a backhand stroke.
12:16The guard fell, the raider came straight for me,
12:19blade raised, face savage.
12:21I pulled my belt knife.
12:23My hand was shaking.
12:24I could not stop this blow.
12:26The steel came down.
12:27I shut my eyes.
12:29A dull thud.
12:30When I opened them,
12:31the raider was pitching sideways from his horse.
12:34A white feathered arrow buried in his throat.
12:37I followed the arrow's path with my eyes.
12:40Through the driving snow,
12:41a column of armored cavalry
12:43came crashing through the drifts.
12:44His feet rolling across the ground like muffled thunder.
12:48The rider at their head wore black armor and carried a longbow,
12:51red banners snapping behind him by the dozen.
12:53Derek!
12:57Derek vaulted from his horse.
12:59A sound like snapping timber tore through the air as the change took him.
13:02His frame erupting,
13:04armor splitting at the seams.
13:06A massive dark wolf rising from the wreckage of the man.
13:09The raider stumbled backward,
13:11horses screaming and bolting.
13:12The wolf moved before they could run.
13:15A streak of black through white snow,
13:17each strike a collision of pure force growls.
13:20Screams,
13:21the crack of something breaking.
13:23Then silence absolute,
13:24and sudden,
13:25the snow around him churned dark and still.
13:27He shifted back.
13:29Derek again,
13:30breathing hard,
13:31standing at the center of it.
13:33His eyes found mine across the snow.
13:35There were flecks of blood on his face.
13:36His eyes moved over me from head to foot.
13:38Are you hurt?
13:40I shook my head.
13:41No.
13:42My voice came out tight,
13:43but he said nothing more.
13:45He simply lifted me.
13:47Leave the supplies to my men.
13:49You're coming back to the garrison with me.
13:53Derek gently carried Clara into the room,
13:56the firelight from the fireplace immediately illuminating their faces.
14:00He settled her on the armchair by the fire,
14:03and pulled a blanket over her trembling shoulders.
14:05Looking at her cheeks flushed red in the firelight,
14:08he swallowed hard,
14:10his voice a few decibels lower than usual.
14:12Wait a moment.
14:13I'll go get the medicine.
14:14Clara looked up,
14:15meeting his gaze.
14:15I'll be right back.
14:17He finished speaking,
14:18turned,
14:18and strode towards the door,
14:20as if afraid that if he lingered any longer,
14:22he wouldn't be able to leave.
14:24I watched his departing figure,
14:25in my previous life.
14:27This was the day Derek had died.
14:29He had been 16 the first time he rode to war,
14:32led 800 men into enemy territory,
14:34and returned victorious.
14:36At 17,
14:38he drove a hostile force,
14:39300 miles back from the border.
14:42At 19,
14:43he married Road North,
14:45and was killed on this exact date.
14:47Because of glory,
14:48hungry commanding officer sent him and his kinsmen into a trap without sufficient support.
14:53His kinsmen was captured.
14:55Derek went back for him,
14:56badly wounded in near whiteout conditions,
14:59and got him out.
15:01He died of his wounds three days later,
15:03a rising star,
15:04extinguished before it had properly burned.
15:07In this life,
15:08that story would never be told.
15:10I settled into the chair by the fire,
15:12and was asleep before I could think another thought.
15:16Derek came back to find me asleep in the chair.
15:19He stood in the doorway.
15:20He removed his armor piece by piece in silence,
15:23then crossed quietly to the fire and added another log.
15:26When he turned around,
15:27I was watching him.
15:29You're awake.
15:29The plies are secured.
15:31Men are handling the incoming runs.
15:32He sat on the edge of the cot,
15:34and looked at me across the fire.
15:37We're not safe yet.
15:39Not enough to last through a real engagement,
15:42but enough to hold until the capital sends reinforcements.
15:44Good.
15:45I said, and exhaled.
15:47You knew the exact date.
15:48He said quietly.
15:49When you warned me, you knew the week.
15:50And you knew details about our position that shouldn't have reached you at all.
15:53I believed you because what you described was already beginning to move.
15:57But I've been thinking about it since.
15:59The fire crackled between us.
16:01I can't offer an explanation that would satisfy anyone reasonable.
16:05Try.
16:06I looked at him properly.
16:08The way I hadn't allowed myself on our wedding day when everything had been moving too fast.
16:12He was younger than I kept forgetting.
16:14The authority he carried sat so naturally on him that it was easy to mistake him for something
16:19fully formed.
16:20But there was still something unresolved in his face.
16:23The look of a person who had learned fast and was still deciding what to do with all of it.
16:27Say I had seen how things would go.
16:30All of it.
16:31And I didn't like the ending, I said carefully.
16:33For us, or for the garrison?
16:35Both.
16:38Derek was quiet for a moment.
16:40He crossed to me without speaking, knelt beside the chair,
16:43took my injured hands in his with a careful precision that had nothing to do with the soldier he was,
16:47and worked a tin of salve into the cuts, dead quietly.
16:51You'll go back to the estate when the supply runs are finished.
16:54This isn't a safe place for you.
16:56I know.
16:57I was already planning to leave.
16:58He glanced up, faintly surprised as if he had been bracing for an argument.
17:03I'm not useful in a garrison.
17:05I'd only be a distraction.
17:06I can do more good from the estate.
17:08All right.
17:09He rose, and carefully settled me under the blankets on the cot.
17:13Enemy forces sometimes probe the walls at night.
17:16But don't be afraid.
17:17I'll be here.
17:18He held my hand and patted my back gently, steadily,
17:22like one soothes a child through a nightmare.
17:25Sleep.
17:26I'll keep watch.
17:28Exhausted from days of hard riding, I was already drifting.
17:32Just before sleep took me entirely, I thought I heard him say something soft, almost to himself.
17:37She's thinner.
17:40We did not stay long at the garrison.
17:42After a few days of rest, when the snow eased, we turned south.
17:46Derek walked us out through the gates himself.
17:48When the walls had shrunk to a distant smudge, Sophia pulled her horse alongside mine and looked back once.
17:53He watched until we couldn't be seen anymore, Sophia said.
17:56I kept my eyes forward.
17:59My grandfather always said you learn a person's true nature in three moments.
18:03When they've just won, when they've just lost, and when they think nobody's watching.
18:08She straightened.
18:09I know which side we're on when this is over.
18:11The return south was easier than the journey north.
18:14By the time Blackthorn Estate appeared on the horizon, the worst of the winter had spent itself.
18:20I had barely stepped inside before a maid intercepted me.
18:23My lady, Miss Isabella has called on us three times this week.
18:27I changed my clothes and went to the front parlor.
18:30Isabella was waiting, impeccably turned out, as always, but the edges were fraying.
18:34A tightness around the eyes of someone holding herself together by will alone.
18:38She looked me over and something crossed her face before she smoothed it away.
18:42You look dreadful, Isabella said.
18:44The northern roads, I assume.
18:46They are what they are.
18:48How are you, Isabella?
18:50Wonderfully, she said, deploying her ease like armor.
18:54I heard about the situation at the front.
18:56You needn't perform grief for my benefit.
18:59If things go badly, I'll make sure Lucian looks out for you.
19:02And really, you barely knew him before he left.
19:04On a battlefield, no one is safe.
19:06What if Derek were to...
19:08She caught herself.
19:09Forgive me.
19:10I shouldn't say things like that.
19:11Since you know you misspoke, shouldn't you stand and apologize properly?
19:15Her expression flickered, surprise sharpening into cold fury.
19:19She leaned close and said in a low, deliberate voice,
19:22Sister, I'll tell you plainly.
19:25Derek Blackthorne is already dead in that frozen waste.
19:29For no reason I could quite explain.
19:31The words left me faintly annoyed.
19:33Not grieved, just irritated at the casualness of it.
19:36I straightened and said softly,
19:39Tell me, Isabella,
19:40does your confidence also explain why Lucian has not yet come to your room?
19:46Not once, in four months of marriage.
19:49Her eyes went wide.
19:50The situation at the front was settled.
19:53Isabella could change nothing there now.
19:55So I saw no reason not to let her understand.
19:58She was not the only one who had come back.
20:00The answer is, I lifted one of Isabella's curls and let it fall.
20:05Something you'll have to find for yourself.
20:07I rose and walked away without looking back.
20:12His spring sun slanted longer, and the wind turned warm.
20:15Cecily had claimed her spot at the upstairs window well before dawn,
20:19pulling me along with her to watch the Blackthorne forces return in triumph.
20:23I leaned against the sill, on the street below.
20:26A young man on horseback seemed to sense something.
20:28He looked up, and our eyes met.
20:30Cecily shook my arm.
20:32Clara! Clara! My brother is looking at you!
20:34All the women are throwing tokens to him!
20:36Quick, throw one too!
20:37I didn't bring any.
20:38Before I could finish,
20:39Cecily had pressed seven or eight small favors into my hands all at once.
20:43I gave her an amused look, selected one,
20:46and tossed it toward Derek.
20:47But my aim and force were both badly off.
20:50As it sailed wide of the mark and began to fall into the crowd,
20:53Derek suddenly snapped out his riding crop and flicked it back up into his grip.
20:57He looked up, about to smile at me,
20:59and was immediately punched in the arm by his elder brother.
21:03Cecily collapsing into laughter.
21:05My brother was showing off and got scolded for it!
21:08Cecily reported.
21:09After the procession passed,
21:11Cecily dragged me back to the manor
21:12and chattered the whole story to Lady Evelyn
21:14and Derek's sister-in-law.
21:16Lady Evelyn smiled.
21:17And did you catch sight of your own betrothed today, Cecily?
21:20I did.
21:21He came in last.
21:22Lucky he could still ride or I'd never have spotted him at all.
21:25She had been promised to one of the garrison's officers before the winter.
21:28She was to be married in the summer.
21:30Derek's sister-in-law rose to see to the welcome feast.
21:33I moved to help and she turned me back firmly.
21:35Clara, go and change.
21:37I looked down at my dress confused.
21:39She sighed, called one of her own maids,
21:41and sent me back to my room.
21:43The maid whispered something to my attendants.
21:45Then they descended on me,
21:47opened every chest,
21:48found my wedding dress,
21:49and between them had me dressed and presented
21:51exactly as I had been on the day I arrived at Blackthorn Estate.
21:55It took a full hour.
21:56At the end,
21:57they curtsied to me and then withdrew.
21:59I waited.
22:00A pair of dark riding boots stopped before me.
22:02Clara,
22:06I'm back.
Comments