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The Serpent Lord's Substitute Bride New
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00:00My adopted sister Dahlia steals my elixir and wins the alchemy trials with it.
00:04Never guessing the prize is marriage to the heir of House Vytheris,
00:07a man rumored to be barren, brutal, and monstrous.
00:10That same night, House Vytheris delivers a bonding contract sealed with a serpent wax crest.
00:15They want the shifter woman who crafted the elixir as their heir's bride.
00:18My betrothed, Edmund, panics.
00:20He rushes through a bonding ritual with Dahlia overnight.
00:23By morning, it is done.
00:24Dahlia sways toward me and flashes the silver wolf-shaped mating mark,
00:27glowing on the small of her back.
00:29Your betrothed belongs to me now.
00:31His mark is on my skin.
00:33Whatever will you do, sister?
00:35She tilts her head, that syrup-sweet voice.
00:37Your 25th name day is three days away.
00:40The Crown Council will assign you to one of those brutes from the Borderlands.
00:44You know what those men are like?
00:46She is wrong.
00:47I have another option.
00:48I find father and mother in the Great Hall, scrambling to clean up Dahlia's mess.
00:52If Dahlia won't marry the heir of House Vytheris, I will.
00:56Father's hand freezes mid-air.
00:57The bonding contract trembling between his fingers.
01:00Mother's eyes blow wide.
01:01Elevin, have you lost your mind?
01:03Lord Severin is rumored to be barren, bloodthirsty, savage.
01:07They say he nearly tore out a servant's throat when he went feral.
01:11Marrying him is walking into a death trap.
01:13Before I can answer, father clears his throat.
01:16If she doesn't go, what about Dahlia?
01:17She's already bonded to the Grey Hollow boy.
01:20Something shifts behind mother's eyes.
01:22A flicker of conflict.
01:23And her hand slowly releases mine.
01:25My heart goes cold.
01:26I am their true-born daughter.
01:27And still always, they choose the girl who plays helpless.
01:30A bitter laugh scrapes out of me.
01:33But I have one condition.
01:34On the day I leave this house, Dahlia will confess before all the houses that she stole my elixir.
01:40Father slams his palm on the table.
01:42How can you be so cruel?
01:44You would destroy your own sister's reputation!
01:46Mother stares at me with the same disappointment, as if I am the problem.
01:49The serpent lord wants the alchemist who made that era.
01:54Your precious Dahlia can keep the credit, or keep her comfortable life.
01:58She can't have both.
02:00They cave for Dahlia.
02:01Of course they do.
02:02I turn and walk out without hesitation, and nearly collide with Edmund stepping out of Dahlia's chambers.
02:07Red marks trail down his neck and chest.
02:09The cloying scent of Dahlia's rose oil clings to him so thick it burns my nostrils.
02:13I cover my nose and move to pass him.
02:15He scrambles to block my path.
02:17El, I know you're angry.
02:19But I had no choice.
02:20The serpent court is possessive beyond reason.
02:23Only a completed bond could make him abandon his claim on her.
02:25There was no other way.
02:26A bitter smile cuts across my lips.
02:29And what about me?
02:30We were supposed to complete our bonding ritual when I turned 20.
02:33But every time the ceremony drew near, Dahlia found a reason to cry, and Edmund found a reason to postpone.
02:38Again and again.
02:39I am nearly 25 now, and he chose this moment to bond with her.
02:42Two paths stretch before me.
02:44The conscripted match, or the serpent lord.
02:46Nothing else.
02:47Guilt flashes across Edmund's face.
02:49He seizes my hand.
02:50I won't let the conscripted match take you!
02:53Listen, I can have a thrallspan put on you.
02:55You'd live in Grey Hollow under my protection.
02:57You wouldn't have to marry anyone.
02:59He sees my expression change and rushes to add.
03:02It would only be in name.
03:04Once you're at Grey Hollow, I treat you the same as Dahlia.
03:07You want for nothing.
03:08I almost laugh.
03:09The audacity, only shifters convicted of serious crimes.
03:13Those with nowhere left to turn, except the thrall brand.
03:16A branded person can be sold by their house at will.
03:18They live beneath everyone, and their children inherit that status forever.
03:21I rip my hand free.
03:23I would sooner walk into a serpent's jaws than wear your brand.
03:26At least the serpent doesn't pretend to love me while he devours me.
03:29Edmund's face darkens, wounded pride twisting into something ugly.
03:33Elowyn!
03:34Don't you love me?
03:35Is your pride really worth more than being with me?
03:37I fire back without missing a beat.
03:39Oh.
03:40Then why don't you make Dahlia the thrall?
03:42That would save her just as well.
03:44Dahlia?
03:44A thrall?
03:45She couldn't survive it.
03:47She's too delicate, too gentle.
03:49She deserves to be cherished, not branded.
03:51Years of swallowed grief surge upward.
03:53My vision blurs.
03:54Because Dahlia is hairkin.
03:56Soft.
03:56Fragile.
03:57Born looking like something that needs protection.
03:59And I am the last nine-tailed fox shifter in all of Eldrath.
04:02Strong.
04:03Resilient.
04:03Supernaturally fast to heal.
04:05Carrying nine lives.
04:06So father and mother favor her.
04:07And my own betrothed pities her.
04:09Every hurt.
04:10Every sacrifice.
04:11It all falls on me.
04:12Because I look like I can take it.
04:13Edmund flinches at the scorn in my eyes.
04:15Shame curdles into anger, and he throws one last line over his shoulder as he leaves.
04:19Think it over, El.
04:20You know as well as I do, you have no other options.
04:24After he is gone, I drift downstairs in a daze and find a delivery from House Vytheris waiting for me.
04:29I open the box.
04:30My breath catches.
04:31A moonstone pendant.
04:32The exact one I lost at auction during the last Merchants' Gala.
04:35Warmth spreads through my chest, unbidden.
04:37Maybe marrying Lord Severin isn't a death sentence after all.
04:40The next day, I go to a goldsmith's workshop in Crown City to choose a return gift for Severin.
04:45His beast form is a green-eyed black serpent.
04:47I pick a cloak pin shaped like a coiled snake.
04:49Black silver base.
04:50Two emerald eyes.
04:51I allow myself a grim bit of humor.
04:53At least House Vytheris commands more wealth and power than nearly anyone in Eldrath.
04:57What exactly do I have to complain about?
04:59Oh my.
05:01How duplecialess of you, sister.
05:04You claim you'd never be Edmund's thrall, yet here you are spending a fortune on his name day gift.
05:10Such devotion, I could never be so clever.
05:12Dahlia stands there with Edmund's arm linked through hers, wearing a victor's smile.
05:16That is when I remember.
05:17Today is Edmund's name day.
05:19They think I bought this for him.
05:20So much for your pride.
05:22You're bending the knee to avoid the conscripted match after all.
05:25That one is hideous.
05:27Get me a wolf.
05:28Silver.
05:28With grey eyes.
05:29Something worthy of my house.
05:30This is for my betrothed.
05:32It has nothing to do with you.
05:34Still putting on a brave face?
05:36You're nearly 25.
05:37The decree takes effect in three days.
05:42Stop pretending you have choices.
05:44Push me further, and I won't even offer you the brand.
05:49Edmund, darling.
05:50The thrall's hall is right there.
05:52I can't bear seeing my poor sister living in such dread.
05:56Why don't we take care of it today?
05:58You really are too kind, Dahlia.
06:02Well, go on.
06:08Inside the thrall hall, the central branding forge burns with an eternal flame.
06:12Rows of branding irons hang on the walls, each etched with a different rank symbol.
06:15A glowing red iron presses into a shifter's flesh.
06:18Even the strongest male shifter in the room screams raw, animal broken.
06:22Edmund flinches at the sound, but he still lets Dahlia direct the houseguards to drag me deeper inside.
06:26In that moment, the Edmund who shielded me as a child, the boy who never let anyone lay a finger
06:31on me, feels like something I imagined.
06:33He is 13, standing between me and danger, eyes bright and fierce.
06:37Touch her again.
06:42Again, and I'll shift right here.
06:44That boy doesn't exist anymore.
06:46Dahlia's grip locks around my arm like iron.
06:48Nothing soft about her now.
06:49Let me pick out a nice brand for you, sister.
06:51Her gaze sweeps the wall.
06:52It lands on one iron etched with a broken chain, the lowest rank.
06:55It means never free.
06:57This one suits you best.
06:58Don't you think, sister?
07:01I wrench free from the guards.
07:02I haven't even touched Dahlia, but she throws herself backward, acting as though I shoved her.
07:06The branding iron clatters to the floor.
07:08A single spark grazes the back of her hand, not even a mark.
07:11I only wanted to help you avoid the conscripted match, and you tried to burn me!
07:18Before I can react, Edmund charges in.
07:21He slams into me.
07:22My body hits the edge of the branding forge.
07:24My palm presses flat against scorching metal.
07:27Pain crashes through me like a wave.
07:28I can't breathe.
07:29I tear my hand free from the burning surface, and a new pain explodes across my face.
07:34Edmund's open palm, full force.
07:35The crack echoes through the entire thrall hall.
07:37How could you do this to her?
07:39She begged me to help you, and this is how you repay her?
07:43Apologize to Dalini.
07:44Now!
07:46Edmund, my hand, it hurts so much.
07:53The moment I see that cloak, my heart seizes.
07:56A foxtail cloak made from my eight severed tails.
08:00Before all this, Dahlia engineered crisis after crisis, slashing her own skin, faking collapse,
08:06performing Death's Door so convincingly that everyone believed only my life force could save her.
08:11And I am a nine-tailed fox.
08:12Each tail holds one life.
08:14Under Edmund's pressure, I severed eight tails.
08:17Transferred my life force to Dahlia eight times.
08:19Eight lives.
08:20It still wasn't enough.
08:21I did nothing wrong.
08:24And I will not apologize.
08:26Edmund's pupils contract.
08:28Something in my defiance cuts him where he doesn't expect.
08:32How dare you!
08:36Stop!
08:41Who dare touch her?
08:49My eyes open.
08:51Through the narrow slits of the mask.
08:52A pair of deep emerald eyes.
08:54Vertical pupils, unmistakably serpent.
08:56A faint, otherworldly gleam.
08:58I think of the emeralds on that cloak pin.
09:00He sets me down on a stone bench in a nearby courtyard.
09:03Before I can speak, he vanishes around the corner.
09:05I look down.
09:06A small jar of healing salve sits in my palm.
09:08I don't know when he placed it there.
09:10Across the street, Edmund tenderly smooths Dahlia's windswept hair.
09:13Murmuring comfort.
09:14A cold smile tugs at my lips.
09:15I reach for the bonding ring I've carried at my waist.
09:18The one I'd planned to return to him.
09:19I walk to the edge of the city wall.
09:21Without a moment's hesitation, I hurl it into the churning river below.
09:24Two days later, I put on the bonding gown sent by House Vytheris.
09:27I stand in my room surrounded by a dowry so extravagant.
09:30It doesn't feel real father and mother shuffle in.
09:33They ask, voices halting.
09:34Eyes averted.
09:35If maybe Dahlia doesn't have to confess publicly.
09:37Maybe they could call it a misunderstanding.
09:39Save her some face.
09:40For the honor of our house, Elinden.
09:43The last illusion I held about them shatters.
09:45My dowry, I prepared it myself.
09:47For years, I made excuses for them.
09:49They forgot.
09:49They were busy.
09:50They'd remember eventually.
09:51They didn't remember a dowry for their own daughter.
09:53But they remembered to come beg on behalf of their favorite.
09:56No.
09:56And if you push me further, I won't go through with it at all.
10:00Let's see how House Vyrian responds to that.
10:02You wouldn't dare!
10:04A commotion erupts from the Great Hall below.
10:06I descend the stairs to find Edmund sprawled in the Great Hall's main chair, like it is a throne.
10:10A glowing red branding iron rests in his hand.
10:13Elevin, the conscripted match takes effect in 30 minutes.
10:16But since you're here, perfect.
10:18You know the rules for a thrust.
10:20Before the brand comes the right, kneel, kiss Dahlia's hand, and renounce your freedom before everyone in this hall.
10:26Do that, and I'll take you into Grey Holland.
10:29Edmund's gaze drops to my bonding gown.
10:30He freezes for half a second, then his brow furrows.
10:33Why are you dressed like that?
10:34You think putting on a gown makes you a bride?
10:37Take it off, you're embarrassing yourself.
10:38I hold his stare, eye steady.
10:40I'm completing my bonding today, Edmund.
10:42To someone who actually wants me.
10:43You're not invited.
10:44His expression shifts, then snaps back into that benefactor's mask.
10:48Every second you waste, I add another hour on your knees.
10:51Time is running out, Elf.
10:52I don't mind having someone help you down.
10:56And if you won't kneel on your own...
10:58Grey Hollow retainers step out from every corner.
11:00In full view of the hall, they reach for my bonding gown.
11:03Hands closing around my arms to force me to my knees.
11:05No!
11:06Edmund, I told you!
11:08Today is my bonding!
11:10I'd like to see anyone in this room try to make my wife kneel.
11:17Edmund's eyes go wide.
11:18The serpent-shaped cloak pin glints at Severin's collar.
11:21Bold, unmistakable.
11:22Edmund's gaze climbs to the serpent-patterned mask,
11:24then to the man behind it.
11:26The branding iron slips from his hand and rings against the stone floor.
11:29You... you're the heir of House Vytheris?
11:31What do you mean?
11:32The contract was for Dahlia!
11:34She's already bonded to me!
11:35What are you doing here?
11:36Severin reaches up, peels the mask away.
11:38The face beneath has never been shown in public.
11:41Sharp striking.
11:41Nothing close to the monster from the rumors.
11:43He extends his hand toward me.
11:45Gently.
11:46Dread pools in Edmund's gut.
11:47I place my hand in Severin's palm.
11:49Our fingers laced together.
11:50Tight.
11:51The corner of Severin's mouth lifts.
11:53His voice measured, unhurried.
11:55I never said I wanted Dahlia.
11:56It was always Elowon.
11:57Elixir was always hers.
11:59As for Dahlia, only fools like you would fall for someone that pathetic.
12:04The color drains from Edmund's face.
12:06He doesn't understand.
12:07Whispers ripple through the great hall.
12:09People are already questioning whether the trial elixir was really Dahlia's at all.
12:13Dahlia goes white.
12:14Her hand drifts toward her eyes on instinct, but I speak first,
12:17turning to father and mother at the foot of the stairs.
12:20Father.
12:21Mother.
12:22Don't forget what you promised me.
12:23Mother leans close and murmurs something in Dahlia's ear.
12:26Dahlia shrieks like a stepped-on cat.
12:29No!
12:29The elixir is mine!
12:30If the serpent court wants to cause trouble, that's your problem!
12:33I'm bonded now!
12:34I'm what happens to house Thornwood is no longer my concern!
12:36Father and mother stare at her, as if they're seeing her for the first time.
12:40A cold laugh escapes me.
12:41Dahlia has always been this person.
12:43They were just too blinded by their own favoritism to notice.
12:46Severin clicks his tongue.
12:47Lifts one hand.
12:48Ancient runes blaze to life across the stone floor.
12:51Light pours from the cracks.
12:52Tracing a perfect circle at Dahlia's feet, a truth circle.
12:55Severin speaks with the full authority of the Vytheris heir.
12:58Since this lady insists the elixir is hers, she has nothing to fear.
13:03Step into the circle and prove it.
13:05Every drop of blood leaves Dahlia's face.
13:07She stumbles back half a step.
13:09She can refuse.
13:10But in Eldrath.
13:11Refusing a truth trial is the same as a guilty plea.
13:14Every eye in the hall is on her.
13:15Dahlia's scream dissolves into sobs.
13:17Tears pour down.
13:19The picture of helplessness.
13:20Edmund!
13:21Help me!
13:22She's going to kill me!
13:23Edmund charges forward.
13:24Face Ashen.
13:25But the Vytheris guards form a wall between them.
13:28Severin's gaze lands on him.
13:29Cold as winter stone.
13:30If she's innocent, the circle will prove it.
13:34Unless you already know she isn't.
13:36Edmund's feet root to the floor.
13:37A terrible certainty begins to take shape.
13:40The kind he has spent years refusing to look at.
13:42Dahlia is pushed into the truth circle.
13:44At first, she clamps her jaw shut.
13:46Fights it with everything she has.
13:48But the runes glow brighter.
13:50Her body begins to shake.
13:51Words rip out of her throat like they're being dragged by hooks.
13:54Yes!
13:54Yes!
13:55Yes!
13:55I stole her elixir!
13:57I stole it and I stood on that stage and I smiled while everyone applauded!
14:01Her voice splinters.
14:02The circle's power drives her on.
14:04She turns to Edmund.
14:05Her lips twist into something between a sneer and a snarl.
14:08Did you true believe I loved you?
14:10You were the most obedient dog on my leash!
14:12I said jump!
14:13You asked how high!
14:14I pointed at her tails and you, you cut off yourself!
14:17Edmund's temple pulses.
14:18His whole body trembles.
14:20But all he does is step back.
14:21Like someone pulled the bones out of him.
14:23You, everything, all of it was...
14:26He can't finish.
14:27Dahlia's venom swings toward father and mother.
14:29And you two pathetic old fools.
14:31Did you really think the carriage accident was just bad luck?
14:34I cut the reins.
14:35I watched the carriage go off the road.
14:37Then I ran down the hill screaming for help and you, you thanked me!
14:40You took me in!
14:41The carriage accident.
14:42Years ago.
14:42The very reason father and mother adopted the homeless, grateful little girl named Dahlia.
14:47All of it, staged from the start.
14:48Father's face turns the color of ash.
14:50He sways.
14:51A servant catches him.
14:52Mother's eyes were tenderness lived moments ago.
14:54Flood with raw, consuming hatred.
14:56She lunges forward and strikes Dahlia across the face.
14:59Twice.
14:59You treacherous, ungrateful wretch!
15:03The hall erupts into chaos.
15:04I watch it all.
15:06The truth laid bare at last, and feel nothing.
15:08The satisfaction I expected doesn't come.
15:10Severin senses the shift in me.
15:12His hand tightens around mine.
15:14Come home with me, Elowyn.
15:16I'll be your family now.
15:20Okay.
15:21I step toward the carriage.
15:22Edmund crashes through the crowd behind me.
15:24El, I was wrong!
15:25Don't go with him!
15:26Please!
15:27Eyes wild and red-rimmed pathetic.
15:28I love you!
15:29I see it now!
15:30It was always you!
15:31She deceived me!
15:32His regret isn't worth the dirt on my shoes.
15:34My gaze drifts to the white rabbit mating mark visible on his throat.
15:37The mark that surfaced when his bond with Dahlia sealed.
15:40My voice is perfectly flat.
15:42I think you two deserve each other.
15:44May your bond hold forever.
15:46His face crumbles.
15:47I don't linger on it.
15:48I step into the carriage and pull the door shut.
15:50Edmund lunges after me.
15:52Vytheris guards close rank around him like a steel curtain.
15:54He claws at the mating mark on his neck.
15:56Scratching, tearing, and screams after the departing carriage.
16:00El, I won't give up!
16:01I'll do the severing!
16:03I'll break the bond!
16:04I'll come back to you!
16:08Severin holds the bonding ceremony at the Serpent's Reach Castle.
16:12Grand lavish.
16:13Every detail curated.
16:14I am allergic to pollen, but I love flowers.
16:17The entire hall blooms with crystal flowers crafted by alchemists.
16:20Every petal, every stamen.
16:22Impossibly lifelike.
16:24Not a grain of pollen in the air.
16:25I am still wondering how Severin knows my preferences
16:28when a wolf howl pierces through the walls.
16:30A servant reports,
16:31A massive wolf in feral shift is clawing at the castle's iron gate.
16:35I pause.
16:36Shifters only trigger a full shift under extreme duress.
16:39Edmund didn't shift when he learned the truth about Dahlia.
16:41He shifted when he saw my bonding ceremony.
16:43Once, I might have read that as proof he cared more about me.
16:47Now, I just find it absurd.
16:49You don't get to go mad over something you threw away.
16:52Severin and I exchange bonding vows before the gathered witnesses.
16:54The moment his hand takes mine, the serpent-shaped mating mark on my palm
16:58and the nine-tailed fox mark on his shoulder ignite, simultaneously.
17:02Light floods the entire hall.
17:04Every person in the room holds their breath.
17:06A faded bond.
17:07The destined contract.
17:08Unseen in Eldrath for a hundred years.
17:11After the ceremony,
17:12Orr carriage rolls toward the main castle of Serpent's Reach.
17:15As we pass through the outer gate, I glance through the carriage window.
17:18A massive silver wolf crouches inside an iron cage.
17:21For a split second, I think I see a tear slide from one lupine eye.
17:25But the wolf can only watch, trapped, as our carriage disappears down the road.
17:29Bonding night.
17:30The master chamber.
17:31Just the two of us.
17:33I study his face without the mask.
17:35My cheeks flush before I can stop it.
17:37Every rumor about you is wrong.
17:39Severin removes the silver pins and gemstones from my hair.
17:42One by one.
17:43His fingers move so gently, they don't belong to a man called Savage.
17:46What rumors?
17:48That you're Savage.
17:51Hideous and...
17:52A soft laugh.
17:54Baron?
17:55Heat rises to my ears.
17:56I open my mouth to reassure him, and he pulls me into his arms.
18:00Those emerald eyes fix on me.
18:02The vertical pupils dilate slightly, but he holds himself in check.
18:06Elevin, look at me.
18:08His voice drops low.
18:09We stop whenever you say.
18:10I have waited seven years.
18:12I can wait seven more.
18:14Something in those eyes undoes me.
18:16I nod, shy and breathless.
18:18You don't have to hold back.
18:20It is not until the bonding ritual begins that my eyes fly open.
18:24You have two?
18:26Severin's voice comes out rough.
18:28Serpent bloodline.
18:29We have two.
18:30If you don't want...
18:31I kiss him to shut him up.
18:33By the second half of the night, he proves, thoroughly and personally, that the barren rumor
18:37is also a lie.
18:38At the most intimate moment, our mating marks blaze to life in unison.
18:42A massive wave of emotion crashes into me, not mine.
18:45His pure feeling, seven years of solitude, seven years of longing, and one moment lying
18:49half dead in the mud, barely breathing, when a pair of warm hands lifted him up, and his
18:54whole world shifted on its axis.
18:56I cry.
18:56Severin stops immediately, alarm all over his face.
18:59He thinks he hurt me.
19:01I shake my head.
19:02I felt you.
19:03All of it.
19:05All those years.
19:06It takes five full days for the bond to stabilize.
19:09I nearly trigger a full shift.
19:11My ears and tail popping out uncontrollably.
19:13Again and again.
19:14I peel myself off the bed, legs shaking, lower back aching, and hear a commotion outside.
19:19I push open the window and look down.
19:21Edmund kneels at the castle gate.
19:23A massive bouquet of roses clutched to his chest.
19:25A maid sweeping the corridor tells me he has been there for five days.
19:28Two rainstorms hit during that time.
19:30He knelt through both.
19:31The only thing he asked for was someone to swap out the wilted roses for fresh ones.
19:35All I feel is irritation.
19:37Who is this performance for?
19:38I have a new life.
19:40Edmund's self-righteous penance is nothing but noise.
19:42I reach for the curtain, and a body with cooler than normal temperature presses against
19:46my back.
19:47What are you looking at?
19:48Severin peers over my shoulder, sees the scene below his brow creases.
19:52He just won't go away, will he?
19:54At that exact moment, Edmund looks up, as if he senses me.
19:57The instant he sees my face, something reignites behind his dull eyes, and dies the next second,
20:02when Severin tilts my chin up and gives me a long, slow kiss.
20:06I don't resist.
20:07I wrap my arms around him.
20:08The tenderness of it sears into Edmund's vision.
20:11Roses scatter from his hands.
20:12He staggers to his feet, mouth opening to shout to stop it.
20:16But five days without water have stolen his voice.
20:18Nothing comes out.
20:19I expect Edmund to give up.
20:21Instead, he is at the gate again the next day.
20:23And the next.
20:24I can't take it anymore.
20:26I go down to face him.
20:27Edmund has lost significant weight.
20:28Pale, dark hollows under his eyes.
20:31His robes hang loose on a frame that used to fill them.
20:33The moment he sees me, he fumbles at his collar, yanking it aside to bear the back of his neck.
20:37Where Dahlia's white rabbit mating mark used to sit.
20:40Now only a jagged wound.
20:41Raw.
20:42Half healed.
20:43A slab of flesh carved away.
20:44He forces a desperate, eager smile.
20:47El, I did the severing ritual.
20:49The mark is gone.
20:51I'm clean now.
20:52We can start over.
20:54The severing ritual is one of Eldrath's most dangerous rites.
20:57It tears the bond from the soul itself.
20:59The pain is said to rival being flayed alive.
21:01Three out of ten who attempt it die on the ritual table.
21:04And the mark goes deep, down to muscle and bone.
21:06Removing it completely means cutting away an entire section of flesh.
21:10I look at the mangled mess of his neck.
21:11Surprised he went this far.
21:12But only surprised.
21:14Nothing more.
21:15My silence gives him hope.
21:16He pulls out two severed pieces of fur.
21:19I look closer.
21:20A silver gray wolf tail.
21:22A white rabbit tail.
21:23Anguish contorts his face.
21:24I'm sorry, El.
21:26I was a monster.
21:27I understand now.
21:29I understand what you went through.
21:31I severed my own tail.
21:32And hers.
21:33To atone.
21:35Forgive me.
21:36I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you.
21:39Nothing stirs inside me.
21:41Not a ripple.
21:41Their tails are gone.
21:43Do mine grow back?
21:44A nine-tailed fox's tails.
21:45Once severed.
21:46Never regenerate.
21:47Ever.
21:47Eight lives.
21:48Gone forever.
21:49Edmund.
21:50If you truly want to make amends, stop coming here.
21:53Stop making your guilt my burden to carry.
21:55I am bonded to Severin.
21:57We are happy.
21:59You're lying!
22:00How could you bond with someone else?
22:03Edmund runs to his carriage and hauls out a bouquet of roses.
22:08El.
22:09Look.
22:10I brought your favorite roses.
22:12Before he can get within arm's reach, a boot kicks the bouquet out of his hands.
22:16Petals explode across the cobblestones.
22:18Severin stands between us.
22:20His emerald slit pupils have contracted to razor.
22:22Thin lines.
22:24Edmund snarls.
22:25What gives you the right to kick away my flowers?
22:27Severin's voice cuts like a blade dipped in frost.
22:30You claim to love her, yet you bring her the one thing that makes her suffer.
22:34How very consistent of you.
22:35The blood drains from Edmund's face.
22:39I'm sorry, El.
22:40I didn't mean to.
22:41I thought you liked-
22:42He thought I liked roses.
22:43The one who likes roses has always been Dahlia.
22:46And Dahlia doesn't even care about them that much.
22:48She just enjoys watching me break out in hives.
22:50Every time Dahlia graciously re-gifted Edmund's roses to me, I told them, all of them, I am
22:55allergic to pollen.
22:56Father, mother, Edmund, none of them believed me.
22:58They decided I was making it up to spite Dahlia.
23:00I spent years getting dragged to the healer's ward every other week because of those flowers.
23:04I look at Edmund, hollowed out, unraveling, and feel nothing warm at all.
23:08You cut eight tails from my body.
23:10You made a cloak of my lives and draped it over the woman who orchestrated every wound.
23:15And now you stand here with flowers I'm allergic to, asking me to forgive you.
23:19Tell me, Edmund, in all of that, did you ever actually see me?
23:22Edmund's knees buckle.
23:23He barely stays upright.
23:24I take Severin's arm and turn to leave.
23:26Behind us, a rush of footsteps.
23:28Severin pivots to shield me, but Edmund isn't charging at us.
23:31He sprints straight for the serpent's reached training yard and rips the sword from the rack.
23:34Severin Vytheris!
23:36I challenge me to an honor duel for Elevan!
23:40In Eldrath, when a shifter believes another has taken his mate, he has the right to demand a duel of
23:45honor.
23:45Edmund half-shifts.
23:47Goes all out, lupine fury, raw power.
23:49Wolfblood is built for brute force and explosive speed.
23:53Severin barely tries to, so the speed erases every advantage the wolf has.
23:56Each of Edmund's lunges hits empty air, nothing but a calm sidestep.
24:05One strike.
24:07Severin pins him to the ground.
24:09Scales ripple across his neck.
24:10Those cold, slit people stare down.
24:16Suffering for her doesn't mean you loved her.
24:19It just means you only know how to think about yourself.
24:23Edmund collapses.
24:24Broken ribs.
24:25A wolf-like rasp shudders through his chest.
24:27He lifts his head toward me.
24:29Now, now I know what it feels like.
24:32Does that, does that count for anything?
24:34I give him one look.
24:35Just one.
24:36Then I walk to Severin and press my fingers to the scales that have surfaced along his neck.
24:40Raised by anger, hard as armor dot under my touch, they recede.
24:44Smooth skin returns, inch by inched.
24:46Severin goes still.
24:48Then he bows his head and rests his forehead against my palm.
24:50I take his hand.
24:52I don't look back dot Edmund watches from the ground.
24:54The way she touches Severin's face.
24:56The way her eyes soften.
24:57She has never looked at him like that.
24:59Not once.
25:00The next I hear of Edmund is three days later.
25:02After the honor duel, he was carried to the healer's ward.
25:05Unconscious for a full day and night before waking.
25:07This time, he drops the desperate siege tactics.
25:10Instead, he starts appearing at every place I frequent.
25:12Engineering coincidences.
25:14The herb market in Crown City.
25:16The alchemy workshops.
25:17Even the small towns near Serpent's Reach.
25:19Severin's seeds.
25:20He stays glued to my side.
25:22And every time he senses Edmund nearby, his pupils narrow to vertical slits.
25:26A clear, unmistakable warning.
25:28Until one day.
25:29Severin and I attend the Gathering of Houses.
25:31The annual formal assembly of all the Blood Houses.
25:34Severin needs to discuss territory matters with Allied House representatives.
25:38We separate briefly.
25:39I sit alone at a long table in the corner of the banquet hall.
25:41Picking at a slice of cake.
25:43When a shadow falls over me.
25:44I look up.
25:45Edmund stands in front of me.
25:46I have no idea when he got this close.
25:48I stand to leave.
25:49How did I never notice how revolting he is?
25:51The contempt in my eyes wounds him.
25:53He calls out.
25:54Voice shaking.
25:54Oh, I'm not here to bother you.
25:58I just thought you should know.
26:00Severin went into the East Tower with a woman just now.
26:03My step falters.
26:04I glance instinctively toward where Severin was sitting.
26:07Only his Allied House representative remains.
26:09Drinking alone.
26:10Edmund moves closer.
26:12He does this right under your nose.
26:14And you're still going to stay with him?
26:16My brow furrows.
26:17That's between me and my husband.
26:19It has nothing to do with you.
26:20Logic tells me Severin would never.
26:22But the unease claws in anyway.
26:24Edmund fans the flames.
26:25Already climbing the spiral staircase of the East Tower.
26:28Top of the East Tower.
26:29See for yourself.
26:31I follow before I realize I'm doing it.
26:33Barely 15 minutes of climbing.
26:35But it feels like an eternity.
26:36What if Severin really?
26:37My thoughts tangle.
26:39Before I know it, I'm standing in front of the tower chamber door.
26:42Edmund's face is alight.
26:43He reaches for the handle.
26:45The door opens from the inside first.
26:47Get out.
26:47Whoever sent you tell them I've waited seven years for my wife.
26:50No one is taking that from me.
26:51A scantily dressed shifter woman stumbles out of the room.
26:54Thrown.
26:55Not walking.
26:56Severin stands in the doorway.
26:57His expression is dark enough to bruise.
26:59His clothes are perfectly intact.
27:01The moment he sees me, the ice cracks.
27:03Gone in a blink.
27:04Elevin.
27:05I didn't touch her.
27:06Someone slipped a lust rasp into my mead.
27:08I saw through it.
27:09Serpent blood is immune to poisons.
27:11I played along to draw them out.
27:13He tugs his collar open.
27:15You don't believe me.
27:16Check for yourself.
27:17There isn't a mark on me that isn't yours.
27:19I catch his hands before he can strip any further.
27:22A laugh escapes me.
27:23I believe you.
27:24Keep your clothes on, for now.
27:26Edmund's face goes white.
27:27I turn the full weight of my contempt on him.
27:29Edmund.
27:30Was that woman you're doing?
27:32You disgust me.
27:33It wasn't me.
27:35Elle, how could you think that of me?
27:36I don't bother responding.
27:38Whether it was him or not doesn't matter anymore.
27:40Severin notifies the gathering's organizers, then takes my arm to leave.
27:44Edmund chases us to the door.
27:45Mouth open, still scrambling for words.
27:47The banquet doors explode inward.
27:49A filthy, disheveled shifter woman barrels through the crowd and hurls herself into Edmund's arms.
27:54Edmund!
27:55I'm carrying your child.
27:57You can't throw me away.
27:58I look closer.
27:59She is Dahlia.
28:00The hall drops into dead silence.
28:02Then the whispers begin.
28:03Dahlia doesn't care about appearances.
28:05She wails at full volume in front of every bloodhouse representative in Eldra, spilling everything.
28:10This is how I learn what happened after the truth trial.
28:13Edmund severed Dahlia's tail.
28:14Threw her out of Grey Hollow.
28:16Father and mother cut her off entirely, bolted the doors of Thornfield Manor and ignored every plea.
28:21For weeks, Dahlia begged for scraps at the edges of market towns.
28:24Then her belly started to swell.
28:26That is when she realized.
28:28Edmund tries to pry her off.
28:29She locks her arms around his legs like a drowning woman gripping driftwood.
28:32This child is her only leverage.
28:34Her only way back.
28:35Every house representative in the room watches the spectacle with open amusement.
28:39Grey Hollow's disgrace served fresh.
28:41Lord Grey Hollow the Elder arrives, face carved from stone.
28:44To salvage what little dignity remains, he forces the issue.
28:47For the honor of House Grey Holland, take her home.
28:51As they drag Dahlia out, she twists around for one last look at me.
28:54The jealousy and bitterness in her eyes warp her features into something barely human.
28:58Back at Serpent's reach.
29:00Severin draws a hot bath for me.
29:02His fingertips trace along my neck and shoulders.
29:04The serpent blood runs cool, and somehow that coolness unwinds every knot in my muscles.
29:10When you threw that woman out, you said you'd waited seven years for your wife.
29:15What did you mean?
29:16A long pause.
29:17When he speaks, his expression is more open than I've ever seen it.
29:20I've been in love with you for seven years.
29:22Do you remember, years ago, in the deep forest, you found a small black serpent half dead in the mud?
29:27That was me.
29:28My enemies had hunted me down.
29:29I was wounded, feral, trapped in my beast form.
29:32You saved me with your elixirs.
29:34I was dying, and then you appeared.
29:36You didn't flinch.
29:37You picked up a venosemza serpent with your bare hands and poured your elixirs into its mouth.
29:41I think...
29:42I think I fell for you before I even knew your name.
29:45By the time I found you again, you were already promised to someone else.
29:48I stare at him, Duck.
29:49That little black snake was you?
29:51All these years, I thought it was just a wild serpent.
29:54I never imagined I'd accidentally saved the heir of House Vithyrus.
29:57A thought strikes me.
29:58The man in the serpent mask.
30:00At the runaway carriage.
30:02That was you?
30:03Severin nods.
30:04It was me.
30:04I was late that day.
30:07I should have been there sooner.
30:09I couldn't stop them from hurting your hand.
30:12His healing salve worked flawlessly, not even a scar.
30:15I step forward and wrap my arms around him.
30:17Severin.
30:18He freezes.
30:19Color floods his face, racing down his neck.
30:21He presses my hand to his cheek and holds it there.
30:24And the light in his eyes is so bright he can barely contain it.
30:27Again, please.
30:29After that confession, Severin becomes impossibly clingy.
30:32He caches in every unused rest day he has accumulated over the years and takes me across Eldra.
30:37The warm coastline near Serpent's reach.
30:40The eastern mountain passes.
30:41Hidden valleys I've only read about in books.
30:44With no sign of Edmund for once.
30:45We have the sweetest stretch of days I can remember.
30:48One winter night.
30:50I find Severin curled by the fireplace.
30:52Serpent blood runs cold.
30:54The chill hits him harder than most.
30:55I walk over and wrap my single remaining tail around him.
30:58He stiffens.
30:59You don't have to.
31:01I want to.
31:02He says nothing more.
31:03Just buries his face in the fur and lets his breathing slow.
31:06That tail keeping him warm.
31:08And the eight made into a cloak.
31:09They're the same thing.
31:10The difference is one was taken.
31:12The other is given.
31:13Rumors about Grey Hollow drift in from time to time.
31:16Dahlia and Edmund fight constantly.
31:18Two people who despise each other.
31:20Chained together by an unborn child.
31:22A kind of forever, I suppose.
31:23I think the worst is behind me.
31:25That I can finally have peace.
31:28I am wrong.
31:29Dahlia and Edmund argue on the courtyard steps at Grey Hollow.
31:34Shoving turns to stumbling.
31:36Dahlia falls.
31:37The child is gone.
31:38With her last scrap of value erased.
31:40Lord Grey Hollow the Elder expels Dahlia from the estate.
31:43And Edmund once again appears at my door.
31:46His eyes carry something new.
31:48Something unhinged.
31:49El.
31:50The bond is severed.
31:52The child is gone.
31:54There's nothing standing between us now.
31:57A chill crawls up my spine.
31:59It's not the words.
32:00It's the way he says them.
32:01Like the baby's death is just another obstacle cleared from his path.
32:04I open my mouth to respond.
32:05And Dahlia explodes from the shadows beside the road.
32:08The wall died.
32:08A dagger clenched in her fist.
32:10Aimed straight at me.
32:11Elephant!
32:12This is your fault!
32:14All of it!
32:16You have one life left.
32:18I took eight and I'll take the last!
32:21Edmund's pupils shrink to pinpoints.
32:23He throws himself between us.
32:24The dagger buries itself in his abdomen.
32:26Edmund clutches the wound and crumples.
32:28Blood spills from the corner of his mouth.
32:30That blade.
32:30The healer tells him later.
32:31Has permanently destroyed his ability to sire children.
32:34Royal guards arrive and seize Dahlia on the spot.
32:37While Edmund recovers.
32:38The Crown Council launches an investigation.
32:40Dahlia's testimony from the truth trial.
32:42Is formally prosecuted.
32:44Eight counts of coercing Aloen into severing her tails.
32:46Attempted enslavement of a bonded mate.
32:48A thrall.
32:49And years of systematic abuse against Aloen.
32:51Edmund is stripped of his noble title.
32:53And confined to the royal dungeon.
32:54Three years later.
32:55Through relentless work.
32:56I become the most respected alchemist in Eldrath.
32:58The Crown Council awards me the title of Master Alchemist.
33:01Severin and I have twins.
33:03Flower daughter inherits my bloodline.
33:04Nine fluffy little tails.
33:05A true nine-tailed fox.
33:07Flower son inherits Severin.
33:08A pair of tiny emerald-slit pupils.
33:10The barren heir of House Vithyrus rumor dies on its own.
33:13A new one takes its place.
33:14Severin Vithyrus does whatever his wife tells him.
33:16During this time.
33:17Father and mother send messengers to Serpent's Reach again and again.
33:20Requesting an audience.
33:21They even deliver a dowry.
33:22Years too late.
33:23I don't see them.
33:24Not once.
33:24My life is full now.
33:25I don't need their discount love anymore.
33:27On the twins naming ceremony.
33:29Nearly every bloodhouse sends a representative.
33:31Gifts arrive in an endless stream.
33:32Severin and I are playing with the children.
33:34When a servant approaches carrying an enormous gift box.
33:37From a visitor not on the guest list.
33:38He delivered it and left.
33:40No name.
33:41Open the box.
33:42Inside rare gemstones.
33:44Enchanted artifacts.
33:45And a document exclusive trade rights to the two wealthiest counties in Greyhallow territory.
33:50At the very bottom beneath everything.
33:51Sits a ring.
33:52The bonding ring I hurled from the city wall into the river.
33:55He found it.
33:55Pulled it from the riverbed dot.
33:57But the ring lost its meaning a long time ago.
33:58I close the box and rewrap it.
34:01Have a rider return this to Greyhower.
34:03And have him deliver a message.
34:05Tell him I bear him no hatred.
34:07I pause.
34:08But we are done.
34:09We have always been done.
34:11After the servant leaves.
34:13Severin wraps his arms around me from behind.
34:15His chin rests on my shoulder.
34:17Are you alright?
34:19I'm fine.
34:20While I lean back into him.
34:23I've been fine for a long time.
34:26That night.
34:26The children are asleep.
34:28I'm holding my daughter.
34:29Pressing a kiss to the tiny soft ears on her forehead.
34:32Her nine little tails twitch in her dreams.
34:34A faint itch prickles at the small of my back.
34:37I look down next to my single remaining tail.
34:39A tuft of new fur.
34:40Pale as spider silk.
34:41Almost invisible.
34:43I go still.
34:43I don't tell anyone.
34:45I just smile.
34:46And hold my daughter a little closer.
34:47I don't tell anyone.
34:47I don't tell anyone.
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