00:00He rushes through a bonding ritual with Dahlia overnight.
00:02By morning it is done.
00:04Dahlia sways toward me and flashes the silver wolf shaped mating mark
00:07glowing on the small of her back.
00:08Your betrothed belongs to me now.
00:11His mark is on my skin, whatever will you do sister?
00:15She tilts her head, that syrup sweet voice.
00:17Your 25th name day is three days away.
00:20The crown council will assign you to one of those brutes from the borderlands.
00:24You know what those men are like?
00:25She is wrong.
00:26I have another option.
00:27I find father and mother in the great hall, scrambling to clean up Dahlia's mess.
00:31If Dahlia won't marry the heir of House Vythus, I will.
00:36Father's hand freezes mid-air, the bonding contract trembling between his fingers.
00:40Mother's eyes blow wide.
00:41Elevin, have you lost your mind?
00:42Lord Severin is rumored to be barren, bloodthirsty, savage.
00:46They say he nearly tore out a servant's throat when he went feral.
00:51Marrying him is walking into a death trap.
00:53Before I can answer, father clears his throat.
00:55If she doesn't go, what about Dahlia?
00:57She's already bonded to the Grey Hollow boy.
01:00Something shifts behind mother's eyes.
01:02A flicker of conflict, and her hand slowly releases mine.
01:05My heart goes cold.
01:06I am their true-born daughter, and still always they choose the girl who plays helpless.
01:10A bitter laugh scrapes out of me.
01:12But I have one condition.
01:14On the day I leave this house, Dahlia will confess before all the houses that she stole my elixir.
01:20Father slams his palm on the table.
01:22How can you be so cruel?
01:23You would destroy your own sister's reputation!
01:26Mother stares at me with the same disappointment, as if I am the problem.
01:29The serpent lord wants the alchemist who made that era.
01:33Your precious Dahlia can keep the credit, or keep her comfortable life.
01:38She can't have both.
01:39They cave for Dahlia.
01:41Of course they do.
01:42I turn and walk out without hesitation, and nearly collide with Edmund stepping out of Dahlia's chambers.
01:47Red marks trail down his neck and chest.
01:49The cloying scent of Dahlia's rose oil clings to him so thick it burns my nostrils.
01:53I cover my nose and move to pass him.
01:55He scrambles to block my path.
01:56El, I know you're angry, but I had no choice.
02:00The serpent court is possessive beyond reason.
02:02Only a completed bond could make him abandon his claim on her.
02:05There was no other way.
02:06A bitter smile cuts across my lips.
02:08And what about me?
02:10We were supposed to complete our bonding ritual when I turned 20.
02:13But every time the ceremony drew near, Dahlia found a reason to cry, and Edmund found a reason to postpone.
02:18Again and again.
02:19I am nearly 25 now, and he chose this moment to bond with her.
02:22Two paths stretch before me.
02:23The conscripted match, or the serpent lord.
02:26Nothing else.
02:26Guilt flashes across Edmund's face.
02:28He seizes my hand.
02:29I won't let the conscripted match take you!
02:33Listen, I can have a thrallspan put on you.
02:35You'd live in Grey Hollow under my protection.
02:37You wouldn't have to marry anyone.
02:39He sees my expression change and rushes to add.
02:41It would only be in name.
02:44Once you're at Grey Hollow, I treat you the same as Dahlia.
02:46You want for nothing.
02:48I almost laugh.
02:49The audacity, only shifters convicted of serious crimes.
02:52Those with nowhere left to turn, except the thrall brand.
02:55A branded person can be sold by their house at will.
02:58They live beneath everyone, and their children inherit that status forever.
03:01I rip my hand free.
03:02I would sooner walk into a serpent's jewels than wear your brand.
03:06At least the serpent doesn't pretend to love me while he devours me.
03:09Edmund's face darkens, wounded pride twisting into something ugly.
03:12Elowen!
03:13Don't you love me?
03:14Is your pride really worth more than being with me?
03:17I fire back without missing a beat.
03:18Oh, then why don't you make Dahlia the thrall?
03:22That would save her just as well.
03:23Dahlia?
03:24A thrall?
03:25She couldn't survive it.
03:26She's too delicate, too gentle.
03:28She deserves to be cherished, not branded.
03:31Years of swallowed grief surge upward.
03:33My vision blurs.
03:34Because Dahlia is hairkin.
03:35Soft.
03:36Fragile.
03:36Born looking like something that needs protection.
03:38And I am the last nine-tailed fox shifter in all of Eldrath.
03:42Strong, resilient, supernaturally fast to heal.
03:44Carrying nine lives.
03:45So father and mother favor her, and my own betrothed pities her.
03:49Every hurt, every sacrifice, it all falls on me.
03:51Because I look like I can take it.
03:53Edmund flinches at the scorn in my eyes.
03:55Shame curdles into anger, and he throws one last line over his shoulder as he leaves.
03:59Think it over, El.
04:00You know as well as I do, you have no other options.
04:04After he is gone, I drift downstairs in a daze and find a delivery from House Vytheris waiting for me.
04:08I open the box.
04:09My breath catches.
04:10A moonstone pendant.
04:12The exact one I lost at auction during the last Merchants' Gala.
04:14Warmth spreads through my chest, unbidden.
04:17Maybe marrying Lord Severin isn't a death sentence after all.
04:20The next day, I go to a goldsmith's workshop in Crown City to choose a return gift for Severin.
04:24His beast form is a green-eyed black serpent.
04:26I pick a cloak pin shaped like a coiled snake.
04:29Black silver base.
04:30Two emerald eyes.
04:31I allow myself a grim bit of humor.
04:33At least House Vytheris commands more wealth and power than nearly anyone in Eldrath.
04:37What exactly do I have to complain about?
04:39Oh my.
04:41How duplecialess of you, sister.
04:44You claim you'd never be Edmund's thrall, yet here you are spending a fortune on his name day gift.
04:49Such devotion, I could never be so clever.
04:52Dahlia stands there with Edmund's arm linked through hers, wearing a victor's smile.
04:56That is when I remember.
04:57Today is Edmund's name day.
04:58They think I bought this for him.
04:59So much for your pride.
05:01You're bending the knee to avoid the conscripted match after all.
05:04That one is hideous.
05:06Get me a wolf.
05:07Silver.
05:08With grey eyes.
05:09Something worthy of my house.
05:10This is for my betrothed.
05:11It has nothing to do with you.
05:14Still putting on a brave face?
05:16You're nearly 25.
05:17The decree takes effect in three days.
05:21Stop pretending you have choices.
05:24Push me further, and I won't even offer you the brand.
05:28Edmund, darling, the thrall's hall is right there.
05:32I can't bear seeing my poor sister living in such dread.
05:36Why don't we take care of it today?
05:38You really are too kind, Dahlia.
05:41Well?
05:42Go on.
05:48Inside the thrall hall, the central branding forge burns with an eternal flame.
05:51Rows of branding irons hang on the walls, each etched with a different rank symbol.
05:55A glowing red iron presses into a shifter's flesh.
05:58Even the strongest male shifter in the room screams raw.
06:00Animal broken.
06:01Edmund flinches at the sound, but he still lets Dahlia direct the houseguards to drag
06:05me deeper inside.
06:06In that moment, the Edmund who shielded me as a child, the boy who never let anyone lay
06:10a finger on me, feels like something I imagined.
06:12He is 13, standing between me and danger, eyes bright and fierce.
06:16Touch her again.
06:21Again, and I'll shift right here.
06:24That boy doesn't exist anymore.
06:25Dahlia's grip locks around my arm like iron.
06:27Nothing soft about her now.
06:28Let me pick out a nice brand for you, sister.
06:31Her gaze sweeps the wall.
06:32It lands on one iron, etched with a broken chain.
06:34The lowest rank.
06:35It means never free.
06:36This one suits you best.
06:38Don't you think, sister?
06:40I wrench free from the guards.
06:42I haven't even touched Dahlia.
06:43But she throws herself backward, acting as though I shoved her.
06:46The branding iron clatters to the floor.
06:48A single spark grazes the back of her hand.
06:50Not even a mark.
06:51I only wanted to help you avoid the conscripted match.
06:54And you tried to burn me.
06:58Before I can react, Edmund charges in.
07:01He slams into me.
07:02My body hits the edge of the branding forge.
07:04My palm presses flat against scorching metal.
07:06Pain crashes through me like a wave.
07:08I can't breathe.
07:09I tear my hand free from the burning surface.
07:11And a new pain explodes across my face.
07:13Edmund's open palm, full force.
07:15The crack echoes through the entire thrall hall.
07:17How could you do this to her?
07:19She begged me to help you and this is how you repay her?
07:22Apologize to Dalany.
07:23Now!
07:25Edmund.
07:26My hand.
07:27It hurts so much.
07:33The moment I see that cloak, my heart seizes.
07:36A foxtail cloak made from my eight severed tails.
07:40Before all this, Dahlia engineered crisis after crisis.
07:43Slashing her own skin.
07:45Faking collapse.
07:46Performing death's door so convincingly that everyone believed only my life force could save her.
07:51And I am a nine-tailed fox.
07:52Each tail holds one life.
07:54Under Edmund's pressure, I severed eight tails.
07:56Transferred my life force to Dahlia eight times.
07:58Eight lives.
07:59It still wasn't enough.
08:00I did nothing wrong.
08:03And I will not apologize.
08:06Edmund's pupils contract.
08:07Something in my defiance cuts him where he doesn't expect.
08:12How dare you!
08:15Stop!
08:21Who dare touch her?
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