- 6 days ago
The Serpent Lord's Substitute Bride HD SM
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Short filmTranscript
00:04My adopted sister Dahlia steals my elixir and wins the alchemy trials with it.
00:09Never guessing the prize is marriage to the heir of House Vytheris,
00:12a man rumored to be barren, brutal, and monstrous.
00:15That same night, House Vytheris delivers a bonding contract sealed with a serpent waxcrest.
00:20They want the shifter woman who crafted the elixir as their heir's bride.
00:23My betrothed, Edmund, panics.
00:25He rushes through a bonding ritual with Dahlia overnight.
00:28By morning, it is done. Dahlia sways toward me and flashes the silver wolf-shaped mating mark,
00:32glowing on the small of her back.
00:34Your betrothed belongs to me now.
00:37His mark is on my skin. Whatever will you do, sister?
00:40She tilts her head, that syrup-sweet voice.
00:43Your 25th name day is three days away.
00:45The Crown Council will assign you to one of those brutes from the Borderlands.
00:49You know what those men are like?
00:51She is wrong. I have another option.
00:53I find father and mother in the Great Hall, scrambling to clean up Dahlia's mess.
00:57If Dahlia won't marry the heir of House Vytheris, I will.
01:01Father's hand freezes mid-air, the bonding contract trembling between his fingers.
01:05Mother's eyes blow wide.
01:06Elevin, have you lost your mind?
01:08Lord Severin is rumored to be barren, bloodthirsty, savage.
01:12They say he nearly tore out a servant's throat when he went feral.
01:16Marrying him is walking into a death trap.
01:19Before I can answer, father clears his throat.
01:21If she doesn't go, what about Dahlia?
01:23She's already bonded to the Grey Hollow boy.
01:25Something shifts behind mother's eyes.
01:27A flicker of conflict, and her hand slowly releases mine.
01:30My heart goes cold.
01:31I am their true-born daughter, and still always they choose the girl who plays helpless.
01:35A bitter laugh scrapes out of me.
01:38But I have one condition.
01:39On the day I leave this house,
01:42Dahlia will confess before all the houses that she stole my elixir.
01:45Father slams his palm on the table.
01:47How can you be so cruel?
01:49You would destroy your own sister's reputation!
01:51Mother stares at me with the same disappointment, as if I am the problem.
01:55The serpent lord wants the alchemist who made that era.
01:59Your precious Dahlia can keep the credit, or keep her comfortable life.
02:03She can't have both.
02:05They cave for Dahlia.
02:06Of course they do.
02:07I turn and walk out without hesitation,
02:09and nearly collide with Edmund stepping out of Dahlia's chambers.
02:12Red marks trail down his neck and chest.
02:14The cloying scent of Dahlia's rose oil clings to him so thick it burns my nostrils.
02:18I cover my nose and move to pass him.
02:20He scrambles to block my path.
02:22El, I know you're angry.
02:24But I had no choice.
02:25The serpent court is possessive beyond reason.
02:28Only a completed bond could make him abandon his claim on her.
02:30There was no other way.
02:31A bitter smile cuts across my lips.
02:34And what about me?
02:35We were supposed to complete our bonding ritual when I turned 20.
02:38But every time the ceremony drew near,
02:40Dahlia found a reason to cry,
02:41and Edmund found a reason to postpone.
02:43Again and again.
02:44I am nearly 25 now,
02:46and he chose this moment to bond with her.
02:47Two paths stretch before me.
02:49The conscripted match,
02:50or the serpent lord.
02:51Nothing else.
02:52Guilt flashes across Edmund's face.
02:54He seizes my hand.
02:55I won't let the conscripted match take you!
02:58Listen, I can have a thrallspan put on you.
03:00You'd live in Grey Hollow under my protection.
03:02You wouldn't have to marry anyone.
03:04He sees my expression change and rushes to add,
03:07It would only be in name.
03:09Once you're at Grey Hollow,
03:10I treat you the same as Dahlia.
03:12You want for nothing.
03:13I almost laugh.
03:15The audacity.
03:15Only shifters convicted of serious crimes.
03:18Those with nowhere left to turn.
03:19Except the thrall brand.
03:21A branded person can be sold by their house at will.
03:23They live beneath everyone,
03:24and their children inherit that status forever.
03:27I rip my hand free.
03:28I would sooner walk into a serpent's jaws than wear your brand.
03:32At least the serpent doesn't pretend to love me while he devours me.
03:34Edmund's face darkens,
03:36wounded pride twisting into something ugly.
03:38Elowen!
03:39Don't you love me?
03:40Is your pride really worth more than being with me?
03:42I fire back without missing a beat.
03:44Oh.
03:45Then why don't you make Dahlia the thrall?
03:47That would save her just as well.
03:49Dahlia?
03:49A thrall?
03:50She couldn't survive it.
03:52She's too delicate, too gentle.
03:54She deserves to be cherished, not branded.
03:56Years of swallowed grief surge upward.
03:58My vision blurs.
03:59Because Dahlia is hairkin.
04:01Soft.
04:01Fragile.
04:02Born looking like something that needs protection.
04:04And I am the last nine-tailed fox shifter in all of Eldrath.
04:07Strong, resilient, supernaturally fast to heal.
04:10Carrying nine lives.
04:11So father and mother favor her.
04:12And my own betrothed pities her.
04:14Every hurt.
04:15Every sacrifice.
04:16It all falls on me.
04:17Because I look like I can take it.
04:18Edmund flinches at the scorn in my eyes.
04:20Shame curdles into anger.
04:22And he throws one last line over his shoulder as he leaves.
04:24Think it over, El.
04:25You know as well as I do.
04:27You have no other options.
04:29After he is gone.
04:30I drift downstairs in a daze and find a delivery from House Vytheris waiting for me.
04:34I open the box.
04:35My breath catches.
04:36A moonstone pendant.
04:37The exact one I lost at auction during the last Merchants Gala.
04:40Warmth spreads through my chest.
04:42Unbidden.
04:42Maybe marrying Lord Severin isn't a death sentence after all.
04:45The next day, I go to a goldsmith's workshop in Crown City to choose a return gift for Severin.
04:50His beast form is a green-eyed black serpent.
04:52I pick a cloak pin shaped like a coiled snake.
04:54Black silver base.
04:56Two emerald eyes.
04:56I allow myself a grim bit of humor.
04:58At least House Vytheris commands more wealth and power than nearly anyone in Eldrath.
05:02What exactly do I have to complain about?
05:04Oh my.
05:06How duplecialess of you, sister.
05:09You claim you'd never be Edmund's thralth, yet here you are spending a fortune on his name
05:14day gift.
05:15Such devotion, I could never be so clever.
05:17Dahlia stands there with Edmund's arm linked through hers, wearing a victor's smile.
05:21That is when I remember.
05:22Today is Edmund's name day.
05:24They think I bought this for him.
05:25So much for your pride.
05:27You're bending the knee to avoid the conscripted match after all.
05:30That one is hideous.
05:32Get me a wolf, silver, with grey eyes, something worthy of my house.
05:35This is for my betrothed.
05:37It has nothing to do with you.
05:39Still putting on a brave face?
05:41You're nearly twenty-five.
05:43The decree takes effect in three days.
05:47Stop pretending you have choices.
05:49Push me further, and I won't even offer you the brand.
05:54Edmund, darling, the thralls hall is right there.
05:57I can't bear seeing my poor sister living in such dread.
06:01Why don't we take care of it today?
06:03You really are too kind, Dahlia.
06:06Well?
06:08Go on.
06:13Inside the thrall hall, the central branding forge burns with an eternal flame.
06:17Rows of branding irons hang on the walls, each etched with a different rank symbol.
06:21A glowing red iron presses into a shifter's flesh.
06:23Even the strongest male shifter in the room screams raw, animal broken.
06:27Edmund flinches at the sound, but he still lets Dahlia direct the houseguards to drag me deeper inside.
06:32In that moment, the Edmund who shielded me as a child, the boy who never let anyone lay a finger
06:36on me, feels like something I imagined.
06:38He is 13, standing between me and danger, eyes bright and fierce.
06:42Touch her again.
06:47Again, and I'll shift right here.
06:49That boy doesn't exist anymore.
06:51Dahlia's grip locks around my arm like iron.
06:53Nothing soft about her now.
06:54Let me pick out a nice brand for you, sister.
06:56Her gaze sweeps the wall.
06:58It lands on one iron etched with a broken chain, the lowest rank.
07:01It means never free.
07:02This one suits you best.
07:04Don't you think, sister?
07:05I wrench free from the guards.
07:07I haven't even touched Dahlia, but she throws herself backward, acting as though I shoved her.
07:11The branding iron clatters to the floor.
07:13A single spark raises the back of her hand, not even a mark.
07:17I only wanted to help you avoid the conscripted match, and you tried to burn me!
07:24Before I can react, Edmund charges in.
07:26He slams into me.
07:27My body hits the edge of the branding forge.
07:29My palm presses flat against scorching metal.
07:32Pain crashes through me like a wave.
07:33I can't breathe.
07:34I tear my hand free from the burning surface, and a new pain explodes across my face.
07:39Edmund's open palm, full force.
07:41The crack echoes through the entire thrall hall.
07:43How could you do this to her?
07:44She begged me to help you, and this is how you repay her?
07:48Apologize to Dalany.
07:49Now!
07:51Edmund.
07:58The moment I see that cloak, my heart seizes.
08:01A foxtail cloak made from my eight-severed tails.
08:06Before all this, Dahlia engineered crisis after crisis, slashing her own skin, faking collapse,
08:11performing Death's Door so convincingly that everyone believed only my life force could save her.
08:16And I am a nine-tailed fox.
08:18Each tail holds one life.
08:19Under Edmund's pressure, I severed eight tails.
08:22Transferred my life force to Dahlia eight times.
08:24Eight lives.
08:25It still wasn't enough.
08:26I did nothing wrong.
08:29And I will not apologize.
08:31Edmund's pupils contract.
08:33Something in my defiance cuts him where he doesn't expect.
08:37How dare you!
08:41Stop!
08:46Who dare touch her?
08:54My eyes open.
08:56Through the narrow slits of the mask, a pair of deep emerald eyes, vertical pupils unmistakably
09:01serpent, a faint, otherworldly gleam.
09:03I think of the emeralds on that cloak pin.
09:05He sets me down on a stone bench in a nearby courtyard.
09:08Before I can speak, he vanishes around the corner.
09:10I look down.
09:11A small jar of healing salve sits in my palm.
09:13I don't know when he placed it there.
09:15Across the street, Edmund tenderly smooths Dahlia's windswept hair, murmuring comfort.
09:19A cold smile tugs at my lips.
09:20I reach for the bonding ring I've carried at my waist, the one I'd planned to return to
09:24him.
09:25I walk to the edge of the city wall.
09:26Without a moment's hesitation, I hurl it into the churning river below.
09:29Two days later, I put on the bonding gown sent by house by theorists.
09:33I stand in my room surrounded by a dowry so extravagant.
09:35It doesn't feel real father and mother shuffle in.
09:38They ask, voices halting, eyes averted.
09:40If maybe Dahlia doesn't have to confess publicly.
09:42Maybe they could call it a misunderstanding.
09:44Save her some face.
09:45For the honor of our house, Elinden.
09:48The last illusion I held about them shatters.
09:50My dowry, I prepared it myself.
09:52For years I made excuses for them.
09:54They forgot.
09:54They were busy.
09:55They'd remember eventually.
09:56They didn't remember a dowry for their own daughter.
09:59But they remembered to come beg on behalf of their favorite.
10:01No.
10:01And if you push me further, I won't go through with it at all.
10:04Let's see how house Vyrian responds to that.
10:07You wouldn't dare!
10:09A commotion erupts from the great hall below.
10:11I descend the stairs to find Edmund sprawled in the great hall's main chair, like it is a throne.
10:16A glowing red branding iron rests in his hand.
10:18Elevin, the conscripted match takes effect in 30 minutes.
10:21But since you're here, perfect.
10:23You know the rules for a thrust.
10:25Before the brand comes the right.
10:26Kneel, kiss Dahlia's hand, and renounce your freedom before everyone in this hall.
10:31Do that, and I'll take you into Grey Holland.
10:33Edmund's gaze drops to my bonding gown.
10:36He freezes for half a second, then his brow furrows.
10:38Why are you dressed like that?
10:40You think putting on a gown makes you a bride?
10:42Take it off, you're embarrassing yourself.
10:43I hold his stare, I steady.
10:45I'm completing my bonding today, Edmund.
10:47To someone who actually wants me.
10:48You're not invited.
10:49His expression shifts, then snaps back into that benefactor's mask.
10:53Every second you waste, I add another hour on your knees.
10:56Time is running out, El.
10:57I don't mind having someone help you down.
11:01And if you won't kneel on your own.
11:03Grey Hollow retainers step out from every corner.
11:05In full view of the hall, they reach for my bonding gown.
11:08Hands closing around my arms to force me to my knees.
11:11No!
11:11Edmund, I told you!
11:13Today is my bonding!
11:15I'd like to see anyone in this room try to make my wife kneel.
11:22Edmund's eyes go wide.
11:23The serpent-shaped cloak pin glints at Severin's collar.
11:26Bold, unmistakable.
11:27Edmund's gaze climbs to the serpent-patterned mask,
11:29then to the man behind it.
11:31The branding iron slips from his hand and rings against the stone floor.
11:34You- you're the heir of House Vytherus?
11:36What do you mean?
11:37The contract was for Dahlia!
11:39She's already bonded to me!
11:40What are you doing here?
11:41Severin reaches up, peels the mask away.
11:43The face beneath has never been shown in public.
11:46Sharp striking.
11:46Nothing close to the monster from the rumors.
11:48He extends his hand toward me.
11:50Gently.
11:51Dread pools in Edmund's gut.
11:52I place my hand in Severin's palm.
11:54Our fingers lace together.
11:55Tight.
11:56The corner of Severin's mouth lifts.
11:58His voice measured, unhurried.
12:00I never said I wanted Dahlia.
12:01It was always Elowen.
12:03Elixir was always hers.
12:04As for Dahlia,
12:06only fools like you would fall for someone that pathetic.
12:09The color drains from Edmund's face.
12:11He doesn't understand.
12:12Whispers ripple through the Great Hall.
12:14People are already questioning whether the trial Elixir was really Dahlia's at all.
12:18Dahlia goes white.
12:20Her hand drifts toward her eyes on instinct, but I speak first,
12:23turning to father and mother at the foot of the stairs.
12:25Father.
12:26Mother.
12:27Don't forget what you promised me.
12:28Mother leans close and murmurs something in Dahlia's ear.
12:31Dahlia shrieks like a stepped-on cat.
12:34No!
12:34The Elixir is mine!
12:35If the Serpent Court wants to cause trouble, that's your problem!
12:38I'm bonded now!
12:39What happens to House Thornwood is no longer my concern!
12:41Father and mother stare at her, as if they're seeing her for the first time.
12:45A cold laugh escapes me.
12:46Dahlia has always been this person.
12:48They were just too blinded by their own favoritism to notice.
12:51Severin clicks his tongue.
12:52Lifts one hand.
12:53Ancient runes blaze to life across the stone floor.
12:56Light pours from the cracks.
12:57Tracing a perfect circle at Dahlia's feet, a truth circle.
13:00Severin speaks with the full authority of the Vytheris heir.
13:03Since this lady insists the Elixir is hers, she has nothing to fear.
13:08Step into the circle and prove it.
13:10Every drop of blood leaves Dahlia's face.
13:12She stumbles back half a step.
13:14She can refuse.
13:15But in Eldrath, refusing a truth trial is the same as a guilty plea.
13:19Every eye in the hall is on her.
13:21Dahlia's scream dissolves into sobs.
13:23Tears pour down.
13:24The picture of helplessness.
13:25Edmund!
13:26Help me!
13:27She's going to kill me!
13:28Edmund charges forward, face Ashen.
13:30But the Vytheris guards form a wall between them.
13:33Severin's gaze lands on him.
13:34Cold as winter stone.
13:35If she's innocent, the circle will prove it.
13:39Unless you already know she isn't.
13:41Edmund's feet root to the floor.
13:42A terrible certainty begins to take shape.
13:45The kind he has spent years refusing to look at.
13:47Dahlia is pushed into the truth circle.
13:49At first she clamps her jaw shut.
13:51Fights it with everything she has.
13:53But the runes glow brighter.
13:55Her body begins to shake.
13:56Words rip out of her throat like they're being dragged by hooks.
13:59Yes, yes, yes.
14:01I stole her elixir.
14:02I stole it and I stood on that stage and I smiled while everyone applauded.
14:06Her voice splinters.
14:07The circle's power drives her on.
14:09She turns to Edmund.
14:10Her lips twist into something between a sneer and a snarl.
14:13Did you true believe I loved you?
14:15You were the most obedient dog on my leash.
14:17I said jump.
14:18You asked how high.
14:19I pointed at her tails and you, you cut off yourself.
14:22Edmund's temple pulses.
14:23His whole body trembles.
14:25But all he does is step back.
14:26Like someone pulled the bones out of him.
14:28You, everything, all of it was.
14:31He can't finish.
14:32Dahlia's venom swings toward father and mother.
14:34And you two pathetic old fools.
14:36Did you really think the carriage accident was just bad luck?
14:39I cut the reins.
14:40I watched the carriage go off the road.
14:42Then I ran down the hill screaming for help.
14:44And you, you thanked me.
14:45You took me in.
14:46The carriage accident.
14:47Years ago.
14:48The very reason father and mother adopted the homeless.
14:50Grateful little girl named Dahlia.
14:52All of it staged from the start.
14:54Father's face turns the color of ash.
14:55He sways.
14:56A servant catches him.
14:57Mother's eyes where tenderness lived moments ago.
14:59Flood with raw, consuming hatred.
15:01She lunges forward and strikes Dahlia across the face.
15:04Twice.
15:05You treacherous, ungrateful wretch!
15:08The hall erupts into chaos.
15:09I watch it all.
15:11The truth laid bare at last.
15:12And feel nothing.
15:13The satisfaction I expected doesn't come.
15:15Severin senses the shift in me.
15:17His hand tightens around mine.
15:19Come home with me, Elowyn.
15:21I'll be your family now.
15:25Okay.
15:26I step toward the carriage.
15:27Edmund crashes through the crowd behind me.
15:29El, I was wrong!
15:30Don't go with him!
15:31Please!
15:32Eyes wild and red-rimmed pathetic.
15:34I love you.
15:34I see it now.
15:35It was always you.
15:36She deceived me!
15:37His regret isn't worth the dirt on my shoes.
15:39My gaze drifts to the white rabbit mating mark visible on his throat.
15:42The mark that surfaced when his bond with Dahlia sealed.
15:45My voice is perfectly flat.
15:47I think you two deserve each other.
15:49May your bond hold forever.
15:51His face grumbles.
15:53I don't linger on it.
15:53I step into the carriage and pull the door shut.
15:56Edmund lunges after me.
15:57Bythira's guards close rank around him like a steel curtain.
15:59He claws at the mating mark on his neck.
16:01Scratching, tearing, and screams after the departing carriage.
16:05El, I won't give up!
16:06I'll do the severing!
16:08I'll break the bond!
16:10I'll come back to you!
16:13Severin holds the bonding ceremony.
16:15At the Serpent's Reach Castle.
16:17Grand lavish.
16:18Every detail curated.
16:19I am allergic to pollen, but I love flowers.
16:22The entire hall blooms with crystal flowers crafted by alchemists.
16:26Every petal.
16:26Every stamen.
16:27Impossibly lifelike.
16:29Not a grain of pollen in the air.
16:30I am still wondering how Severin knows my preferences.
16:33When a wolf howl pierces through the walls.
16:35A servant reports.
16:36A massive wolf in feral shift is clawing at the castle's iron gate.
16:40I pause.
16:41Shifters only trigger a full shift under extreme duress.
16:43Edmund didn't shift when he learned the truth about Dahlia.
16:46He shifted when he saw my bonding ceremony.
16:49Once, I might have read that as proof he cared more about me.
16:52Now, I just find it absurd.
16:54You don't get to go mad over something you threw away.
16:57Severin and I exchange bonding vows before the gathered witnesses.
17:00The moment his hand takes mine, the serpent-shaped mating mark on my palm,
17:04and the nine-tailed fox mark on his shoulder ignite.
17:07Simultaneously.
17:07Light floods the entire hall.
17:09Every person in the room holds their breath.
17:11A faded bond.
17:12The destined contract.
17:14Unseen in Eldrath for a hundred years.
17:16After the ceremony, Orr carriage rolls toward the main castle of Serpent's Reach.
17:20As we pass through the outer gate, I glance through the carriage window.
17:23A massive silver wolf crouches inside an iron cage.
17:26For a split second, I think I see a tear slide from one lupine eye.
17:30But the wolf can only watch.
17:32Trapped.
17:32As our carriage disappears down the road.
17:34Bonding night.
17:35The master chamber.
17:37Just the two of us.
17:38I study his face without the mask.
17:40My cheeks flush before I can stop it.
17:42Every rumor about you is wrong.
17:44Severin removes the silver pins and gemstones from my hair.
17:47One by one.
17:48His fingers move so gently, they don't belong to a man called Savage.
17:52What rumors?
17:53That you're savage.
17:55Hideous.
17:57And...
17:57A soft laugh.
17:59Baron?
18:00Heat rises to my ears.
18:01I open my mouth to reassure him.
18:03And he pulls me into his arms.
18:05Those emerald eyes fix on me.
18:07The vertical pupils dilate slightly, but he holds himself in check.
18:11Elevin, look at me.
18:13His voice drops low.
18:14We stop whenever you say.
18:15I have waited seven years.
18:17I can wait seven more.
18:19Something in those eyes undoes me.
18:21I nod, shy and breathless.
18:23You don't have to hold back.
18:25It is not until the bonding ritual begins that my eyes fly open.
18:29You have two?
18:31Severin's voice comes out rough.
18:33Serpent bloodline.
18:34We have two, if you don't want it.
18:36I kiss him to shut him up.
18:38By the second half of the night, he proves, thoroughly and personally, that the barren rumor
18:42is also a lie.
18:43At the most intimate moment, our mating marks blaze to life in unison.
18:47A massive wave of emotion crashes into me, not mine.
18:50His pure feeling, seven years of solitude.
18:52Seven years of longing.
18:53And one moment lying half dead in the mud, barely breathing, when a pair of warm hands
18:58lifted him up, and his whole world shifted on its axis.
19:00I cry.
19:02Severin stops immediately, alarm all over his face.
19:04He thinks he hurt me.
19:06I shake my head.
19:07I felt you.
19:08All of it.
19:10All those years.
19:11It takes five full days for the bond to stabilize.
19:14I nearly trigger a full shift.
19:16My ears and tail popping out uncontrollably.
19:18Again and again.
19:19I peel myself off the bed, legs shaking, lower back aching, and hear a commotion outside.
19:24I push open the window and look down.
19:26Edmund kneels at the castle gate.
19:27A massive bouquet of roses clutched to his chest.
19:30A maid sweeping the corridor tells me he has been there for five days.
19:33Two rainstorms hit during that time.
19:35He knelt through both.
19:36The only thing he asked for was someone to swap out the wilted roses for fresh ones.
19:41All I feel is irritation.
19:42Who is this performance for?
19:43I have a new life.
19:45Edmund's self-righteous penance is nothing but noise.
19:47I reach for the curtain, and a body with cooler than normal temperature presses against
19:51my back.
19:52What are you looking at?
19:53Severin peers over my shoulder.
19:55Sees the scene below, his brow creases.
19:57He just won't go away, will he?
19:59At that exact moment, Edmund looks up, as if he senses me.
20:02The instant he sees my face, something reignites behind his dull eyes, and dies the next second,
20:07when Severin tilts my chin up and gives me a long, slow kiss.
20:11I don't resist.
20:12I wrap my arms around him.
20:13The tenderness of it sears into Edmund's vision.
20:16Roses scatter from his hands.
20:17He staggers to his feet, mouth opening to shout to stop it.
20:21But five days without water have stolen his voice.
20:23Nothing comes out.
20:24I expect Edmund to give up.
20:26Instead, he is at the gate again the next day.
20:28And the next.
20:29I can't take it anymore.
20:31I go down to face him.
20:32Edmund has lost significant weight.
20:34Pale, dark hollows under his eyes.
20:36His robes hang loose on a frame that used to fill them.
20:38The moment he sees me, he fumbles at his collar, yanking it aside to bear the back of his neck.
20:42Where Dahlia's white rabbit mating mark used to sit.
20:45Now only a jagged wound.
20:46Raw.
20:47Half-healed.
20:48A slab of flesh carved away.
20:49He forces a desperate, eager smile.
20:52El, I did the severing ritual.
20:54The mark is gone.
20:56I'm clean now.
20:57We can start over.
20:59The severing ritual is one of Eldrath's most dangerous rites.
21:02It tears the bond from the soul itself.
21:04The pain is said to rival being flayed alive.
21:06Three out of ten who attempt it die on the ritual table.
21:09And the mark goes deep, down to muscle and bone.
21:11Removing it completely means cutting away an entire section of flesh.
21:14I look at the mangled mess of his neck.
21:16Surprised he went this far.
21:17But only surprised.
21:19Nothing more.
21:20My silence gives him hope.
21:21He pulls out two severed pieces of fur.
21:24I look closer.
21:25A silver gray wolf tail.
21:27A white rabbit tail.
21:28Anguish contorts his face.
21:29I'm sorry, El.
21:31I was a monster.
21:32I understand now.
21:34I understand what you went through.
21:35I severed my own tail.
21:37And hers.
21:38To atone.
21:40Forgive me.
21:41I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you.
21:45Nothing stirs inside me.
21:46Not a ripple.
21:47Their tails are gone.
21:48Do mine grow back?
21:49A nine-tailed fox's tails.
21:50Once severed.
21:51Never regenerate.
21:52Ever.
21:52Eight lives.
21:53Gone forever.
21:54Edmund, if you truly want to make amends, stop coming here.
21:58Stop making your guilt my burden to carry.
22:00I am bonded to Severin.
22:02We are happy.
22:04You're lying!
22:05How could you bond with someone else?
22:08Edmund runs to his carriage and hauls out a bouquet of roses.
22:13El, look.
22:15I brought your favorite roses.
22:17Before he can get within arm's reach, a boot kicks the bouquet out of his hands.
22:21Petals explode across the cobblestones.
22:23Severin stands between us.
22:25His emerald slit pupils have contracted to razor.
22:27Thin lines.
22:28Edmund snarls.
22:30What gives you the right to kick away my flowers?
22:32Severin's voice cuts like a blade dipped in frost.
22:35You claim to love her, yet you bring her the one thing that makes her suffer.
22:39How very consistent of you.
22:40The blood drains from Edmund's face.
22:44I'm sorry, El.
22:45I didn't mean to.
22:46I thought you liked-
22:47He thought I liked roses.
22:48The one who likes roses has always been Dahlia.
22:51And Dahlia doesn't even care about them that much.
22:53She just enjoys watching me break out in hives.
22:55Every time Dahlia graciously regifted Edmund's roses to me, I told them.
22:59All of them.
22:59I am allergic to pollen.
23:01Father, mother, Edmund.
23:02None of them believed me.
23:03They decided I was making it up to spite Dahlia.
23:05I spent years getting dragged to the healer's ward every other week because of those flowers.
23:09I look at Edmund, hollowed out, unraveling, and feel nothing warm at all.
23:13You cut eight tails from my woman who orchestrated every wound, and now you stand you.
23:18Tell me, Edmund.
23:19In all of that, did you ever actually see me?
23:21Edmund's knees buckle.
23:22He barely stays upright.
23:24I take Severin's arm and turn to leave.
23:25Behind us, a rush of footsteps.
23:27Severin pivots to shield me, but Edmund isn't charging at us.
23:30He sprints straight for the serpent's reach training yard and rips the sword from the rack.
23:34Severin Vytheris!
23:35I challenge me to an honor duel for Elevan!
23:38An honor duel.
23:39In Eldrath, when a shifter believes another has taken his mate, he has the right to demand
23:43a duel of honor.
23:44Edmund half-shifts.
23:45Goes all out lupine fury, raw power.
23:48Wolf blood is built for brute force and explosive speed.
23:52Severin 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.
24:04One strike.
24:06Severin pins him to the ground.
24:08Scales ripple across his neck.
24:10Those cold, slit-seepals stare down.
24:15Suffering for her doesn't mean you loved her.
24:18It just means you only know how to think about yourself.
24:22Edmund collapses.
24:23Broken ribs.
24:24A wolf-like rasp shudders through his chest.
24:26He lifts his head toward me.
24:28Now, now I know what it feels like.
24:31Does that, does that count for anything?
24:33I give him one look.
24:34Just one.
24:35Then I walk to Severin and press my fingers to the scales that have surfaced along his neck.
24:39Raised by anger, hard as armor dot under my touch, they recede.
24:43Smooth skin returns, inch by inch.
24:46Severin goes still.
24:46Then he bows his head and rests his forehead against my palm.
24:50I take his hand.
24:51I don't look back dot Edmund watches from the ground.
24:53The way she touches Severin's face.
24:55The way her eyes soften.
24:57She has never looked at him like that.
24:58Not once.
24:59The next I hear of Edmund is three days later.
25:01After the honor duel, he was carried to the healer's ward.
25:04Unconscious for a full day and night before waking.
25:06This time, he drops the desperate siege tactics.
25:09Instead, he starts appearing at every place I frequent.
25:11Engineering coincidences.
25:13The herb market in Crown City.
25:15The alchemy workshops.
25:15Even the small towns near Serpent's Reach.
25:18Severin sees.
25:19He stays glued to my side.
25:21And every time he senses Edmund nearby, his pupils narrow to vertical slits.
25:25A clear, unmistakable warning.
25:27Until one day.
25:28Severin and I attend the Gathering of Houses.
25:30The annual formal assembly of all the Blood Houses.
25:33Severin needs to discuss territory matters with Allied House representatives.
25:37We separate briefly.
25:38I sit alone at a long table in the corner of the banquet hall.
25:40Picking at a slice of cake.
25:42When a shadow falls over me.
25:43I look up.
25:44Edmund stands in front of me.
25:45I have no idea when he got this close.
25:47I stand to leave.
25:48How did I never notice how revolting he is?
25:50The contempt in my eyes wounds him.
25:52He calls out.
25:53Voice shaking.
25:54Oh, I'm not here to bother you.
25:57I just thought you should know.
25:59Severin went into the East Tower with a woman just now.
26:02My step falters.
26:03I glance instinctively toward where Severin was sitting.
26:06Only his Allied House representative remains.
26:08Drinking alone.
26:09Edmund moves closer.
26:11He does this right under your nose.
26:13And you're still going to stay with him?
26:15My brow furrows.
26:16That's between me and my husband.
26:18It has nothing to do with you.
26:20Logic tells me Severin would never.
26:21But the unease claws in anyway.
26:23Edmund fans the flames.
26:24Already climbing the spiral staircase of the East Tower.
26:27Top of the East Tower.
26:30I follow before I realize I'm doing it.
26:32Barely 15 minutes of climbing.
26:34But it feels like an eternity.
26:35What if Severin really?
26:37My thoughts tangle.
26:38Before I know it, I'm standing in front of the tower chamber door.
26:41Edmund's face is alight.
26:42He reaches for the handle.
26:44The door opens from the inside first.
26:46Get out.
26:46Whoever sent you tell them I've waited 7 years for my wife.
26:49No one is taking that from me.
26:51A scantily dressed shifter woman stumbles out of the room.
26:53Thrown.
26:54Not walking.
26:55Severin stands in the doorway.
26:56His expression is dark enough to bruise.
26:58His clothes are perfectly intact.
27:00The moment he sees me, the ice cracks.
27:02Gone in a blink.
27:03Elevin.
27:04I didn't touch her.
27:05Someone slipped a lust rasp into my mead.
27:07I saw through it.
27:08Serpent blood is immune to poisons.
27:10I played along to draw them out.
27:12He tugs his collar open.
27:14You don't believe me.
27:15Check for yourself.
27:16There isn't a mark on me that isn't yours.
27:18I catch his hands before he can strip any further.
27:21A laugh escapes me.
27:22I believe you.
27:23Keep your clothes on, for now.
27:25Edmund's face goes white.
27:26I turn the full weight of my contempt on him.
27:28Edmund, was that woman you're doing?
27:31You disgust me.
27:32It wasn't me.
27:34Elle, how could you think that of me?
27:35I don't bother responding.
27:37Whether it was him or not doesn't matter anymore.
27:39Severin notifies the gathering's organizers, then takes my arm to leave.
27:43Edmund chases us to the door.
27:44Mouth open, still scrambling for words.
27:47The banquet doors explode inward.
27:48A filthy, disheveled shifter woman barrels through the crowd and hurls herself into Edmund's arms.
27:53Edmund!
27:54I'm carrying your child!
27:56You can't throw me away!
27:57I look closer.
27:58She is Dahlia.
27:59The hall drops into dead silence.
28:01Then the whispers begin.
28:02Dahlia doesn't care about appearances.
28:04She wails at full volume in front of every bloodhouse representative in Eldra, spilling everything.
28:09This is how I learn what happened after the truth trial.
28:11Edmund severed Dahlia's tail.
28:13Threw her out of Grey Hollow.
28:15Father and mother cut her off entirely, bolted the doors of Thornfield Manor and ignored every plea.
28:20For weeks, Dahlia begged for scraps at the edges of market towns.
28:23Then her belly started to swell.
28:25That is when she realized.
28:27Edmund tries to pry her off.
28:28She locks her arms around his legs like a drowning woman gripping driftwood.
28:31This child is her only leverage.
28:33Her only way back.
28:34Every house representative in the room watches the spectacle with open amusement.
28:38Grey Hollow's disgrace served fresh.
28:40Lord Grey Hollow the Elder arrives, face carved from stone.
28:43To salvage what little dignity remains, he forces the issue.
28:46For the honor of House Grey Holland, take her home.
28:50As they drag Dahlia out, she twists around for one last look at me.
28:53The jealousy and bitterness in her eyes warp her features into something barely human.
28:57Back at Serpent's reach.
28:59Severin draws a hot bath for me.
29:01His fingertips trace along my neck and shoulders.
29:03The Serpent blood runs cool.
29:04And somehow that coolness unwinds every knot in my muscles.
29:09When you threw that woman out, you said you'd...
29:11You'd waited seven years for your wife.
29:13What did you mean?
29:15A long pause.
29:16When he speaks, his expression is more open than I've ever seen it.
29:19I've been in love with you for seven years.
29:21Do you remember, years ago, in the deep forest,
29:23you found a small black serpent half dead in the mud?
29:26That was me.
29:27My enemies had hunted me down.
29:28I was wounded, feral, trapped in my beast form.
29:31You saved me with your elixirs.
29:33I was dying.
29:34And then you appeared.
29:35You didn't flinch.
29:36You picked up a Venosenza serpent with your bare hands
29:39and poured your elixirs into its mouth.
29:40I think...
29:41I think I fell for you before I even knew your name.
29:44By the time I found you again, you were already promised to someone else.
29:47I stare at him, Doc.
29:48That little black snake was you.
29:50All these years, I thought it was just a wild serpent.
29:53I never imagined I'd accidentally saved the heir of House Vithyrus.
29:56A thought strikes me.
29:57The man in the serpent mask.
29:59At the runaway carriage, that was you?
30:02Severin nods.
30:03It was me.
30:03I was late that day.
30:06I should have been there sooner.
30:08I couldn't stop them from hurting your hand.
30:11His healing salve worked flawlessly, not even a scar.
30:14I step forward and wrap my arms around him.
30:16Severin.
30:17He freezes.
30:18Color floods his face, racing down his neck.
30:20He presses my hand to his cheek and holds it there.
30:23And the light in his eyes is so bright he can barely contain it.
30:26Again, please.
30:28After that confession, Severin becomes impossibly clingy.
30:31He caches in every unused rest day he has accumulated over the years and takes me across Eldra.
30:36The warm coastline near Serpent's Reach.
30:39The eastern mountain passes.
30:40Hidden valleys I've only read about in books.
30:43With no sign of Edmund for once.
30:45We have the sweetest stretch of days I can remember.
30:48One winter night.
30:49I find Severin curled by the fireplace.
30:51Serpent blood runs cold.
30:52The chill hits him harder than most.
30:54I walk over and wrap my single remaining tail around him.
30:57He stiffens.
30:58You don't have to.
31:00I want to.
31:01He says nothing more.
31:02Just buries his face in the fur and lets his breathing slow.
31:05That tail keeping him warm.
31:06And the eight made into a cloak.
31:08They're the same thing.
31:09The difference is one was taken.
31:11The other is given.
31:12Rumors about Grey Hollow drift in from time to time.
31:15Dahlia and Edmund fight constantly.
31:17Two people who despise each other.
31:19Chained together by an unborn child.
31:21A kind of forever I suppose.
31:22I think the worst is behind me.
31:24That I can finally have peace.
31:27I am wrong.
31:28Dahlia and Edmund argue on the courtyard steps at Grey Hollow.
31:33Shoving turns to stumble.
31:34Dahlia falls.
31:36The child is gone.
31:37With her last scrap of value erased.
31:40Lord Grey Hollow the Elder expels Dahlia from the estate.
31:42And Edmund once again appears at my door.
31:45His eyes carry something new.
31:47Something unhinged.
31:48El.
31:49The bond is severed.
31:51The child is gone.
31:54There's nothing standing between us now.
31:56A chill crawls up my spine.
31:58It's not the words.
31:59It's the way he says them like the baby's death is just another obstacle cleared from his path.
32:03I open my mouth to respond.
32:04And Dahlia explodes from the shadows beside the road.
32:07The wall died.
32:07A dagger clenched in her fist.
32:09Aimed straight at me.
32:10Elephant!
32:11This is your fault!
32:12All of it!
32:15You have one life left.
32:17I took eight.
32:18And I'll take the last!
32:20Edmund's pupils shrink to pinpoints.
32:22He throws himself between us.
32:23A thunk.
32:23The dagger buries itself in his abdomen.
32:25Edmund clutches the wound and crumples.
32:27Blood spills from the corner of his mouth.
32:29That blade.
32:29The healer tells him later.
32:30Has permanently destroyed his ability to sire children.
32:33Royal guards arrive and seize Dahlia on the spot.
32:36While Edmund recovers.
32:37The Crown Council launches an investigation.
32:39While Dahlia's testimony from the truth trial is formally prosecuted eight counts of coercing
32:44Aloan into severing her tails, attempted enslavement of a bonded mate as Thrall, and
32:48years of systematic abuse against Aloan, Edmund is stripped of his noble title and confined
32:52to the royal dungeon.
32:53Three years later, through relentless work, I become the most respected alchemist in Eldrath.
32:57The Crown Council awards me the title of Master Alchemist.
33:00Severin and I have twins.
33:02Flower daughter inherits my bloodline nine fluffy little tails.
33:04A true nine-tailed fox.
33:06Flower son inherits Severin's.
33:07A pair of tiny emerald-slit pupils.
33:09The barren heir of House Vithyrus rumor dies on its own.
33:12A new one takes its place.
33:13Severin Vithyrus does whatever his wife tells him.
33:15During this time, father and mother send messengers to Serpent's Reach again and again,
33:19requesting an audience.
33:20They even deliver a dowry, years too late.
33:22I don't see them.
33:23Not once.
33:23My life is full now.
33:24I don't need their discount love anymore.
33:26On the twins naming ceremony, nearly every bloodhouse sends a representative.
33:30Gifts arrive in an endless stream.
33:31Severin and I are playing with the children, when a servant approaches carrying an enormous
33:35gift box.
33:36From a visitor not on the guest list, he delivered it and left.
33:39No name.
33:40Open the box.
33:41Inside, rare gemstones, enchanted artifacts, and a document exclusive trade rights to
33:46the two wealthiest counties in Greyhallow territory.
33:48At the very bottom, beneath everything, sits a ring.
33:51The bonding ring I hurled from the city wall into the river.
33:54He found it.
33:54Pulled it from the riverbed dot, but the ring lost its meaning a long time ago.
33:58I close the box and rewrap it.
33:59Have a rider return this to Greyhower.
34:02And have him deliver a message.
34:04Tell him I bear him no hatred.
34:06I pause.
34:07But we are done.
34:08We have always been done.
34:10After the servant leaves, Severin wraps his arms around me from behind.
34:14His chin rests on my shoulder.
34:15Are you alright?
34:18I'm fine.
34:19While I lean back into him.
34:22I've been fine for a long time.
34:24That night.
34:25The children are asleep.
34:27I'm holding my daughter, pressing a kiss to the tiny, soft ears on her forehead.
34:31Her nine little tails twitch in her dreams.
34:33A faint itch prickles at the small of my back.
34:36I look down next to my single remaining tail.
34:38A tuft of new fur, pale as spider silk, almost invisible.
34:41I go still.
34:42I don't tell anyone.
34:44I just smile, and hold my daughter a little closer.
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