A powerful full drama movie filled with love, secrets, and unexpected twists.
Follow a powerful story where relationships are tested, hidden truths are revealed, and lives change forever. From romantic moments to shocking surprises, this drama keeps you engaged from beginning to end.
Featuring stories about CEO, billionaire lifestyles, family connections, and life-changing decisions, this movie delivers strong emotions and unforgettable scenes.
Watch the full movie and discover what happens in the end.
New full drama movies uploaded regularly. Stay tuned for more captivating and trending stories.
#drama #fullmovie #lovestory #dramatic #billionaire #ceo #family #relationships #movie #story
Follow a powerful story where relationships are tested, hidden truths are revealed, and lives change forever. From romantic moments to shocking surprises, this drama keeps you engaged from beginning to end.
Featuring stories about CEO, billionaire lifestyles, family connections, and life-changing decisions, this movie delivers strong emotions and unforgettable scenes.
Watch the full movie and discover what happens in the end.
New full drama movies uploaded regularly. Stay tuned for more captivating and trending stories.
#drama #fullmovie #lovestory #dramatic #billionaire #ceo #family #relationships #movie #story
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AmusantTranscription
00:30Dahlia sways toward me and flashes the silver wolf-shaped mating mark, glowing on the small of her back.
00:34Your betrothed belongs to me now. His 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. You know what those men are
00:50like?
00:51She is wrong. I have another option. I find father and mother in the Great Hall, scrambling to clean up
00:56Dahlia's mess.
00:57If Dahlia won't marry the heir of House Vythus, I will.
01:01Father's hand freezes mid-air, the bonding contract trembling between his fingers. Mother's eyes blow wide.
01:06Elevin, have you lost your mind? Lord Severin is rumored to be barren, bloodthirsty, savage.
01:12They say he nearly tore out a servant's throat when he went feral. Marrying him is walking into a death
01:18trap.
01:19Before I can answer, father clears his throat.
01:21If she doesn't go, what about Dahlia? She's already bonded to the Grey Hollow boy.
01:26Something shifts behind mother's eyes. A flicker of conflict, and her hand slowly releases mine.
01:30My heart goes cold. I 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. On the day I leave this house, Dahlia will confess before all the houses that
01:44she stole my elixir.
01:46Father slams his palm on the table.
01:47How can you be so cruel? You 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. Of course they do.
02:07I turn and walk out without hesitation, and 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. He scrambles to block my path.
02:22El, I know you're angry. But I had no choice. The serpent court is possessive beyond reason.
02:28Only a completed bond could make him abandon his claim on her. There 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, Dahlia found a reason to cry, and Edmund found a reason to postpone.
02:43Again and again. I am nearly 25 now, and he chose this moment to bond with her.
02:48Two paths stretch before me. The conscripted match, or the serpent lord. Nothing else.
02:52Guilt flashes across Edmund's face. He seizes my hand.
02:55I won't let the conscripted match take you!
02:58Listen, I can have a thrall span put on you. You'd live in Grey Hollow under my protection.
03:03You wouldn't have to marry anyone!
03:04He sees my expression change and rushes to add,
03:07It would only be in name. Once you're at Grey Hollow, I treat you the same as Dahlia.
03:12You want for nothing.
03:13I almost laugh. The audacity, only shifters convicted of serious crimes.
03:18Those with nowhere left to turn, except the Thrall brand.
03:21A branded person can be sold by their house at will.
03:23They live beneath everyone, and 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.
03:35Edmund's face darkens, wounded pride twisting into something ugly.
03:38Elowen! Don't you love me? Is your pride really worth more than being with me?
03:42I fire back without missing a beat.
03:44Oh. Then why don't you make Dahlia the thrall?
03:48That would save her just as well.
03:49Dahlia? A thrall? She couldn't survive it.
03:52She's too delicate, too gentle.
03:54She deserves to be cherished, not branded.
03:57Years of swallowed grief surge upward.
03:58My vision blurs.
03:59Because Dahlia is hairkin. Soft. Fragile.
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.
04:13And my own betrothed pities her.
04:14Every hurt, every sacrifice, it all falls on me.
04:17Because I look like I can take it.
04:19Edmund flinches at the scorn in my eyes.
04:20Shame curdles into anger, and he throws one last line over his shoulder as he leaves.
04:24Think it over, El.
04:26You know as well as I do, you 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, unbidden.
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.
04:55Black silver base.
04:56Two emerald eyes.
04:56I allow myself a grim bit of humor.
04:59At 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.
05:10You claim you'd never be Edmund's thrall, yet here you are spending a fortune on his name day gift.
05:15Such devotion, I could never be so clever.
05:18Dahlia 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.
05:33Silver.
05:34With grey eyes.
05:34Something worthy of my house.
05:36This is for my betrothed.
05:37It has nothing to do with you.
05:39Still putting on a brave face?
05:41You're nearly 25.
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 thrall's hall is right there.
05:58I 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.
07:00The lowest rank.
07:01It means never free.
07:02This one suits you best.
07:04Don't you think, sister?
07:06I 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.
07:16Not 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.
07:34I can't breathe.
07:35I 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?
07:45She begged me to help you, and this is how you repay her?
07:48Apologize to Dalany.
07:49Now!
07:51Edmund.
07:52My hand.
07:53It hurts so much.
07:59The 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?
08:55My 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.
09:04I think of the emeralds on that cloak pin.
09:06He 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.
09:21I reach for the bonding ring I've carried at my waist, the one I'd planned to return
09:24to him.
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 Vytheris.
09:33I stand in my room surrounded by a dowry so extravagant.
09:36It doesn't feel real father and mother shuffle in.
09:38They ask, voices halting, eyes averted, if 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.
09:55They were busy.
09:55They'd remember eventually.
09:57They didn't remember a dowry for their own daughter.
09:59But they remembered to come beg on behalf of their favorite.
10:01No.
10:02And if you push me further, I won't go through with it at all.
10:05Let's see how House Vyrian responds to that.
10:07You wouldn't dare!
10:09A commotion erupts from the great hall below.
10:12I 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.
10:22But since you're here, perfect.
10:23You know the rules for a thrust.
10:25Before the brand comes the right.
10:27Kneel, kiss Dahlia's hand, and renounce your freedom before everyone in this hall.
10:31Do that, and I'll take you into Grey Holland.
10:34Edmund'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, eye 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, Elf.
10:58I 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.
11:06In 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!
11:12Edmund, I told you!
11:13Today is my bonding!
11:16I'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,
11:30then to the man behind it.
11:31A branding iron slips from his hand and rings against the stone floor.
11:34You-you're the heir of House Vytheris?
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.
11:44The face beneath has never been shown in public.
11:46Sharp striking.
11:47Nothing close to the monster from the rumors.
11:49He 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 laced together.
11:56Tight.
11:56The corner of Severin's mouth lifts.
11:58His voice measured, unhurried.
12:00I never said I wanted Dahlia.
12:02It was always Elowen.
12:03Elixir was always hers.
12:04As for Dahlia, only 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.
12:58Tracing a perfect circle at Dahlia's feet, a truth circle.
13:01Severin 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.
13:13She 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.
13:23The 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.
13:36If she's innocent, the circle will prove it.
13:39Unless you already know she isn't.
13:41Edmund's feet root to the floor.
13:43A 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, fights 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!
14:00Yes!
14:00Yes!
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.
14:08The 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 your dog!
14:22Edmund's temple pulses.
14:24His 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 and 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.
14:56He sways.
14:56A servant catches him.
14:57Mother's eyes were tenderness lived moments ago.
15:00Flood 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.
15:10I watch it all, the truth laid bare at last, and 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.
15:28Edmund 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.
15:40My gaze drifts to the white rabbit mating mark visible on his throat.
15:43The 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 crumbles.
15:53I don't linger on it.
15:54I step into the carriage and pull the door shut.
15:56Edmund lunges after me.
15:57Bythyrus guards close rank around him like a steel curtain.
16:00He claws at the mating mark on his neck.
16:02Scratching, tearing, and screams after the departing carriage.
16:05El, I won't give up!
16:07I'll do the severing!
16:08I'll break the bond!
16:10I'll come back to you!
16:14Severin holds the bonding ceremony at 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, every stamen, impossibly lifelike.
16:29Not a grain of pollen in the air.
16:30I am still wondering how Severin knows my preferences, when a wolf howl pierces through
16:35the walls.
16:35A servant reports, a 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.
16:44Edmund 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, and the nine-tailed
17:05fox mark on his shoulder ignite, simultaneously.
17:07Light floods the entire hall.
17:09Every person in the room holds their breath.
17:11A faded bond, the destined contract.
17:14Unseen in Eldrath for a hundred years.
17:16After the ceremony, oar 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, but the wolf can only
17:31watch, trapped, as our carriage disappears down the road.
17:35Bonding night, the master chamber, just the two of us.
17:38I study his face without the mask, my 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, one by one.
17:48His fingers move so gently, they don't belong to a man called Savage.
17:51What rumors?
17:53That you're savage, hideous, and...
17:57A soft laugh.
17:59Baron?
18:00Heat rises to my ears.
18:01I open my mouth to reassure him, and 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.
18:16I have waited seven years.
18:18I can wait seven more.
18:19Something in those eyes undoes me.
18:21I nod, shy and breathless.
18:24You don't have to hold back.
18:26It is not until the bonding ritual begins that my eyes fly open.
18:30You have two?
18:31Severin's voice comes out rough.
18:33Serpent bloodline.
18:34We have two, if you don't want...
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, seven years of longing, and one moment lying
18:55half dead in the mud, barely breathing, when a pair of warm hands lifted him up, and his
18:59whole world shifted on its axis.
19:01I cry.
19:02Severin stops immediately, alarm all over his face.
19:05He thinks he hurt me.
19:06I shake my head.
19:07I felt you.
19:09All 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.
19:20I peel myself off the bed, legs shaking, lower back aching, and hear a commotion outside.
19:25I push open the window and look down.
19:26Edmund kneels at the castle gate.
19:28A massive bouquet of roses clutched to his chest.
19:30A maid sweeping the corridor tells me he has been there for five days.
19:34Two 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?
19:44I 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?
19:54Severin peers over my shoulder, sees 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,
20:08when 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.
20:25I expect Edmund to give up.
20:26Instead he is at the gate again the next day.
20:29And 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.
20:43Where Dahlia's white rabbit mating mark used to sit.
20:45Now only a jagged wound.
20:47Raw.
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.
20:58We 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.
21:07Three out of ten who attempt it die on the ritual table.
21:09And the mark goes deep, down to muscle and bone.
21:12Removing it completely means cutting away an entire section of flesh.
21:15I look at the mangled mess of his neck.
21:16Surprised he went this far.
21:18But only surprised.
21:19Nothing more.
21:20My silence gives him hope.
21:21He pulls out two severed pieces of fur.
21:24I look closer.
21:26A silver gray wolf tail.
21:27A white rabbit tail.
21:28Anguish contorts his face.
21:30I'm sorry El.
21:31I was a monster.
21:33I understand now.
21:34I understand what you went through.
21:36I severed my own tail.
21:37And hers.
21:38To atone.
21:40Forgive me.
21:42I'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.
21:55If 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.
22:14El.
22:14Look.
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.
22:24Severin stands between us.
22:25His emerald slit pupils have contracted to razor.
22:27Thin lines.
22:29Edmund 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.
22:41The blood drains from Edmund's face.
22:44I'm sorry, El.
22:46I didn't mean to.
22:47I thought you liked-
22:47He thought I liked roses.
22:49The 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.
23:00I am allergic to pollen.
23:01Father.
23:01Mother.
23:01Edmund.
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 body.
23:15You made a cloak of my lives and draped it over the woman who orchestrated every wound.
23:20And now you stand here with flowers I'm allergic to, asking me to forgive you.
23:24Tell me, Edmund.
23:25In all of that, did you ever actually see me?
23:28Edmund's knees buckle.
23:29He barely stays upright.
23:30I take Severin's arm and turn to leave.
23:32Behind us, a rush of footsteps.
23:33Severin pivots to shield me, but Edmund isn't charging at us.
23:36He sprints straight for the serpent's reach training yard and rips the sword from the rack.
23:40Severin Vytheris!
23:41I challenge me to an honor duel for Elevan!
23:44An honor duel.
23:45In Eldrath, when a shifter believes another has taken his mate, he has the right to demand
23:49a duel of honor dot.
23:50Edmund half-shifts.
23:52Goes all out, lupine fury, raw power.
23:54Wolf blood is built for brute force and explosive speed.
23:58Severin barely tries to, so the speed erases every advantage the wolf has.
24:02Each of Edmund's lunges hits empty air, nothing but a calm side step.
24:11One strike.
24:12Severin pins him to the ground.
24:14Scales ripple across his neck.
24:16Those cold, slit pupils stare down.
24:22Suffering for her doesn't mean you loved her.
24:24It just means you only know how to think about yourself.
24:28Edmund collapses.
24:30Broken ribs.
24:30A wolf-like rasp shudders through his chest.
24:33He lifts his head toward me.
24:34Now, now I know what it feels like.
24:37Does that, does that count for anything?
24:39I give him one look.
24:40Just one.
24:41Then I walk to Severin and press my fingers to the scales that have surfaced along his neck.
24:45Raised by anger, hard as armor dot under my touch, they recede.
24:49Smooth skin returns, inch by inch.
24:52Severin goes still.
24:53Then he bows his head and rests his forehead against my palm.
24:56I take his hand.
24:57I don't look back dot.
24:58Edmund watches from the ground.
24:59The way she touches Severin's face.
25:01The way her eyes soften.
25:03She has never looked at him like that.
25:04Not once.
25:05The next I hear of Edmund is three days later.
25:07After the honor duel he was carried to the healer's ward.
25:10Unconscious for a full day and night before waking.
25:12This time, he drops the desperate siege tactics.
25:15Instead he starts appearing at every place I frequent.
25:18Engineering coincidences.
25:19The herb market in Crown City.
25:21The alchemy workshops.
25:22Even the small towns near Serpent's Reach.
25:24Severin's seeds.
25:25He stays glued to my side.
25:27And every time he senses Edmund nearby, his pupils narrow to vertical slits.
25:31A clear, unmistakable warning.
25:33Until one day.
25:34Severin and I attend the gathering of houses.
25:37The annual formal assembly of all the blood houses.
25:39Severin needs to discuss territory matters with allied house representatives.
25:43We separate briefly.
25:44I sit alone at a long table in the corner of the banquet hall.
25:46Picking at a slice of cake.
25:48When a shadow falls over me.
25:49I look up.
25:50Edmund stands in front of me.
25:52I have no idea when he got this close.
25:53I stand to leave.
25:54How did I never notice how revolting he is?
25:56The contempt in my eyes wounds him.
25:58He calls out.
25:59Voice shaking.
26:00Elle.
26:00I'm not here to bother you.
26:03I just thought you should know.
26:05Severin went into the East Tower with a woman just now.
26:08My step falters.
26:09I glance instinctively toward where Severin was sitting.
26:12Only his allied house representative remains.
26:14Drinking alone.
26:15Edmund moves closer.
26:17He does this right under your nose.
26:19And you're still going to stay with him?
26:21My brow furrows.
26:23That's between me and my husband.
26:24It has nothing to do with you.
26:26Logic tells me Severin would never.
26:27But the unease claws in anyway.
26:29Edmund fans the flames.
26:31Already climbing the spiral staircase of the East Tower.
26:33Top of the East Tower.
26:35See for yourself.
26:36I follow before I realize I'm doing it.
26:38Barely 15 minutes of climbing.
26:40But it feels like an eternity.
26:42What if Severin really?
26:43My thoughts tangle.
26:44Before I know it, I'm standing in front of the tower chamber door.
26:47Edmund's face is alight.
26:48He reaches for the handle.
26:50The door opens from the inside first.
26:52Get out.
26:52Whoever sent you tell them I've waited 7 years for my wife.
26:55No one is taking that from me.
26:57A scantily dressed shifter woman stumbles out of the room.
27:00Thrown.
27:00Not walking.
27:01Severin stands in the doorway.
27:02His expression is dark enough to bruise.
27:04His clothes are perfectly intact.
27:06The moment he sees me, the ice cracks.
27:08Gone in a blink.
27:10Elevin.
27:10I didn't touch her.
27:11Someone slipped a lust rasp into my mead.
27:13I saw through it.
27:14Serpent blood is immune to poisons.
27:17I played along to draw them out.
27:18He tugs his collar open.
27:20You don't believe me.
27:21Check for yourself.
27:22There isn't a mark on me that isn't yours.
27:24I catch his hands before he can strip any further.
27:27A laugh escapes me.
27:28I believe you.
27:29Keep your clothes on, for now.
27:31Edmund's face goes white.
27:33I turn the full weight of my contempt on him.
27:35Edmund.
27:36Was that woman you're doing?
27:37You disgust me.
27:39It wasn't me.
27:40El, how could you think that of me?
27:42I don't bother responding.
27:43Whether it was him or not doesn't matter anymore.
27:45Severin notifies the gathering's organizers, then takes my arm to leave.
27:49Edmund chases us to the door.
27:50Mouth open, still scrambling for words.
27:52The banquet doors explode inward.
27:54A filthy, disheveled shifter woman barrels through the crowd and hurls herself into Edmund's arms.
27:59Edmund!
28:00I'm carrying your child!
28:02You can't throw me away!
28:03I look closer.
28:04She is Dahlia.
28:05The hall drops into dead silence.
28:07Then the whispers begin.
28:08Dahlia doesn't care about appearances.
28:10She wails at full volume in front of every Bloodhouse representative in Eldra, spilling everything.
28:15This is how I learn what happened after the truth trial.
28:18Edmund severed Dahlia's tail.
28:19Threw her out of Grey Hollow.
28:21Father and mother cut her off entirely.
28:23Bolted the doors of Thornfield Manor and ignored every plea.
28:26For weeks, Dahlia begged for scraps at the edges of market towns.
28:29Then her belly started to swell.
28:31That is when she realized.
28:33Edmund tries to pry her off.
28:34She locks her arms around his legs like a drowning woman gripping driftwood.
28:38This child is her only leverage.
28:39Her only way back.
28:40Every house representative in the room watches the spectacle with open amusement.
28:44Grey Hollow's disgrace served fresh.
28:46Lord Grey Hollow the Elder arrives, face carved from stone.
28:49To salvage what little dignity remains, he forces the issue.
28:53For the honor of House Grey Hollowen, take her home.
28:56As they drag Dahlia out, she twists around for one last look at me.
28:59The jealousy and bitterness in her eyes warp her features into something barely human.
29:03Back at Serpent's reach, Severin draws a hot bath for me.
29:07His fingertips trace along my neck and shoulders.
29:09The Serpent blood runs cool, and somehow that coolness unwinds every knot in my muscles.
29:15When you threw that woman out, you said you'd, you'd waited seven years for your wife.
29:20What did you mean?
29:21A long pause.
29:22When he speaks, his expression is more open than I've ever seen it.
29:25I've been in love with you for seven years.
29:27Do you remember, years ago, in the deep forest, you found a small black serpent half dead in the mud?
29:32That was me.
29:33My enemies had hunted me down.
29:35I was wounded, feral, trapped in my beast form.
29:37You saved me with your elixirs.
29:39I was dying, and then you appeared.
29:41You didn't flinch.
29:43You picked up a Venosenza serpent with your bare hands and poured your elixirs into its mouth.
29:47I think, I think I fell for you before I even knew your name.
29:50By the time I found you again, you were already promised to someone else.
29:53I stare at him, Doc.
29:55That little black snake was you.
29:57All these years, I thought it was just a wild serpent.
29:59I never imagined I'd accidentally saved the heir of House Vithyrus.
30:02A thought strikes me.
30:04The man in the serpent mask, at the runaway carriage.
30:07That was you?
30:08Severin nods.
30:09It was me.
30:10I was late that day.
30:12I should have been there sooner.
30:14I couldn't stop them from hurting your hand.
30:17His healing salve worked flawlessly, not even a scar.
30:20I step forward and wrap my arms around him.
30:22Severin.
30:23He freezes.
30:24Color floods his face, racing down his neck.
30:26He presses my hand to his cheek and holds it there.
30:29And the light in his eyes is so bright he can barely contain it.
30:32Again, please.
30:34After that confession, Severin becomes impossibly clingy.
30:37He caches in every unused rest day he has accumulated over the years and takes me across Eldra.
30:43The warm coastline near Serpent's Reach.
30:45The eastern mountain passes.
30:47Hidden valleys I've only read about in books.
30:49With no sign of Edmund for once.
30:51We have the sweetest stretch of days I can remember.
30:54One winter night.
30:55I find Severin curled by the fireplace.
30:57Serpent blood runs cold.
30:58The chill hits him harder than most.
31:00I walk over and wrap my single remaining tail around him.
31:03He stiffens.
31:04You don't have to.
31:06I want to.
31:07He says nothing more.
31:08Just buries his face in the fur and lets his breathing slow.
31:11That tail keeping him warm.
31:13And the eight made into a cloak.
31:14They're the same thing.
31:15The difference is one was taken.
31:17The other is given.
31:18Rumors about Grey Hollow drift in from time to time.
31:21Dahlia and Edmund fight constantly.
31:23Two people who despise each other.
31:25Chained together by an unborn child.
31:27A kind of forever I suppose.
31:29I think the worst is behind me.
31:30That I can finally have peace.
31:33I am wrong.
31:34Dahlia and Edmund argue on the courtyard steps at Grey Hollow.
31:39Shoving turns to stumbling.
31:41Dahlia falls.
31:42The child is gone.
31:43With her last scrap of value erased.
31:46Lord Grey Hollow the Elder expels Dahlia from the estate.
31:49And Edmund once again appears at my door.
31:51His eyes carry something new.
31:53Something unhinged.
31:54El.
31:55The bond is severed.
31:58The child is gone.
32:00There's nothing standing between us now.
32:03A chill crawls up my spine.
32:04It's not the words.
32:05It's the way he says them like the baby's death is just another obstacle cleared from his path.
32:09I open my mouth to respond.
32:11And Dahlia explodes from the shadows beside the road.
32:13The wall died.
32:14A dagger clenched in her fist.
32:15Aimed straight at me.
32:16Elephant!
32:17This is your fault!
32:19All of it!
32:21You have one life left!
32:23I took eight!
32:24And I'll take the last!
32:26Edmund's pupils shrink to pinpoints.
32:28He throws himself between us.
32:29A thump.
32:29The dagger buries itself in his abdomen.
32:31Edmund clutches the wound and crumples.
32:33Blood spills from the corner of his mouth.
32:35That blade.
32:35The healer tells him later.
32:36Has permanently destroyed his ability to sire children.
32:39Royal guards arrive and seize Dahlia on the spot.
32:42While Edmund recovers.
32:43The Crown Council launches an investigation.
32:45Dahlia's testimony from the truth trial is formally prosecuted.
32:49Eight counts of coercing Iloan into severing her tails.
32:51Attempted enslavement of a bonded mate as thrall.
32:54And years of systematic abuse against Iloan.
32:56Edmund is stripped of his noble title and confined to the royal dungeon.
33:00Three years later, through relentless work.
33:02I become the most respected alchemist in Eldrath.
33:04The Crown Council awards me the title of Master Alchemist.
33:06Severin and I have twins.
33:08Flower daughter inherits my bloodline.
33:09Nine fluffy little tails.
33:11A true nine-tailed fox.
33:12Flower son inherits Severin's.
33:13A pair of tiny emerald-slit pupils.
33:15The barren heir of House Vithyrus rumor dies on its own.
33:18A new one takes its place.
33:19Severin Vithyrus does whatever his wife tells him.
33:21During this time, father and mother send messengers to Serpent's Reach again and again.
33:25Requesting an audience.
33:26They even deliver a dowry.
33:27Years too late.
33:28I don't see them.
33:29Not once.
33:30My life is full now.
33:31I don't need their discount love anymore.
33:32On the twins naming ceremony.
33:34Nearly every bloodhouse sends a representative.
33:36Gifts arrive in an endless stream.
33:37Severin and I are playing with the children.
33:39When a servant approaches carrying an enormous gift box.
33:42From a visitor not on the guest list.
33:44He delivered it and left.
33:45No name.
33:46Open the box.
33:48Inside rare gemstones.
33:49Enchanted artifacts.
33:50And a document exclusive trade rights to the two wealthiest counties in Greyhallow territory.
33:55At the very bottom beneath everything.
33:56Sits a ring.
33:57The bonding ring I hurled from the city wall into the river.
34:00He found it.
34:01Pulled it from the riverbed dot.
34:02But the ring lost its meaning a long time ago.
34:04I close the box and re-wrap it.
34:05Have a rider return this to Greyhallow.
34:09And have him deliver a message.
34:11Tell him I bear him no hatred.
34:12I pause.
34:13But we are done.
34:14We have always been done.
34:16After the servant leaves.
34:18Severin wraps his arms around me from behind.
34:20His chin rests on my shoulder.
34:22Are you alright?
34:24I'm fine.
34:26While I lean back into him.
34:28I've been fine for a long time.
34:30Dirt that night.
34:32The children are asleep.
34:33I'm holding my daughter.
34:34Pressing a kiss to the tiny soft ears on her forehead.
34:37Her nine little tails twitch in her dreams.
34:39A faint itch prickles at the small of my back.
34:42I look down next to my single remaining tail.
34:44A tuft of new fur.
34:45Pale as spider silk.
34:47Almost invisible.
34:48I go still.
34:49I don't tell anyone.
34:50I just smile.
34:51And hold my daughter a little closer.
34:52And hold my daughter.
34:52I don't tell anyone.
34:52I don't tell anyone.
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