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Don't miss a single moment of this captivating short drama. We bring you the best billionaire romance, intense revenge stories, and high-quality web series tailored for you.
🔔 Make sure to FOLLOW our channel so you never miss an update!
Disclaimer: All content is properly licensed and distributed.
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Short filmTranscript
00:002 a.m. I'm crouched outside a bar, chain-smoking. Makeup wrecked. Heels kicked off. Whiskey down the front of
00:08my dress. I look like a woman whose life just blew up in her face. That's because it did.
00:15A man drops onto the curb beside me. Cheap suit. Breath that could peel paint off a wall.
00:21You look stressed, sweetheart.
00:23Move.
00:24I've got something cheap. Won't bleed much on your carpet.
00:27I almost stand up to knock his teeth in.
00:29Tonight's auction left over. Nobody bid on him. We torch him at sunrise.
00:33Here's how it works in this country. Orc auctions are the biggest industry on the East Coast.
00:37The pretty ones go for millions. The ugly ones go to labor camps. The leftovers get burned.
00:42And tonight, I happen to need something to burn.
00:45What's wrong with him?
00:46Faster if I tell you what's right. Mongrel, half-breed, one-eyed dead, tusk-snap, big bastard, tank of a
00:53body, takes a hit, keeps coming.
00:55Show me.
01:01I forget how to breathe.
01:03Seven-foot-two. Ash-gray skin. Scar tissue running from his hairline down to his collar.
01:08The left side of his face is wrecked. A white scar cuts him from temple to jaw.
01:12That eye is dead. Cloudy. Half-blind. Left tusk snapped in half.
01:17The right one filed sharp. His horn broken clean at the tip. Shoulders so wide they nearly scraped both walls
01:24of the alley.
01:25The traitor kicks the back of his knee.
01:27Look at that face, sweetheart. Do whatever you want to him. You can't ruin what's already ruined.
01:36The orc lifts his head. His one good eye finds mine. Amber. Way too calm for someone scheduled to be
01:44ashes by sunrise.
01:45Then I think about Sullivan.
01:47My husband. Silk shirts ironed by staff. Six-foot-ten of factory-perfect pure-blood orc.
01:54He sleeps in my stepsister's wing. The official reason is my perfume gives him headaches. He brushes her hair every
02:01morning.
02:01I eat breakfast alone. Eighteen months of that.
02:04You getting this? Me, Sienna Quinn. Heiress to the biggest fortune in New York.
02:10Twenty-three years old.
02:13Two million dollars I paid for a husband who thinks I smell bad.
02:17How much to keep him?
02:21You don't keep a mongrel.
02:24You rent him for an hour till you...
02:27Number.
02:28Sixty grand.
02:30Five.
02:30Lady, are you out of your...
02:32Five.
02:32Cash. Right now. Or I call my father. He sits on the welfare bureau board.
02:37He'd love to hear what your operation moves through this alley.
02:41Deal.
02:43I peel off the bills.
02:46The chain drops into Pine Palm. Cold.
02:51Heavier than I expected.
02:53The orc tilts his head.
02:55When he speaks, his voice comes out low and rough.
02:59If you wanted to hurt something pretty, you should have walked past me.
03:03I don't want to hurt anything.
03:06Then why?
03:08I look up at his face.
03:10Because tonight, the world's most beautiful orc is at home.
03:14He won't look me in the eye.
03:16And this half-blind mongrel just did.
03:19I tugged the chain.
03:21Gentle.
03:22Just once.
03:24Because nobody else would.
03:26He follows me out of the alley.
03:34The Uber driver locks every door the second Lysander folds in.
03:38He has to fold himself sideways to fit.
03:41I haven't been this close to another body in a long time.
03:45What's your name?
03:47Lysander.
03:48My mother named me Lysander.
03:50The auction tag calls me Mongrel 72.
03:5471 before him.
03:55All burned.
03:57I'm at Siena.
03:59I'm not calling you a number.
04:01He doesn't say thank you.
04:03He doesn't believe me yet.
04:05That's fine.
04:06He will.
04:07The plaza.
04:08Penthouse.
04:10I slipped the bellman 300 bucks to wipe the security footage.
04:14He doesn't ask why.
04:15That's the thing about money.
04:17The right amount makes problems vanish.
04:20In the suite, Lysander has to duck to clear the doorway.
04:23His broken horn scrapes plaster off the ceiling.
04:26Sit.
04:27The couch will hold you.
04:30I don't sit on furniture.
04:32You do now.
04:33The frame groans under him.
04:35He puts his hands flat on his knees.
04:37Palms down.
04:38Fingers spread.
04:40The pose you train an animal to hold.
04:42Somebody taught him that.
04:43I'll deal with that later.
04:48Don't.
04:49It's just water.
04:50That side of my face is dead, Siena.
04:53My body remembers the hand.
04:55Not what's in it.
04:5918 months in a marriage with no contact.
05:02Two hours in a hotel room with a stranger who flinches when I try.
05:06God, we're a pair.
05:08Tell me who took the eye.
05:10The owner's son.
05:12He got his first hunting knife for his 12th birthday.
05:15His father told him to practice on something that didn't matter.
05:19I pick up his hand.
05:21I turn it over.
05:22The inside of his wrist is covered in burn scars.
05:25Old slave casels over older slave casels.
05:28Layers of them.
05:29I press my mouth to the inside of his wrist.
05:32He stops breathing.
05:36Don't be soft with me, Aunt Siena.
05:40I'll break.
05:42Then break.
05:45He drops his forehead into my shoulder.
05:47He shakes against me.
05:49I put my hand on the back of his head.
05:52His hair is rough.
05:54Not like Sutherland's silk and conditioner mane.
05:57But somehow it makes me feel safer than Sutherland ever did.
06:02My phone buzzes on the nightstand.
06:05Sully is losing it.
06:06He smells another orc on you.
06:08He's pacing the foyer.
06:09Tusks won't retract.
06:10Where are you?
06:12I read it twice.
06:13Then I smile.
06:15First real smile in 18 months.
06:18You have to understand my life.
06:20I was five years old when somebody snatched me off a sidewalk in Queens.
06:25My parents looked for me for one year.
06:27Then they gave up and adopted a baby girl from the system.
06:31They named her Cora.
06:33She got 18 years of birthday parties, ballet lessons, piano recitals, family vacations.
06:39I got 18 years of foster homes, a juvie cell at 11, a girl gang in Bushwick at 14, and
06:45a DNA test at 23 that matched me to the Queens.
06:48When I walked through their door at 23, my little sister was 17.
06:53She'd been the only daughter her entire life.
06:55She screamed.
06:56She broke a vase.
06:58She threw a butter knife at my head and missed by an inch.
07:01Get out of my house, you trash!
07:04My mother held her and stroked her hair.
07:06Your sister's been spoiled.
07:08Try to be patient, sweetheart.
07:09That was the day I learned the rules of this family.
07:12I keep my mouth shut about Bushwick.
07:14I keep my mouth shut about the pickpocketing.
07:16I smile pretty at brunch.
07:17I cry on cue when the inheritance lawyer drops by.
07:21The allowance keeps showing up.
07:22Every birthday, my parents buy me something extravagance,
07:25paying down the guilt of 18 years they spent not looking hard enough.
07:28On my 22nd, they bought me Sullivan.
07:30$2 million pure-blood orc, show-quality bloodline, brushed coat, polished tusks.
07:36Your sister's so quiet, sweetheart.
07:39A companion orc would help her come out of her shell.
07:43Cora screamed for three days.
07:46Then she ran away with him for ten.
07:49She brought him back skin and bones.
07:51My mother slapped her across the face for the first time in her life.
07:54And from that day forward, Sullivan only responded to one set of footspets in the hallway.
07:59Hers.
08:00He'd lived ten days as her stray.
08:02He decided she was his real owner.
08:05I was just the woman whose name was on the paperwork.
08:08Eighteen months of eating breakfast alone in a house with five other people in it.
08:13I look down at the phone.
08:16Tell him to get used to it.
08:18I press end.
08:20I put both my hands on it lice of his face.
08:22I make him look at me.
08:24You're staying with me.
08:27You don't know what you just bought.
08:29Then tell me in the morning.
08:31He pulls me against his chest.
08:33His arm is bigger around than my waist.
08:37His heartbeat is slow and heavy under my ear.
08:40He's asleep in three minutes.
08:42I lie in the dark, listening to him breathe.
08:44In eighteen months, my pure-blood husband has never once fallen asleep in the same room as me.
08:49The mongrel I bought for five grand has been mine for two hours and he's already unconscious on my chest.
08:55Best money I've ever spent.
08:58I wake up because there's a hand around my throat.
09:01His whole palm covers my neck.
09:03His thumb sits on my pulse.
09:05He isn't squeezing.
09:07He's staring at the door.
09:08This isn't a threat.
09:10He's checking the room.
09:11I keep my voice low.
09:13Talk to me.
09:13What's at the door?
09:15Somebody's in the hallway.
09:16Get behind me.
09:17He's off the bed in one movement.
09:19Three hundred pounds of orc and not a sound on the carpet.
09:22He puts his eye to the peephole.
09:25His shoulders drop.
09:26Room service.
09:28He opens the door.
09:29The bellboy on the other side sees seven feet of scarred mongrel filling the frame and drops the tray.
09:35Lysander catches it before it hits the carpet.
09:37He closes the door.
09:39He stands with his back to me.
09:43Send me back to the traitor at sunrise.
09:45What?
09:45I sit up in bed.
09:46He keeps the five thousand.
09:48He puts me down anyway.
09:50You walk away clean.
09:51Lysithor.
09:52Your pure blood forgives you.
09:54Your family forgives you.
09:56The story is you got drunk.
09:58You did something stupid.
09:59You came home.
10:00End of story.
10:01I get out of bed.
10:03I cross the carpet barefoot.
10:05I stand on my toes to put my palm flat against his sternum.
10:10His heart is jackrabbiting under my hand.
10:13He's terrified.
10:15Afraid last night was a lie.
10:17Did you sleep tonight?
10:21Yes.
10:22Three hours.
10:23How long since you slept three hours in a row before that?
10:27His mouth opens.
10:29He doesn't have an answer.
10:33I take a breath.
10:34I've been married for 18 months to the most beautiful orc in the city.
10:37He looks at me.
10:38He won't enter my bedroom.
10:40He won't touch my hand at dinner.
10:42He sleeps in a different wing because my perfume gives him a headache.
10:46He brushes my stepsister's hair every morning and pretends I'm not at the table.
10:50I curl my fingers in the fabric of his shirt.
10:53I've been invisible in my own house for 18 months.
10:57Sienna.
10:58He looks at me.
11:00Tonight, you saw me first.
11:02I look up.
11:03You fell asleep on my chest in three minutes.
11:06Do you understand what that did to me?
11:08I'm not sending you back.
11:10He stares down at me.
11:12His eyes are wet.
11:14You shouldn't love a thing like me.
11:16Then we have a problem.
11:18Because I think I already do.
11:20I take his hand.
11:21I lead him back to the bed.
11:22Lay down.
11:23You haven't slept in three days.
11:25He lays down.
11:26I curl on his chest.
11:28My ear is right over his heart.
11:31Why did you really put your hand on my throat earlier?
11:37Habit.
11:38Mongrels reach for the threat first, always.
11:41You weren't threatening me.
11:44You were guarding me.
11:45Kilmos laughs.
11:47He tips my chin up with one knuckle.
11:49His eye catches the light.
11:50Sullivan never touched you, did he?
11:56He never sat on the same couch as me.
11:59Then I'm going to be the first thing on your skin.
12:02He leans down.
12:04He kisses me.
12:06Hard.
12:07The broken tusk drags my lower lip open.
12:11He licks the cut.
12:13I moan into his mouth.
12:14He grabs both my wrists in one hand and pins them above my head.
12:19Other hand grips my jaw.
12:22Open.
12:23I open.
12:24His tongue is in my mouth.
12:26His knee shoves my thighs apart.
12:28He drops his weight on me.
12:30The bed dips.
12:31The frame groans.
12:32He's hard.
12:34I feel him against my hip, through the fabric.
12:36Heavy.
12:37Thick.
12:38Look at you.
12:40Tiny thing.
12:41Already shaking for me.
12:44He shoves my nightgown up to my waist.
12:47One hand, the other still pinning my wrists.
12:51His palm slides down between my things.
12:55Already wet.
12:58Lysianna.
12:59Say please.
13:01I gasp.
13:03Say it, Sienna.
13:06Please.
13:09His fingers work into me.
13:11Two at once.
13:13Thick.
13:14Rough.
13:14He's watching my face.
13:16That's it.
13:18There she is.
13:19He keeps going till I'm shaking under him.
13:22No.
13:22Don't.
13:23Don't.
13:24Then he stops.
13:25Hush.
13:27I want you on my tongue first.
13:33He drops down the bed.
13:35Shoulders shove my thighs wider.
13:37He hooks both my knees over his shoulders.
13:40His mouth goes to me.
13:42The intact tusk drags along my inner thigh.
13:45The sharp one.
13:47Just enough pressure to mark.
13:49I cry out.
13:50He eats me till my hands tear the sheets.
13:53Till my hips lift off the bed for him.
13:55He holds me down with one forearm across my stomach.
13:59When I come, he is watching me the whole time.
14:01He climbs back up me.
14:03His mouth is wet.
14:05He kisses me with it.
14:07Let's me taste myself.
14:08Now look at me when I take you.
14:11He pushes in.
14:13Slow.
14:13So slow.
14:15I feel every inch.
14:16I'm small under him.
14:18He's huge.
14:19He stretches me till my eyes go wet.
14:22He stops halfway.
14:24Breathe.
14:27He pushes the rest of the way in.
14:29I gasp his name.
14:31He swallows it.
14:32He starts to move.
14:34Deep.
14:35Hard.
14:35Steady.
14:36Each thrust pushes me up the mattress.
14:39His free hand pulls me back down onto him.
14:41He says it on every stroke.
14:43I sob it back.
14:45Mine.
14:48Fuck me harder, Lysenar.
14:50His good eye goes black.
14:52He bites the bond spot right where my neck meets my shoulder.
14:56My whole spine snaps tight.
14:58My hands fist in the sheets.
15:00I cry out into his hair.
15:02He holds me through it.
15:04He licks the blood off his lip.
15:05Then he licks the bite.
15:07Mine.
15:09Say it back.
15:10Yours.
15:11Again.
15:12Yours, Lysenar.
15:14He kisses me hard.
15:16I taste my own blood in his mouth and I don't care.
15:19It's done.
15:20You can't undo it.
15:22You're mine forever.
15:23Nobody is taking you from me.
15:26Good.
15:29I wake up to sunlight on his chest.
15:32He has been awake for a while.
15:34He is staring at the ceiling.
15:36His hand sits on my hip.
15:38He is afraid to move it.
15:42How long have you been up?
15:44Two hours.
15:45Why didn't you wake me?
15:46You were sleeping on me.
15:48I wasn't going to end that.
15:49The bite on my neck pulses with every heartbeat.
15:53Let me see.
15:55He sees me wince and sits up.
15:57He turns my head gently.
15:59His thumb traces around the mark.
16:01Never on it.
16:02It's scarred clean.
16:05It will show for the rest of your life.
16:07That's what I wanted.
16:10He studies me for a moment.
16:12You keep saying things like that.
16:14The words don't seem to cost you anything.
16:17They don't.
16:18They will.
16:19Your father will see the mark.
16:22Everyone you grew up around will see what bit you.
16:25I climb into his lap.
16:27I put his hand flat on my throat over the bite.
16:31Then they see it.
16:33He shakes his head once.
16:35Sienna.
16:36Take it off.
16:37I'll buy you a scarf downstairs.
16:38Wear it until the bruise fades.
16:40Walk back into that house clean.
16:42Tell them I was a bad dream.
16:44I pull back to look at him.
16:46You want me to hide you?
16:47I want you to survive me.
16:50Press.
16:51What?
16:52Press, Lysander.
16:54Hard enough to leave your prince next to your teeth.
16:57He doesn't press.
16:58I can't.
16:59Then stop telling me to take you off.
17:01His hands shake.
17:04He closes his eyes.
17:06He drops his forehead onto my collarbone.
17:09I feel him breathe out for the first time since he woke up.
17:13I order room service.
17:15Two of everything.
17:17Eat.
17:18Start with the eggs.
17:20He picks up a fork.
17:22He puts it back down.
17:24He picks up a piece of bacon with his fingers.
17:27He looks up.
17:28Waiting for me to correct him.
17:30I pick up my own piece with my fingers too.
17:33He almost smiles.
17:35My phone lights up on the carpet.
17:37Sully shifted.
17:38Tusk won't be trapped.
17:40Dad locked him in the wine cellar.
17:42Mom is crying.
17:43Where are you?
17:45Lysander reads it over my shoulder.
17:47His hand doesn't leave my throat.
17:50Get dressed.
17:52We're going home.
17:56The estate gates are open.
17:57The guard is at his post.
17:59He doesn't look at us.
18:01Stay outside, Marco.
18:03Whatever you hear, stay outside.
18:05He looks relieved and nods.
18:07I walk up the gravel drive with At Lysander a step behind me.
18:11He doesn't speak.
18:12He is scanning every window.
18:15He is already counting exits.
18:17The foyer is wrecked.
18:19There's glass on the marble and a console table on its side.
18:22My mother is on the stairs with mascara down her face.
18:25Sullivan has my father against the wall.
18:28Six foot ten of him with tusks fully out.
18:30My father's feet are six inches off the marble.
18:33Cora is at the top of the stairs.
18:35She has her phone up.
18:36She is filming the whole thing.
18:37I walk into the middle of the foyer.
18:40Sully, put him down.
18:42Sullivan turns slowly.
18:44He doesn't recognize me for a beat.
18:46Then he does.
18:47And his nostrils flare.
18:51You smell like him, Sienna.
18:54Let my father down.
18:55I can fix this.
18:56I can wash it off.
18:59I can mark over it.
19:00Sullivan.
19:01Put.
19:02Him.
19:02Down.
19:03He drops my father.
19:05My father slides down the wall to the marble.
19:08Coughing, but alive.
19:11Sullivan crosses the foyer towards me.
19:13He stops three feet away.
19:15He cannot take the next step.
19:16Pure blood instinct won't let him cross the air between us.
19:19He has smelled the bond.
19:21He knows what it is.
19:22Lysander walks through the doorway behind him.
19:24Sullivan's whole body locks up.
19:27Lysander doesn't lift a hand.
19:28He walks to the middle of the foyer.
19:30He says four words in a language I don't know.
19:34Then, Sullivan drops to both knees.
19:40His tusks retract.
19:42The black in his eyes pulls back to gold.
19:45The foyer goes dead silent.
19:47My mother gasps from the stairs.
19:49Sully.
19:51What did he just say?
19:53Lysander answers in flat English.
19:55I told him my mother's name.
19:57My father lifts his head from the marble.
20:00Who is your mother, son?
20:02Lysander looks at me first.
20:04Then at my father.
20:06Her name was Merivin of the North Forest.
20:10My father stops breathing for a beat.
20:12My father pours brandy in his studi.
20:14His hands shake.
20:16He doesn't drink any of it.
20:17Lysander stands by the door.
20:18He won't sit in this house yet.
20:20Merivin of the North Forest married a human.
20:23That makes you highborn.
20:25And that makes Vark of House Drenhan your uncle.
20:28Yes.
20:29My father sets the brandy down very carefully.
20:33Sienna.
20:34Do you understand what you walked into an alley and bought?
20:37A husband.
20:38A highborn heir.
20:40There are seven of them on this coast.
20:42That sounds like my problem to handle.
20:44That is everyone's problem now.
20:46Including mine.
20:47He looks at Lysander.
20:49Why were you in that alley?
20:53My uncle put me there 15 years ago.
20:56He paid Ortloff and sons 12,000 pieces.
20:58They took my eye and snapped my tusk.
21:00They broke my horn.
21:02He didn't want anyone to buy me.
21:03No one was supposed to see whose blood I had.
21:06If I died young, my mother's lands passed to him.
21:09And you didn't die.
21:10He didn't die.
21:11He went through 12 cages.
21:13He walked out of an alley last night.
21:16He had my chain in his hand.
21:18My father is silent at his desk.
21:21And he bit you?
21:22After one night?
21:24Yes.
21:25Your grandmother died last month, son.
21:27Mero's mother.
21:28The estate is in probate.
21:29I don't care about the estate.
21:31You should care.
21:32The day Vec learns that Lysander is alive, he is coming through that gate.
21:36Lysander speaks from the doorway.
21:38Quiet.
21:39He already knows.
21:40He felt the bond pulse at 2am.
21:45Then he is already on a plane.
21:47How long do we have?
21:49Six hours.
21:50Maybe less.
21:51I leave my father in the study.
21:53I find Cora in my bedroom.
21:55She is on my bed.
21:56She holds a phone in one hand.
21:58She holds a paring knife in the other.
22:00The blade is pointed at her own throat.
22:03Hi, sis.
22:04We need to talk.
22:08I sit down across from her.
22:11Put it down, Cora.
22:13You took Sully.
22:14He was never yours.
22:15Mom and dad bought him for you and he chose me anyway.
22:20You imprinted a 12-year-old animal who was scared and confused.
22:24That's grooming.
22:26That's not love.
22:28Send your monster husband away!
22:31Send him back tonight!
22:33Or I'll do it on your bed!
22:35I lean closer.
22:36You won't.
22:39Watch me.
22:40A girl who actually wanted to die wouldn't come here.
22:43Not to her sister's bedroom.
22:45She would do it in her own room.
22:47You came here because you need an audience.
22:50She blinks at me.
22:51I'm the audience.
22:53Drop the knife.
22:53Her hand shakes.
22:55I've watched you cry on cue for 18 months.
22:59I've watched you switch the tears off the second the camera leaves.
23:03Sis.
23:05This morning you filmed dad choking against a wall.
23:08You didn't drop the phone to help him.
23:10You narrated it.
23:12Her face cracks open.
23:14A girl who films her dad choking.
23:16She doesn't slit her throat over a husband.
23:20Drop it.
23:21She drops the knife.
23:23Then she starts crying.
23:26Real crying.
23:27Not the kind I'm used to from her.
23:30I hate that you came back!
23:31I had everything!
23:32I had dad!
23:34And mom!
23:35And Sully!
23:35And this house!
23:37Then they found you!
23:39And I became the second one!
23:41You had a stolen life.
23:43It was always going to end the day they found me.
23:46Sis, please.
23:47Switzerland.
23:49Friday.
23:50Lindenburg Academy.
23:52You don't come back until you're 21.
23:55She nods at me.
23:56She doesn't bargain.
23:58I pick the knife up off the bed thread.
24:01I walk out into the hall.
24:06Lysenar is in the hallway.
24:08He has heard every word through the door.
24:10You didn't have to be that hard with her.
24:12I was 17 once.
24:13Nobody was soft with me back then.
24:15She isn't broken.
24:16She is spoiled.
24:17There's a difference.
24:18You smell different right now.
24:20Just for one minute let me hold you.
24:21He opens his arms.
24:23I walk into him.
24:24I don't cry.
24:25He holds me in the hallway.
24:27Behind him, down the corridor.
24:28My mother is standing in a doorway.
24:30She is watching us closely.
24:32She doesn't speak.
24:33She watches him put his hand on the back of my head.
24:36Then she goes back into her room and closes the door.
24:39The doorbell rings at 3 p.m.
24:41Now the Lyster straightens up.
24:43The softness leaves his body fast.
24:45Who is at the door?
24:46Sienna?
24:46I'm not expecting anyone.
24:48He checks the camera in the front hall.
24:50There are three orcs on the step.
24:52They wear iron coats with full tusks and unbroken horns.
24:55My uncle's men.
24:57Six hours, you said.
25:00He was closer than I thought.
25:01He moves me behind him.
25:02He opens the door himself.
25:04The oldest of the three steps in.
25:06Six foot eleven.
25:07In a silk-lined coat.
25:08He sees at Lycender.
25:10His eyes go to the broken horn in the dead eye.
25:12They go to the snapped tusk.
25:14They go to the brand under the shirt.
25:16He smiles at him.
25:18Forgive the introsion.
25:19I'm Lord Vec of House Drenum.
25:22I've come to collect my nephew.
25:30He's married, I tell him.
25:32To you.
25:33A human.
25:34I admire your nerve.
25:36His smile widens.
25:37But my nephew is not property you can keep.
25:40He belongs to the house until he is twenty-five.
25:43Get out of my father's house.
25:45Vark turns to Atlithlin.
25:47He says something quiet in the old language.
25:49Listener's scar twitches.
25:51What did he say?
25:52He asked if I had taught the human pet to sit yet.
25:55My father grips the hall doorway hard.
25:58Lycener steps fully into the foyer.
26:00Uncle.
26:01You paid Orphal and Ozon's twelve thousand pieces.
26:04They put a knife in my eye when I was eight.
26:07Lycener!
26:07You paid them to snap my tusk.
26:10To break my horn.
26:11To brawn me mongrel seventy-two.
26:13That is enough.
26:14You sold me to twelve cages over fifteen years.
26:17You're here today because Grandmother is dead.
26:19Her will makes me richer than you.
26:22Varek's smile sharpens.
26:23Your mother married beneath her.
26:25Your father was a stain on our bloodline.
26:28We did what was necessary.
26:30The three of them step toward me.
26:32Varek's hand comes up to strike.
26:34Lysander moves on him.
26:36The first hit cracks bone.
26:38The second is wetter.
26:39The third rattles the chandelier above us.
26:41My father grabs me and pulls me into the hallway.
26:44He clamps his hand over my mouth.
26:47The foyer doors swing back open.
26:49Lysamar stands in the frame.
26:51There's blood on his knuckles and a cut on his cheekbone.
26:54Three highborn Oryx lie on the marble.
26:56None of them are getting up soon.
26:57None of them are dead.
26:58My father starts to laugh.
26:59Quiet at first.
27:00Then louder.
27:01Lysamore turns to me.
27:03He looks wild.
27:04His hand is shaking hard.
27:05Take me somewhere I can put my back to a wall.
27:09I take him to my bathroom.
27:10I lock the door behind us.
27:12I sit him on the closed lid of the toilet.
27:15I turn on the hot water in the sink.
27:17He doesn't speak.
27:18He stares at the tile between his feet.
27:20His hands won't stop shaking.
27:22I run a washcloth under the tap.
27:24I wring it out.
27:26I kneel in front of him on the bath mat.
27:28Give me your hands.
27:29He gives them to me.
27:31I wash them.
27:32Knuckle by knuckle.
27:33The blood isn't his.
27:35It comes off easy.
27:36Look at me.
27:37He doesn't look up.
27:39Lysander.
27:40Look at me.
27:41He looks at me.
27:43And then he breaks.
27:44His shoulders drop.
27:46He starts to cry.
27:48He puts his forehead against my colivone and his whole body shakes.
27:52I hold the back of his head.
27:54I let him fall apart.
28:24I was eight.
28:42He looks at me.
28:47He doesn't fix what he did to you.
28:49He doesn't fix what he did to you.
28:55eight-year-old came back with a wife. I don't deserve this. You keep saying that. Because it's
29:03true. Then we have a problem. I'm not leaving you. I take his face in both my hands. I kiss
29:09the dead
29:09side first. The scarred one where the knife went in. He flinches the way he did with the towel
29:15last night. I do it again. Slower this time. The third time he doesn't flinch at all. He looks at
29:21me steady. I'm going to need you for the rest of my life. I'm telling you now. You can decide
29:26before
29:27this gets worse. Already decided. 2 a.m. last night. Get in the bath. He gets in the bath. He
29:33doesn't fit
29:33at all. His knees come up over the rim. His broken horn taps the tile above him. He laughs at
29:39himself.
29:40The sound is short and surprised. I haven't been in a bathtub since I was a child. You're in one
29:46now.
29:46I sit on the edge in my clothes. I dip the washcloth in the water. I start at his shoulder.
29:52I work down his arm and across his chest. The brand on his ribs is the last thing I get
29:56to.
29:56The number 12 is burned into him in black ink. The brand is older than the knife scar.
30:01The skin around it is still raised after 15 years. I put my home flat on it. Tell me what
30:08this one is.
30:11Cage number. 12th owner. They burn the new number over the old one each time. The first six are under
30:17it. You can feel the ridges if you press. I can feel them. I do press. And the others? He
30:25starts to
30:26tell me about them. He doesn't stop for an hour. There was the owner who fed him once a week.
30:32There was
30:33the one who used him in the pit. There was the one in Maryland with the daughter. She slipped him
30:38bread
30:38under the door at night. Her father caught her doing it. He never knew what happened to the
30:42daughter after that. I listen to him. I keep the water warm. I don't cry. He doesn't need that for
30:48me. When he is done, he sits very still. Sienna. Yes. Nobody has ever asked me what they were.
30:58Nobody is ever going to skip that question again. He looks at me. He is steady for the first time
31:05all day.
31:07I want you to see the rest of them too. I help him stand. He drips water on the bath
31:13mat. I dry him
31:14with a towel I fetch twice from the closet. I find every scar he tells me to find. Six are
31:20on his back.
31:21One sits under his jaw. One is on the inside of his thigh. He won't explain that one. I put
31:27my mouth on
31:28each of them. When I get to the brand, I stay there longer. This one, we are going to put
31:34my name
31:34over. Sienna. Not removing it. Tattooing over it. I want my name on you, not his number. He doesn't
31:44say anything for a long time. All right. Tomorrow, after we deal with the estate. After my father
31:57makes a call. Tomorrow night, we are going to a tattoo shop. We are covering that brand with my name.
32:06Tomorrow. I get up on my toes to reach his ear. And tonight, you are going to sleep in a
32:12real bed.
32:13In this house. In my bed. Sullivan can hear it through the wall, and I don't care. His eyes fill
32:20again. Different this time. We don't make it to my bed. We get as far as the bedroom door. He
32:26stops me
32:27in the doorway. He puts both hands flat on the frame. One hand on either side of my head. He
32:32looks down at me.
32:33I haven't had anyone since I was eight years old. I haven't been allowed to. I know that.
32:40I don't know how to do this slow. You did it last night. Last night, I was an animal you
32:46brought home
32:46from an alley. Tonight, I'm in your house. I'm in your father's house. I keep waiting for someone to
32:53come tell me to leave. I take his hand off the door frame. I put it on my throat, over
32:58the bite mark.
32:59Nobody is coming to tell you to leave. He lifts me, both hands under my thighs.
33:03He walks me to the bed. He lays me down gently. Slow tonight.
33:10He undresses me without taking his eye off my face. Each button and each strap. He folds the
33:16dress over the chair and sets it down carefully. Open for me. I open my knees for him. He kisses
33:23the inside of one, then the inside of the other. He works his way up slowly. He keeps his eye
33:27on my
33:28face the whole time. When his mouth gets where it is going, I make a sound. A sound I have
33:33never made
33:34in this house. I make sure it carries through the wall. He laughs against me. He doesn't stop what
33:40he's doing. When I come, he climbs back up me. He pushes in slowly, inch by inch. He watches my
33:48face
33:48the whole time. You're mine. Yours. He moves in long, slow strokes. The bed barely makes a sound.
33:56His weight rests on his forearms. His forehead presses it against mine. I have you. Nobody's
34:03taking you from me. He stops moving. He looks at me. Say that again, Sienna. Nobody is taking you.
34:08Not your uncle. And not the auctioneer. He is with me now. He closes his eyes. He starts
34:15to move again. Slower and deeper than before. He puts his mouth back on the bite on my throat.
34:20He doesn't bite this time. He just rests his mouth on the mark and holds. When I come the
34:25second time, it is quiet between us. My whole body shakes under him and I don't make a sound.
34:30I just hold his face and watch him watch me. He follows me a minute later. He whispers something
34:36in the old language against my colopone. What did you say?
34:42My mother's full name. I haven't said it to another person 15 years. I wanted her to hear yours.
34:54I wake up to my mother in the doorway. She is in her dressing gown with no makeup on.
34:59She has been up all night. Isander is asleep on his front beside me. One arm is thrown across
35:06my waist. The brand on his ribs is showing in the morning light. She sees the brand. She covers
35:11her mouth with both hands. I sit up slowly. I don't move his arm. Mom. Sienna. Come in or don't.
35:19Don't stand in the doorway. She comes in. She sits on the edge of the bed. She looks at his
35:25face.
35:25She looks at the bite on my neck. She looks back at his face again. Your father told me everything.
35:32The grandmother. The estate. The uncle who paid people to do this to him. And you brought him home
35:39this morning. Yes. After one night. She puts her hand on my knee through the blanket. I'm going to
35:44say something. You are going to let me say it. Go ahead. For 18 months I have watched the pure
35:51blood we bought you. I have watched him ignore you in this house. I told myself it was an adjustment.
35:57I told myself it was Cora's fault. I told myself it was the perfume. Mom. Let me finish. I am
36:0560 years old.
36:08I don't know what to do with my face. I take her hand in mine. Tell me you're sorry. That's
36:15what
36:15you do with your face. She doesn't move for a while. I'm sorry. For Sullivan and for Cora. For all
36:23of it. For 18 years of looking for you and giving up. I am sorry, Sienna. I don't say anything
36:32back.
36:32She doesn't expect me to. She stands up from the bed. Your father is in the study. The lawyer is
36:39on
36:39his way. The estate must be moved out of probate today. Otherwise your uncle's brother will file a
36:44case by noon. Tell him I'm coming down. She stops at the door. She looks back at me. Sienna. What
36:52is
36:53it? Whatever this one is. Whatever they call him in their old language. He is the one I would have
36:58picked for you. If I had been the kind of mother who got to pick. She closes the door behind
37:04her.
37:05Lysaner's arm tightens on my waist. He has been awake for the last minute. Your mother just apologized
37:10to you. She did. In English. I noticed. My mother would have liked her. I kiss his shoulder. The
37:20scarred one. Get up. The lawyer arrives in 20 minutes.
37:27The lawyer arrives at 9. He sets his briefcase on my father's desk. He is 60-something in a gray
37:33suit.
37:34He has been delivering complicated news for 30 years. Mr. Quinn. Miss Quinn. Lord Drenman.
37:40Lysadar doesn't react to the title. He sits in the chair next to mine. His hand stays on the back
37:45of
37:45my chair. The estate of Lady Alice Drennan was propated in chambers last week. Her amended will
37:51was executed three days before her death. Three witnesses signed it. Read it to us. He reads it
37:57out loud. The estate of Lady Alice Drennan passes in full. It goes to the human woman bonded to her
38:03grandson. To Lysaldro of the North Forest. By name? Sienna Quinn. I sit there for a moment.
38:10The lawyer waits patiently. How much exactly? 840 million dollars in assets. Lands in three
38:18districts. A coastal harbor. Two textile mills. A working mine. A house you will never need to set
38:24feet in. Not if you don't wish to. Why me? She didn't trust her own house to protect her grandson.
38:31She made you the shield instead. She never met me. She had three people watching you for nine months.
38:38She knew exactly who she was leaving it to. Lysima hasn't moved during any of this. I turned
38:44to him. Did you know about this? No, I didn't. Did you suspect? I suspected she had someone watching
38:50me. I didn't know it was you. I didn't know it was already done. I look at the lawyer. Can
38:56I refuse it?
38:57You can. The estate then passes to the next eligible heir. Your husband's uncle, Lord Virk.
39:03I look at Lysadar. I'm not refusing it.
39:10No. It's not for me. It's for the boy in the chair. Yes. I sign the papers. There are 43
39:20pages of
39:21them. The lawyer's pen runs out halfway through. My father gives him a new one. When it is done,
39:26the lawyer stands up. He bows slightly to be polite. Lady Drenum. Don't call me that yet.
39:33It is the name on the deed now, ma'am. He leaves the study. My father pours himself the brandy
39:39he
39:39didn't drink yesterday. He drinks it down now. Sienna. Dad. I gave you a pureblood for your birthday.
39:47He was the most expensive thing in this house. I remember. He is now the fourth most expensive
39:54thing in this house. And that is only counting your husband. The estate is the first. He looks
40:00at Aunt Lysadar. Sotheby's takes Sullivan tomorrow. Open auction. No reserve. Dad. Not the auction.
40:08There's a retired doctor in Maine. He works with show orcs who couldn't adjust. Sullivan is going to
40:14relearn how to be a person. Without a master. My father studies my face. You are kinder than I would
40:22be in your place. I'm not kind. I'm just done with all of it. He nods. He picks up the
40:29phone to make
40:30the call. Six months later, the doctor in Maine writes back. Sullivan is feeding himself. He answers
40:38to his own name now. Lysaner squeezes my hand under the desk. I squeeze back. Outside the study window.
40:47Cora is on the lawn with her suitcase. Cora is in the garden when I find her. Her suitcase is
40:55open
40:56on the lawn. The housekeeper is folding sweats into it carefully. Cora is sitting on the stone bench.
41:02Her arms are wrapped around her knees. She is 17 years old. She looks 12. I leave on Friday.
41:09I know. I packed half of this myself. I saw you did. I sit down next to her on the
41:15bench.
41:16Sis.
41:19What is it?
41:23I saw you and him in the hallway last night.
41:26And?
41:27He put his hand on the back of your head. The way Sully puts his hand on mine when I'm
41:33crying.
41:34Cora.
41:35That isn't what I want to say. What I want to say is this. That was the first time in
41:4018 months. The first time I have seen someone touch you like a person.
41:44Mom and dad don't ever touch you. Sully doesn't touch you. I throw things at you. You don't
41:51have anybody, sis.
41:53I have him now.
41:55That's exactly what I'm saying.
41:57She turns on the bench to face me.
41:59I have been telling myself this story for two years.
42:03The story is that you stole my life from me.
42:06You came in.
42:07You pushed me out of every spot I had.
42:10Maybe that's true a little.
42:11But I watched you walk into the foite yesterday.
42:15Your hair was unwashed.
42:17There was a bite mark on your throat.
42:19A seven-foot orc walked in behind you.
42:21And I realized something.
42:23What?
42:25You weren't pushing me out.
42:27You were finally walking in.
42:29You have been outside this family the entire time.
42:32I just couldn't see it before.
42:34I am quiet for a long moment.
42:36I'm not asking you to forgive me.
42:38I'm asking you to let me write to you.
42:40Every Sunday.
42:42Handwritten letters.
42:43Mailed at the end of every month.
42:45Yes.
42:46I'll write back to one in three.
42:48Not when you're performing.
42:50When you stop performing.
42:52Deal.
42:52Deal.
42:54She wipes her face with the back of her hand.
42:57He is going to be your husband for real, isn't he?
43:02He already is.
43:04We're doing the rest of the paperwork next week.
43:07Can I come to the wedding?
43:11Yes.
43:12Even from Switzerland?
43:14We'll fly you back for the day.
43:16You can come back at Christmas every year, too.
43:19Lindenburg until 21.
43:21Then we see who you've become.
43:23She nods at that.
43:25She puts her head on my shoulder.
43:28She hasn't done that since she was 11.
43:31I remember the exact date.
43:34Sis.
43:35Hmm.
43:36He loves you.
43:38I know that.
43:40He loves you in a way Sully never loved me.
43:43I figured it out this morning.
43:47How did you figure it out?
43:49Sully loved being mine.
43:51Lysither loves you.
43:53She gets up from the bench.
43:55She goes back to her suitcase.
43:57I sit there a moment longer.
43:59The housekeeper folds another sweater.
44:02The sun moves on the lawn.
44:04Tonight Lester and I have a tattoo to get.
44:08That night Lester and I drive into the city.
44:12We go to a tattoo shop on the Lower East Side.
44:15The artist is a woman in her 50s.
44:17Half her face is tattooed already.
44:20She doesn't blink at his size.
44:22Or at his face.
44:24She says only one thing.
44:26Show me what we're covering.
44:28He lifts his shirt.
44:30The brand is right there.
44:32The number 12.
44:34The raised ridges of the six older numbers are visible underneath.
44:38What do you want to put over it?
44:40Her name.
44:42She looks over at me.
44:44She doesn't ask if I am sure about this.
44:48What font?
44:49Whatever he wants.
44:51I want to be able to read it from across a room.
44:54She draws something on tracing paper.
44:57She holds the paper up to his ribs.
44:59The word reads Sienna in tall block letters.
45:03Tall enough to swallow the brand whole.
45:06Tall enough to swallow the six numbers underneath it.
45:09That one.
45:10She does the work.
45:12It takes four hours.
45:14He doesn't make a single sound the whole time.
45:18He keeps his eyes on me.
45:20I sit on a stool beside the table.
45:22I hold his hand.
45:24I don't let go once.
45:26When she is finished, she wipes him down.
45:28She wraps the ribs in plastic.
45:31She steps back to look.
45:34Lord Drenum.
45:35I don't work on Highborn.
45:37I have never been asked to.
45:40Why me tonight?
45:41Because you don't work on Highborn.
45:43Because you wouldn't have done this for my uncle.
45:45Because this is not a Drenum tattoo.
45:48She nods slowly.
45:49She understands what he means.
45:53He sits up on the table.
45:54He looks down at his own side.
45:56The word Sienna sits under the plastic.
45:59The skin is red around the edges and starting to scab over.
46:02The brand is gone.
46:04The six numbers under it are gone.
46:06Everything is gone except my name on him.
46:08He puts his hand flat over it.
46:10His eyes fill with tears.
46:13You did it.
46:15I told you I would.
46:18Your name is on me now.
46:20The number is gone.
46:24They do.
46:25He pays the artist three times what she charged him.
46:29She doesn't argue with that.
46:31In the car, he keeps his hand over the tattoo.
46:35The whole way home.
46:38Sienna.
46:39What is it?
46:41My grandmother left you 840 million dollars.
46:44I'm aware of that.
46:46And you took me to a tattoo shop in a strip mall.
46:52I had to keep my promise to you.
46:55He laughs quietly at that.
46:57Will you marry me, Sienna?
46:59The legal kind.
47:01With the paper and the witnesses.
47:03So when somebody asks me what I am,
47:05my answer doesn't start with the word mongrel.
47:08Yes.
47:10When?
47:11Next Saturday.
47:13The garden.
47:14Cora flies back for the day.
47:16My father walks me out.
47:18And your mother?
47:19My mother is doing my hair.
47:21She told me this morning.
47:23I didn't even ask her.
47:26He kisses my hand.
47:27The one I am still holding his with.
47:31Saturday is six days away.
47:34Six days to plan a wedding.
47:37It is Saturday in the garden behind the house.
47:41There are 40 chairs set out.
47:43And white ribbon on every one.
47:45The housekeeper has been crying since dawn for reasons he won't explain.
47:51My mother does my hair on the back porch.
47:53She works in silence for a long time.
47:57Your grandmother had this hair.
47:58I never told you.
48:01I never met her.
48:03No, you didn't.
48:04She would have liked you.
48:06She would have hated him.
48:09Mom.
48:10That is a compliment.
48:12The women in my family always hated the right men.
48:16She secures the last pin.
48:18She steps back from the mirror.
48:21You look like her, Sienna.
48:24You haven't said that before.
48:26I haven't been able to say it.
48:29She sets the brush down.
48:31I'm going to sit in the front row.
48:33I am going to cry.
48:35Don't look at me.
48:37Look at him.
48:39I was already going to.
48:41She kisses the top of my head.
48:44She walks down to the garden.
48:48Cora comes in wearing a white dress.
48:50She is the maid of honor.
48:52We didn't announce this.
48:53She just showed up in it.
48:56He's already there, sis.
48:58I can see him through the window.
49:00He is in a black coat with a dark red lining.
49:03Those are the North Forest colors.
49:06His mother's scene is on the collar.
49:08The lawyer in Geneva sent it over.
49:11He is standing at the end of the garden in the sun.
49:15His eyes are closed.
49:17Cora hands me the bouquet.
49:19Don't trip, sis.
49:22I won't trip.
49:25My father is in the doorway behind us.
49:27He has stopped shaking these last few days.
49:31Sweetheart.
49:32Daddy.
49:34I gave you a pure blood for your 22nd birthday.
49:40I remember.
49:42I want to give you something today.
49:45Something I should have given you back then.
49:48Permission to walk out of any room.
49:51Any room you don't want to be in.
49:52You're a little late on that, Dad.
49:54I know.
49:55Take it anyway.
49:56He puts my hand on his arm.
49:58He walks me down the aisle.
50:01Lysander opens his eyes.
50:03He has been waiting since 10 in the morning.
50:05He isn't going to miss a single step now.
50:09My father puts my hand in his hand.
50:12Take care of her, son.
50:14The first 18 years I didn't.
50:17Yes, sir.
50:19The priest is the chaplain from our parish church.
50:23He reads in English.
50:25Lysander asked him for this.
50:27He says the vows.
50:28I say the vows back.
50:30The priest closes the book.
50:31There is one tradition I have been asked to honor.
50:34Lord Drennaman, speak the name your mother gave you.
50:38Loud enough for the garden to hear.
50:41Lysander doesn't turn to face the chairs.
50:43He turns to face me instead.
50:46He says it.
50:48Three syllables in the old language.
50:50The chairs are quiet for a beat.
50:53Then 40 people say it back in two languages at once.
50:56My parents.
50:58Cora.
50:59The housekeeper and the lawyer.
51:01The tattoo artist in the back row.
51:03The priest turns to me.
51:05Lady Drenard.
51:06There is no human tradition for this party.
51:09Say what you wish to say.
51:11I look out at the chairs and speak up.
51:13My name is Sienna Dredvorn.
51:15I bought him in an alley with cash.
51:17He's mine now.
51:19The garden laughs at that.
51:21Lysadar does not.
51:23His eyes are wet.
51:25He leans down to me.
51:27He kisses my face first.
51:30Then my mouth.
51:32The priest closes the book.
51:34It was an intimate reception.
51:36Forty chairs were placed around round tables.
51:39At eight o'clock, the garden was lit up with lanterns.
51:43My father stands first.
51:45He taps his glass with a fork.
51:47I had a speech written.
51:49I'm not going to give it tonight.
51:50I'm going to say one thing instead.
51:53He looks at Lysadar.
51:57My daughter ate breakfast alone in this house for eighteen months.
52:02She doesn't anymore.
52:04That's because of you.
52:06Sit down.
52:08Eat the cake.
52:09Lysadar sits back down.
52:13Cora stands up next.
52:15She is shaking.
52:16She has never given a speech.
52:19My sister came home at twenty-three.
52:21The day she walked through the door,
52:23I threw a butter knife at her head.
52:25I missed by an inch.
52:27I have spent two years wishing I had not missed.
52:31The garden goes very still.
52:34I'm leaving for Switzerland on Tuesday.
52:36I am going to be a different person when I come back.
52:40Not because she sent me away.
52:43Because she came and found me crying last week.
52:47And she didn't have to.
52:49I look up at her.
52:51My father has been talking to her about more than I knew.
52:56I want her husband to know something too.
52:59You take care of her.
53:01That's all I'm asking.
53:03For as long as you walk.
53:05Lysadar stands.
53:06He bows slightly to her.
53:08Yes.
53:11She sits down crying.
53:13My mother takes her hand under the table.
53:16Later, there is dancing.
53:19Lysadar has never been allowed to dance.
53:21The first thing he does is step on my foot.
53:25I'm sorry, Sienna.
53:26That was your foot.
53:28Try again.
53:30He tries again.
53:31He steps on foot again.
53:34I am terrible at this.
53:37You are terrible.
53:38Keep going anyway.
53:41By the fifth song, he isn't terrible anymore.
53:44He has stopped looking down at his feet.
53:47My mother dances with my father.
53:48They haven't danced together in a decade.
53:51He cries on her shoulder, quietly.
53:54She pretends not to notice.
53:56At eleven, I find at Lysadar at the edge of the garden.
53:59He has two glasses of champagne.
54:03For me?
54:04For me?
54:05For you.
54:05I take one.
54:07We sit on the stone bench.
54:09Where Cora and I sat last week.
54:13Lady Drenman.
54:14Don't start with that.
54:17You'll have to get used to it eventually.
54:20Just not tonight.
54:21We are quiet together for a moment.
54:24I have a question, Aunt Sienna.
54:26I've been holding it since the bath.
54:28Ask me anything.
54:30The first night in the alley, the trader said I was already ruined.
54:34Why did you say yes?
54:36I told you.
54:38Because nobody else would.
54:39Is that the whole answer?
54:41No, it isn't.
54:44Tell me the rest.
54:46I thought you were like me.
54:48That we could be together.
54:50He puts down his glass.
54:52Sienna.
54:53Since the first time I held you, I have been afraid you would not stay.
54:58I am staying.
55:00He picks me up off the bench.
55:02He carries me through the garden to the back door.
55:05The garden is empty by now.
55:07The lanterns are still on.
55:10Take me upstairs, husband.
55:12Yes.
55:13We are in our bedroom.
55:16The fire is in the hearth.
55:18The door is closed behind us.
55:21He sets me down on the rug.
55:23He kneels down in front of me.
55:25He undoes the dress slowly.
55:26The same way he did it the first night in this house.
55:32He stops when the bodious falls.
55:34I need to tell you something before tonight starts.
55:39I sit down on the rug with him.
55:41Tell me what it is.
55:43I'm going to wake up tomorrow and you'll still be here.
55:46And the day after.
55:47I didn't believe that until today.
55:51What changed today?
55:52Forty men in your garden called out my mother's name.
55:56You stood before them all.
55:58You said you bought me from an alley.
56:01You said it loudly.
56:02He puts his hand over the tattoo on his ribs.
56:05Your name is on me.
56:08Everyone in that garden knows it.
56:10They do.
56:11He leans his forehead against mine.
56:14I'm yours.
56:15You're mine.
56:16I press my forehead back against his.
56:19I pull him down to the rug with me.
56:22I put my mouth on the tattoo.
56:26Lay back for me.
56:29He lays back on the rug.
56:31I want to look at you tonight.
56:34Look at me then.
56:35I sit on his hips.
56:37I put his hands on my waist.
56:39I move slow.
56:40He watches me the whole time.
56:42Neither of us is in a hurry.
56:44We have time now.
56:45When I come.
56:47He holds me through it.
56:49He doesn't look away once.
56:52He follows me a minute later.
56:56He sits up afterwards.
56:58He pulls me against his chest.
57:00He puts his mouth on the bite on my throat.
57:02The scar is healed now.
57:05He kisses it instead of biting it.
57:08I love you, Sienna Drennan.
57:11I love you too, Lissadar.
57:12He pulls the blanket down over us.
57:15The fire is still going in the hearth.
57:17He falls asleep on his back with his hand over the tattoo.
57:21His other hand stays on my hip.
57:23I lie awake for a few minutes.
57:26Listening to him breathe steady.
57:29Eighteen months ago, I ate breakfast alone.
57:31Three weeks ago, I bought a man in an alley.
57:35Tonight, my husband is asleep on the rug.
57:38My name is on his ribs.
57:40Best money I ever spent.
57:43I close my eyes and sleep.
57:45I close my eyes and sleep.
57:47You are one of the people.
57:49Five weeks ago, I started working on an old man.
57:50Coleuse hell.
57:50You
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