- 2 days ago
My Heir Was In The Stable Full HD
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00:01I saved a slave whose tongue had been cut out.
00:04He looked about the same age as my son,
00:06but the flame mark on his neck was unmistakable.
00:09That bond belonged to House Valon alone.
00:11It was our bloodline, and ours only.
00:14My son, though, was with his father right now,
00:17celebrating his tenth birthday.
00:19I swallowed the blood rising in my throat
00:21and forced myself to think clearly.
00:23Then the sound of beatings came from the stable,
00:26and that flame mark drove into my chest like a curved blade.
00:32Beat him to death, you filthy little bastard,
00:34stealing feed from the young master's purebred horse!
00:38A small figure lay curled on the ground,
00:41covered in foul-smelling mud.
00:43His mouth and nose were bleeding from the blows,
00:45but his eyes, his eyes were fierce, defiant,
00:49like he was ready to take everyone down with him.
00:53He looked exactly like my father in the heat of battle.
00:56When the killing rage took hold,
00:58my heart sank.
01:01Stop.
01:03Right now.
01:04One command.
01:06The years of war behind my voice
01:07dropped those stable hands to their knees
01:10before they could think.
01:11My lady?
01:13They scrambled and crawled,
01:15collapsing at my feet.
01:18The mute slave seized the moment,
01:21loosened his bite,
01:22crawled back into the corner,
01:24and watched him with guarded eyes.
01:26I walked toward him,
01:28one step at a time.
01:29He couldn't have been more than ten,
01:31starved down to skin and bone.
01:33Beneath his thin rags,
01:35whip scars and frostbite wounds
01:37crisscrossed his entire body.
01:39Old injuries buried under new ones.
01:42Ten years.
01:44Had he been sleeping and eating in this stable
01:46with the animals for ten years?
01:48My hand trembled as I reached out to touch his head.
01:51He swapped it away like a startled wild thing
01:54and exposed a dark red birthmark.
01:58Shaped like a flame.
01:59The bloodline mark of House Valon.
02:04The Valon bloodline runs hot in the vein.
02:07That mark looks like living fire.
02:10Lucas, the son I'd raised for ten years,
02:13didn't have it.
02:14I always thought he took after his father, Julian.
02:18The truth had been right in front of me the whole time.
02:21My own flesh and blood,
02:23dumped in a stable,
02:25living alongside animals for ten years.
02:28I pulled off my cloak and wrapped it around him,
02:31filth and stench be damned,
02:33and held him tight.
02:34He went surage for a moment.
02:36Perhaps it was the first warmth he'd ever felt.
02:38The ferocity in his eyes dimmed just slightly.
02:43Don't be afraid.
02:45Come with me.
02:47I didn't take him to the main wing.
02:50Instead, I brought him to my private vault.
02:53The one where I kept my personal assets.
02:56The one only I knew about.
02:59I gave him a name.
03:01Kale.
03:02Kale Valon.
03:03I am the only daughter of Duke Roland Valon.
03:06Years ago, I set aside my armor,
03:09brought with me a vast fortune in dowry,
03:12and married down
03:13to a low-born scholar named Julia Ashfield.
03:17I spent years pulling him up by his bootstaps,
03:21until he sat in the highest seat in the kingdom,
03:24royal chancellor.
03:25Everyone said the chancellor was devoted
03:28and lovingly henpeckered.
03:29Our son Lucas was accomplished in both letters and arms.
03:33The king himself had named him heir.
03:36Today was Lucas' 10th birthday.
03:38The estate was packed with guests.
03:41I reached out to check the back of his neck,
03:44but he instinctively pulled away
03:46and ran straight into the arms of Lillian, the healer.
03:49She was Julian's childhood friend from the same village,
03:52taken in after her family fell on hard times.
03:55The day I gave birth,
03:57I'd lost consciousness from a difficult labor.
04:00Lillian, as the attending healer,
04:02had moved freely in and out of the delivery room.
04:06Julian had waited anxiously outside.
04:09When I came to,
04:10they placed a wrinkled newborn in my arms
04:13and told me it was my son.
04:16Julian was standing beside Lillian now,
04:19straightening the hairpin on her head
04:21as if no one else existed.
04:22His eyes were soft in a way
04:24I had never once seen in 10 years of marriage.
04:27I looked at Lucas,
04:29at his almond-shaped eyes,
04:31identical to Lillian's,
04:33and the hand resting on my sword hilt
04:35began to shake.
04:37During that labor,
04:38I had fallen unconscious for three full days.
04:42No reason given.
04:43No explanation ever offered.
04:47Julian,
04:48my dear, devoted husband,
04:52what exactly did you swap out?
04:56Mama, I want that one!
04:58Lucas was pointing at the birthday cake,
05:00but he wasn't talking to me.
05:01He was talking to Lillian.
05:03She shot me a timid glance,
05:05then said softly,
05:06Young master,
05:07your lady mother is right here.
05:09Mind your manners.
05:10She said,
05:11Mind your manners.
05:12But her hands were already cutting the cake
05:14and lifting it to his lips.
05:16Lucas swallowed it in one bite and beamed.
05:19Lillian's the only one
05:20who actually cares about me.
05:22Not like some people,
05:24always forcing me to train with the sword.
05:26Some people.
05:27I was his mother.
05:29To give him a fighting chance
05:31among the nobility,
05:32I had hired the finest tutors money could buy
05:34for both scholarship and combat
05:36and driven him hard,
05:37day and night.
05:40And this was what I'd become to him.
05:42A grievance.
05:43Julian laughed and smoothed things over.
05:46He's still young.
05:47Kids say things.
05:49Don't take it to heart, darling.
05:50As he spoke,
05:51he casually reached over
05:52and smoothed out a crease on Lillian's collar.
05:54Practiced.
05:55Effortless.
05:56Like he'd done it a thousand times.
05:58A sharp-eyed guest nearby made a joke of it.
06:01The chancellor really is generous.
06:03That's quite the attention for a household employee.
06:06Julian didn't even blink.
06:08We're from the same village.
06:09Of course I look out for her.
06:11How amusing.
06:13Looked out for her so well,
06:14their son got her exact eyes.
06:17Lucas picked up the first slice of birthday cake.
06:20He didn't give it to me,
06:22the woman who'd carried him for nine months.
06:25He didn't give it to Julian either.
06:27He took it carefully with both hands
06:29and handed it to Lillian.
06:32Lillian's always been delicate.
06:33She needs the best piece.
06:35It'll do her good.
06:37Lillian put on her most flustered,
06:39grateful expression.
06:41But the corner of her eye slid toward me,
06:43sharp with something that looked very much like a dare.
06:48Oh, this isn't really proper, is it?
06:51Lucas announced loudly.
06:52In this house, what I say goes.
06:55Right, Dad?
07:02Of course.
07:03It's your birthday.
07:06You're the boss today.
07:09What a happy family.
07:13The crystal glass in my hand gave a sharp crack and shattered.
07:17Dread wine ran through my fingers and dripped onto my skirt.
07:20The room went silent.
07:21A flicker of panic crossed Julian's eyes before he frowned.
07:25What are you doing?
07:26It's a celebration.
07:27Blood on a day like this is a terrible omen.
07:30I dropped the broken glass stone
07:31and wiped my hand with a silk cloth.
07:36Slipped.
07:38I'm going to change.
07:40Carry on.
07:41As I turned to leave,
07:42I heard Lucas mutter under his breath.
07:44Such a kill, Locke.
07:46Always walking around with that face.
07:48I didn't break stride.
07:51I am Ellara Valon,
07:53commander of the Valon Legion.
07:55My tears are for soldiers who die in battle.
07:58They will never for domestic affairs.
08:28I didn't go to my chambers.
08:31Finds out.
08:32She's just a woman who potters around the kitchen all day.
08:35She's got nothing left of the soldier she used to be.
08:37Kale is such a good boy.
08:39One day,
08:40the Valon region will be all yours.
08:42And so will every inch of Ashford estate.
08:45Lillian kissed Lucas.
08:46My sweet boy.
08:48Ten years of calling that woman your mother.
08:50I'm sorry you had to go through that.
08:52Lucas spit in disgust.
08:54I never wanted to call her that anyway.
08:57She always smells like the stable.
08:59It's revolting.
09:01She's not even in your league, Mum.
09:03I pressed my back against the stone wall.
09:06The pain in my knuckles was bone deep.
09:10Ten years.
09:12Every last day of it a lie.
09:16The man sharing my bed.
09:18An animal wearing a human face.
09:21The sun I poured myself into raising.
09:25A creature just waiting for the right moment to bite.
09:28House Valon has served this kingdom with loyalty for generations.
09:32And we had been used as a stepping stone for this filth to climb on.
09:36I didn't step out from behind that wall.
09:39The way I stood now.
09:40No military authority.
09:42No evidence.
09:44Storming out would only tip my hand.
09:48Aladavallan does not go into battle unprepared.
09:54When I returned to the main wing, Julian was waiting with a cup of sobering tonic.
10:01He looked up with warm concern the moment he saw me.
10:05Darling, where did you go?
10:07I've been looking everywhere for you.
10:08I made this myself.
10:10Drink it while it's hot.
10:11I didn't touch it.
10:15Settling into my seat and adjusting my sleeve, I said.
10:21Julian, I was wandering in the garden just now and something came to my mind.
10:26Julian kept his smile.
10:28Oh?
10:29What's that?
10:30Lillian's not getting any younger.
10:32It isn't quite right for her to go on living here indefinitely.
10:36People will gossip.
10:37As lady of this house, it's my duty to find her a suitable match.
10:43Julian's expression shifted.
10:46Lillian's hasn't been well.
10:48The physician said she can't handle too much stress.
10:50A marriage right now might not be...
10:52All the more reason to lift her spirits.
10:55I've already found someone.
10:57The butcher's son on the east side of town.
11:00Built like an owl.
11:02Her family runs a butcher shop she'd eat well every single day.
11:07He'll have her looking plump and healthy in no time.
11:10The colour drenned from Julian's face.
11:13That butcher's son was a notorious drunk.
11:16Three dead wives, all beaten to death in a stuna.
11:20That's completely out of the question.
11:23Lillian comes from a decent family.
11:24She can't marry a butcher.
11:26I looked at him evenly.
11:29Oh, she thinks a butcher is beneath her.
11:33You were a penniless scholar when I married you.
11:36I didn't complain.
11:40Julian's speechless.
11:42Besides, her parents are gone.
11:45I'm her sister-in-law.
11:46As her sister-in-law and the lady here,
11:49I'm the one responsible for her future.
11:52This is my call to make.
11:55I didn't give him room to argue.
11:58The wedding carriage comes tomorrow morning.
12:06The next day, music and fan fang out across Ashford Estate at the crack of dawn.
12:11A red bridal carriage rolled directly up to Lillian's door.
12:16Lillian went white as a sheet and fainted.
12:20Or pretended to.
12:22Lucas came charging out and shoved the driver aside.
12:25Get out!
12:27All of you, get out!
12:29You're evil!
12:31You're just jealous of Lillian!
12:32I won't let you do this to her!
12:34I looked at that face.
12:35A face that shared not a drop of my blood
12:37and felt the last flicker of feeling inside me go dark.
12:41I'm doing this for her own good.
12:43Every woman marries eventually.
12:46Does she plan to spend the rest of her life at Ashford Estate as an old maid?
12:49Are old maids better than marrying a butcher?
12:53Lillian is damned!
12:54Enough!
12:55Julian came rushing in and cracked a hard slap across Lucas's face.
13:01That surprised me.
13:03Julian actually struck his own precious boy.
13:07So that was it.
13:08He was afraid Lucas would let something slip.
13:10Julian turned to me with an apologetic smile.
13:13Darling, the boy doesn't know better.
13:15But this really is too sudden.
13:17Lillian just fainted.
13:18The physician says she can't be startled.
13:20Couldn't we put this off a little?
13:21I looked at the three of them.
13:23Banding together, holding each other up.
13:25Fine.
13:26Then I'd make them suffer slowly.
13:28Let them feel every inch of it.
13:31Since she's ill, she should rest properly.
13:34Seal off Lillian's quarters.
13:36No one goes in or out for her good.
13:39She needs complete quiet.
13:41And since she's so weak, keep her simple diet.
13:44No more rich food.
13:46From now on, she'll eat nothing but plain porridge and bread.
13:49Lillian had just come around.
13:51When she heard that, she nearly fainted again.
13:53I looked at the three of them, huddled together, holding each other up.
13:57You're sick!
13:58You're trying to starve her to death!
14:00It wasn't a hard kick, but it was the last one I would ever allow.
14:03I slapped him across the face.
14:05Hard.
14:07Hard.
14:08Lucas stood there, stunned, hand pressed to his cheek, staring at me like he couldn't
14:12believe what had just happened.
14:14Ten years.
14:15I had never once raised my voice at him, never my hand.
14:19Until now.
14:22Bring me the house road.
14:24The steward crept forward, trembling, and held out an oil-soaked leather strap.
14:32Lara!
14:33Have you lost your mind?
14:34He's ten years old!
14:36You'll kill him with that thing!
14:40You're telling me he's ten years old?
14:47Ten years old.
14:48And already challenging me, shouting abuse at his elders.
14:53No respect at all.
14:54If I don't act now, he'll burn this estate down tomorrow.
14:58I am the lady of this house.
15:00I have every right to discipline my son!
15:05When it was done, I dropped the blooded strap on the floor.
15:11Take the young master to his study.
15:13He's confined until he's copied the sacred texts 100 times.
15:16He doesn't eat until it's finished.
15:21After dealing with that mess, I felt surprisingly refreshed.
15:29Late that night, I slipped away from everyone and made my way down to the private vault.
15:35Kale was inside, using a wooden stick to practice strikes against the shadows on the wall.
15:41The form was rough, but every movement carried a reckless ferocity.
15:45It was the kind of drive that didn't care if it lived or died.
15:49When he saw me, he immediately tucked the stick behind him and pressed back into the corner, watching me.
15:55I set down a fine bottle of medicine and a pork chustle, roasted until the fat ran golden.
16:03Eat.
16:04He stared at the food.
16:06His throat moved.
16:08But he didn't reach for it.
16:09I tore off a piece and ate it in front of him.
16:12That was all it took.
16:14He launched himself at it and ate like he was trying to make up for every missed meal at once.
16:19When he finished, he looked up at me.
16:22Some of the Warreness had left his eyes.
16:26I picked up the wooden stick and settled into a proper opening stance.
16:29Do you want revenge?
16:33I didn't treat him like a child.
16:35I treated him like a soldier.
16:36Do you want to grind every last person who ever stepped on you into the dirt beneath your feet?
16:40Cal couldn't speak, but the fire that blazed up in his eyes nearly leaped out of him.
16:45He nodded, hard, once.
16:47I took his hands and adjusted his grip, corrected his posture.
16:51From this day forward, you are House Valen's wolf.
16:55You learn to hide your fangs, until the moment you can close them around your enemy's throat.
17:00Meanwhile, Julian dropped to his knees outside Lillian's sealed quarters and begged.
17:07I let him suffer a while, then played along.
17:10I released Lillian.
17:12But I demoted her to my personal handmaid.
17:15Her first duty, washing my feet.
17:20And while I was at it, I took back full control of the entire estate.
17:27To make them completely drop their guard, I began to flatter and coddle them.
17:33I deliberately let Lucas steal the strategic manuscripts my father had left behind,
17:38so he could run to his worthless father and take credit.
17:42Then I dismissed the strict swordmistry instructor and replaced him with a pack of fanding,
17:47idle rich boys as study companions and let Lucas throw himself into gambling dens and let his training rot.
17:53At the same time, I took Kale out to a valley beyond the city and ran him through hell.
18:01He didn't flinch from pain, blood, or injury.
18:05Weighted runs.
18:07Barehanded fights against wild wolves.
18:09He endured it, all of it without complaint.
18:12Within a single month, he could draw a 300-pound wall.
18:17And he had completely grasped the essence of the Valen family spear style.
18:23Watching him train sweat pouring down his face, I knew with absolute certainty.
18:30This is the true bloodline of House Valen.
18:36Then came the day of the Royal Autumn Hunt.
18:39This year's hunt carried particular weight, because after 10 years holding the northern border,
18:45my father, Duke Roland Valen, had finally returned in triumph.
18:51This hunt was my father's way of testing the metal of the capital's noble sons, and he'd arranged every detail
18:57himself.
18:58Julian had a fine set of chainmail custom forged for Lucas, sparing no expense, so the boy could make an
19:03impression on his grandfather.
19:05Lucas rode out on his purebred horse at the head of the procession, chin in the air.
19:11Lillian was supposed to be a handmaid, but Julian had quietly smugged her along, dressed as a traveling healer.
19:17I brought only one person, Kale.
19:20He wore a black iron mask and an ordinary guard's uniform, tucked into my escort detail.
19:26He looked completely unremarkable.
19:28When we reached the hunting grounds, the noble sons were already sharpening their nerves and their blades.
19:33Up on the platform, my father stood in full military dress.
19:36His hair had gone white, but the force in him had not dimmed.
19:39His gaze swept the field like a hawk's.
19:41Today, the man who brings down the white-marked winver takes my warblade, companion of thirty years, and I will
19:48grant him one wish. Whatever he asks.
19:51The crowd erupted. That tiger was the apex predator of the hunting grounds, and Bane was the symbol of the
19:58Valon Legion itself.
19:59Lucas's eyes lit up.
20:01Dad, that tiger's mine.
20:02If grandfather gives me the blade, nobody in the Valon region will dare to question and dismiss me again.
20:07Go. Show your grandfather what you can do.
20:10I've already arranged men to shadow you, and make sure you come out on top.
20:14The horn sounded.
20:16A hundred horses exploded from the line and thundered into the trees.
20:22Lucas charged into the forest at the head of a small army of escorts.
20:26He had no idea that I'd already had bait laid inside that forest.
20:30Bait dreamt in the exact cologne Lucas always wore.
20:34The same scent that drives tigers into a frenzy.
20:37I glanced back at Kale.
20:41He gave a small nod, peeled away from the main group, and disappeared silently into the far edge of the
20:48tree line.
20:49The game begins.
20:56The sounds came quickly, animal shouts tearing from the trees, followed by shouts of panic.
21:03The tiger! It's enormous!
21:04Run!
21:05It's gone mad!
21:09Every last one of the pampered young nobles who'd been riding at Lucas's back took one look at the real
21:13thing and scattered like startled birds.
21:15Lucas was swept off course in the chaos. His purebred horse reared in terror and bolted.
21:20Help! Dad! Somebody help me!
21:22The white-marked tiger burst from the undergrowth, eyes burning red, launching itself straight at Lucas.
21:27The cologne it had locked on. Lucas's horse buckled at the front legs and sent him tumbling into a mud
21:32pit.
21:32That fine custom chain art, worth a small fortune, now pinned him to the ground like a shell he couldn't
21:37shed.
21:38Lucas's eyes rolled back. A dark stain spread across the front of his trousers. The tiger's jaws were closing in
21:43on his throat.
21:44Then, at the last possible moment, a dark shape dropped from the teatops.
21:48Cale locked his legs around the animal's ribcage like iron clamps, one hand pressing down on the tiger's skull,
21:52the other gripping the splintered shaft of a broken spear. The tiger thrashed and bucked, trying to throw him.
21:58Cale didn't move. He found the throat. The one spot where the great cat had no defense. Thud.
22:03The sound of steel pletting flesh. The broken spear drove deep. Blood sprayed across the boy's black clothing in a
22:09wide arc.
22:09The tiger let out one last desperate cry, and then the massive body crashed to the ground and went still.
22:15Cale rose from the carcass. His spine was straight as a rounce.
22:18Up on the platform, my father's pupils shrank to points. His whole body was shaking.
22:23That technique. That's the Valens reversal. Our lost spear form. I thought it was gone forever.
22:30Cale reached up and pulled the black iron mask from his face.
22:34Beneath it was a sharp, composed face. The brow, the jaw, the set of his eyes,
22:38carved from the same mold as my father in his youth. Unmistakable.
22:42My father forgot himself entirely. He leaped down from the platform and crossed the field in long strides,
22:48eyes wide and unbelieving. The resemblance. It's extraordinary. This boy.
22:57He looked straight at me. Elara. Who is this child?
23:05I stepped forward and tore open the worn cloth at Kael's shoulder. A dark red flyam-shaped birthmark blazed into
23:11view before every eye on that field.
23:13The bloodline mark of House Valen. Passed down through generations. No one outside the true Valen bloodline could ever carry
23:19it.
23:19The hunting grounds, quiet just moments before, exploded into chaos. The nobles and quarters
23:24packed around the edges leaned into each other, whispering, pointing. Then Julian pushed through the crowd.
23:28How dare you bear yourself before the king? Cover yourself at once before you cause offense to his majesty.
23:35I lifted my foot and kicked him straight into the mud at the edge of the field.
23:40I didn't spare him a glance. I turned, faced the king seated on the high platform and my father,
23:45whose whole body was trembling and dropped to both knees. Ten years ago, I nearly died bringing his
23:50child into this world, all for Julian Ashford's sake. And yet this man, this pillar of false virtue,
23:56had been plotting against me from the very beginning. I raised my hand and pointed directly at Lillian,
24:00who had been cowering behind a wall of guards, shaking. He conspired with his childhood friend,
24:05this healer Lillian, to secretly swap the bastard child they conceived together into my bed, while my
24:10own son, my flesh and blood, the only true heir of House Valon, was thrown without mercy into the
24:14estate stables. Drew Kael in front of me and pushed up both his sleeves. The boy's lean arms were a
24:19map
24:19of damage, whip scars, burn marks, and years of layered wounds, old ones buried beneath new ones,
24:23not a single patch of unmarked skin. For ten full years, my child slept and ate alongside the animals.
24:29He ate animal mixed with blood. He has been beaten and cursed without end. Even the lowest servants on
24:36that estate grind him under feet. The gathered nobles erupted in uproar. Those quarters who had
24:42spent years calling Julian a brother, praising his grace and refinement. Every last one of them now
24:46wore an expression of undisguised horror. Julian, waist deep in mud, found some last savage reserve
24:51of spite as death closed in around him. He clawed his way out on all fours and jebbed a finger
24:56at me,
24:56voice cracking with fury. Alara Valon, you faithless, scheming witch! You want to hold onto the estate's
25:01assets so badly that you drag some unknown Urchelin off, pass him off as Valon blood! He didn't
25:06bother wipe the fill from his face. He flung himself at the platform, pounding his forehead
25:10against the ground. Your Majesty, I beg you to see the truth! Lillian and I are innocent! We have
25:14never once crossed a lie! This bastard is obviously the spawn of this woman's own affair, conceived behind
25:20my back with another man. Now she's afraid I'll expose her and cast her out, so she's turning it
25:26around and dragging my name through the mud! I let him finish. Then I gave a cold laugh.
25:32I humbly request that His Majesty summon the Royal Physician to administer the Bloodline
25:35Reagent, here, in front of everyone. The reagent properties are absolute. It will not bind
25:39unless the blood is that of a true parent and child. Not even close chin can fool it.
25:43The moment Julian heard the words Bloodline Reagent, the colour left his face entirely. He stumbled backward.
25:50Absurd! This is sorcery! It proves nothing! I refuse!
25:53You don't get to refuse. Two Royal Guards stepped forward like walls of iron and locked down Julian's
25:59shoulders. The Royal Physician came forward at a brisk pace. White cerium bowl in hand, silver
26:04needle glinting. My blood, then Kale's. Both fell into the clear reagent, one drop after another. The
26:10two drops moved through the liquid, drifting, circling, seeking, and then merged completely into a single,
26:16full, perfect bead. They merged. They actually merged. The King slammed his fist against the throne.
26:25Julian Ashfield! You treacherous, lying snake! What do you have to say for yourself now? Seize them,
26:32both of them, now!
26:35The Royal Guards drew their blades, cold steel catching the light, pressing towards Julian's throat.
26:41Lillian, who had spent the whole time hiding at the back of the crowd playing the victim,
26:45went completely to pieces. She threw herself at Julian on hands and knees, grabbing his leg.
26:50Julian, say something! You're the Royal Chancellor! Do something! Tell His Majesty everything we did,
26:55we did for our future, for our child! Julian looked down at her like she was something
26:59that had crawled out of a grave. To save his own neck and his official title, he had no use
27:04for old
27:04affection. He drew his foot back and drove it into her without hesitation. Get off me, you poison woman!
27:11Lillian hit the ground, coughing blood. Julian threw himself at the platform,
27:16banging his head on the ground. Your Majesty! I have been wronged! I swear it on my life!
27:21It was her! This Viper! She planned every last bit of it! The switching of the children! The whole
27:26conspiracy! It was her scheme from start to finish! I was deceived! I'm a victim in this too,
27:30Your Majesty! I swear it! Lillian lay in the mud, staring up at him with eyes that couldn't process
27:35what they were seeing. The man who had sworn the world to her not an hour-er was now pushing
27:39her
27:40toward a grave with both hands. She clutched her chest. A long, broken sound clawed it way out of
27:45her throat, somewhere between a laugh and a scream. A victim? Julian Ashfield, you ungrateful,
27:51backstabbing dog! Lillian came completely undone. She dragged herself half upright from the mud on one
27:56arm and screamed. Your Majesty! I have crimes to report against Julian Ashfield! Over the past
28:02ten years, he used his position as royal chancellor to embezzle military funds from the northern border,
28:06two hundred thousand gold coins in total! He also rigged the noble selection process,
28:11selling recommendations to the highest bidder! Every ledger and every piece of evidence is hidden
28:16behind the third secret panel behind the display cabinet in his study! Julian's face contorted in
28:22pure panic. He lunged at her like a man possessed, hands scratching to cover her mouth. Shut up,
28:26you stupid woman! I will kill you! The king surged to his feet on the high platform,
28:33fury shaking the air. Commander of the royal hard, take your men and tear Ashvisate apart!
28:39I want those ledgeries found if you have to dig up the foundations! I watched those two, the pair who
28:44had made my life a living nightmare, tear each other apart in the mud like ravid animals. I reached
28:49into my coat and drew out a rolled sheet of parchment, already sealed with the House Valon
28:53crest. I flicked it up with one hand. It struck Julian's ashy face and fell. Read it carefully,
28:58Julian Ashfield. Every word. That is a decree of disillusion. Our marriage is over. From this
29:04moment, you are no longer an ally of House Valon. You're nothing. A stray dog that the whole world
29:09wants dead. Less than half an hour later, the commander of the royal guard came calloping back
29:14to the hunting grounds. A thick stack of ledgers and letters was laid before the king. The king had barely
29:19turned three pages before the fury on his face threatened to set the entire field alight. A fine
29:23royal chancellor indeed. By royal decree, Julian Ashfield is stripped of every title and office
29:28effective immediately. His assets are to be seized in full. All those complicit are to be punished
29:35without exception. Under the king's thundering order, the guards dragged all three of them into
29:40the darkness of the royal dungeon's death row to await judgment. Stripped of the deep purple robes that had
29:45marked him as royal chancellor. Julian now wore a reeking, filthy prison uniform. The dungeon saw no
29:50daylight. Rats and cockroaches moved freely through the rotting straw. When feeding time came, the jailer
29:54tossed half a stale hardened loaf through the iron bars like throwing scraps to a dog. Back off! That's
29:59mine! The man who had once embodied scholarly refortment now lunged like a starving animal. He
30:03drove his foot into Lillian's stomach and clutched the stale bread to his chest. Lillian's legs were already
30:07broken. That kick tore a gush of blood from her mouth. And Lucas, rather than help his own birth mother,
30:11threw himself at Julian and sunk his teeth into his arm, trying to wrench the bread away. Dad, please!
30:15I'm starving! Just one bite! Please! Get away from me! Useless waste! Ten years I fed you and for what?
30:22Julian backhanded Lucas across the cell. The loving father. The devoted family. All of it stripped away by
30:27half a mouldy loaf. The dungeon took its toll on Julian in other ways too. Political enemies he had crushed
30:33under his boot over the years had bribed the guards. And every day brought fresh humiliations. Drinking from
30:38buckets. Performing like an animal on command, the fall from the heights to this had shattered
30:42something in him beyond repair. Alara Valin, you poisonous witch. Even if I come back as a ghost,
30:48even if I have to sell my soul, I will bring your entire family down with me into the grave!
30:56That very night, a shadow disguised as a meal delivery guard moved silently to Julian's cell door.
31:01My lord chancellor, it's good to see you're still breathing. The figure kept his voice low and
31:05pushed up his sleeve revealed the wolf's head tattoo of the northern border tribes. Julian's eyes went
31:10sharp. He knew that mark. This was one of the tribal spies he had secretly dealt with years ago,
31:15back when he'd been skimming the northern border's military funds.
31:18Ten thousand northern troops are massed and ready at the border. Our chieftain has made his terms clear.
31:24All he needs is the city defense layout of the royal capital, the one you kept hidden from your time
31:30in
31:30office. All you gotta do is use your guys inside the dungeon. Have them open the gates and we hit
31:35the city together. When it's done and the city falls, you receive half the territory. We crown
31:40you the one and only non-royal king this land has ever seen. The hunger for power and the hatred
31:45for me.
31:45The two of them together consumed whatever was left of Julian's reason. He bit open his finger and drew
31:49the contact signal onto a strip of cloth. The next day, during the exercise hour, Lillian smashed her
31:53drinking bowl and picked up a shard of sharp ceramic. Without hesitation, she dragged it across her own face,
31:57deep enough to reach bone. The features she had always been so proud of. She threw herself on the
32:01ground, rolling and waning and laughing, performing a convincing breakdown to pull the warden's
32:04attention away. Then, dragging herself on broken legs, using what remained of her charm and a promise
32:08of gold hidden outside the city, she seduced a greedy, lutherish guard into carrying Julian's
32:12message to his remaining contacts in the capital. She believed she was earning her way out, buying her
32:17survival. What she didn't know was that from the moment I threw down that desolation jeet,
32:21the royal dungeon had been ringed, inside and out, with my own operatives. That treasonous letter was on my
32:27desk, intact, within half an hour of leaving the cell. I traced the bloodstains on the letter with
32:31my fingertip, a cold smile curling at the corner of my teeth. A non-royal king, huh? Sending in the
32:36wolves?
32:36Bold move. I dropped the letter into the burning coal bosie and watched it catch. Since he wants to play,
32:42I'll see the game through to the end. Let that guard go. I want to draw them all out into
32:49the open,
32:49and cut them out at the root.
32:54Three nights later, the royal dungeon caught fire. The blaze came from nowhere and spread fast,
33:01swallowing half the prison in minutes. Under cover of the chaos, with the northern spy team moving
33:06silently through the smoke, the door to Julian's gas was eased open. Julian, take me with you! You
33:11promised me you said I'd be your queen! Lucas was beside her, choking on the smoke, both
33:15fists knotted in Julian's coat. Both of you, get off me, you're dead weight! Something flickered
33:20through Julian's eyes. Cold, final, decided. He kicked Lillian into the burning timber without
33:25looking down. Then he planted his boot on his own son's spine and used the boy as a step to
33:29vault himself over the flames. Julian, rot in hell! Lillian's streak tore through the fire behind him.
33:38Julian didn't look back. He vanished into the dark. He ran without stopping, slipping back into the city and
33:44making for a hidden abandoned chapel on the outskirts of the capital. Behind the altar base,
33:48buried under a layer of dust and stone, he dropped to his knees and clawed at the earth with bare
33:52hands
33:53until he pulled free the city defense layout. The northern border assassin commander and the garrison
33:57military traitors Julian had bought with gold and promised titles were already waiting inside.
34:02They sealed their pact in blood. Tonight, they would break open the royal capital. Back at the dungeon,
34:08the prison fire was brought under control by the royal guard. Lillian was still breathing,
34:12barely, scorched beyond recognition. Lucas encrushed under a falling bane during the stampede,
34:18both legs gone. He would never walk again. The warden interrogated them through the night.
34:22No! Faced with their own executions, that mother and son came completely apart.
34:27I know where he hid the money for the rebellion! I know the contact codes! He's the traitor! I was
34:32forced
34:33in this, I swear! At the same time, across the city, the royal council chamber blazed with candlelight.
34:37Your Majesty, I have a request. Deploy 80% of the capital's city guard to the outer districts
34:42immediately. Leave 500 royal guard soldiers to hold the palace. That is all we need.
34:47The king was quiet for a long moment. He looked at me steadily. Then, without a second's hesitation,
34:51he brought his palm down hard on the table. Granted. Tonight, I place this kingdom, its people,
34:57its walls, and my own life entirely in your hands, General Vallon. It was a devastatingly dangerous
35:03gamblet. An empty city laid out like fate. A deliberate illusion constructed to draw the
35:09rebels into a killing ground. I needed Julian to believe that layout was accurate. I needed him
35:14certain the palace was exposed and poorly defended. Hungry enough and desperate enough to walk straight
35:19into the trap. The night was moonless. The air tasted like blood. Julian had put on black armor. He
35:28carried a sword and walked at the front. Behind him, over a thousand northern assassins and Turnged
35:33garrison soldiers. They moved along the routes marked on the layout. The resistance they met was almost
35:37nothing. A few scattered guards easily cut through. They walked into the inner palace grounds without
35:41breaking stride. Julian stepped over the bodies without slowing down. The throne room plaza opened up ahead of
35:46him. The seat of absolute power. Right there, almost close enough to touch. Julian threw his head back
35:51and laughed at the empty sky. The sound was raw and unhinged. Elara Vallon, get out here and die.
35:58This is the end of your whole family. I'm gonna take your head off myself and hang it on the
36:02city wall
36:02for everyone to see. You? Is that so? In the next instant, every torch on every white marble palace wall
36:07ignited at once. Thousands of flames snapping to life in a single breath. Julian's head snapped back.
36:11There I stood. Silver battle armor, the Vallon Warblade Bane, gripped in my hand. At the very top of the
36:15steps
36:16before the throne room doors. And beside me, stacked along every tier of Palawal above and behind,
36:19the 10,000 cavalry of the Vallon Legion, who had been waiting in silence for hours. Countless archers
36:24with bows drawn full. Every arrowhead fixed on a target in the plaza below. It was a net with no
36:29exit. Julian looked around at his men. Hunters who had a prey and one bratwool in the next.
36:34The sword fell from his hand and rang against the stone. Julian Ashfield, I told you once before,
36:40House Vallon does not go into battle unprepared. I looked down at him the way you look at something
36:45rotting on the ground. That layout you thought was your winning card? I threw it to you. It was baked.
36:52Strike! Bane swept down. The battle cry that answered it shucked the palace to its foundations. The
36:56Northerns and rebel soldiers, for all their reputation, were nothing in front of a real steel tide. They were
37:00ground apart in the time it takes a stick of incense to burn. Julian came apart completely. He could see
37:05it
37:05was finished. Eyes wild. He snatched a sword from the ground and seized a court attendant by the
37:09throat. One last human shield. One last attempt to break through. Don't touch them! The command
37:14split the night air. Kyle dropped from above in silver light armor, fluid and fast as a hunting cat.
37:21The long spear in his hands moved like water finding its path, and then the Vallon reversal technique
37:26unrolled. The spear tipped screaming through the air. The spear found both of Julian's sword
37:29tendals and both of his heel tendals in a single arc. Julian's scream was animalistic. He folded and went
37:34down into the blood pooling beneath him. Cale set his boot on Julian's face. The king emerged from
37:39the throne room doors, surrounded by hundreds of royal guard soldiers. He looked down at Julian,
37:43gasping, broken, face in the dirt. Julian Ashford, I strip you of the last dignity you have left as a
37:49man. By royal decree, this traitor is to be taken to the royal gate execution ground and put to death
37:55by
37:55a thousand cuts. His entire line exterminated. Three days later, the royal gate execution ground was packed
38:01so tightly. The crowd spilled into the surrounding streets. Word of Julia's treachery had spread
38:05through the capital. The people were not there to mourn. Rotten vegetables and garbage rained down
38:10on the platform from every direction. The executioner's blade fell again and again, and Julian lasted
38:15three full days under the slow cutting before he finally stopped breathing. The blood that ran from
38:19the platform turned black and reeking. A wicked man left the world in pieces, with nothing to bury.
38:23In the dungeon, when word of Julian's death reached them, Lillian and Lewis lost whatever was left of
38:28their minds. The infected burns across Lillian's face and the wounds on her broken legs had gone
38:31semic, crawling with rot. She died in agony, starving, consumed from the outside in. Lucas,
38:37as a traitor's family member, was sentenced accordingly. Tendums cut, then discarded like
38:41refuse on the wasteland outside the city walls. In the dark of that night, a pack of half-starved
38:45wild dogs found him. There was nothing left to identify by morning. Evil had met its end. All debt
38:51were finally paid. Three days after the rebellion was crushed, the throne room stood in solemn
39:00ceremony. The king overruled the objections of every narrow-minded old courtman who dared raise
39:06a voice. He stepped down from the throne himself and placed the purple gold tiger steel, the symbol
39:11of supreme military command over the entire kingdom, into my open hands.
39:17Alara Valon, hear your title. House Valon has served this kingdom with unwavering loyalty across
39:21generations and has now saved the crown itself. By my decree, I name you Grand Duchess Protector of
39:25this realm, equal in rank to the three pillars of the court. You kneel to no one. Your servant
39:30receives this honor with gratitude. When I turned, I found Kale standing at the front of the military ranks.
39:37This boy, who had grown up eating filth in a stable, now stood in the silver armor of House Valon,
39:41straight and still, exactly where he belonged. I had already entered his name into the Valon bloodline
39:46record. He was formally recognized as the young master of the Valon Legion. He looked at me. In
39:51those eyes, so much like my father's, a fire burned that nothing would ever put out. Ten years of shadow
39:57swept clean in the light of this breaking dawn. I put on the deep red commander's cloak and climbed the
40:03steps to the top of the capital's command platform. The autumn wind moved hard, pulling at my hair.
40:08Below me, the Valon Legion stretched ten miles beyond the city walls. Blades and spears like a forest,
40:13the breath of ten thousand soldiers rising in the cold air. I thought back across those ten years,
40:17the suffocating back rooms, the laughable marriage, all of it. Nothing. A pebble on the long road of
40:21Alara Valon's life. To hell with playing the dutiful wife. To hell with obedience and submission.
40:26I drew Bane slowly from its sheath and raised it toward the sky. From this day forward, this vast land
40:32and every soldier who rides, this is where I belong. Less than two weeks after Julian's execution,
40:39after Lillian and Lucas met their end, the Chancellor's mansion plaque had already come down.
40:44In its place, three gilded characters hung above the gate. Valon Manar. When the sunlight hit the
40:49gold, it was almost blinding. My handmaid Ivy stepped close and lowered her voice. My lady,
40:54the audit of the household staff is complete. Sixteen servants remain who were loyal to Julian and Lillian.
40:59Five of them are still quietly passing information to Ashford's distant relatives,
41:02keeping tabs on the manor. A cold edge moved through my eye. I should have expected it.
41:07Julian had spent ten years building his network inside this house. You don't cut out roots like
41:11that overnight. The worst poison in a household war was never the open blade. It was the rat hiding in
41:16the corridor, waiting for the moment to gnaw through the foundations. Who's leading them?
41:22One of Lillian's former personal maids. She's been assigned to sweep the rear courtyard.
41:26She's been meeting regularly with Julian's distant cousin Marcus, took money from him,
41:30and apparently made promises to avenge the Chancellor when the chance comes.
41:34Cale stepped forward. He picked up the charcoal pen from the table and pressed two words onto the paper
41:38in firm, deliberate strokes. Every line cut through to the other side. Not a trace of hesitation.
41:44Nothing like a child of ten. I reached over and set my hand on his shoulder. Something in my chest
41:48tightened, then hardened back into resolve. The ten years of beatings and hunger and humiliation he had
41:53survived in that stable were not something I could simply let pass. But I would not let him drown in
41:57hatred either. And I would not let his hands carry more blood than they needed to. Not yet. Marcus
42:02Marcus is small. Someone bigger is moving him. We cast the net wide. And let them step into it themselves.
42:10And now as soon as soon as soon as soon as soon as soon as soon as soon as possible.
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