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The Alpha King Chose Wrong - FULL | Reelshort
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00:03...snow.
00:05That's the first thing I remember about the night I died.
00:08I'm the true-born daughter of House Raventest, the lost heiress of the North.
00:13But I was crawling like a beggar to the gates of Hymir.
00:16My skin was rotting.
00:17A normal wolf takes a stab, heals in 20 minutes.
00:21Me?
00:21I'd been bleeding for three years.
00:2317 years on Wolfby will do that to you.
00:26Only, I didn't know it was Wolfby.
00:28Not yet.
00:30Please.
00:31My voice was a wet rash.
00:32I need to see the Queen Consort.
00:35A boot caught me in the rigs.
00:37A silk slipper stopped two inches from my face.
00:39Oh, sweetheart.
00:41Is that you down there?
00:42I lifted my head.
00:44Lillian, my sister.
00:45And on her brow, the Luna Queen's silver crown.
00:47Behind her, a man stepped from the carriage.
00:50Black coat, gold eyes, argent blood, every inch of him.
00:54Adrian Valentine Argent, the outful of the Silk King.
00:57Honey, what are you doing all the way out here?
01:00Lillian, please.
01:01Marcus, he's killing me.
01:03Hmm.
01:04Her finger brushed my split cheek.
01:06Selina, the cup of wine I gave you on your first moon to boot.
01:09I poisoned it.
01:10It's bright night.
01:11The world went still.
01:12Adrian was supposed to choose you.
01:14So I took your place.
01:16I took the throne.
01:17She stood.
01:18Brushed snow off her knees.
01:21You deserve to disappear.
01:22I caught her hem.
01:23If the moon gives me one more night, I'll take it all back.
01:27She smiled.
01:28You can try, sweetheart.
01:29A guard silver saber, straight through my chest.
01:33Silver death.
01:33The snow.
01:34The snow was very white.
01:36Then nothing.
01:37Black.
01:37Then music.
01:39A string quartet.
01:40Roses.
01:41Too much perfume.
01:42I opened my eyes.
01:43I looked down.
01:45Smooth.
01:45Pale.
01:46Sixteen-year-old hands.
01:48The ballroom of Ravenburst Manor.
01:50Three hundred nobles in high-pack colors.
01:52Argent, silver, and black over the days.
01:54I was reborn on the night of my first moon debut.
01:57The night that ruined my life.
02:00And across the marble floor, my seventeen-year-old sister Lillian walked towards me.
02:04Smiling softly.
02:05A small crystal cup gleaming in her hand.
02:08For my favorite sister.
02:09On the most important night of her life.
02:12I looked at the rim.
02:13There.
02:14In the candlelight.
02:15A tiny red scrap.
02:16The mark I never noticed last time.
02:18I took the poisoned cup.
02:20Thank you, Lillian.
02:21Sweetheart.
02:22You just poured your own funeral wine.
02:25This time, I'm going to make every single person in this room kneel.
02:30You first.
02:34The hall blazed with silver candlelight.
02:36Every high-packed daughter in high-milled was watching.
02:39Lillian moved through the crowd like she owned it.
02:42Holding two crystal cups.
02:44Drink up, sweetheart.
02:45The queen consort's watching.
02:47I looked past her shoulder.
02:48On the dane, the queen concord sat very still.
02:51Black silk.
02:53Silver pins.
02:54Gold eyes.
02:55The most powerful woman in Argent Val.
02:57Last life.
02:58I drank.
02:59This life.
03:00The moment I'd turned toward the tray.
03:02I'd swap the cups.
03:03The poisoned one.
03:04Was back on the tray.
03:06Waiting for the next person.
03:08To you, Lillian.
03:09House Ravenhurst's finest daughter.
03:11We both drank the clean wine.
03:13Lillian set down her cup.
03:15A little pink in the cheeks.
03:16She hadn't noticed a thing.
03:18A tall figure in black cut across the hall.
03:20Unhurried.
03:21Adrian Valentine RJ.
03:23Lillian's whole body locked.
03:24I leaned close.
03:25Just a breath at her ear.
03:27He's right there, Lillian.
03:28And the queen consort is watching you do nothing.
03:30Her chin lifted half an inch.
03:32I reached back to the tray.
03:34Forced the poisoned cup into her hands before she could think.
03:37Offer him a cup of welcome.
03:38It's old custom.
03:40She loves the old customs.
03:41Lillian stepped forward.
03:43Her voice came out soft, careful.
03:45Your highness.
03:46A cup of welcome.
03:48For the moon.
03:49Adrian glanced at the cup.
03:50He took it.
03:51Elegant.
03:52Reluctant.
03:53Tipped it back.
03:54Set the empty glass on a passing tray.
03:56Without a word and walked on.
03:58Lillian was still beaming at his back.
04:00I lowered my eyes before mine could give me away.
04:03Lillian, you know Silvermoon Law.
04:06Dosing the crown is a court-banned act.
04:08The smile didn't leave her face.
04:10Not yet.
04:11You handed it to him yourself.
04:13In front of the queen concord.
04:15In front of every witness in this hall.
04:17I let the silence settle.
04:18That wasn't a toast.
04:20That was your funeral wine.
04:21He left through the balcony doors.
04:23Twenty minutes after the toast.
04:25Bride and nights kicking in.
04:27I waited a breath.
04:28Then I followed.
04:29Lost life.
04:30I was the one with Bride and night in my blood.
04:32Marcus pissed me behind the hydrangeas.
04:35That was the start.
04:36Of seventeen years in hell.
04:38Tonight, Lillian.
04:39There is no rogue in the gazo.
04:41Only the man Lillian wanted.
04:43And Adrian is not looking for Lillian.
04:45I found Adrian by the moon pond.
04:47One hand braced on a colin.
04:49The other hand grabbed at his collar.
04:51Argent gold eyes.
04:52Wide.
04:52Blown.
04:53Burning.
04:54Your highness.
04:55Don't.
04:56Don't come near me.
04:58You're not well.
05:00Adrian pushed off the colin.
05:01His knee gave out.
05:03He collapsed into my arms.
05:05Adrian was burning.
05:06His face landed in the curve of my neck.
05:09Then he stopped.
05:10Adrian breathed in.
05:11His whole body went still against me.
05:14Then the heat surged back.
05:16Come on.
05:17Not here.
05:18I got Adrian's arm over my shoulder.
05:20I got Adrian inside the empty guest house.
05:24I shut the door.
05:25The lock clicked.
05:27My back hit the wall.
05:28Adrian's forearm caged me beside my head.
05:30His pupils were blown.
05:32Then.
05:32Lillian.
05:33There it is.
05:34The word Lillian worked six years to hear Adrian say in the dark.
05:39And he just said it to me.
05:40I slid my hand up the back of Adrian's neck.
05:43His forehead dropped to my shoulder.
05:45I leaned in until my lips were at his ear.
05:48It's alright, your highness.
05:49I'm here.
05:50It does not matter whose name Adrian said tonight.
05:53What matters is who leaves by morning.
05:55Wearing Adrian's coat.
05:57With Adrian's scent on my skin.
05:59Tonight, sweetheart.
06:00That is me.
06:01His forehead burned against my shoulder.
06:03Brightonite stays in the blood twelve hours.
06:05Anything that touches it gets dosed.
06:07I turn my face into his neck.
06:10Forgive me, your highness.
06:11I bit down.
06:13Hard.
06:13The blood flooded my mouth.
06:15He's hissed.
06:16Fisted my hair.
06:17Didn't pull me off.
06:19The drug hit me ten seconds later.
06:21His gold eyes focused.
06:23One second.
06:24I know you.
06:25No, you don't.
06:26Not yet.
06:26I caught his wrist.
06:28Pressed his hand to my colivone.
06:29Here.
06:30Bite here.
06:31Where they can see it.
06:32He lowered his head.
06:34Leave the bite marks on me.
06:36An hour later, he collapsed sideways.
06:38The drug had burned through him.
06:40I sat up.
06:41Wiped the blood from lips.
06:42His coat had slipped off the chair.
06:44I picked it up.
06:45Put it on.
06:45At the mirror, I loosened my hair.
06:48Tugged the coat half off one shoulder.
06:50The bite marks bloomed underneath.
06:52I sat on the edge of the bed.
06:54Waited.
06:55The footsteps in the corridor grew louder.
06:57I didn't move.
06:58I spoke to the closed door, quietly.
07:01Marcus isn't in this bed.
07:02The crown alpha is.
07:04Right on time, Lillian.
07:05The door hit the wall, and the corridor spilled silk boots and royal silver into the room.
07:10Your majesty, in here!
07:11I saw Selina with a man!
07:14She did not even look at me.
07:16She crossed to the curtained bed.
07:17Her face went white.
07:19Adrian lay there.
07:20Gold eyes closed.
07:22It was her.
07:24She grew up above the velvet fang.
07:26Raised in a brothel, crawling into a crown bed before the debut.
07:30I did not argue.
07:31I let the coat slip lower, until the algin crest caught the candlelight.
07:35The bite marks bloomed underneath.
07:37One tear ran down my cheek.
07:38Your majesty, I only remember the cup.
07:40Lillian handed it to me, and then I woke here.
07:42No, it's not true!
07:43The queen consort lifted one hand.
07:45My breath stayed broken on purpose.
07:48Adrian sat up, shirt buttoned, hair pushed back, gold eyes finally clear of the drug.
07:53Speak carefully, your highness.
07:54The next sentence out of your mouth chooses my life, or hers.
07:58Adrian opened his mouth.
07:59The door slammed open again.
08:01A wounded man kneeled behind Caleb.
08:03I knew that face.
08:05Marcus Drary.
08:06Caleb unfolded a white handkerchief.
08:08Your majesty.
08:09Marcus waited behind the rockweck for Selene.
08:11This was in Marcus's coat.
08:13The high priest bent over the cloth, nostrils flaring.
08:16Red knight.
08:17Everyone who heard it meant sojourn.
08:18It was not my plan.
08:20Lady Lillian paid me.
08:21Lillian's face emptied.
08:23Lady Lillian gave me the bottle.
08:25I lowered my eyes before anyone could read me.
08:28For one breath, Lillian had no story ready.
08:30Adrian got off the bed, slow, pale.
08:33He did not look at Lillian or his mother.
08:35Adrian walked straight to Marcus.
08:36Adrian pulled the silver knife from his hip.
08:38Your highness, wait.
08:39I can give names.
08:41The judgment happened in one breath.
08:43Adrian did not clench.
08:45He held a piece of evidence in his hand.
08:47He walked three steps.
08:48A terrible proof dropped at the hem of Lillian's skirt.
08:51Hidden, but unmistakable.
08:52Lillian screamed once.
08:54Then Lillian went silent.
08:55The thorn girl folded over into the hem of her own gown.
08:58Adrian did not look at Lillian.
08:59Adrian walked back across the marble.
09:01He pulled off his own coat.
09:03He laid the coat on my shoulders.
09:05I stayed still.
09:06I let Adrian cover me.
09:08Adrian smoothed the silver crest flat across my back with his own hand.
09:12Let me smell Selina Ravencrest.
09:14The queen consort stepped closer and inhaled.
09:16Nothing.
09:17No scent.
09:18No rank.
09:18No wolf.
09:19Sixteen years of high-packed blood.
09:21You are empty air.
09:22A maid stepped forward with a black velvet cushion.
09:24A small silver blade waited on it.
09:26You may walk out of this room or you may end it.
09:29The queen consort gave me death and called it mercy.
09:31Sparehouse Raventil, what comes next?
09:34The blade was placed in my hand.
09:35Cold.
09:36Final.
09:37In the corner, Lillian released the smallest breath of relief.
09:40I did not lift my hands.
09:41If she wanted me dead tonight, she would do it herself.
09:44A black sleeve cut across my sight.
09:47Adrian stepped between me and the ceremonial pillow and closed his bare palm around the blade.
09:52Silence held.
09:53Then blood came.
09:56The queen consort's face went still.
09:58Adrian did not look at her and took my fingertips in his clean hand, gently.
10:02By the law of the Algin Court.
10:04His voice stayed quiet.
10:06A crown alpha's public claim, once witnessed by the queen consort, the high priest, and the high pack matriarchs, cannot
10:13be revoked.
10:15I lowered my eyes.
10:16On the next full moon, I will exchange moon vows with Lady Selina Ravenhaust in the Silver Moon Court.
10:22From tonight, she is the future Luna Queen of Highmore.
10:27He turned to his mother and lifted his bleeding hand, showing the silver gash slowly.
10:32If the law demands her death, bring a second blade.
10:35I will go with her.
10:36Lillian's face went past white.
10:38I lowered my eyes.
10:39Last life, I begged at his gate and was dragged out by my hair.
10:43This life, I said nothing, and he laid the court at my feet.
10:46By sunrise, Highmail had a new headline.
10:49The crown alpha had named his Luna.
10:52House Ravencrest, the younger daughter.
10:55The quiet one nobody had ever looked at.
10:57At dawn, the senior high priest entered Ravenkiss Manor, tracing every wine cup from cellar to ballroom.
11:03Two hours later, they found a silver thread carrying cedar and iris perfume.
11:07Inside a velvet purse Lillian had once gifted Marcus.
11:10Adrian folded the report once.
11:12Your Highness, we have enough to take her down tonight.
11:15No.
11:16Almost gentle.
11:17I want her to walk to it herself.
11:19I went back to my bedroom, locked the door, took out the small white porcelain bottle, Morwena's gift, the court
11:25midwife at my birth.
11:26For 17 years, they told me it was the only reason I didn't fall apart.
11:30I believed them.
11:31I drank it every morning, until I stopped asking what was in it.
11:34I set the bottle on the windowsill.
11:36This time, I didn't lift it to my mouth.
11:39Six hours later, the headache started behind my left eye.
11:41By dusk, I was sweating through my collar.
11:43My hands wouldn't stay still.
11:45Lillian, you've been burning me alive for 17 years.
11:49The girl in the mirror looked back.
11:51Her eyes were darker than I remember.
11:52That fire's about to turn around.
11:54I'm gonna put it under your door.
11:56And then I'm gonna stand in the garden and watch the smoke.
11:59I had been off the bottle for three days.
12:01The headaches were duller now.
12:03What replaced them was harder to name.
12:04A low heat behind my ribs.
12:06A sharpness in my hearing I did not used to have.
12:09That morning, I caught the scent of rain 20 minutes before the rain came.
12:13I did not tell anyone.
12:15My wolf was waking up.
12:17Slowly.
12:18Quietly.
12:19The invitation came on argent silver paper.
12:21Adoption tea.
12:22Highmere Westgarden.
12:23Thursday at 4.
12:24The Westgarden was set for war.
12:26Six high-pack daughters in pale silk.
12:28The thorn girl very carefully did not make eye contact with me.
12:32Lady Selina.
12:33Sit.
12:34A maid placed an argent silver cup in front of every girl.
12:37Heavy-rimmed, handles shaped like a wolf's curled tail.
12:40A second maid stepped behind my chair and set down a plain white porcelain cup.
12:45No crest.
12:45Lady Vey's spoon stopped halfway to Lady Vey's mouth.
12:48The queen consort did not look at me.
12:50Some bloodlines react poorly to silver, dear.
12:53Your majesty is so thoughtful.
12:54Then the terrace door opened.
12:56Father Alaric.
12:57Senior high priest.
12:59Sixty-one years inside the silver moon walls.
13:01Alaric had blessed the queen consort's own moon vows.
13:04Alaric bowed to her majesty first.
13:06Protocol.
13:07Then Alaric stopped at my chair.
13:08And Alaric bent his head lower than he had just bent it to the queen consort.
13:13My lady.
13:13Alaric had just bowed to a raven crest.
13:16The true line.
13:17The one that should have sat at the head of this table.
13:19Alaric's body knew.
13:20The queen consort knew what it meant.
13:22So did every woman at that table.
13:24Back in my bedroom, I uncorked the porcelain bottle.
13:26I poured the rest into the washbasin.
13:29I pressed two fingers to my neck.
13:31My pulse was steadier than it had any right to be.
13:34Deeper.
13:35Nobody in that court knows what is coming back.
13:37Seventeen years of being burned down to a quiet, pale, forgettable girl.
13:41First time as Selim's betrothed, Adrian walked up the raven crest steps in dove gray mourning dress with a small
13:48black velvet box.
13:50Inside, an Algent royal hairpin.
13:53Eight hundred years old.
13:55Moonstone center.
13:56Wolf and moon engraving.
13:58Lady Ravenhust had been crying since breakfast.
14:00Happy crying.
14:01The kind Lady Ravenhust had never once cried for Selina before.
14:05Last life.
14:06When my husband first walked me in this door, Lady Ravencrest told the housekeeper to wipe the threshold after I
14:11crossed it.
14:12A maid came running.
14:13Lord Ravencrest, please.
14:15Lady Lillian.
14:16The east wing.
14:17She's...
14:18The maid could not finish the word.
14:20The whole house moved.
14:21Lord Ravenfield.
14:22Lady Ravenfield.
14:24Cassian Selene's older brother in from his regiment.
14:26Adrian set the velvet box down without looking at it.
14:29Slow, Selina had seen this scene before.
14:31Not in this life.
14:33In the next one over.
14:34The attic.
14:35One window.
14:36Cedar beams.
14:37A length of white silk ribbon, folded neatly on the floorboards beside the chair.
14:42Lillian was already in Adrian's arms.
14:45Long lashes wet.
14:46A delicate flutter of breath against Adrian's collarbone.
14:49Not a mark on Lillian's throat.
14:51Cassian gripped Lillian's free hand.
14:54Lily.
14:54Lily, listen to me.
14:57Nobody in this family will leave you.
15:00Do you hear me?
15:01Nobody.
15:02Lady Ravencowl stroked Lillian's hair.
15:04Sweet girl.
15:06Sweet, sweet girl.
15:08Lord Ravencrest wiped his eyes with his sleeve like a farmhand.
15:12He saw me in the doorway.
15:14He did not see Lillian.
15:15What he saw?
15:16A pale girl.
15:17Lips bloodless.
15:18A thin pink ring of strain around my irises.
15:21He does not know Wolfsbane withdrawal when he sees it.
15:24He does not know I have been off the bottle for two days.
15:26What he knew?
15:27Something in his own chest pulled, sharp and hot.
15:30He chalked it up to a poor night's sleep.
15:32Down the garden path.
15:34Alone.
15:34White roses.
15:36Lillian was at the attic glass.
15:38Color back in her cheeks.
15:40One small hand on the windowpane.
15:42She smiled at me.
15:43Soft.
15:44Sweet.
15:45Triumphant.
15:46Three days after the attic, the wind had turned in Ravencrest.
15:49Half the high-pack matrons found their way to Lillian's daybed before noon.
15:53By Thursday, Lady Ravencrest asked the housekeeper whether Lillian might still come to the Equinos
15:58Reet.
15:59That afternoon, a courier from the Silvermoon Court came through the Algum West Wing.
16:05Six lines on sheepful parchment in the Queen Consort's own hand.
16:09Should Lady Selene Ravencrest, prior to the exchange of moon vows, be revealed to possess
16:14a flaw of bloodline, character, or conduct unbecoming of a future Lunar Queen?
16:19The Algern House reserves the unilateral right to withdraw said vows.
16:23A backup plan.
16:24A girl who could be torn up at any time.
16:28The Hall of Elders.
16:29Twelve along both sides.
16:31The Queen Concord at the head.
16:32Hands folded.
16:33Adrienne read it once.
16:35Adrienne.
16:36Read it again.
16:37Stood up.
16:37Adrienne picked up the parchment.
16:39Tore it.
16:40Crosswise.
16:41Then again.
16:42Then again.
16:43Adrienne's gold eyes had gone to a color the Elders hadn't seen in 400 years.
16:48A slow, banked fire.
16:50The pieces fell on the council table.
16:52Adrienne faced his mother.
16:54Full court protocol.
16:56Hand on chest.
16:57Mother, the Queen Consort may add any clause to Adrienne's moon vows.
17:01As long as the clause protects Selene, the Queen Consort may not add a single word that lets
17:06Adrienne throw Selene away.
17:08The Queen Consort did not answer.
17:10He came back to Ravencrest before sundown.
17:13He found me in the small drawing room.
17:15Tea I had not drunk.
17:16Hands folded to hide the tremor.
17:18He did not ask about Lillian.
17:20Did not mention the attic.
17:22Did not perform anything.
17:23He knelt one knee.
17:24He opened the velvet box.
17:26He or in velvet.
17:27May I?
17:29He lifted my hair off my shoulder with the back of his bandaged hand.
17:33The hand that had closed around a silver blade for me four nights ago.
17:37He slid the Argent Royal hairpin in just above my left temple.
17:40Slow.
17:41The yellow gold settled cool against my scalp.
17:44His fingertip brushed the shell of my ear.
17:46Without warning.
17:47My eyes filled.
17:49He saw it.
17:50He did not say a word.
17:51He brought his bandaged hand up.
17:53He caught the one tear on his knuckle before it could fall.
17:57He came back at dawn.
17:59Adrian set it on the writing desk.
18:01And opened it the way a surgeon opens a chest.
18:03A glass vial of Britonite.
18:05Court tagged.
18:06A list of every servant who touched a wine tray on first moon night.
18:09A velvet purse Lillian had once gifted Marcus.
18:12Slid open.
18:13One silver thread.
18:14One folded note.
18:15One dried sprig of irie.
18:16And last.
18:17Half a porcelain wine cup.
18:19On the underside.
18:20A single scratched red mark.
18:22He found my proof.
18:23The one detail I never told him.
18:26I'm not going to ask if you knew.
18:27Good.
18:28I'm going to ask you what you want to do.
18:30My sister doesn't die yet.
18:31He waited.
18:32She watches my moon vows.
18:34She watches the silver moon court bow when my name is read.
18:38She watches my father take back the seat at the head table she made him give her.
18:42She watches every high pack matriarch who kurtzled to her three Oscars ago kurt to me instead.
18:47And then, only then, she finds out what's waiting at the bottom of the cup.
18:51Understood.
18:52You're not going to ask me why?
18:54No.
18:54I figured most of it out at the gate.
18:56When she pointed at you and called you a brothel pup, I'll wait for the rest.
18:59Two lifetimes.
19:00The first man who didn't ask me to explain my anger before he agreed to back it.
19:05He came around the desk.
19:07Looked at me.
19:08Bruise on my collarbone from his teeth four nights ago had faded to a pale violet ring.
19:12He lifted his hand, stopped, asked, with his eyes.
19:17I owe you a clean memory of me touching you.
19:19You don't owe me anything, your highness.
19:21He drew me into his chest.
19:23Slow.
19:24No drug in his blood this time.
19:26No haze.
19:28I let my forehead rest on his shoulder for exactly four seconds.
19:32Then I stepped back.
19:34He didn't try to keep me.
19:36Crossed the gardens in the east wing.
19:39Lillian Ravencrest on her knees, in front of a small panel of floorboards she'd plied up the night before.
19:46Under the panel, a flat priest's disc, etched with old runes.
19:51What do I do now?
19:53She'd been calling that name into the dark for years.
19:55A household prayer, a dead midwife's charm.
19:58She didn't know the woman who answered was the one who'd built her cage.
20:02Across the manor, in Adrian's harms, my eyes closed.
20:05The red ring around my irises had thinned by a shade.
20:09On the windowsill, the porcelain bottle was down to a quarter.
20:13Palace gates would not open.
20:15Lillian had been so sure the gates would open.
20:18She powdered her face for an hour.
20:20She wore the pearl blue cloak the queen consort once said brought out her eyes.
20:25Her majesty is not receiving visitors today.
20:27Three different guards.
20:28Her majesty is not receiving visitors today.
20:31Three identical sentences.
20:33Her majesty is not receiving visitors today.
20:34At the fourth gate, Lillian gave up.
20:37Lillian stood on the marble steps in pearl blue silk and watched a butcher's boy let through
20:42a side door because the boy had a delivery.
20:45Home before nightfall.
20:46Cloak off.
20:48East wing.
20:48Attic door locked.
20:50Panel up.
20:51Palms flat on the priest's disc.
20:53Morwenna.
20:54Lillian's voice cracked.
20:56The queen consort won't see me.
20:58The matriarchs are starting to talk.
21:00Adrian tore up my supplemental clause in front of the council.
21:02I need you to fix the blessing again.
21:05Just reinforce it.
21:06Please.
21:07Silence.
21:08Then not in Lillian's ears.
21:10But in the back of Lillian's skull.
21:12The way Morwenna's answers always came.
21:15Use Cassian.
21:16Three words.
21:17Cold.
21:17Final.
21:18She sat back on her heels.
21:20He had loved her like a first daughter since she was four.
21:23An unmated alpha with a soft spot that size was exactly the kind of weapon she knew how to use.
21:29She unlocked the bottom drawer.
21:31She pulled out the vial.
21:33Velvet Fang's mark was etched in the glass.
21:36One dose of Bride Knight was left inside.
21:38She smoothed her hair.
21:40She practiced the smile.
21:42Cassian will believe anything Lillian tells Cassian.
21:46Cassian always has.
21:49The family dinner was mother's idea.
21:52Just direct blood.
21:53We need to be a family again before the moon vows.
21:56Which meant Lillian was coming back to the table.
21:59Neither of them had the spine to say no.
22:01Father at the head.
22:02Mother to his right.
22:04Cassius to his left back from the regiment.
22:06Lillian below mother.
22:08Then me.
22:09Then Adrian.
22:10Sitting on my side.
22:11His bandaged hand resting open beside mine.
22:14Between the soup and the lamb.
22:16Mother brought it out.
22:17A small lacquered box.
22:19Five generations old.
22:21She lifted out the silver comb.
22:23My grandmother held this on her first moon.
22:25My mother.
22:26Me.
22:27Tradition says.
22:28A true born ravenfeshed daughter passes a hand over it.
22:31And if the blood is good.
22:32The silver knows.
22:34Lillian took the comb.
22:35She'd taken it 18 times in her life.
22:37She knew the trick.
22:39What she had not been raised on was how much it would hurt the 18th time.
22:43After three days kneeling on a priest disc asking a witch for fresh favors.
22:47The silver bit.
22:48A clean line of white pain shot up her wrist.
22:50She felt the skin start to lift in a blister.
22:52She held the comb for the regulation three seconds.
22:55Set it back.
22:56Light hand.
22:57Beautiful.
22:57Her smile was perfect.
22:59Under the linen her left fist was tight enough the nails broke skin.
23:02Mother turned to me.
23:03Salona.
23:04Mother had never put this comb in front of me before.
23:07Last life.
23:08By the time I came back to Ravenwith, the comb had been lost in a move.
23:13Just for tradition, dear.
23:15Just so we can all see.
23:17I let the comb settle into my palm.
23:19No bite.
23:20No heat.
23:21Then the silver caught light that wasn't in the room and gave it back.
23:25A faint white glow ran the length of the handle.
23:28Mother's hand was halfway to her mouth.
23:30Cassian's chair scraped a quarter inch backward on its own.
23:34Father set his fork down very carefully.
23:36Lillian laughed very lightly.
23:38Oh, mother, you know Selena.
23:40She's always been a bit off.
23:42Probably some funny, low blood reaction.
23:45Even silver gets confused.
23:46Across the city, in his study at High Meal Palace, Adrian Valentine Rowe was reading a report on grain prices.
23:53At 8.14pm, the exact minute the silver glowed in my palm, he set the report down, put one hand
23:58flat against his sternum, and waited for whatever was happening inside his chest to stop.
24:03It didn't stop.
24:04For almost a minute.
24:07He told himself.
24:08He hadn't slept well.
24:10I went back to my room before pudding.
24:13Knelt on the hearth in my dinner slicks.
24:15Pushed the white porcelain bottle deep under the bed of cold ash.
24:20Lillian came to my door at sunrise.
24:22Pale silk wrapper.
24:23Eyes red around the edges.
24:25The careful walk of a girl who had not slept.
24:27Selena.
24:28Please.
24:29Cassian wants to apologize.
24:31For First Moon.
24:32For taking my side too fast.
24:33Cassian is too proud to say it in the house.
24:36Cassian will only say it at the West Tower.
24:38The West Tower.
24:39Cedar Woods.
24:4020 minutes walk from the Manon.
24:41Last life.
24:42Lillian sets Selina up with Marcus in a garden gabbo.
24:44This life.
24:46Selina's big brother in a tower.
24:47Same script.
24:48Better casting.
24:49Of course.
24:50Lead the way.
24:52Last life.
24:53She set me up with Marcus in a garden gabobi.
24:55This life.
24:56My big brother in a tower.
24:57Same script.
24:58Better casting.
24:59Lillian walked ahead.
25:01Lillian looked back once.
25:03Lillian smiled once.
25:05Then Lillian looked back again.
25:08Three times.
25:09Three smiles.
25:11Each one a little wider.
25:1320 paces from the tower door.
25:15The wind shifted.
25:16Selene caught it on the back of Selina's throat.
25:18The smell of a man Selene had bitten through the skin four nights ago.
25:21Bright and night.
25:22There you are.
25:22Found you in the trees.
25:24The tower door was unlashed.
25:25Lillian stopped.
25:26Turned.
25:27The careful smile was gone.
25:28After you, Selina.
25:29She lifted her hand to my shoulder.
25:31A small push.
25:33I let her hand land.
25:34While her weight was on it.
25:36While she was already mid-shove.
25:37I stepped sideways.
25:39Half a body's length.
25:40Clean.
25:41Her push went through empty air.
25:43She stumbled forward.
25:44I caught her under the arms.
25:46Dragged her three feet through the open door.
25:48Set her down inside.
25:49Gently.
25:49The way I would lay down a dress.
25:50On the bed at the back of the room, Cassian was already half gone.
25:53Shirt open.
25:54Skin slick.
25:55Argent blue eyes blown black.
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