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The Serpent Lord's Substitute Bride 2026 - Hot - Full EP
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00:04My adopted sister Dahlia steals my elixir and wins the alchemy trials with it.
00:09Never guessing the prize is marriage to the heir of House Bytheris, a man rumored to be
00:13barren, brutal, and monstrous.
00:15That same night, House Bytheris delivers a bonding contract sealed with a serpent wax
00:19crest.
00:20They want the shifter woman who crafted the elixir as their heir's bride.
00:23My betrothed, Edmund, panics.
00:25He rushes through a bonding ritual with Dahlia overnight.
00:28By morning it is done.
00:29Dahlia sways toward me and flashes the silver wolf-shaped mating mark glowing on the small
00:33of her back.
00:34Your betrothed belongs to me now.
00:36His mark is on my skin.
00:38Whatever will you do, sister?
00:40She tilts her head, that syrup sweet voice.
00:42Your 25th name day is three days away.
00:45The Crown Council will assign you to one of those brutes from the Borderlands.
00:49You know what those men are like?
00:51She is wrong.
00:52I have another option.
00:53I find father and mother in the Great Hall, scrambling to clean up Dahlia's mess.
00:57If Dahlia won't marry the heir of House Vythus, I will.
01:01Father's hand freezes midair, the bonding contract trembling between his fingers.
01:05Mother's eyes blow wide.
01:06Elevin, have you lost your mind?
01:08Lord Severin is rumored to be barren, bloodthirsty, savage.
01:12They say he nearly tore out a servant's throat when he went feral.
01:16Marrying him is walking into a death trap.
01:18Before I can answer, father clears his throat.
01:21If she doesn't go, what about Dahlia?
01:22She's already bonded to the Grey Hollow boy.
01:25Something shifts behind mother's eyes.
01:27A flicker of conflict, and her hand slowly releases mine.
01:30My heart goes cold.
01:31I am their true-born daughter, and still always they choose the girl who plays helpless.
01:35A bitter laugh scrapes out of me.
01:38But I have one condition.
01:39On the day I leave this house,
01:42Dahlia will confess before all the houses that she stole my elixir.
01:45Father slams his palm on the table.
01:47How can you be so cruel?
01:49You would destroy your own sister's reputation!
01:51Mother stares at me with the same disappointment, as if I am the problem.
01:55The serpent lord wants the alchemist who made that era.
01:59Your precious Dahlia can keep the credit, or keep her comfortable life.
02:03She can't have both.
02:05They cave for Dahlia.
02:06Of course they do.
02:07I turn and walk out without hesitation,
02:09and nearly collide with Edmund stepping out of Dahlia's chambers.
02:12Red marks trail down his neck and chest.
02:14The cloying scent of Dahlia's rose oil clings to him so thick it burns my nostrils.
02:18I cover my nose and move to pass him.
02:20He scrambles to block my path.
02:22El, I know you're angry.
02:24But I had no choice.
02:25The serpent court is possessive beyond reason.
02:28Only a completed bond could make him abandon his claim on her.
02:30There was no other way.
02:31A bitter smile cuts across my lips.
02:34And what about me?
02:35We were supposed to complete our bonding ritual when I turned 20.
02:38But every time the ceremony drew near,
02:40Dahlia found a reason to cry,
02:41and Edmund found a reason to postpone.
02:43Again and again.
02:44I am nearly 25 now,
02:46and he chose this moment to bond with her.
02:47Two paths stretch before me.
02:49The conscripted match,
02:50or the serpent lord.
02:51Nothing else.
02:52Guilt flashes across Edmund's face.
02:54He seizes my hand.
02:55I won't let the conscripted match take you!
02:58Listen,
02:59I can have a thrall span put on you.
03:00You'd live in Grey Hollow under my protection.
03:02You wouldn't have to marry anyone.
03:04He sees my expression change,
03:06and rushes to add,
03:07It would only be in name.
03:09Once you're at Grey Hollow,
03:10I treat you the same as Dahlia.
03:12You want for nothing.
03:13I almost laugh.
03:14The audacity,
03:15only shifters convicted of serious crimes.
03:18Those with nowhere left to turn,
03:19except the thrall brand.
03:20A branded person can be sold by their house at will.
03:23They live beneath everyone,
03:24and their children inherit that status forever.
03:26I rip my hand free.
03:28I would sooner walk into a serpent's jaws
03:30than wear your brand.
03:32At least the serpent doesn't pretend to love me
03:33while he devours me.
03:34Edmund's face darkens,
03:36wounded pride twisting into something ugly.
03:38Elowyn!
03:39Don't you love me?
03:40Is your pride really worth more than being with me?
03:42I fire back without missing a beat.
03:44Oh.
03:45Then why don't you make Dahlia the thrall?
03:47That would save her just as well.
03:49Dahlia?
03:49A thrall?
03:50She couldn't survive it.
03:52She's too delicate,
03:53too gentle.
03:54She deserves to be cherished,
03:55not branded.
03:56Years of swallowed grief surge upward.
03:58My vision blurs.
03:59Because Dahlia is hairkin.
04:01Soft.
04:01Fragile.
04:02Born looking like something that needs protection.
04:04And I am the last nine-tailed fox shifter
04:06in all of Eldrath.
04:07Strong, resilient,
04:08supernaturally fast to heal.
04:10Carrying nine lives.
04:11So father and mother favor her.
04:12And my own betrothed pities her.
04:14Every hurt,
04:15every sacrifice,
04:16it all falls on me.
04:17Because I look like I can take it.
04:18Edmund flinches at the scorn in my eyes.
04:20Shame curdles into anger,
04:21and he throws one last line over his shoulder as he leaves.
04:24Think it over,
04:25Elle.
04:25You know as well as I do,
04:27you have no other options.
04:29After he is gone,
04:30I drift downstairs in a daze
04:31and find a delivery from House Vytheris waiting for me.
04:34I open the box.
04:35My breath catches.
04:36A moonstone pendant,
04:37the exact one I lost at auction during the last Merchants' Gala.
04:40Warmth spreads through my chest,
04:41unbidden.
04:42Maybe marrying Lord Severin isn't a death sentence after all.
04:45The next day,
04:46I go to a goldsmith's workshop in Crown City
04:48to choose a return gift for Severin.
04:49His beast form is a green-eyed black serpent.
04:52I pick a cloak pin shaped like a coiled snake.
04:54Black silver base.
04:55Two emerald eyes.
04:56I allow myself a grim bit of humor.
04:58At least House Vytheris commands more wealth and power
05:01than nearly anyone in Eldrath.
05:02What exactly do I have to complain about?
05:04Oh my.
05:06How duplecialess of you, sister.
05:09You claim you'd never be Edmund's thralth,
05:11yet here you are spending a fortune on his name day gift.
05:14Such devotion,
05:15I could never be so clever.
05:17Dahlia stands there with Edmund's arm linked through hers,
05:20wearing a victor's smile.
05:21That is when I remember.
05:22Today is Edmund's name day.
05:23They think I bought this for him.
05:25So much for your pride.
05:27You're bending the knee to avoid the conscripted match after all.
05:30That one is hideous.
05:32Get me a wolf.
05:33Silver.
05:33With grey eyes.
05:34Something worthy of my house.
05:35This is for my betrothed.
05:37It has nothing to do with you.
05:39Still putting on a brave face?
05:41You're nearly twenty-five.
05:43The decree takes effect in three days.
05:47Stop pretending you have choices.
05:49Push me further,
05:50and I won't even offer you the brand.
05:54Edmund, darling,
05:55the thrall's hall is right there.
05:57I can't bear seeing my poor sister living in such dread.
06:01Why don't we take care of it today?
06:03You really are too kind, Dahlia.
06:06Well?
06:08Go on.
06:13Inside the thrall hall,
06:14the central branding forge burns with an eternal flame.
06:17Rows of branding irons hang on the walls,
06:19each etched with a different rank symbol.
06:20A glowing red iron presses into a shifter's flesh.
06:23Even the strongest male shifter in the room screams raw.
06:26Animal broken.
06:27Edmund flinches at the sound,
06:28but he still lets Dahlia direct the house guards to drag me deeper inside.
06:32In that moment,
06:32the Edmund who shielded me as a child,
06:34the boy who never let anyone lay a finger on me,
06:36feels like something I imagined.
06:38He is 13,
06:39standing between me and danger,
06:40eyes bright and fierce.
06:42Touch her again.
06:46Again,
06:47and I'll shift right here.
06:49That boy doesn't exist anymore.
06:51Dahlia's grip locks around my arm like iron.
06:53Nothing soft about her now.
06:54Let me pick out a nice brand for you, sister.
06:56Her gaze sweeps the wall.
06:57It lands on one iron etched with a broken chain,
07:00the lowest rank.
07:01It means never free.
07:02This one suits you best.
07:03Don't you think, sister?
07:05I wrench free from the guards.
07:07I haven't even touched Dahlia,
07:08but she throws herself backward,
07:10acting as though I shoved her.
07:11The branding iron clatters to the floor.
07:13A single spark grazes the back of her hand,
07:15not even a mark.
07:16I only wanted to help you avoid the conscripted match,
07:19and you tried to burn me!
07:24Before I can react,
07:25Edmund charges in.
07:26He slams into me.
07:27My body hits the edge of the branding forge.
07:29My palm presses flat against scorching metal.
07:32Pain crashes through me like a wave.
07:33I can't breathe.
07:34I tear my hand free from the burning surface,
07:36and a new pain explodes across my face.
07:39Edmund's open palm, full force.
07:40The crack echoes through the entire thrall hall.
07:43How could you do this to her?
07:44She begged me to help you,
07:46and this is how you repay her?
07:48Apologize to Dalany!
07:49Now!
07:51Edmund,
07:52my hand,
07:53it hurts so much.
07:58The moment I see that cloak,
08:00my heart seizes.
08:01A foxtail cloak made from my eight severed tails.
08:05Before all this,
08:07Dahlia engineered crisis after crisis,
08:09slashing her own skin,
08:10faking collapse,
08:11performing Death's Door so convincingly
08:13that everyone believed only my life force could save her.
08:16And I am a nine-tailed fox.
08:17Each tail holds one life.
08:19Under Edmund's pressure,
08:20I severed eight tails,
08:21transferred my life force to Dahlia eight times.
08:24Eight lives.
08:25It still wasn't enough.
08:26I did nothing wrong.
08:29And I will not apologize.
08:31Edmund's pupils contract.
08:33Something in my defiance cuts him where he doesn't expect.
08:37How dare you!
08:41Stop!
08:46Who dare touch her?
08:54My eyes open.
08:56Through the narrow slits of the mask,
08:57a pair of deep emerald eyes,
08:59vertical pupils,
09:00unmistakably serpent,
09:02a faint,
09:02otherworldly gleam.
09:03I think of the emeralds on that cloak pin.
09:05He sets me down on a stone bench in a nearby courtyard.
09:08Before I can speak,
09:09he vanishes around the corner.
09:10I look down.
09:11A small jar of healing salve sits in my palm.
09:13I don't know when he placed it there.
09:15Across the street,
09:15Edmund tenderly smooths Dahlia's windswept hair,
09:18murmuring comfort.
09:19A cold smile tugs at my lips.
09:20I reach for the bonding ring I've carried at my waist,
09:23the one I'd planned to return to him.
09:24I walk to the edge of the city wall.
09:26Without a moment's hesitation,
09:27I hurl it into the churning river below.
09:29Two days later,
09:30I put on the bonding gown sent by House Vytheris.
09:32I stand in my room surrounded by a dowry so extravagant.
09:35It doesn't feel real father and mother shuffle in.
09:38They ask,
09:38voices halting,
09:39eyes averted.
09:40If maybe Dahlia doesn't have to confess publicly.
09:42Maybe they could call it a misunderstanding.
09:44Save her some face.
09:45For the honor of our house,
09:47Elinden.
09:48The last illusion I held about them shatters.
09:50My dowry,
09:51I prepared it myself.
09:52For years I made excuses for them.
09:54They forgot.
09:54They were busy.
09:55They'd remember eventually.
09:56They didn't remember a dowry for their own daughter.
09:58But they remembered to come beg on behalf of their favorite.
10:01No.
10:01And if you push me further,
10:03I won't go through with it at all.
10:05Let's see how House Vyrian responds to that.
10:07You wouldn't dare!
10:09A commotion erupts from the great hall below.
10:11I descend the stairs to find Edmund sprawled in the great hall's main chair,
10:15like it is a throne.
10:15A glowing red branding iron rests in his hand.
10:18Elevin,
10:19the conscripted match takes effect in 30 minutes.
10:21But since you're here,
10:22perfect.
10:23You know the rules for a thrust.
10:25Before the brand comes the right.
10:26Kneel,
10:27kiss Dahlia's hand,
10:28and renounce your freedom before everyone in this hall.
10:31Do that,
10:32and I'll take you into Grey Holland.
10:33Edmund's gaze drops to my bonding gown.
10:35He freezes for half a second,
10:37then his brow furrows.
10:38Why are you dressed like that?
10:40You think putting on a gown makes you a bride?
10:42Take it off,
10:42you're embarrassing yourself.
10:43I hold his stare,
10:44I steady.
10:45I'm completing my bonding today,
10:46Edmund,
10:47to someone who actually wants me.
10:48You're not invited.
10:49His expression shifts,
10:51then snaps back into that benefactor's mask.
10:53Every second you waste,
10:54I add another hour on your knees.
10:56Time is running out,
10:57Elf.
10:57I don't mind having someone help you down.
11:01And if you won't kneel on your own.
11:03Grey Hollow retainers step out from every corner.
11:05In full view of the hall,
11:07they reach for my bonding gown,
11:08hands closing around my arms to force me to my knees.
11:11No!
11:11Edmund,
11:12I told you!
11:13Today is my bonding!
11:15I'd like to see anyone in this room
11:17try to make my wife kneel.
11:22Edmund's eyes go wide.
11:23The serpent-shaped cloak pin glints at Severin's collar,
11:26bold, unmistakable.
11:27Edmund's gaze climbs to the serpent-patterned mask,
11:29then to the man behind it.
11:30A branding iron slips from his hand
11:32and rings against the stone floor.
11:34You-
11:34You're the heir of House Vytheris?
11:36What do you mean?
11:37The contract was for Dahlia!
11:39She's already bonded to me!
11:40What are you doing here?
11:41Severin reaches up,
11:42peels the mask away.
11:43The face beneath has never been shown in public.
11:45Sharp striking,
11:46nothing close to the monster from the rumors.
11:48He extends his hand toward me,
11:50gently.
11:51Dread pools in Edmund's gut.
11:52I place my hand in Severin's palm,
11:54our fingers laced together.
11:55Tight.
11:56The corner of Severin's mouth lifts,
11:58his voice measured unhurried.
12:00I never said I wanted Dahlia.
12:01It was always Elowan.
12:03Elixir was always hers.
12:04As for Dahlia,
12:06only fools like you would fall for someone that pathetic.
12:09The color drains from Edmund's face.
12:10He doesn't understand.
12:12Whispers ripple through the great hall.
12:14People are already questioning
12:15whether the trial Elixir was really Dahlia's at all.
12:18Dahlia goes white.
12:19Her hand drifts toward her eyes on instinct,
12:21but I speak first,
12:23turning to father and mother at the foot of the stairs.
12:25Father, mother,
12:27don't forget what you promised me.
12:28Mother leans close and murmurs something in Dahlia's ear.
12:31Dahlia shrieks like a stepped-on cat.
12:34No, the Elixir is mine!
12:35If the Serpent Court wants to cause trouble,
12:37that's your problem!
12:38I'm bonded now!
12:39What happens to House Thornwood is no longer my concern!
12:41Father and mother stare at her,
12:43as if they're seeing her for the first time.
12:44A cold laugh escapes me.
12:46Dahlia has always been this person.
12:48They were just too blinded by their own favoritism to notice.
12:51Severin clicks his tongue,
12:52lifts one hand.
12:53Ancient runes blaze to life across the stone floor.
12:56Light pours from the cracks.
12:57Tracing a perfect circle at Dahlia's feet,
12:59a truth circle.
13:00Severin speaks with the full authority of the Vytheris heir.
13:03Since this lady insists the elixir is hers,
13:06she has nothing to fear.
13:08Step into the circle and prove it.
13:10Every drop of blood leaves Dahlia's face.
13:12She stumbles back half a step.
13:14She can refuse.
13:15But in Eldrath,
13:16refusing a truth trial is the same as a guilty plea.
13:19Every eye in the hall is on her.
13:20Dahlia's scream dissolves into sobs.
13:22Tears pour down.
13:23The picture of helplessness.
13:25Edmund!
13:26Help me!
13:27She's going to kill me!
13:28Edmund charges forward,
13:29face Ashen.
13:30But the Vytheris guards form a wall between them.
13:33Severin's gaze lands on him.
13:34Cold as winter stone.
13:35If she's innocent,
13:36the circle will prove it.
13:39Unless you already know she isn't.
13:41Edmund's feet root to the floor.
13:42A terrible certainty begins to take shape.
13:44The kind he has spent years refusing to look at.
13:47Dahlia is pushed into the truth circle.
13:49At first she clamps her jaw shut,
13:51fights it with everything she has.
13:53But the runes glow brighter.
13:55Her body begins to shake.
13:56Words rip out of her throat
13:57like they're being dragged by hooks.
13:59Yes!
13:59Yes!
14:00Yes!
14:00I stole her elixir!
14:02I stole it and I stood on that stage
14:04and I smiled while everyone applauded!
14:06Her voice splinters.
14:07The circle's power drives her on.
14:09She turns to Edmund.
14:10Her lips twist into something
14:11between a sneer and a snarl.
14:13Did you true believe I loved you?
14:14You were the most obedient dog on my leash!
14:17I said jump!
14:18You asked how high!
14:19I pointed at her tails
14:20and you, you cut off yourself!
14:22Edmund's temple pulses.
14:23His whole body trembles.
14:25But all he does is step back
14:26like someone pulled the bones out of him.
14:28You, everything, all of it was...
14:31He can't finish.
14:32Dahlia's venom swings toward father and mother.
14:34And you two pathetic old fools.
14:36Did you really think the carriage accident
14:37was just bad luck?
14:39I cut the reins.
14:40I watched the carriage go off the road.
14:42Then I ran down the hill screaming for help
14:43and you, you thanked me!
14:45You took me in!
14:45The carriage accident.
14:47Years ago.
14:47The very reason father and mother adopted the homeless,
14:50grateful little girl named Dahlia.
14:52All of it, staged from the start.
14:53Father's face turns the color of ash.
14:55He sways.
14:56A servant catches him.
14:57Mother's eyes where tenderness lived moments ago.
14:59Flood with raw, consuming hatred.
15:01She lunges forward and strikes Dahlia across the face.
15:04Twice.
15:05You treacherous, ungrateful wretch!
15:08The hall erupts into chaos.
15:10I watch it all, the truth laid bare at last,
15:12and feel nothing.
15:13The satisfaction I expected doesn't come.
15:15Severin senses the shift in me.
15:17His hand tightens around mine.
15:19Come home with me, Elowyn.
15:21I'll be your family now.
15:25Okay.
15:26I step toward the carriage.
15:27Edmund crashes through the crowd behind me.
15:29El, I was wrong!
15:30Don't go with him!
15:31Please!
15:32Eyes wild and red-rimmed pathetic.
15:33I love you.
15:34I see it now.
15:35It was always you.
15:36She deceived me!
15:37His regret isn't worth the dirt on my shoes.
15:39My gaze drifts to the white rabbit mating mark
15:41visible on his throat,
15:42the mark that surfaced when his bond with Dahlia sealed.
15:45My voice is perfectly flat.
15:47I think you two deserve each other.
15:49May your bond hold forever.
15:51His face grumbles.
15:52I don't linger on it.
15:53I step into the carriage and pull the door shut.
15:55Edmund lunges after me.
15:57By Theorist guards close rank around him like a steel curtain.
15:59He claws at the mating mark on his neck,
16:01scratching, tearing, and screams after the departing carriage.
16:05El, I won't give up!
16:06I'll do the severing!
16:08I'll break the bond!
16:09I'll come back to you!
16:13Severin holds the bonding ceremony at the Serpent's Reach Castle.
16:17Grand lavish.
16:18Every detail curated.
16:19I am allergic to pollen, but I love flowers.
16:22The entire hall blooms with crystal flowers crafted by alchemists.
16:25Every petal, every stamen, impossibly lifelike.
16:29Not a grain of pollen in the air.
16:30I am still wondering how Severin knows my preferences,
16:33when a wolf howl pierces through the walls.
16:35A servant reports,
16:36A massive wolf in feral shift is clawing at the castle's iron gate.
16:40I pause.
16:40Shifters only trigger a full shift under extreme duress.
16:44Edmund didn't shift when he learned the truth about Dahlia.
16:46He shifted when he saw my bonding ceremony.
16:48Once, I might have read that as proof he cared more about me.
16:52Now, I just find it absurd.
16:54You don't get to go mad over something you threw away.
16:57Severin and I exchange bonding vows before the gathered witnesses.
17:00The moment his hand takes mine,
17:02the serpent-shaped mating mark on my palm
17:03and the nine-tailed fox mark on his shoulder ignite simultaneously.
17:07Light floods the entire hall.
17:09Every person in the room holds their breath.
17:11A faded bond.
17:12The destined contract.
17:13Unseen in Eldrath for a hundred years.
17:16After the ceremony,
17:17oar carriage rolls toward the main castle of Serpent's Reach.
17:20As we pass through the outer gate,
17:22I glance through the carriage window.
17:23A massive silver wolf crouches inside an iron cage.
17:26For a split second,
17:27I think I see a tear slide from one lupine eye.
17:30But the wolf can only watch.
17:31Trapped.
17:32As our carriage disappears down the road.
17:34Bonding night.
17:35The master chamber.
17:36Just the two of us.
17:38I study his face without the mask.
17:40My cheeks flush before I can stop it.
17:42Every rumor about you is wrong.
17:44Severin removes the silver pins and gemstones from my hair.
17:47One by one.
17:48His fingers move so gently,
17:49they don't belong to a man called Savage.
17:51What rumors?
17:53That you're savage.
17:55Hideous.
17:56And...
17:57A soft laugh.
17:59Baron?
18:00Heat rises to my ears.
18:01I open my mouth to reassure him,
18:03and he pulls me into his arms.
18:05Those emerald eyes fix on me.
18:07The vertical pupils dilate slightly,
18:09but he holds himself in check.
18:11Elevin, look at me.
18:12His voice drops low.
18:14We stop whenever you say.
18:15I have waited seven years.
18:17I can wait seven more.
18:19Something in those eyes undoes me.
18:21I nod, shy and breathless.
18:23You don't have to hold back.
18:25It is not until the bonding ritual begins
18:27that my eyes fly open.
18:29You have two?
18:31Severin's voice comes out rough.
18:32Serpent bloodline.
18:34We have two, if you don't want.
18:36I kiss him to shut him up.
18:38By the second half of the night,
18:39he proves, thoroughly and personally,
18:41that the barren rumor is also a lie.
18:43At the most intimate moment,
18:45our mating marks blaze to life in unison.
18:47A massive wave of emotion crashes into me, not mine.
18:50His pure feeling, seven years of solitude,
18:52seven years of longing,
18:53and one moment lying half dead in the mud,
18:56barely breathing,
18:57when a pair of warm hands lifted him up
18:58and his whole world shifted on its axis.
19:01I cry.
19:01Severin stops immediately,
19:03alarm all over his face.
19:04He thinks he hurt me.
19:06I shake my head.
19:07I felt you, all of it, all those years.
19:11It takes five full days for the bond to stabilize.
19:14I nearly trigger a full shift.
19:16My ears and tail popping out uncontrollably.
19:18Again, and again.
19:19I peel myself off the bed,
19:21legs shaking,
19:22lower back aching,
19:23and hear a commotion outside.
19:24I push open the window and look down.
19:26Edmund kneels at the castle gate.
19:27A massive bouquet of roses clutched to his chest.
19:30A maid sweeping the corridor tells me
19:31he has been there for five days.
19:33Two rainstorms hit during that time.
19:35He knelt through both.
19:36The only thing he asked for
19:38was someone to swap out the wilted roses for fresh ones.
19:40All I feel is irritation.
19:42Who is this performance for?
19:43I have a new life.
19:45Edmund's self-righteous penance is nothing but noise.
19:47I reach for the curtain,
19:48and a body with cooler than normal temperature
19:50presses against my back.
19:52What are you looking at?
19:53Severin peers over my shoulder,
19:55sees the scene below his brow creases.
19:57He just won't go away, will he?
19:59At that exact moment,
20:00Edmund looks up,
20:01as if he senses me.
20:02The instant he sees my face,
20:04something reignites behind his dull eyes,
20:06and dies the next second,
20:07when Severin tilts my chin up
20:09and gives me a long, slow kiss.
20:10I don't resist.
20:11I wrap my arms around him.
20:13The tenderness of it sears into Edmund's vision.
20:16Roses scatter from his hands.
20:17He staggers to his feet,
20:19mouth opening to shout to stop it.
20:21But five days without water have stolen his voice.
20:23Nothing comes out.
20:24I expect Edmund to give up.
20:26Instead, he is at the gate again the next day.
20:28And the next.
20:29I can't take it anymore.
20:30I go down to face him.
20:32Edmund has lost significant weight.
20:34Pale dark hollows under his eyes.
20:36His robes hang loose on a frame that used to fill them.
20:38The moment he sees me, he fumbles at his collar,
20:40yanking it aside to bear the back of his neck.
20:42Where Dahlia's white rabbit mating mark used to sit.
20:45Now only a jagged wound.
20:46Raw.
20:47Half healed.
20:48A slab of flesh carved away.
20:49He forces a desperate, eager smile.
20:51El, I did the severing ritual.
20:54The mark is gone.
20:56I'm clean now.
20:57We can start over.
20:59The severing ritual is one of Eldrath's most dangerous rites.
21:02It tears the bond from the soul itself.
21:04The pain is said to rival being flayed alive.
21:06Three out of ten who attempt it die on the ritual table.
21:09And the mark goes deep, down to muscle and bone.
21:11Removing it completely means cutting away an entire section of flesh.
21:14I look at the mangled mess of his neck.
21:16Surprised he went this far.
21:17But only surprised.
21:19Nothing more.
21:19My silence gives him hope.
21:21He pulls out two severed pieces of fur.
21:24I look closer.
21:25A silver gray wolf tail.
21:27A white rabbit tail.
21:28Anguish contorts his face.
21:29I'm sorry, El.
21:31I was a monster.
21:32I understand now.
21:34I understand what you went through.
21:35I severed my own tail.
21:37And hers.
21:38To atone.
21:40Forgive me.
21:41I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you.
21:44Nothing stirs inside me.
21:46Not a ripple.
21:46Their tails are gone.
21:47Do mine grow back?
21:48A nine-tailed fox's tails.
21:50Once severed.
21:51Never regenerate.
21:52Ever.
21:52Eight lives.
21:53Gone forever.
21:54Edmund, if you truly want to make amends, stop coming here.
21:57Stop making your guilt my burden to carry.
22:00I am bonded to Severin.
22:02We are happy.
22:03You're lying!
22:05How could you bond with someone else?
22:08Edmund runs to his carriage and hauls out a bouquet of roses.
22:14El, look.
22:15I brought your favorite roses.
22:16Before he can get within arm's reach, a boot kicks the bouquet out of his hands.
22:21Petals explode across the cobblestones.
22:23Severin stands between us.
22:25His emerald slit pupils have contracted to razor.
22:27Thin lines.
22:28Edmund snarls.
22:29What gives you the right to kick away my flowers?
22:32Severin's voice cuts like a blade dipped in frost.
22:34You claim to love her, yet you bring her the one thing that makes her suffer.
22:39How very consistent of you.
22:40The blood drains from Edmund's face.
22:44I'm sorry, El.
22:45I didn't mean to.
22:46I thought you liked-
22:47He thought I liked roses.
22:48The one who likes roses has always been Dahlia.
22:51And Dahlia doesn't even care about them that much.
22:53She just enjoys watching me break out in hives.
22:55Every time Dahlia graciously regifted Edmund's roses to me, I told them.
22:59All of them.
22:59I am allergic to pollen.
23:00Father.
23:01Mother.
23:01Edmund.
23:02None of them believed me.
23:03They decided I was making it up to spite Dahlia.
23:05I spent years getting dragged to the healer's ward every other week because of those flowers.
23:09I look at Edmund, hollowed out, unraveling, and feel nothing warm at all.
23:13You cut eight tails from my body.
23:15You made a cloak of my lives and draped it over the woman who orchestrated every wound.
23:20And now you stand here with flowers I'm allergic to, asking me to forgive you.
23:24Tell me, Edmund.
23:25In all of that, did you ever actually see me?
23:27Edmund's knees buckle.
23:28He barely stays upright.
23:30I take Severin's arm and turn to leave.
23:31Behind us, a rush of footsteps.
23:33Severin pivots to shield me, but Edmund isn't charging at us.
23:36He sprints straight for the serpent's reached training yard and rips the sword from the rack.
23:39Severin Vytheris!
23:41I challenge me to an honor duel for Elevin!
23:44...an honor duel.
23:45In Eldrath, when a shifter believes another has taken his mate, he has the right to demand
23:49a duel of honor dot.
23:50Edmund half-shifts.
23:51Goes all out, lupine fury, raw power.
23:54Wolf blood is built for brute force and explosive speed.
23:57Severin barely tries to.
23:59Serpent speed erases every advantage the wolf has.
24:01Each of Edmund's lunges hits empty air.
24:03Nothing but a calm sidestep.
24:10One strike.
24:12Severin pins him to the ground.
24:14Scales ripple across his neck.
24:15Those cold, slit people stare down.
24:21Suffering for her doesn't mean you loved her.
24:24It just means you only know how to think about yourself.
24:28Edmund collapses.
24:29Broken ribs.
24:30A wolf-like rasp shudders through his chest.
24:32He lifts his head toward me.
24:34Now.
24:35Now I know what it feels like.
24:37Does that...
24:37Does that count for anything?
24:39I give him one look.
24:40Just one.
24:41Then I walk to Severin and press my fingers to the scales that have surfaced along his neck.
24:45Raised by anger, hard as armor dot under my touch, they recede.
24:49Smooth skin returns, inch by inch.
24:51Severin goes still.
24:53Then he bows his head and rests his forehead against my palm.
24:55I take his hand.
24:57I don't look back dot Edmund watches from the ground.
24:59The way she touches Severin's face.
25:01The way her eyes soften.
25:02She has never looked at him like that.
25:04Not once.
25:04The next I hear of Edmund is three days later.
25:07After the honor duel, he was carried to the healer's ward.
25:10Unconscious for a full day and night before waking.
25:12This time, he drops the desperate siege tactics.
25:15Instead, he starts appearing at every place I frequent.
25:17Engineering coincidences.
25:19The herb market in Crown City.
25:20The alchemy workshops.
25:22Even the small towns near Serpent's Reach.
25:24Severin's seeds.
25:25He stays glued to my side.
25:27And every time he senses Edmund nearby, his pupils narrow to vertical slits.
25:31A clear, unmistakable warning.
25:33Until one day.
25:34Severin and I attend the Gathering of Houses.
25:36The annual formal assembly of all the Blood Houses.
25:39Severin needs to discuss territory matters with Allied House representatives.
25:42We separate briefly.
25:43I sit alone at a long table in the corner of the banquet hall.
25:46Picking at a slice of cake.
25:48When a shadow falls over me.
25:49I look up.
25:50Edmund stands in front of me.
25:51I have no idea when he got this close.
25:53I stand to leave.
25:54How did I never notice how revolting he is?
25:56The contempt in my eyes wounds him.
25:58He calls out.
25:59Voice shaking.
25:59Oh, I'm not here to bother you.
26:03I just thought you should know.
26:05Severin went into the East Tower with a woman just now.
26:08My step falters.
26:09I glance instinctively toward where Severin was sitting.
26:12Only his Allied House representative remains.
26:14Drinking alone.
26:15Edmund moves closer.
26:17He does this right under your nose.
26:19And you're still going to stay with him?
26:21My brow furrows.
26:22That's between me and my husband.
26:24It has nothing to do with you.
26:25Logic tells me Severin would never.
26:27But the unease claws in anyway.
26:29Edmund fans the flames.
26:30Already climbing the spiral staircase of the East Tower.
26:33Top of the East Tower.
26:34See for yourself.
26:36I follow before I realize I'm doing it.
26:38Barely 15 minutes of climbing.
26:40But it feels like an eternity.
26:41What if Severin really?
26:42My thoughts tangle.
26:44Before I know it, I'm standing in front of the tower chamber door.
26:47Edmund's face is alight.
26:48He reaches for the handle.
26:50The door opens from the inside first.
26:51Get out.
26:52Whoever sent you tell them I've waited 7 years for my wife.
26:55No one is taking that from me.
26:57A scantily dressed shifter woman stumbles out of the room.
26:59Thrown.
27:00Not walking.
27:01Severin stands in the doorway.
27:02His expression is dark enough to bruise.
27:04His clothes are perfectly intact.
27:06The moment he sees me, the ice cracks.
27:08Gone in a blink.
27:09Elevin.
27:10I didn't touch her.
27:11Someone slipped a lust rasp into my mead.
27:13I saw through it.
27:14Serpent blood is immune to poisons.
27:16I played along to draw them out.
27:18He tugs his collar open.
27:20You don't believe me.
27:21Check for yourself.
27:22There isn't a mark on me that isn't yours.
27:24I catch his hands before he can strip any further.
27:27A laugh escapes me.
27:28I believe you.
27:29Keep your clothes on, for now.
27:31Edmund's face goes white.
27:32I turn the full weight of my contempt on him.
27:34Edmund.
27:35Was that woman you're doing?
27:37You disgust me.
27:38It wasn't me.
27:40El, how could you think that of me?
27:41I don't bother responding.
27:43Whether it was him or not doesn't matter anymore.
27:45Severin notifies the gathering's organizers, then takes my arm to leave.
27:49Edmund chases us to the door.
27:50Mouth open, still scrambling for words.
27:52The banquet doors explode inward.
27:54A filthy, disheveled shifter woman barrels through the crowd and hurls herself into Edmund's arms.
27:59Edmund!
28:00I'm carrying your child!
28:01You can't throw me away!
28:03I look closer.
28:04She is Dahlia.
28:05The hall drops into dead silence.
28:07Then the whispers begin.
28:08Dahlia doesn't care about appearances.
28:10She wails at full volume in front of every Bloodhouse representative in Eldrath, spilling everything.
28:15This is how I learn what happened after the truth trial.
28:18Edmund severed Dahlia's tail.
28:19Threw her out of Grey Hollow.
28:20Father and mother cut her off entirely, bolted the doors of Thornfield Manor and ignored every plea.
28:26For weeks, Dahlia begged for scraps at the edges of market towns.
28:29Then her belly started to swell.
28:31That is when she realized.
28:33Edmund tries to pry her off.
28:34She locks her arms around his legs like a drowning woman gripping driftwood.
28:37This child is her only leverage.
28:39Her only way back.
28:40Every house representative in the room watches the spectacle with open amusement.
28:44Grey Hollow's disgrace served fresh.
28:46Lord Grey Hollow the Elder arrives, face carved from stone.
28:49To salvage what little dignity remains, he forces the issue.
28:52For the honor of House Grey Holland, take her home.
28:56As they drag Dahlia out, she twists around for one last look at me.
28:59The jealousy and bitterness in her eyes warp her features into something barely human.
29:03Back at Serpent's reach.
29:04Severin draws a hot bath for me.
29:06His fingertips trace along my neck and shoulders.
29:09The serpent blood runs cool.
29:10And somehow that coolness unwinds every knot in my muscles.
29:15When you threw that woman out, you said you'd...
29:17You'd waited seven years for your wife.
29:19What did you mean?
29:21A long pause.
29:22When he speaks, his expression is more open than I've ever seen it.
29:25I've been in love with you for seven years.
29:27Do you remember, years ago, in the deep forest,
29:29you found a small black serpent half dead in the mud?
29:32That was me.
29:33My enemies had hunted me down.
29:34I was wounded, feral, trapped in my beast form.
29:37You saved me with your elixirs.
29:39I was dying.
29:40And then you appeared.
29:41You didn't flinch.
29:42You picked up a Venosemsa serpent with your bare hands and poured your elixirs into its mouth.
29:46I think...
29:47I think I fell for you before I even knew your name.
29:50By the time I found you again, you were already promised to someone else.
29:53I stare at him, Duck.
29:54That little black snake was you.
29:56All these years, I thought it was just a wild serpent.
29:59I never imagined I'd accidentally saved the heir of House Vithyrus.
30:02A thought strikes me.
30:03The man in the serpent mask.
30:05At the runaway carriage.
30:07That was you?
30:08Severin nods.
30:08It was me.
30:09I was late that day.
30:12I should have been there sooner.
30:14I couldn't stop them from hurting your hand.
30:17His healing salve worked flawlessly, not even a scar.
30:20I step forward and wrap my arms around him.
30:22Severin.
30:23He freezes.
30:24Color floods his face, racing down his neck.
30:26He presses my hand to his cheek and holds it there.
30:29And the light in his eyes is so bright he can barely contain it.
30:32Again, please.
30:34After that confession, Severin becomes impossibly clingy.
30:37He caches in every unused rest day he has accumulated over the years and takes me across Eldra.
30:42The warm coastline near Serpent's Reach.
30:45The eastern mountain passes.
30:46Hidden valleys I've only read about in books.
30:49With no sign of Edmund for once.
30:51We have the sweetest stretch of days I can remember.
30:53One winter night.
30:55I find Severin curled by the fireplace.
30:57Serpent blood runs cold.
30:58The chill hits him harder than most.
31:00I walk over and wrap my single remaining tail around him.
31:03He stiffens.
31:04You don't have to.
31:05I want to.
31:07He says nothing more.
31:08Just buries his face in the fur and lets his breathing slow.
31:11That tail keeping him warm.
31:12And the eight made into a cloak.
31:14They're the same thing.
31:15The difference is one was taken.
31:16The other is given.
31:18Rumors about Grey Hollow drift in from time to time.
31:21Dahlia and Edmund fight constantly.
31:23Two people who despise each other.
31:25Chained together by an unborn child.
31:27A kind of forever I suppose.
31:28I think the worst is behind me.
31:30That I can finally have peace.
31:32I am wrong.
31:34Dahlia and Edmund argue on the courtyard steps at Grey Hollow.
31:39Shoving turns to stumbling.
31:40Dahlia falls.
31:42The child is gone.
31:43With her last scrap of value erased.
31:45Lord Grey Hollow the Elder expels Dahlia from the estate.
31:48And Edmund once again appears at my door.
31:51His eyes carry something new.
31:53Something unhinged.
31:54El.
31:55The bond is severed.
31:57The child is gone.
31:59There's nothing standing between us now.
32:02A chill crawls up my spine.
32:04It's not the words.
32:05It's the way he says them like the baby's death is just another obstacle cleared from his path.
32:09I open my mouth to respond.
32:10And Dahlia explodes from the shadows beside the road.
32:13The wall died.
32:13A dagger clenched in her fist.
32:15Aimed straight at me.
32:15Elephant this is your fault.
32:18All of it.
32:21You have one life left.
32:23I took eight.
32:24And I'll take the last.
32:26Edmund's pupils shrink to pinpoints.
32:27He throws himself between us.
32:29The dagger buries itself in his abdomen.
32:31Edmund clutches the wound and crumples.
32:33Blood spills from the corner of his mouth.
32:35That blade.
32:35The healer tells him later.
32:36Has permanently destroyed his ability to sire children.
32:39Royal guards arrive and seize Dahlia on the spot.
32:42While Edmund recovers.
32:43The crown council launches an investigation.
32:45Dahlia's testimony from the truth trial.
32:47Is formally prosecuted.
32:48Eight counts of coercing Aloen into severing her tails.
32:51Attempted enslavement of a bonded mate.
32:53As Thrall.
32:54And years of systematic abuse against Aloen.
32:56Edmund is stripped of his noble title.
32:57And confined to the royal dungeon.
32:59Three years later.
33:00Through relentless work.
33:01I become the most respected alchemist in Eldrath.
33:03The crown council awards me the title of master alchemist.
33:06Severin and I have twins.
33:07Flower daughter inherits my bloodline.
33:09Nine fluffy little tails.
33:10A true nine-tailed fox.
33:11Flower son inherits Severin's.
33:13A pair of tiny emerald slit pupils.
33:15The barren heir of house Vithyrus rumor dies on its own.
33:18A new one takes its place.
33:19Severin Vithyrus does whatever his wife tells him.
33:21During this time.
33:22Father and mother send messengers to serpents reach again and again.
33:25Requesting an audience.
33:26They even deliver a dowry.
33:27Years too late.
33:28I don't see them.
33:29Not once.
33:29My life is full now.
33:30I don't need their discount love anymore.
33:32On the twins naming ceremony.
33:34Nearly every blood house sends a representative.
33:36Gifts arrive in an endless stream.
33:37Severin and I are playing with the children.
33:39When a servant approaches carrying an enormous gift box.
33:42From a visitor not on the guest list.
33:43He delivered it and left.
33:45No name.
33:46Open the box.
33:47Inside rare gemstones.
33:49Enchanted artifacts.
33:50And a document exclusive trade rights to the two wealthiest counties in Greyhallow territory.
33:54At the very bottom beneath everything.
33:56Sits a ring.
33:57The bonding ring I hurled from the city wall into the river.
34:00He found it.
34:00Pulled it from the riverbed dot.
34:01But the ring lost its meaning a long time ago.
34:04I close the box and rewrap it.
34:05Have a rider return this to Greyhower.
34:08And have him deliver a message.
34:10Tell him I bear him no hatred.
34:12I pause.
34:13But we are done.
34:14We have always been done.
34:16After the servant leaves.
34:18Severin wraps his arms around me from behind.
34:20His chin rests on my shoulder.
34:22Are you alright?
34:24I'm fine.
34:25While I lean back into him.
34:28I've been fine for a long time.
34:30That night.
34:31The children are asleep.
34:33I'm holding my daughter.
34:34Pressing a kiss to the tiny soft ears on her forehead.
34:37Her nine little tails twitch in her dreams.
34:39A faint itch prickles at the small of my back.
34:41I look down next to my single remaining tail.
34:44A tuft of new fur.
34:45Pale as spider silk.
34:46Almost invisible.
34:47I go still.
34:48I don't tell anyone.
34:49I just smile.
34:50And hold my daughter a little closer.
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