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The Serpent Lord's Substitute Bride (30eps) - Short Drama Full HD 1080p #VBS
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00:00My adopted sister Dahlia steals my elixir and wins the alchemy trials with it.
00:04Never guessing the prize is marriage to the heir of House Vytheris,
00:07a man rumored to be barren, brutal, and monstrous.
00:10That same night, House Vytheris delivers a bonding contract sealed with a serpent wax crest.
00:15They want the shifter woman who crafted the elixir as their heir's bride.
00:18My betrothed, Edmund, panics.
00:20He rushes through a bonding ritual with Dahlia overnight.
00:23By morning it is done.
00:24Dahlia sways toward me and flashes the silver wolf-shaped mating mark,
00:28glowing on the small of her back.
00:29Your betrothed belongs to me now.
00:32His mark is on my skin.
00:33Whatever will you do, sister?
00:35She tilts her head, that syrup sweet voice.
00:38Your 25th name day is three days away.
00:40The Crown Council will assign you to one of those brutes from the Borderlands.
00:44You know what those men are like?
00:46She is wrong.
00:47I have another option.
00:48I find father and mother in the Great Hall, scrambling to clean up Dahlia's mess.
00:52If Dahlia won't marry the heir of House Vytheris, I will.
00:56Father's hand freezes mid-air.
00:57The bonding contract trembling between his fingers.
01:00Mother's eyes blow wide.
01:01Elevin, have you lost your mind?
01:03Lord Severin is rumored to be barren, bloodthirsty, savage.
01:07They say he nearly tore out a servant's throat when he went feral.
01:11Marrying him is walking into a death trap.
01:13Before I can answer, father clears his throat.
01:16If she doesn't go, what about Dahlia?
01:18She's already bonded to the Grey Hollow boy.
01:20Something shifts behind mother's eyes.
01:22A flicker of conflict.
01:23And her hand slowly releases mine.
01:25My heart goes cold.
01:26I am their true-born daughter.
01:27And still always, they choose the girl who plays helpless.
01:30A bitter laugh scrapes out of me.
01:33But I have one condition.
01:34On the day I leave this house,
01:37Dahlia will confess before all the houses that she stole my elixir.
01:40Father slams his palm on the table.
01:42How can you be so cruel?
01:44You would destroy your own sister's reputation!
01:46Mother stares at me with the same disappointment, as if I am the problem.
01:49The Serpent Lord wants the alchemist who made that era.
01:54Your precious Dahlia can keep the credit, or keep her comfortable life.
01:58She can't have both.
02:00They cave for Dahlia.
02:01Of course they do.
02:02I turn and walk out without hesitation,
02:04and nearly collide with Edmund stepping out of Dahlia's chambers.
02:07Red marks trail down his neck and chest.
02:09The cloying scent of Dahlia's rose oil clings to him so thick it burns my nostrils.
02:13I cover my nose and move to pass him.
02:15He scrambles to block my path.
02:17Oh, I know you're angry.
02:19But I had no choice.
02:20The Serpent Court is possessive beyond reason.
02:23Only a completed bond could make him abandon his claim on her.
02:25There was no other way.
02:26A bitter smile cuts across my lips.
02:29And what about me?
02:30We were supposed to complete our bonding ritual when I turned 20.
02:33But every time the ceremony drew near,
02:35Dahlia found a reason to cry,
02:36and Edmund found a reason to postpone.
02:38Again and again.
02:39I am nearly 25 now,
02:40and he chose this moment to bond with her.
02:42Two paths stretch before me.
02:44The conscripted match,
02:45or the Serpent Lord.
02:46Nothing else.
02:47Guilt flashes across Edmund's face.
02:49He seizes my hand.
02:50I won't let the conscripted match take you!
02:53Listen,
02:53I can have a thrallspan put on you.
02:55You'd live in Grey Hollow under my protection.
02:57You wouldn't have to marry anyone.
02:59He sees my expression change and rushes to add,
03:02It would only be in name.
03:04Once you're at Grey Hollow,
03:05I treat you the same as Dahlia.
03:07You want for nothing.
03:08I almost laugh.
03:09The audacity,
03:10only shifters convicted of serious crimes.
03:13Those with nowhere left to turn,
03:14except the thrall brand.
03:15A branded person can be sold by their house at will.
03:18They live beneath everyone,
03:19and their children inherit that status forever.
03:21I rip my hand free.
03:23I would sooner walk into a serpent's jaws
03:25than wear your brand.
03:26At least the serpent doesn't pretend to love me
03:28while he devours me.
03:29Edmund's face darkens,
03:30wounded pride twisting into something ugly.
03:32Elowen!
03:33Don't you love me?
03:35Is your pride really worth more than being with me?
03:37I fire back without missing a beat.
03:39Oh.
03:40Then why don't you make Dahlia the thrall?
03:42That would save her just as well.
03:44Dahlia?
03:44A thrall?
03:45She couldn't survive it.
03:46She's too delicate,
03:48too gentle.
03:49She deserves to be cherished,
03:50not branded.
03:51Years of swallowed grief surge upward.
03:53My vision blurs.
03:54Because Dahlia is hairkin,
03:55soft,
03:56fragile,
03:56born looking like something that needs protection.
03:58And I am the last nine-tailed fox shifter
04:00in all of Eldrath.
04:02Strong,
04:02resilient,
04:03supernaturally fast to heal,
04:05carrying nine lives.
04:06So father and mother favor her.
04:07And my own betrothed pities her.
04:09Every hurt,
04:10every sacrifice,
04:11it all falls on me.
04:12Because I look like I can take it.
04:13Edmund flinches at the scorn in my eyes.
04:15Shame curdles into anger,
04:16and he throws one last line over his shoulder as he leaves.
04:19Think it over, El.
04:20You know as well as I do,
04:22you have no other options.
04:24After he is gone,
04:25I drift downstairs in a daze
04:26and find a delivery from House Vytheris waiting for me.
04:29I open the box.
04:30My breath catches.
04:31A moonstone pendant,
04:32the exact one I lost at auction
04:33during the last merchant's gala.
04:35Warmth spreads through my chest,
04:36unbidden.
04:37Maybe marrying Lord Severin
04:38isn't a death sentence after all.
04:40The next day,
04:40I go to a goldsmith's workshop in Crown City
04:42to choose a return gift for Severin.
04:44His beast form is a green-eyed black serpent.
04:47I pick a cloak pin shaped like a coiled snake.
04:49Black silver base.
04:50Two emerald eyes.
04:51I allow myself a grim bit of humor.
04:53At least House Vytheris commands more wealth and power
04:55than nearly anyone in Eldrath.
04:57What exactly do I have to complain about?
04:59Oh my.
05:01How duplecialist of you, sister.
05:04You claim you'd never be Edmund's thralth,
05:06yet here you are spending a fortune on his name day gift.
05:09Such devotion,
05:10I could never be so clever.
05:12Dahlia stands there with Edmund's arm linked through hers,
05:15wearing a victor's smile.
05:16That is when I remember.
05:17Today is Edmund's name day.
05:18They think I bought this for him.
05:19So much for your pride.
05:21You're bending the knee
05:22to avoid the conscripted match after all.
05:25That one is hideous.
05:26Get me a wolf.
05:27Silver.
05:28With grey eyes.
05:29Something worthy of my house.
05:30This is for my betrothed.
05:31It has nothing to do with you.
05:34Still putting on a brave face?
05:36You're nearly 25.
05:37The decree takes effect in three days.
05:41Stop pretending you have choices.
05:44Push me further,
05:45and I won't even offer you the brand.
05:48Edmund, darling,
05:50the thrall's hall is right there.
05:52I can't bear seeing my poor sister living in such dread.
05:56Why don't we take care of it today?
05:57You really are too kind, Dahlia.
06:01Well?
06:02Go on.
06:08Inside the thrall hall,
06:09the central branding forge burns with an eternal flame.
06:11Rows of branding irons hang on the walls,
06:13each etched with a different rank symbol.
06:15A glowing red iron presses into a shifter's flesh.
06:18Even the strongest male shifter in the room screams raw.
06:21Animal broken.
06:21Edmund flinches at the sound,
06:23but he still lets Dahlia direct the houseguards
06:25to drag me deeper inside.
06:26In that moment,
06:27the Edmund who shielded me as a child,
06:29the boy who never let anyone lay a finger on me,
06:31feels like something I imagined.
06:32He is 13,
06:33standing between me and danger,
06:35eyes bright and fierce.
06:36Touch her again.
06:41Again,
06:42and I'll shift right here.
06:43That boy doesn't exist anymore.
06:45Dahlia's grip locks around my arm like iron.
06:47Nothing soft about her now.
06:49Let me pick out a nice brand for you, sister.
06:51Her gaze sweeps the wall.
06:52It lands on one iron etched with a broken chain,
06:54the lowest rank.
06:55It means never free.
06:56This one suits you best.
06:58Don't you think, sister?
07:00I wrench free from the guards.
07:02I haven't even touched Dahlia,
07:03but she throws herself backward,
07:04acting as though I shoved her.
07:06The branding iron clatters to the floor.
07:08A single spark raises the back of her hand,
07:10not even a mark.
07:11I only wanted to help you avoid the conscripted match,
07:14and you tried to burn me.
07:18Before I can react,
07:19Edmund charges in.
07:20He slams into me.
07:22My body hits the edge of the branding forge.
07:24My palm presses flat against scorching metal.
07:26Pain crashes through me like a wave.
07:28I can't breathe.
07:29I tear my hand free from the burning surface,
07:31and a new pain explodes across my face.
07:33Edmund's open palm, full force.
07:35The crack echoes through the entire thrall hall.
07:37How could you do this to her?
07:39She begged me to help you,
07:40and this is how you repay her?
07:42Apologize to Dalini.
07:43Now!
07:45Edmund.
07:46My hand.
07:47It hurts so much.
07:53The moment I see that cloak,
07:54my heart seizes.
07:55A foxtail cloak made from my eight-severed tails.
08:00Before all this,
08:01Dahlia engineered crisis after crisis,
08:03slashing her own skin,
08:04faking collapse,
08:06performing death's door so convincingly
08:07that everyone believed
08:08only my life force could save her.
08:10And I am a nine-tailed fox.
08:12Each tail holds one life.
08:13Under Edmund's pressure,
08:15I severed eight tails,
08:16transferred my life force to Dahlia eight times.
08:18Eight lives.
08:19It still wasn't enough.
08:20I did nothing wrong.
08:23And I will not apologize.
08:25Edmund's pupils contract.
08:27Something in my defiance cuts him
08:28where he doesn't expect.
08:32How dare you!
08:35Stop!
08:41Who dare touch her?
08:43Her!
08:49My eyes open.
08:50Through the narrow slits of the mask.
08:52A pair of deep emerald eyes.
08:53Vertical pupils,
08:54unmistakably serpent.
08:56A faint,
08:57otherworldly gleam.
08:58I think of the emeralds on that cloak pin.
09:00He sets me down on a stone bench
09:01in a nearby courtyard.
09:02Before I can speak,
09:03he vanishes around the corner.
09:04I look down.
09:05A small jar of healing salve sits in my palm.
09:08I don't know when he placed it there.
09:09Across the street,
09:10Edmund tenderly smooths Dahlia's windswept hair,
09:12murmuring comfort.
09:13A cold smile tugs at my lips.
09:15I reach for the bonding ring I've carried at my waist,
09:17the one I'd planned to return to him.
09:19I walk to the edge of the city wall.
09:20Without a moment's hesitation,
09:22I hurl it into the churning river below.
09:23Two days later,
09:24I put on the bonding gown sent by house by theorists.
09:27I stand in my room surrounded by a dowry so extravagant.
09:30It doesn't feel real father and mother shuffle in.
09:32They ask,
09:32voices halting,
09:33eyes averted.
09:34If maybe Dahlia doesn't have to confess publicly.
09:36Maybe they could call it a misunderstanding.
09:38Save her some face.
09:39For the honor of our house,
09:41Elinden.
09:42The last illusion I held about them shatters.
09:44My dowry,
09:45I prepared it myself.
09:46For years I made excuses for them.
09:48They forgot.
09:49They were busy.
09:49They'd remember eventually.
09:50They didn't remember a dowry for their own daughter.
09:53But they remembered to come beg on behalf of their favorite.
09:55No.
09:56And if you push me further,
09:57I won't go through with it at all.
09:59Let's see how house Vyrian responds to that.
10:01You wouldn't dare!
10:03A commotion erupts from the great hall below.
10:05I descend the stairs to find Edmund sprawled in the great hall's main chair,
10:09like it is a throne.
10:10A glowing red branding iron rests in his hand.
10:12Elevin,
10:13the conscripted match takes effect in 30 minutes.
10:16But since you're here,
10:17perfect.
10:17You know the rules for a thrust.
10:19Before the brand comes the right,
10:20kneel,
10:21kiss Dahlia's hand,
10:22and renounce your freedom before everyone in this hall.
10:25Do that,
10:26and I'll take you into Grey Holland.
10:28Edmund's gaze drops to my bonding gown.
10:30He freezes for half a second,
10:31then his brow furrows.
10:32Why are you dressed like that?
10:34You think putting on a gown makes you a bride?
10:36Take it off,
10:36you're embarrassing yourself.
10:37I hold his stare,
10:38ice steady.
10:39I'm completing my bonding today,
10:40Edmund,
10:41to someone who actually wants me.
10:42You're not invited.
10:43His expression shifts,
10:45then snaps back into that benefactor's mask.
10:47Every second you waste,
10:48I add another hour on your knees.
10:50Time is running out,
10:51Elf.
10:52I don't mind having someone help you down.
10:55And if you won't kneel on your own.
10:57Grey Hollow retainers step out from every corner.
11:00In full view of the hall,
11:01they reach for my bonding gown,
11:02hands closing around my arms to force me to my knees.
11:05No!
11:06Edmund,
11:06I told you!
11:07Today is my bonding!
11:10I'd like to see anyone in this room try to make my wife kneel.
11:16Edmund's eyes go wide.
11:17The serpent-shaped cloak pin glints at Severin's collar,
11:20bold,
11:20unmistakable.
11:21Edmund's gaze climbs to the serpent-patterned mask,
11:23then to the man behind it.
11:25The branding iron slips from his hand and rings against the stone floor.
11:28You-
11:28You're the heir of House Vytheris?
11:30What do you mean?
11:31The contract was for Dahlia!
11:33She's already bonded to me!
11:34What are you doing here?
11:35Severin reaches up,
11:36peels the mask away.
11:38The face beneath has never been shown in public.
11:40Sharp striking.
11:40Nothing close to the monster from the rumors.
11:42He extends his hand toward me.
11:44Gently.
11:45Dread pools in Edmund's gut.
11:46I place my hand in Severin's palm.
11:48Our fingers lace together.
11:49Tight.
11:50The corner of Severin's mouth lifts.
11:52His voice measured, unhurried.
11:54I never said I wanted Dahlia.
11:55It was always Elowon.
11:57Blixir was always hers.
11:58As for Dahlia,
12:00only fools like you would fall for someone that pathetic.
12:02The color drains from Edmund's face.
12:05He doesn't understand.
12:06Whispers ripple through the great hall.
12:08People are already questioning whether the trial elixir was really Dahlia's at all.
12:12Dahlia goes white.
12:13Her hand drifts toward her eyes on instinct,
12:16but I speak first,
12:17turning to father and mother at the foot of the stairs.
12:19Father.
12:20Mother.
12:21Don't forget what you promised me.
12:22Mother leans close and murmurs something in Dahlia's ear.
12:25Dahlia shrieks like a stepped-on cat.
12:27No, the elixir is mine!
12:29If the serpent court wants to cause trouble,
12:31then that's your problem!
12:32I'm bonded now!
12:33What happens to house Thornwood is no longer my concern!
12:35Father and mother stare at her,
12:36as if they're seeing her for the first time.
12:38A cold laugh escapes me.
12:40Dahlia has always been this person.
12:42They were just too blinded by their own favoritism to notice.
12:45Severin clicks his tongue.
12:46Lifts one hand.
12:47Ancient runes blaze to life across the stone floor.
12:50Light pours from the cracks.
12:51Tracing a perfect circle at Dahlia's feet,
12:53a truth circle.
12:54Severin speaks with the full authority of the Vytheris heir.
12:57Since this lady insists the elixir is hers,
13:00she has nothing to fear.
13:02Step into the circle and prove it.
13:04Every drop of blood leaves Dahlia's face.
13:06She stumbles back half a step.
13:08She can refuse.
13:09But in Eldrath,
13:10refusing a truth trial is the same as a guilty plea.
13:13Every eye in the hall is on her.
13:14Dahlia's scream dissolves into sobs.
13:16Tears pour down.
13:17The picture of helplessness.
13:19Edmund!
13:20Help me!
13:21She's going to kill me!
13:22Edmund charges forward,
13:23face Ashen.
13:24But the Vytheris guards form a wall between them.
13:27Severin's gaze lands on him.
13:28Cold as winter stone.
13:29If she's innocent,
13:30the circle will prove it.
13:33Unless you already know she isn't.
13:35Edmund's feet root to the floor.
13:36A terrible certainty begins to take shape.
13:38The kind he has spent years refusing to look at.
13:41Dahlia is pushed into the truth circle.
13:43At first she clamps her jaw shut,
13:45fights it with everything she has.
13:47But the runes glow brighter.
13:49Her body begins to shake.
13:50Words rip out of her throat
13:51like they're being dragged by hooks.
13:53Yes!
13:54Yes!
13:54Yes!
13:54I stole her elixir!
13:56I stole it and I stood on that stage
13:58and I smiled while everyone applauded!
14:00Her voice splinters.
14:01The circle's power drives her on.
14:03She turns to Edmund.
14:04Her lips twist into something
14:05between a sneer and a snarl.
14:07Did you true believe I loved you?
14:08You were the most obedient dog on my leash.
14:11I said jump.
14:12You asked how high.
14:13I pointed at her tails
14:14and you, you cut off yourself!
14:16Edmund's temple pulses.
14:17His whole body trembles.
14:18But all he does is step back
14:20like someone pulled the bones out of him.
14:22You, everything, all of it was...
14:25He can't finish.
14:26Dahlia's venom swings toward father and mother.
14:28And you two pathetic old fools.
14:30Did you really think the carriage accident
14:31was just bad luck?
14:33I cut the reins.
14:34I watched the carriage go off the road.
14:35Then I ran down the hill screaming for help
14:37and you, you thanked me!
14:38You took me in!
14:39The carriage accident.
14:41Years ago.
14:41The very reason father and mother adopted the homeless.
14:44Grateful little girl named Dahlia.
14:46All of it, staged from the start.
14:47Father's face turns the color of ash.
14:49He sways.
14:50A servant catches him.
14:51Mother's eyes were tenderness lived moments ago.
14:53Flood with raw, consuming hatred.
14:55She lunges forward and strikes Dahlia across the face.
14:58Twice.
14:58You treacherous, ungrateful wretch!
15:02The hall erupts into chaos.
15:03I watch it all.
15:04The truth laid bare at last and feel nothing.
15:07The satisfaction I expected doesn't come.
15:09Severin senses the shift in me.
15:10His hand tightens around mine.
15:13Come home with me, Elowyn.
15:15I'll be your family now.
15:19Okay.
15:20I step toward the carriage.
15:21Edmund crashes through the crowd behind me.
15:23El, I was wrong!
15:24Don't go with him!
15:25Please!
15:25Eyes wild and red-rimmed pathetic.
15:27I love you!
15:28I see it now!
15:29It was always you!
15:30She deceived me!
15:31His regret isn't worth the dirt on my shoes.
15:33My gaze drifts to the white rabbit mating mark visible on his throat.
15:36The mark that surfaced when his bond with Dahlia sealed.
15:38My voice is perfectly flat.
15:41I think you two deserve each other.
15:43May your bond hold forever.
15:45His face crumbles.
15:46I don't linger on it.
15:47I step into the carriage and pull the door shut.
15:49Edmund lunges after me.
15:51By theorist guards close rank around him like a steel curtain.
15:53He claws at the mating mark on his neck.
15:55Scratching, tearing, and screams after the departing carriage.
15:58El, I won't give up!
16:00I'll do the severing!
16:02I'll break the bond!
16:03I'll come back to you!
16:07Severin holds the bonding ceremony at the Serpent's Reach Castle.
16:10Grand lavish.
16:11Every detail curated.
16:13I am allergic to pollen, but I love flowers.
16:15The entire hall blooms with crystal flowers crafted by alchemists.
16:19Every petal, every stamen, impossibly lifelike.
16:22Not a grain of pollen in the air.
16:24I am still wondering how Severin knows my preferences, when a wolf howl pierces through
16:28the walls.
16:29A servant reports, a massive wolf in feral shift is clawing at the castle's iron gate.
16:33I pause.
16:34Shifters only trigger a full shift under extreme duress.
16:37Edmund didn't shift when he learned the truth about Dahlia.
16:40He shifted when he saw my bonding ceremony.
16:42Once, I might have read that as proof he cared more about me.
16:45Now, I just find it absurd.
16:47You don't get to go mad over something you threw away.
16:50Severin and I exchange bonding vows before the gathered witnesses.
16:53The moment his hand takes mine, the serpent-shaped mating mark on my palm, and the nine-tailed
16:58fox mark on his shoulder ignite, simultaneously.
17:01Light floods the entire hall.
17:03Every person in the room holds their breath.
17:05A faded bond, the destined contract.
17:07Unseen in Eldrath for a hundred years.
17:09After the ceremony, oar carriage rolls toward the main castle of Serpent's Reach.
17:13As we pass through the outer gate, I glance through the carriage window.
17:17A massive silver wolf crouches inside an iron cage.
17:19For a split second, I think I see a tear slide from one lupine eye, but the wolf can only
17:24watch, trapped, as our carriage disappears down the road.
17:28Bonding night, the master chamber, just the two of us.
17:31I study his face without the mask, my cheeks flush before I can stop it.
17:35Every rumor about you is wrong.
17:37Severin removes the silver pins and gemstones from my hair, one by one.
17:41His fingers move so gently, they don't belong to a man called Savage.
17:45What rumors?
17:46That you're savage, hideous, and…
17:50A soft laugh.
17:52Baron?
17:53Heat rises to my ears.
17:55I open my mouth to reassure him, and he pulls me into his arms.
17:58Those emerald eyes fix on me.
18:00The vertical pupils dilate slightly, but he holds himself in check.
18:04Elevin, look at me.
18:06His voice drops low.
18:07We stop whenever you say.
18:09I have waited seven years.
18:11I can wait seven more.
18:12Something in those eyes undoes me.
18:14I nod, shy and breathless.
18:17You don't have to hold back.
18:19It is not until the bonding ritual begins that my eyes fly open.
18:23You have two?
18:24Severin's voice comes out rough.
18:26Serpent bloodline, we have two, if you don't want…
18:30I kiss him to shut him up.
18:31By the second half of the night, he proves, thoroughly and personally, that the barren rumor
18:35is also a lie.
18:36At the most intimate moment, our mating marks blaze to life in unison.
18:40A massive wave of emotion crashes into me, not mine.
18:43His pure feeling, seven years of solitude, seven years of longing, and one moment lying
18:48half dead in the mud, barely breathing, when a pair of warm hands lifted him up, and his
18:52whole world shifted on its axis.
18:54I cry.
18:55Severin stops immediately, alarm all over his face.
18:58He thinks he hurt me.
18:59I shake my head.
19:00I felt you.
19:02All of it.
19:03All those years.
19:04It takes five full days for the bond to stabilize.
19:07I nearly trigger a full shift.
19:09My ears and tail popping out uncontrollably, again and again.
19:13I peel myself off the bed, legs shaking, lower back aching, and hear a commotion outside.
19:18I push open the window and look down.
19:19Edmund kneels at the castle gate.
19:21A massive bouquet of roses clutched to his chest.
19:23A maid sweeping the corridor tells me he has been there for five days.
19:27Two rainstorms hit during that time.
19:28He knelt through both.
19:29The only thing he asked for was someone to swap out the wilted roses for fresh ones.
19:34All I feel is irritation.
19:35Who is this performance for?
19:37I have a new life.
19:38Edmund's self-righteous penance is nothing but noise.
19:41I reach for the curtain, and a body with cooler than normal temperature presses against
19:44my back.
19:45What are you looking at?
19:47Severin peers over my shoulder, sees the scene below his brow creases.
19:50He just won't go away, will he?
19:52At that exact moment, Edmund looks up, as if he senses me.
19:55The instant he sees my face, something reignites behind his dull eyes.
19:59And dies the next second, when Severin tilts my chin up, and gives me a long slow kiss.
20:04I don't resist.
20:05I wrap my arms around him.
20:06The tenderness of it, sears into Edmund's vision.
20:09Roses scatter from his hands.
20:10He staggers to his feet, mouth opening to shout to stop it.
20:14But five days without water have stolen his voice.
20:16Nothing comes out.
20:18I expect Edmund to give up.
20:19Instead he is at the gate again the next day.
20:21And the next.
20:22I can't take it anymore.
20:24I go down to face him.
20:25Edmund has lost significant weight.
20:27Pale dark hollows under his eyes.
20:29His robes hang loose on a frame that used to fill them.
20:31The moment he sees me, he fumbles at his collar, yanking it aside to bare the back of his neck.
20:36Where Dahlia's white rabbit mating mark used to sit.
20:38Now only a jagged wound.
20:39Raw.
20:40Half healed.
20:41A slab of flesh carved away.
20:42He forces a desperate, eager smile.
20:45El, I did the severing ritual.
20:47The mark is gone.
20:49I'm clean now.
20:50We can start over.
20:52The severing ritual is one of Eldrath's most dangerous rites.
20:55It tears the bond from the soul itself.
20:57The pain is said to rival being flayed alive.
20:59Three out of ten who attempt it die on the ritual table.
21:02And the mark goes deep, down to muscle and bone.
21:04Removing it completely means cutting away an entire section of flesh.
21:08I look at the mangled mess of his neck.
21:09Surprised he went this far.
21:10But only surprised.
21:12Nothing more.
21:12My silence gives him hope.
21:14He pulls out two severed pieces of fur.
21:17I look closer.
21:18A silver gray wolf tail.
21:20A white rabbit tail.
21:21Anguish contorts his face.
21:23I'm sorry El.
21:24I was a monster.
21:25I understand now.
21:27I understand what you went through.
21:28I severed my own tail.
21:30And hers.
21:31To atone.
21:33Forgive me.
21:34I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you.
21:37Nothing stirs inside me.
21:39Not a ripple.
21:40Their tails are gone.
21:41Do mine grow back?
21:42A nine-tailed fox's tails.
21:43Once severed.
21:44Never regenerate.
21:45Ever.
21:45Eight lives.
21:46Gone forever.
21:47Edmund.
21:48If you truly want to make amends, stop coming here.
21:50Stop making your guilt my burden to carry.
21:53I am bonded to Severin.
21:55We are happy.
21:56You're lying!
21:58How could you bond with someone else?
22:01Edmund runs to his carriage and hauls out a bouquet of roses.
22:07El, look.
22:08I brought your favorite roses.
22:09Before he can get within arm's reach, a boot kicks the bouquet out of his hands.
22:14Petals explode across the cobblestones.
22:16Severin stands between us.
22:18His emerald slit pupils have contracted to razor.
22:20Thin lines.
22:21Edmund snarls.
22:22What gives you the right to kick away my flowers?
22:25Severin's voice cuts like a blade dipped in frost.
22:27You claim to love her, yet you bring her the one thing that makes her suffer.
22:31How very consistent of you.
22:33The blood drains from Edmund's face.
22:37I'm sorry, El.
22:38I didn't mean to.
22:39I thought you...
22:40He thought I liked roses.
22:41The one who likes roses has always been Dahlia.
22:43And Dahlia doesn't even care about them that much.
22:45She just enjoys watching me break out in hives.
22:48Every time Dahlia graciously regifted Edmund's roses to me, I told them.
22:52All of them.
22:52I am allergic to pollen.
22:53Father.
22:54Mother.
22:54Edmund.
22:54None of them believed me.
22:56They decided I was making it up to spite Dahlia.
22:58I spent years getting dragged to the healer's ward every other week because of those flowers.
23:01I look at Edmund, hollowed out, unraveling, and feel nothing warm at all.
23:06You cut eight tails from my body.
23:08You made a cloak of my lives and draped it over the woman who orchestrated every wound.
23:12And now you stand here with flowers I'm allergic to, asking me to forgive you.
23:17Tell me, Edmund.
23:18In all of that, did you ever actually see me?
23:20Edmund's knees buckle, he barely stays upright.
23:22I take Severin's arm and turn to leave.
23:24Behind us, a rush of footsteps.
23:26Severin pivots to shield me, but Edmund isn't charging at us.
23:29He sprints straight for the serpent's reached training yard and rips the sword from the rack.
23:32Severin Vytheris!
23:34I challenge me to an honor duel for Elevan!
23:36An honor duel.
23:37In Eldrath, when a shifter believes another has taken his mate, he has the right to demand a duel of
23:42honor.
23:43Edmund half-shifts.
23:44Goes all out, lupine fury, raw power.
23:47Wolf blood is built for brute force and explosive speed.
23:50Severin barely tries to, so then speed erases every advantage the wolf has.
23:54Each of Edmund's lunges hits empty air, nothing but a calm sidestep.
24:03One strike.
24:04Severin pins him to the ground.
24:06Scales ripple across his neck.
24:08Those cold-slit people stare down.
24:14Suffering for her doesn't mean you loved her.
24:17It just means you only know how to think about yourself.
24:21Edmund collapses.
24:22Broken ribs, a wolf-like rasp shudders through his chest.
24:25He lifts his head toward me.
24:26Now, now I know what it feels like.
24:29Does that, does that count for anything?
24:32I give him one look.
24:33Just one.
24:33Then I walk to Severin and press my fingers to the scales that have surfaced along his neck.
24:37Raised by anger, hard as armor dot under my touch, they recede.
24:41Smooth skin returns, inch by inch.
24:44Severin goes still.
24:45Then he bows his head and rests his forehead against my palm.
24:48I take his hand.
24:49I don't look back dot Edmund watches from the ground.
24:52The way she touches Severin's face.
24:54The way her eyes soften.
24:55She has never looked at him like that.
24:57Not once.
24:57The next I hear of Edmund is three days later.
25:00After the honor duel, he was carried to the healer's ward.
25:03Unconscious for a full day and night before waking.
25:05This time, he drops the desperate siege tactics.
25:07Instead, he starts appearing at every place I frequent.
25:10Engineering coincidences.
25:11The herb market in Crown City.
25:13The alchemy workshops.
25:14Even the small towns near Serpent's Reach.
25:17Severin cedes.
25:18He stays glued to my side.
25:19And every time he senses Edmund nearby, his pupils narrow to vertical slits.
25:23A clear, unmistakable warning.
25:26Until one day.
25:27Severin and I attend the Gathering of Houses, the annual formal assembly of all the Blood Houses.
25:31Severin needs to discuss territory matters with Allied House representatives.
25:35We separate briefly.
25:36I sit alone at a long table in the corner of the banquet hall.
25:39Picking at a slice of cake.
25:40When a shadow falls over me, I look up.
25:43Edmund stands in front of me.
25:44I have no idea when he got this close.
25:46I stand to leave.
25:47How did I never notice how revolting he is?
25:49The contempt in my eyes wounds him.
25:51He calls out.
25:51Voice shaking.
25:52Elle.
25:53I'm not here to bother you.
25:55I just thought you should know.
25:57Severin went into the East Tower with a woman just now.
26:01My step falters.
26:02I glance instinctively toward where Severin was sitting.
26:04Only his Allied House representative remains.
26:07Drinking alone.
26:08Edmund moves closer.
26:09He does this right under your nose.
26:12And you're still going to stay with him?
26:14My brow furrows.
26:15That's between me and my husband.
26:17It has nothing to do with you.
26:18Logic tells me Severin would never.
26:20But the unease claws in anyway.
26:22Edmund fans the flames.
26:23Already climbing the spiral staircase of the East Tower.
26:26Top of the East Tower.
26:27See for yourself.
26:29I follow before I realize I'm doing it.
26:31Barely 15 minutes of climbing.
26:33But it feels like an eternity.
26:34What if Severin really?
26:35My thoughts tangle.
26:36Before I know it, I'm standing in front of the Tower Chamber door.
26:39Edmund's face is alight.
26:41He reaches for the handle.
26:42The door opens from the inside first.
26:44Get out!
26:45Whoever sent you tell them I've waited seven years for my wife.
26:48No one is taking that from me.
26:49A scantily dressed shifter woman stumbles out of the room.
26:52Thrown.
26:52Not walking.
26:53Severin stands in the doorway.
26:55His expression is dark enough to bruise.
26:57His clothes are perfectly intact.
26:59The moment he sees me, the ice cracks.
27:01Gone in a blink.
27:01Elevon.
27:03I didn't touch her.
27:04Someone slipped a lust rasp into my mead.
27:06I saw through it.
27:07Serpent blood is immune to poisons.
27:09I played along to draw them out.
27:11He tugs his collar open.
27:12You don't believe me.
27:13Check for yourself.
27:14There isn't a mark on me that isn't yours.
27:17I catch his hands before he can strip any further.
27:19A laugh escapes me.
27:21I believe you.
27:22Keep your clothes on, for now.
27:24Edmund's face goes white.
27:25I turn the full weight of my contempt on him.
27:27Edmund.
27:28Was that woman you're doing?
27:29You disgust me.
27:31It wasn't me.
27:32Elle, how could you think that of me?
27:34I don't bother responding.
27:35Whether it was him or not doesn't matter anymore.
27:38Severin notifies the gathering's organizers, then takes my arm to leave.
27:41Edmund chases us to the door.
27:43Mouth open, still scrambling for words.
27:45The banquet doors explode in.
27:47A filthy, disheveled shifter woman barrels through the crowd and hurls herself into Edmund's arms.
27:51Edmund!
27:52I'm carrying your child!
27:54You can't throw me away!
27:56I look closer.
27:57She is Dahlia.
27:58The hall drops into dead silence.
27:59Then the whispers begin.
28:01Dahlia doesn't care about appearances.
28:03She wails at full volume in front of every bloodhouse representative in Eldrath, spilling everything.
28:08This is how I learn what happened after the truth trial.
28:10Edmund severed Dahlia's tail.
28:12Threw her out of Grey Hollow.
28:13Father and mother cut her off entirely.
28:15Bolted the doors of Thornfield Manor and ignored every plea.
28:18For weeks, Dahlia begged for scraps at the edges of market towns.
28:22Then her belly started to swell.
28:24That is when she realized.
28:25Edmund tries to pry her off.
28:27She locks her arms around his legs like a drowning woman gripping driftwood.
28:30This child is her only leverage.
28:32Her only way back.
28:33Every house representative in the room watches the spectacle with open amusement.
28:37Grey Hollow's disgrace served fresh.
28:39Lord Grey Hollow the Elder arrives, face carved from stone.
28:42To salvage what little dignity remains, he forces the issue.
28:45For the honor of House Grey Holland, take her home.
28:48As they drag Dahlia out, she twists around for one last look at me.
28:51The jealousy and bitterness in her eyes warp her features into something barely human.
28:56Back at Serpent's reach, Severin draws a hot bath for me.
28:59His fingertips trace along my neck and shoulders.
29:02The Serpent blood runs cool, and somehow that coolness unwinds every knot in my muscles.
29:07When you threw that woman out, you said you'd, you'd waited seven years for your wife.
29:12What did you mean?
29:14A long pause.
29:15When he speaks, his expression is more open than I've ever seen it.
29:18I've been in love with you for seven years.
29:19Do you remember, years ago, in the deep forest, you found a small black serpent half dead in the mud?
29:24That was me.
29:25My enemies had hunted me down.
29:27I was wounded, feral, trapped in my beast form.
29:30You saved me with your elixirs.
29:31I was dying.
29:32And then you appeared.
29:34You didn't flinch.
29:35You picked up a Venosemsa Serpent with your bare hands and poured your elixirs into its mouth.
29:39I think...
29:40I think I fell for you before I even knew your name.
29:42By the time I found you again, you were already promised to someone else.
29:46I stare at him, Doc.
29:47That little black snake was you?
29:49All these years, I thought it was just a wild serpent.
29:51I never imagined I'd accidentally saved the heir of House Vithyrus.
29:55A thought strikes me.
29:56The man in the serpent mask.
29:58At the runaway carriage.
29:59That was you?
30:00Severin nods.
30:01It was me.
30:02I was late that day.
30:04I should have been there sooner.
30:07I couldn't stop them from hurting your hand.
30:10His healing salve worked flawlessly.
30:12Not even a scar.
30:12I step forward and wrap my arms around him.
30:14Severin.
30:15He freezes.
30:17Color floods his face, racing down his neck.
30:19He presses my hand to his cheek and holds it there.
30:21And the light in his eyes is so bright he can barely contain it.
30:25Again, please.
30:27After that confession, Severin becomes impossibly clingy.
30:30He caches in every unused rest day he has accumulated over the years and takes me across Eldra.
30:35The warm coastline near Serpent's Reach.
30:37The eastern mountain passes.
30:39Hidden valleys I've only read about in books.
30:41With no sign of Edmund for once.
30:43We have the sweetest stretch of days I can remember.
30:46One winter night.
30:47I find Severin curled by the fireplace.
30:50Serpent blood runs cold.
30:51The chill hits him harder than most.
30:53I walk over and wrap my single remaining tail around him.
30:56He stiffens.
30:57You don't have to.
30:58I want to.
30:59He says nothing more.
31:01Just buries his face in the fur and lets his breathing slow.
31:03That tail keeping him warm.
31:05And the eight made into a cloak.
31:07They're the same thing.
31:07The difference is one was taken.
31:09The other is given.
31:11Rumors about Grey Hollow drift in from time to time.
31:14Dahlia and Edmund fight constantly.
31:16Two people who despise each other.
31:17Chained together by an unborn child.
31:19A kind of forever I suppose.
31:21I think the worst is behind me.
31:23That I can finally have peace.
31:25I am wrong.
31:27Dahlia and Edmund argue on the courtyard steps at Grey Hollow.
31:31Shoving turns to stumble.
31:33Dahlia fall.
31:34Value erased.
31:35Lord Grey Hollow the Elder expels Dahlia from the estate.
31:38And Edmund once again appears at my door.
31:40His eyes carry something new.
31:42Something unhinged.
31:43El.
31:45The bond is severed.
31:47The child is gone.
31:49There's nothing standing between us now.
31:52A chill crawls up my spine.
31:53It's not the words.
31:54It's the way he says them like the baby's death is just another obstacle cleared from his path.
31:58I open my mouth to respond.
32:00And Dahlia explodes from the shadows beside the road.
32:02The wall died.
32:03A dagger clenched in her fist.
32:04Aimed straight at me.
32:05Elephant!
32:06This is your fault!
32:08All of it!
32:10You have one life left!
32:12I took eight!
32:13And I'll take the last!
32:15Edmund's pupils shrink to pinpoints.
32:17He throws himself between us.
32:18The dagger buries itself in his abdomen.
32:20Edmund clutches the wound and crumples.
32:22Blood spills from the corner of his mouth.
32:24That blade, the healer tells him later, has permanently destroyed his ability to sire children.
32:28Royal guards arrive and seize Dahlia on the spot.
32:31While Edmund recovers, the Crown Council launches an investigation.
32:34Dahlia's testimony from the truth trial is formally prosecuted.
32:38Eight counts of coercing Elowen into severing her tails.
32:41Attempted enslavement of a bonded mate as Thrall.
32:43And years of systematic abuse against Elowen.
32:45Edmund is stripped of his noble title.
32:47And confined to the royal dungeon.
32:49Three years later, through relentless work.
32:51I become the most respected alchemist in Eldrath.
32:53The Crown Council awards me the title of Master Alchemist.
32:56Severin and I have twins.
32:57Flower daughter inherits my bloodline.
32:58Nine fluffy little tails.
33:00A true nine-tailed fox.
33:01Flower son inherits Severin's.
33:02A pair of tiny emerald-slit pupils.
33:04The barren heir of House Vithyrus rumor dies on its own.
33:07A new one takes its place.
33:08Severin Vithyrus does whatever his wife tells him.
33:10During this time, father and mother send messengers to Serpent's Reach again and again.
33:14Requesting an audience.
33:15They even deliver a dowry.
33:17Years too late.
33:17I don't see them.
33:18Not once.
33:19My life is full now.
33:20I don't need their discount love anymore.
33:21On the twins naming ceremony.
33:23Nearly every bloodhouse sends a representative.
33:25Gifts arrive in an endless stream.
33:27Severin and I are playing with the children.
33:28When a servant approaches carrying an enormous gift box.
33:31From a visitor not on the guest list.
33:33He delivered it and left.
33:34No name.
33:35He opened the box.
33:37Inside, rare gemstones.
33:38Enchanted artifacts.
33:40And a document exclusive trade rights to the two wealthiest counties in Greyhullo territory.
33:44At the very bottom, beneath everything, sits a ring.
33:46The bonding ring I hurled from the city wall into the river.
33:49He found it.
33:50Pulled it from the riverbed dot.
33:51But the ring lost its meaning a long time ago.
33:53I close the box and rewrap it.
33:55Have a rider return this to Greyhullo.
33:58And have him deliver a message.
34:00Tell him I bear him no hatred.
34:01I pause.
34:02But we are done.
34:03We have always been done.
34:06After the servant leaves, Severin wraps his arms around me from behind.
34:09His chin rests on my shoulder.
34:11Are you alright?
34:13I'm fine.
34:15While I lean back into him.
34:17I've been fine for a long time.
34:20Dirt that night.
34:21The children are asleep.
34:22I'm holding my daughter.
34:24Pressing a kiss to the tiny, soft ears on her forehead.
34:26Her nine little tails twitch in her dreams.
34:28A faint itch prickles at the small of my back.
34:31I look down next to my single remaining tail.
34:33A tuft of new fur.
34:35Pale as spider silk.
34:36Almost invisible.
34:37I go still.
34:38I don't tell anyone.
34:39I just smile.
34:40And hold my daughter a little closer.
34:41I look up here.
34:41We can do other things like this role today.
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