- 5 hours ago
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Short filmTranscript
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,
00:27glowing 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?
01:17She'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.
02:16El, I know you're angry, but I had no choice.
02:20The serpent court is possessive beyond reason.
02:22Only 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, and Edmund found a reason to postpone.
02:38Again and again.
02:39I am nearly 25 now, and he chose this moment to bond with her.
02:42Two paths stretch before me.
02:43The conscripted match, or 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, I 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,
03:01It would only be in name.
03:04Once you're at Grey Hollow, I treat you the same as Dahlia.
03:07You want for nothing.
03:08I almost laugh.
03:09The audacity, only shifters convicted of serious crimes.
03:12Those with nowhere left to turn, except the thrall brand.
03:15A branded person can be sold by their house at will.
03:18They live beneath everyone, and their children inherit that status forever.
03:21I rip my hand free.
03:23I would sooner walk into a serpent's jewels than wear your brand.
03:26At least the serpent doesn't pretend to love me while he devours me.
03:29Edmund's face darkens, wounded pride twisting into something ugly.
03:32Elowyn!
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.
03:43Dahlia?
03:44A thrall?
03:45She couldn't survive it.
03:46She's too delicate, too gentle.
03:48She deserves to be cherished, not 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 in all of Eldrath.
04:01Strong, resilient, supernaturally fast to heal.
04:04Carrying nine lives.
04:06So father and mother favor her.
04:07And my own betrothed pities her.
04:09Every hurt, every sacrifice, it 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, and he throws one last line over his shoulder as he leaves.
04:19Think it over, El.
04:20You know as well as I do, you have no other options.
04:23After he is gone, I drift downstairs in a daze and find a delivery from House Vytheris waiting
04:28for me.
04:29I open the box.
04:30My breath catches.
04:31A moonstone pendant.
04:32The exact one I lost at auction during the last Merchants Gala.
04:35Warmth spreads through my chest, unbidden.
04:37Maybe marrying Lord Severin isn't a death sentence after all.
04:40The next day, I go to a goldsmith's workshop in Crown City to choose a return gift for Severin.
04:44His beast form is a green-eyed black serpent.
04:46I 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 than nearly anyone in Eldrath.
04:57What exactly do I have to complain about?
04:59Oh my.
05:01How duplecialess of you, sister.
05:04You claim you'd never be Edmund's thrall, yet here you are spending a fortune on his
05:08name day gift.
05:09Such devotion, I could never be so clever.
05:12Dahlia stands there with Edmund's arm linked through hers, wearing 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 to avoid the conscripted match after all.
05:24That 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, and 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, the central branding forge burns with an eternal flame.
06:11Rows of branding irons hang on the walls, each 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, animal broken.
06:21Edmund flinches at the sound, but he still lets Dahlia direct the houseguards to drag
06:25me deeper inside.
06:26In that moment, the Edmund who shielded me as a child, the boy who never let anyone lay
06:30a finger on me, feels like something I imagined.
06:32He is 13, standing between me and danger, eyes bright and fierce.
06:36Touch her again.
06:41Again, and 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.
06:48Let 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.
07:01I haven't even touched Dahlia, but she throws herself backward, acting as though I shoved
07:05her.
07:06The branding iron clatters to the floor.
07:07A single spark grazes the back of her hand.
07:10Not even a mark.
07:11I only wanted to help you avoid the conscripted mat.
07:13And you tried to burn me.
07:18Before I can react, Edmund charges in.
07:20He slams into me.
07:21My body hits the edge of the branding forge.
07:23My 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, and 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, and this is how you repay her?
07:42Apologize to Dalany.
07:43Now!
07:45Edmund.
07:46My hand.
07:47It hurts so much.
07:53The moment I see that cloak, my heart seizes.
07:55A foxtail cloak made from my eight severed tails.
08:00Before all this, Dahlia engineered crisis after crisis, slashing her own skin, faking collapse,
08:06performing Death's Door so convincingly that everyone believed only my life force could
08:09save her.
08:10And I am a nine-tailed fox.
08:12Each tail holds one life.
08:13Under Edmund's pressure, I 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 where he doesn't expect.
08:31How dare you!
08:35Stop!
08:41Who dare touch her?
08:49My eyes open.
08:50Through the narrow slits of the mask, a pair of deep emerald eyes, vertical pupils, unmistakably
08:55serpent, a faint, otherworldly gleam.
08:58I think of the emeralds on that cloak pin.
09:00He sets me down on a stone bench in a nearby courtyard.
09:02Before I can speak, he vanishes around the corner.
09:04I look down.
09:05A small jar of healing salve sits in my palm.
09:07I don't know when he placed it there.
09:09Across the street, Edmund 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, I hurl it into the churning river below.
09:23Two days later, I 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, voices 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, Elinden.
09:42The last illusion I held about them shatters.
09:44My dowry, I prepared it myself.
09:46For years, I made excuses for them.
09:48They forgot.
09:49They were busy.
09:49They'd remember eventually.
09:51They 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, I won't go through with it at all.
09:59Let's see how House Viren 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, like it is a throne.
10:10A glowing red branding iron rests in his hand.
10:12Elevin, the conscripted match takes effect in 30 minutes.
10:15But since you're here, perfect.
10:17You know the rules for a thrust.
10:19Before the brand comes the right.
10:20Kneel, kiss Dahlia's hand, and renounce your freedom before everyone in this hall.
10:25Do that, and I'll take you into Grey Holland.
10:28Edmund's gaze drops to my bonding gown.
10:30He freezes for half a second, then 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, you're embarrassing yourself.
10:37I hold his stare, eye steady.
10:39I'm completing my bonding today, Edmund.
10:41To someone who actually wants me.
10:42You're not invited.
10:43His expression shifts, then snaps back into that benefactor's mask.
10:47Every second you waste, I add another hour on your knees.
10:50Time is running out, El.
10:51I 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, they reach for my bonding gown.
11:02Hands closing around my arms to force me to my knees.
11:05No!
11:05Edmund, I told you!
11:07Today is my bonding!
11:09I'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, unmistakable.
11:21Edmund's gaze climbs to the serpent-patterned mask, then to the man behind it.
11:25The branding iron slips from his hand and rings against the stone floor.
11:28You-you'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, peels the mask away.
11:37The face beneath has never been shown in public.
11:39Sharp 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 Elowan.
11:57Elixir was always hers.
11:58As for Dahlia, only fools like you would fall for someone that pathetic.
12:03The color drains from Edmund's face.
12:04He 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, but 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.
12:28No!
12:28The Elixir is mine!
12:29If the Serpent Court wants to cause trouble, 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, as 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, lifts 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, a truth circle.
12:54Severin speaks with the full authority of the Vytheris heir.
12:57Since this lady insists the elixir is hers, she 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, refusing 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!
13:20She's going to kill me!
13:22Edmund charges forward, face Ashen.
13:24But the Vytheris guards form a wall between them.
13:26Severin's gaze lands on him.
13:28Cold as winter stone.
13:29If she's innocent, the 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.
13:48Her body begins to shake.
13:50Words rip out of her throat like they're being dragged by hooks.
13:53Yes!
13:53Yes!
13:54Yes!
13:54I stole her elixir!
13:56I stole it and I stood on that stage and 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 between 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.
14:11You asked how high.
14:13I pointed at her tails and you, you cut off your toe!
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.
14:25Dahlia's venom swings toward father and mother.
14:28And you two pathetic old fools.
14:29Did you really think the carriage accident was just bad luck?
14:32I 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, grateful little girl named Dahlia.
14:45All 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.
15:06And feel nothing.
15:06The 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.
15:50By 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.
16:12I 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,
16:26when a wolf howl pierces through the walls.
16:28A servant reports.
16:30A 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,
16:55the serpent-shaped mating mark on my palm
16:57and the nine-tailed fox mark on his shoulder ignite.
17:00Simultaneously.
17:01Light floods the entire hall.
17:02Every person in the room holds their breath.
17:05A faded bond.
17:06The destined contract.
17:07Unseen in Eldrath for a hundred years.
17:09After the ceremony,
17:10Orr carriage rolls toward the main castle of Serpent's Reach.
17:13As we pass through the outer gate,
17:15I glance through the carriage window.
17:17A massive silver wolf crouches inside an iron cage.
17:20For a split second,
17:21I think I see a tear slide from one lupine eye.
17:23But the wolf can only watch.
17:25Trapped.
17:26As our carriage disappears down the road.
17:28Bonding night.
17:29The master chamber.
17:30Just the two of us.
17:31I study his face without the mask.
17:33My cheeks flush before I can stop it.
17:35Every rumor about you is wrong.
17:37Severn removes the silver pins and gemstones from my hair.
17:40One by one.
17:41His fingers move so gently,
17:42they don't belong to a man called Savage.
17:45What rumors?
17:46That you're savage.
17:49Hideous.
17:50And...
17:50A soft laugh.
17:52Baron?
17:53Heat rises to my ears.
17:55I open my mouth to reassure him.
17:56And he pulls me into his arms.
17:58Those emerald eyes fix on me.
18:00The vertical pupils dilate slightly.
18:02But he holds himself in check.
18:04Elevin.
18:05Look 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.
18:15Shy and breathless.
18:17You don't have to hold back.
18:19It is not until the bonding ritual begins
18:21that my eyes fly open.
18:23You have two?
18:24Severn's voice comes out rough.
18:26Serpent bloodline.
18:27We have two.
18:29If you don't want...
18:30I kiss him to shut him up.
18:31By the second half of the night,
18:32he proves thoroughly and personally
18:34that the Baron rumor is also a lie.
18:36At the most intimate moment,
18:38our mating marks blaze to life in unison.
18:40A massive wave of emotion crashes into me, not mine.
18:43His pure feeling.
18:44Seven years of solitude.
18:45Seven years of longing.
18:47And one moment lying half dead in the mud,
18:49barely breathing,
18:50when a pair of warm hands lifted him up
18:52and his whole world shifted on its axis.
18:54I cry.
18:55Severn stops immediately,
18:56alarm all over his face.
18:58He thinks he hurt me.
18:59I shake my head.
19:00I felt you.
19:01All 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.
19:11Again and again.
19:13I peel myself off the bed,
19:14legs shaking,
19:15lower back aching,
19:16and 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
19:24tells me he has been there for five days.
19:26Two rainstorms hit during that time.
19:28He knelt through both.
19:29The only thing he asked for
19:31was 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.
19:40I reach for the curtain
19:41and a body with cooler than normal temperature
19:43presses against my back.
19:45What are you looking at?
19:46Severn peers over my shoulder,
19:48sees the scene below his brow creases.
19:50He just won't go away, will he?
19:52At that exact moment,
19:53Edmund looks up as if he senses me.
19:55The instant he sees my face,
19:57something reignites behind his dull eyes
19:59and dies the next second
20:00when Severn tilts my chin up
20:02and gives me a long, slow kiss.
20:04I don't resist.
20:05I wrap my arms around him.
20:06The tenderness of it
20:07sears into Edmund's vision.
20:09Roses scatter from his hands.
20:10He staggers to his feet,
20:12mouth opening to shout to stop it.
20:14But five days without water have stolen his voice.
20:16Nothing comes out.
20:17I 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.
20:23I 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
20:30that used to fill them.
20:31The moment he sees me,
20:32he fumbles at his collar,
20:33yanking it aside to bear the back of his neck.
20:35Where Dahlia's white rabbit mating mark used to sit,
20:38now only a jagged wound.
20:39Raw, half-heeled.
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.
20:51The 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.
21:07I 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.
21:22I'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.
21:39Their tails are gone.
21:40Do mine grow back?
21:41A nine-tailed fox's tails.
21:43Once severed.
21:44Never regenerate.
21:45Ever.
21:45Eight lives.
21:46Gone forever.
21:47Edmund, if 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!
21:57How 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.
22:51All of them.
22:52I am allergic to pollen.
22:53Father.
22:54Mother.
22:54Edmund.
22:54None of them believed me.
22:55They decided I was making it up to spite Dahlia.
22:57I spent years getting dragged to the healer's ward every other week because of those flowers.
23:02I 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.
23:21He barely stays upright.
23:22I take Severin's arm and turn to leave.
23:24Behind us, a rush of footsteps.
23:25Severin pivots to shield me, but Edmund isn't charging at us.
23:29He sprints straight for the serpent's reach training yard and rips the sword from the rack.
23:32Severin Vytheris, I 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
23:42a duel of honor dot.
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.
23:51Serpent 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.
24:23A 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 inched.
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.
24:53The 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.
24:59After the honor duel he was carried to the healer's ward.
25:02Unconscious 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's seeds.
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.
25:25Until one day.
25:26Severin and I attend the gathering of houses.
25:29The 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.
25:42I 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.
25:50He calls out.
25:51Voice shaking.
25:52Oh, I'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.
26:00My 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?
26:13My brow furrows.
26:15That's between me and my husband.
26:16It has nothing to do with you.
26:18Logic tells me Severin would never.
26:19But the unease claws in anyway.
26:21Edmund fans the flames.
26:22Already climbing the spiral staircase of the East Tower.
26:25Top of the East Tower.
26:27See for yourself.
26:28I follow before I realize I'm doing it.
26:30Barely 15 minutes of climbing.
26:32But 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.
26:40He reaches for the handle.
26:42The door opens from the inside first.
26:44Get out.
26:44Whoever sent you tell them I've waited 7 years for my wife.
26:47No 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.
26:54His expression is dark enough to bruise.
26:56His clothes are perfectly intact.
26:58The moment he sees me, the ice cracks.
27:00Gone in a blink.
27:01Elevin.
27:02I didn't touch her.
27:03Someone slipped a lust rasp into my mead.
27:05I saw through it.
27:06Serpent blood is immune to poisons.
27:09I played along to draw them out.
27:10He 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.
27:16I catch his hands before he can strip any further.
27:19A laugh escapes me.
27:21I believe you.
27:21Keep your clothes on, for now.
27:23Edmund's face goes white.
27:25I turn the full weight of my contempt on him.
27:27Edmund, was that woman you're doing?
27:29You disgust me.
27:31It wasn't me.
27:32El, how could you think that of me?
27:34I don't bother responding.
27:35Whether it was him or not doesn't matter anymore.
27:37Severin notifies the gathering's organizers, then takes my arm to leave.
27:41Edmund chases us to the door.
27:42Mouth open, still scrambling for words.
27:44The banquet doors explode inward.
27:46A 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.
27:55I look closer.
27:56She is Dahlia.
27:57The hall drops into dead silence.
27:59Then the whispers begin.
28:00Dahlia doesn't care about appearances.
28:02She wails at full volume in front of every bloodhouse representative in Eldrath, spilling everything.
28:07This is how I learn what happened after the truth trial.
28:10Edmund severed Dahlia's tail.
28:11Threw her out of Grey Hollow.
28:13Father and mother cut her off entirely, bolted the doors of Thornfield Manor and ignored every plea.
28:18For weeks, Dahlia begged for scraps at the edges of market towns.
28:21Then her belly started to swell.
28:23That is when she realized.
28:25Edmund tries to pry her off.
28:26She locks her arms around his legs like a drowning woman gripping driftwood.
28:29This child is her only leverage.
28:31Her only way back.
28:32Every house representative in the room watches the spectacle with open amusement.
28:36Grey Hollow's disgrace served fresh.
28:38Lord Grey Hollow the Elder arrives, face carved from stone.
28:41To salvage what little dignity remains, he forces the issue.
28:44For 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.
28:55Back at Serpent's reach.
28:57Severin draws a hot bath for me.
28:59His fingertips trace along my neck and shoulders.
29:01The serpent blood runs cool.
29:03And somehow that coolness unwinds every knot in my muscles.
29:07When you threw that woman out, you said you'd...
29:09You'd waited seven years for your wife.
29:12What did you mean?
29:13A long pause.
29:14When he speaks, his expression is more open than I've ever seen it.
29:17I've been in love with you for seven years.
29:19Do you remember, years ago, in the deep forest,
29:21you found a small black serpent half dead in the mud?
29:24That was me.
29:25My enemies had hunted me down.
29:26I was wounded, feral, trapped in my beast form.
29:29You saved me with your elixirs.
29:30I was dying.
29:32And then you appeared.
29:33You didn't flinch.
29:34You picked up a venosemza serpent with your bare hands
29:37and poured your elixirs into its mouth.
29:38I think...
29:39I think I fell for you before I even knew your name.
29:41By the time I found you again,
29:43you were already promised to someone else.
29:45I stare at him, Doc.
29:46That little black snake was you?
29:48All these years, I thought it was just a wild serpent.
29:51I never imagined I'd accidentally saved the heir of House Vithyrus.
29:54A thought strikes me.
29:55The man in the serpent mask.
29:57At the runaway carriage.
29:59That was you?
30:00Severin nods.
30:00It was me.
30:01I was late that day.
30:04I should have been there sooner.
30:06I couldn't stop them from hurting your hand.
30:09His healing salve worked flawlessly, not even a scar.
30:12I step forward and wrap my arms around him.
30:14Severin.
30:15He freezes.
30:16Color floods his face, racing down his neck.
30:18He 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.
30:24Again, please.
30:26After that confession, Severin becomes impossibly clingy.
30:29He caches in every unused rest day he has accumulated over the years and takes me across Eldra.
30:34The warm coastline near Serpent's reach.
30:36The eastern mountain passes.
30:38Hidden valleys I've only read about in books.
30:40With no sign of Edmund for once.
30:43We have the sweetest stretch of days I can remember.
30:45One winter night.
30:47I find Severin curled by the fireplace.
30:49Serpent blood runs cold.
30:50The chill hits him harder than most.
30:52I walk over and wrap my single remaining tail around him.
30:55He stiffens.
30:56You don't have to.
30:57I want to.
30:59He says nothing more.
31:00Just buries his face in the fur and lets his breathing slow.
31:03That tail keeping him warm.
31:04And the eight made into a cloak.
31:06They're the same thing.
31:07The difference is one was taken.
31:08The other is given.
31:10Rumors about Grey Hollow drift in from time to time.
31:13Dahlia and Edmund fight constantly.
31:14Two people who despise each other.
31:17Chained together by an unborn child.
31:18A kind of forever I suppose.
31:20I think the worst is behind me.
31:22That I can finally have peace.
31:24I am wrong.
31:26Dahlia and Edmund argue on the courtyard steps at Grey Hollow.
31:30Shoving turns to stumble.
31:32Dahlia falls.
31:33The child is gone.
31:35With her last scrap of value erased.
31:37Lord Grey Hollow the elder expels Dahlia from the estate.
31:40And Edmund once again appears at my door.
31:43His eyes carry something new.
31:45Something unhinged.
31:46El.
31:47The bond is severed.
31:49The child is gone.
31:51There's nothing standing between us now.
31:54A chill crawls up my spine.
31:55It's not the words.
31:57It's the way he says them like the baby's death is just another obstacle cleared from his path.
32:01I open my mouth to respond.
32:02And Dahlia explodes from the shadows beside the road.
32:04The wall died.
32:05A dagger clenched in her fist.
32:06Aimed straight at me.
32:07Elephant!
32:08This is your fault!
32:10All of it!
32:12You have one life left.
32:14I took eight.
32:15And I'll take the last!
32:17Edmund's pupils shrink to pinpoints.
32:19He throws himself between us.
32:21The dagger buries itself in his abdomen.
32:23Edmund clutches the wound and crumples.
32:25Blood spills from the corner of his mouth.
32:26That blade, the healer tells him later, has permanently destroyed his ability to sire children.
32:31Royal guards arrive and seize Dahlia on the spot.
32:33While Edmund recovers, the Crown Council launches an investigation.
32:36Dahlia's testimony from the truth trial is formally prosecuted.
32:40Eight counts of coercing Iloan into severing her tails.
32:43Attempted enslavement of a bonded mate.
32:45A thrall.
32:45And years of systematic abuse against Iloan.
32:48Edmund is stripped of his noble title and confined to the royal dungeon.
32:51Three years later, through relentless work, I become the most respected alchemist in Eldrath.
32:55The Crown Council awards me the title of Master Alchemist.
32:58Severin and I have twins.
32:59Flower daughter inherits my bloodline.
33:01Nine fluffy little tails.
33:02A true nine-tailed fox.
33:03Flower son inherits Severin's.
33:05A pair of tiny emerald slit pupils.
33:06The barren heir of House Vitherus rumor dies on its own.
33:09A new one takes its place.
33:11Severin Vitherus does whatever his wife tells him.
33:13During this time, father and mother send messengers to Serpent's Reach again and again, requesting an audience.
33:17They even deliver a dowry.
33:19Years too late.
33:20I don't see them.
33:20Not once.
33:21My life is full now.
33:22I don't need their discount love anymore.
33:24On the twins naming ceremony.
33:25Nearly every bloodhouse sends a representative.
33:27Gifts arrive in an endless stream.
33:29Severin and I are playing with the children.
33:31When a servant approaches carrying an enormous gift box.
33:33From a visitor not on the guest list.
33:35He delivered it and left.
33:36No name.
33:37Open the box.
33:39Inside rare gemstones.
33:40Enchanted artifacts.
33:42And a document exclusive trade rights to the two wealthiest counties in Greyhallow territory.
33:46At the very bottom beneath everything.
33:48Sits a ring.
33:49The bonding ring I hurled from the city wall into the river.
33:51He found it.
33:52Pulled it from the riverbed dot.
33:53But the ring lost its meaning a long time ago.
33:55I close the box and rewrap it.
33:57Have a rider return this to Greyhallow.
34:00And have him deliver a message.
34:02Tell him I bear him no hatred.
34:04I pause.
34:04But we are done.
34:06We have always been done.
34:08After the servant leaves.
34:09Severin wraps his arms around me from behind.
34:11His chin rests on my shoulder.
34:13Are you alright?
34:15I'm fine.
34:17I lean back into him.
34:19I've been fine for a long time.
34:22That night.
34:23The children are asleep.
34:24I'm holding my daughter.
34:26Pressing a kiss to the tiny soft ears on her forehead.
34:28Her nine little tails twitch in her dreams.
34:31A faint itch prickles at the small of my back.
34:33I look down next to my single remaining tail.
34:35A tuft of new fur.
34:37Pale as spider silk.
34:38Almost invisible.
34:39I go still.
34:40I don't tell anyone.
34:41I just smile.
34:42And hold my daughter a little closer.
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