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Watch full-length drama films featuring powerful business leaders, hidden identities, family secrets, impossible love stories, revenge, and inspiring personal journeys. Every movie delivers engaging storytelling and memorable characters.
Enjoy high-quality drama entertainment with English subtitles and discover new trending stories uploaded on a regular basis.
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00:00They forgot my name. My six older brothers, my mother, and my father, all of them forgot.
00:07So tonight, 11 minutes before midnight, I'm going to take my motorcycle and disappear for good.
00:13Happy birthday to me. My name is Aurora Kane. They used to call me Rory.
00:18Our family controlled the most elite private security empire on this side of the Atlantic.
00:22Then I turned 17. My family threw me a party and gave me this motorcycle.
00:27That night, I went to bed, feeling like the luckiest girl in the world.
00:31The next morning, I woke up invisible.
00:35I shut off the engine and pushed the motorcycle slowly down the gravel drive.
00:39I passed the still-lit west wing and avoided the security cameras.
00:42I stopped at the edge of the trees and looked back.
00:45Just this once, I allowed myself that.
00:47Goodbye. I know none of you will miss me.
00:50Then I flipped the ignition and my Harley roared to life.
00:53I knew exactly where every guard was posted that night.
00:56I knew which shift was understaffed on Thursdays, and which gate's camera had been broken since April.
01:01After all, I was the only person in the entire Kane family who bothered to learn these things.
01:06I hit the north road at 60 miles an hour and drove out of my father's property, without triggering a
01:11single alarm.
01:12In less than 9 minutes, I would turn 18.
01:15No one in Blackwater Mantra knew.
01:18What could a 17-year-old girl have done to make her mother refuse to look at her?
01:21Her father stopped speaking to her.
01:23And even the six older brothers who used to fight over, who got to teach me how to ride a
01:27motorcycle, treat me like a ghost?
01:30I'd spent 365 days trying to find the answer.
01:33And I had nothing.
01:35Six weeks ago, I went to the family archives, where every Kane is recorded from birth to burial.
01:40I found my own file.
01:41Fourteen pages chronicled my childhood.
01:43Report cards, vaccine records, every entry in my father's handwriting.
01:47The last line of the file was written on my 17th birthday.
01:51Aurora K. Kane, 17.
01:53No further record.
01:54The moment I read that sentence, I stopped hoping.
01:57I twisted the throttle harder.
01:59The highway opened up in front of me, black and gold.
02:03The strange feeling rose in my chest, like the hand that had been around my tech had finally let go.
02:08At 11.58, my watch vibrated.
02:11Two minutes until legal adulthood.
02:12Then the whole world exploded.
02:15Not the road collapsing.
02:17Sound.
02:18Crickets in the ditch.
02:19The heartbeat of a deer three acres away.
02:20The off-keck voice of a truck driver two miles away.
02:23Singing country radio.
02:26Thousands of sounds crashed into my mind all at once.
02:29So loud, I almost lost control of the bike.
02:31I swerved to the side of the roads, took off my helmet, and clamped my hands over my ears.
02:36The sounds faded slowly, like someone turning down the volume on the whole world.
02:42Beneath all that noise, from somewhere far behind me, I heard my father's voice.
02:47Clear as if he were standing right over my shoulder.
02:50No matter what happens tomorrow, she must never find out the truth.
02:54If Rory learns the truth before then, she won't live to see Sunday.
03:01I sat there on the motorcycle seat for 20 full minutes, waiting to hear the voice again.
03:06But nothing came.
03:09Only crickets chipping, and my own heartbeat.
03:12I told myself it was a hallucination.
03:14Lack of sleep, too much adrenaline.
03:16A girl running away in the middle of the night, shouldn't trust voices in her head.
03:21So I climbed back onto the bike, and let my thoughts drift back over this entire year.
03:25Every single humiliating moment.
03:27Every second of it.
03:29It had all started the morning after my 17th birthday.
03:32I woke up smiling.
03:34I showered, braided my hair, put on mascara, the night before people had said I looked pretty.
03:39I was 17, naive and happy back then.
03:42Then I walked out to the family floor, and it was empty.
03:46My father's suite, my mother's study, the six bedrooms down the East Hall, all empty.
03:51I made breakfast all by myself, and sat alone at the nine-person island table to eat.
03:56I told myself they were letting me sleep in.
03:59Downstairs, the staff who'd watched me grow up glanced at me strangely and quickly looked away.
04:04My father's office door was shut, a door that had never been closed to me before.
04:12At lunch, the rest of the family filed in and sat all around me, but no one spoke.
04:17Everyone kept their phones under the table, staring down at their plates.
04:22Ten people at one table, having a whole conversation I was completely locked out of.
04:27Mom, when is our Wednesday date?
04:29She didn't even lift her eyelids.
04:31Halfway through the meal, she got up and left the room with the operations director.
04:36I told myself, she's just having a bad day.
04:39I clung to that thought for three whole months.
04:42Dad, do you need me in the office today?
04:45Not available.
04:46Ashton, do you want me to work through the Hollis file for you?
04:50I'm busy, Roy.
04:52Later on, even that reply stopped.
04:54Nothing but silence.
04:55By week nine, I stopped saying good morning.
04:58My combat instructor never showed up for lessons again.
05:01No explanation.
05:03My mother's assistant deleted our long-standing Wednesday date from the shared calendar.
05:07I scrolled three months ahead.
05:09It was blank.
05:10Eleven years of tradition, just gone.
05:12Little by little, I ceased to matter, until I was heir.
05:18Four months into it, I found the old gardener's cottage at the north edge of the estate.
05:23Two rooms, a wood-burning stove, and a view out over the river.
05:27I packed clothes, my laptop, my book, and moved out of my parents' big house one bag at a time.
05:32Nobody noticed.
05:32I lived there 111 nights.
05:35No more dinner, no more breakfast.
05:37I would sneak back to my old bathroom in the family wing to shower, wipe away all traces, then slip
05:42back to the cottage.
05:43No one ever came looking for me.
05:45Many nights, I lay wide awake, counting the days.
05:48Still, my mother never knocked on my bedroom door.
05:52Sometimes along the way, I stopped crying.
05:54My heart went cold and quiet, and I started making plans.
05:58After all, I'd picked up a lot of secrets growing up around my father's office.
06:02At seven months, I submitted an application.
06:05I applied to Sovereign Academy, the inclusive training program for the Royal Guards of Alleyville, selective institution in the whole
06:11world.
06:121,500 people applied every year.
06:1482 got in.
06:15Nothing left to lose.
06:17I took all the examines from a public library three towns over, on a laptop with a throwaway email address.
06:23And I didn't use my real name.
06:25Six days ago, the acceptance email arrived.
06:27Late at night, in that cabbage no one knew I lived in, I read the email 11 times.
06:32Congratulations.
06:34Your composite score is the highest in program history.
06:37Please report to the Academy Gates on your 18th birthday.
06:40Welcome, Cadet R. Voss.
06:46It took my family 19 hours to figure out I was gone.
06:50I knew exactly how long.
06:52At 6.47 the next evening, 41 missed calls.
06:56My six older brothers, both my parents, plus three unknown numbers.
07:01Voicemail piled up.
07:02I sat by the road holding a bottle of water and only listened to the message from my oldest brother.
07:08He was the one who taught me to ride, to fight, to read contracts.
07:13Rory, your room.
07:15It's empty.
07:16The closets are empty.
07:18How long, baby, how long have you been gone?
07:21He didn't finish.
07:22There were sounds on the other end of the line.
07:24A woman screaming my name.
07:26Then a huge crash.
07:28And the message cut off.
07:30I deleted the remaining 103 messages without listening to them.
07:34Then I did the only thing I knew how to do.
07:36Put my head down and keep going.
07:39Two hours later, driving through Pine Forest Country,
07:41That strange auditory thing hit me again.
07:45I was going 70 miles an hour down an empty interstate when I heard someone crying.
07:51It wasn't close.
07:53There was nothing but woods as far as the eye could see.
07:56Still, I pulled over.
08:00I could hear her sopping.
08:01Every catch in her breath crystal clear.
08:03I turned on my phone flashlight and headed into the trees,
08:07Following the sound,
08:08Until the beam landed on crumpled, twisted metal.
08:14A car had gone over the edge into a ravine.
08:17A girl about my age hung suspended by her seatbelt,
08:21Scalp bleeding,
08:22One arm twisted out of shape.
08:24She'd been trapped there since early that morning.
08:27You couldn't see the wreck from the highway,
08:29And no one passing could hear her screaming for help.
08:32And I had heard her from a mile away.
08:35I got her out.
08:37I rigged a splint for her arm with a crape hole and the sleeve of my own jacket.
08:41Halfway back, I carried her on my back.
08:44Standing there in the dark while I called for help,
08:46My hands wouldn't stop shaking.
08:48This isn't real. I'm dead.
08:50When thoughts that weren't mine flooded into my head.
08:52This is all a hallucination.
08:54The girl's lips didn't move at all.
08:56I looked down at her,
08:58And she looked back up at me.
09:00Don't leave me here.
09:01I'm not going to leave you.
09:03Her peoples blew wide.
09:05When the girl's father showed up at the hospital,
09:08He insisted on paying me.
09:10I turned it down.
09:12Then he tried offering me a job.
09:14I turned both down.
09:16He seemed decent,
09:17And this thing was tearing me apart,
09:19So I told him the truth.
09:21I don't know what's happening to me.
09:22I heard her from a mile away.
09:24I read thoughts in her head.
09:25I've had this for exactly 26 hours.
09:28He didn't laugh.
09:29I remembered that.
09:31His expression turned grave.
09:33He stared at me for a long time,
09:34And only asked one question.
09:37How old are you, kid?
09:3818.
09:39Turned 18 yesterday.
09:41Something flickered across his eyes.
09:43Maybe fear.
09:44He walked me back to my motorcycle,
09:46Before I left and warned me.
09:48Whatever this thing you have is,
09:50Never tell anyone.
09:51Especially not people who would try to use it.
09:54I nodded.
10:03Sovereign Academy sat nested in a valley,
10:05Ringed by a 300-year-old wall.
10:08Forty cadets in the yard,
10:09All turned to stare.
10:11Every single one of them was male,
10:12Over six feet tall.
10:14And I was five and a half feet tall,
10:16Covered in road dust.
10:17I took off my helmet.
10:19Somebody snirkered out in the crowd.
10:21The gate guard read my acceptance letter,
10:23Over and over.
10:24Ears bright red.
10:26Stepping backward like I might attack him.
10:28Cadet R. Voss.
10:30Ma'am, these scores,
10:31They can't be possible.
10:33Wait right here.
10:33Don't move.
10:34Instead of calling for drill instructors,
10:36He dialed the main building.
10:38Four minutes later,
10:39A black sedan,
10:40With a gold crest painted on the doors,
10:42Came rolling up the drive.
10:44Every single cadet in the yard,
10:46Dropped to one knee on the gravel,
10:47All at once.
10:48Like they'd been struck down.
10:50Only I stayed standing.
10:52I didn't understand the protocol back then.
10:55The back car door opened.
10:57The gate guard went pale.
10:59Miss Voss,
11:00His majesty wishes to see you.
11:04The King of Alivane stared at me for 11 full seconds,
11:08Before he spoke.
11:09Aurora Cain.
11:10I didn't flinch.
11:11My paperwork says Voss, your Manistee.
11:14Your paperwork contains a great many deliberate falsehoods.
11:17You have your grandmother's jawline,
11:19And your father's always coiled stance.
11:21I have known Damon Cain for 26 years.
11:24He does not know you are here.
11:25No, he does not.
11:26If you notify him,
11:28I will climb over these walls before you finish the sentence.
11:3182 cadets knelt on the gravel,
11:33And heard every word I said to the King.
11:36Silence fell over the yard.
11:38Then the King laughed.
11:40All of you, rise.
11:41The King's gaze never left me.
11:44She may keep using the name Voss.
11:46Inside these academy walls,
11:48Anyone who insists on correcting her name leaves immediately.
11:52Do I make myself clear?
11:54Yes, your Majesty.
11:56That concluded the conversation.
11:59He offered no explanation for why he had come down in person to meet an 18-year-old girl on
12:03a Harley.
12:04I was proud.
12:05I didn't ask.
12:06I wouldn't learn the full truth for four more months.
12:10By then, it would almost be too late.
12:16The academy inside was like a small, walled city.
12:19Six barracks buildings,
12:20A training center,
12:21The size of an airport.
12:23A library with a spiral staircase,
12:25Carved from a single, enormous tree.
12:27I was assigned to barracks three.
12:30I had only 40 minutes to make it to new cadet orientation.
12:33Silver-haired instructor Larson stood there with my file in his hands.
12:36His tone flat.
12:37Zero warmth.
12:38You are skipping the first two weeks of basic instruction.
12:41Instructor?
12:41Your entrance scores are the highest this academy has ever seen.
12:45Repeating basic firearms trills and similar material would be a waste for both of us.
12:50Attend the new cadet assembly this morning.
12:52After that, you report to Instructor Emmett for individual competency evaluation.
12:58Every head turned in the Great Hall.
13:0041 hostile stairs, all pointed straight at me.
13:03Two names I would learn very quickly.
13:05They made sure I would.
13:06Deacon Price, second son of the powerful McKenzie House.
13:09Hard, sharp jawline.
13:11He talked a big game about ladies first.
13:14What he really meant was step aside.
13:16Then slain Adel, pretty as a magazine model, who liked to brag about her exam scores while waiting in chow
13:22lines.
13:23First day of orientation, Deacon stepped into my path in the hallway and clapped a hand on my shoulder.
13:28Nice bike.
13:28Whose is it?
13:29Mine.
13:30Mine.
13:31Mine.
13:31He leaned in close.
13:32Listen, this isn't some little girl's playhouse.
13:35Save yourself the humiliation and quit before you wash out on Friday.
13:38Right then, his private thoughts flooded straight into my head.
13:41God, she smells good.
13:42Probably gonna be crying to go home by Friday.
13:44I smiled at him.
13:46Friday?
13:47I'll remember that.
13:51The two weeks' training under Instructor Emmett were the best I'd had in a whole year.
13:55He drilled me on command structures, treaty law, threat assessment, hostage negotiation protocols.
14:00On the ninth day, he gave me a mock crisis scenario with nine shifting variables.
14:04I resolved it in 11 minutes.
14:06He set down his pen and stared at me.
14:09Who taught you all this?
14:10In my father's office.
14:11I sat in the corner.
14:13Nobody thought I was paying attention.
14:15How old were you?
14:16Four.
14:17Cadet boss, a lot of men twice your age couldn't pull off what you just did.
14:20Something I understood very well.
14:22Being ignored for all those months at Blackwater Manor had felt like dying.
14:26But here, being overlooked, it was my greatest advantage.
14:30Two weeks of training done.
14:32Elimination assessment day arrived.
14:34All cadets gathered in the Great Hall.
14:36Larson climbed up onto the high platform.
14:38Behind him, people gasped.
14:40The king had arrived.
14:41And a younger man with dark eyes, unmistakably the crown prince.
14:45Everyone here.
14:4635 will stay.
14:4747 leave tonight.
14:49Permanent disqualification.
14:50I will read the team captains first, then the eliminated names.
14:52And last, the highest rank a cadet can earn here.
14:55Supreme Commander.
14:56He read off seven captain names.
14:58Mine came last.
14:59Then Larson read the elimination list.
15:02Adele Price.
15:03Sloan Adele shot out of her seat, screaming.
15:05The king stepped past Larson and walked to the front of the platform.
15:09The Great Hall went dead silent.
15:12I could hear 40 hearts hummering all at once.
15:14One final appointment remains.
15:16He said it, his gaze cutting across the room to lock onto me in the back row.
15:21Supreme Commander this year is...
15:27They handed me a tablet holding the files of 34 people.
15:31Full psych evaluations, combat scores, every detail.
15:34I was to assemble seven full squads before dawn.
15:37I stayed up all night, reading every file twice.
15:40By dawn, the squads were assembled, and I'd picked my core team.
15:44Chaya could read a whole room's intentions in four seconds flat.
15:48Skylar, unshaken by even the loudest explosions.
15:51Danica, could dig up any piece of information from the databases.
15:55And Faith, 19, who had managed her father's household staff for three full years.
16:00Four women.
16:01It wasn't intentional.
16:02They were simply the best.
16:03At the oath-taking ceremony, we stood inside the 300-year dust-covered library.
16:07Instructor Emmett read the oath aloud.
16:0934 voices answered as one.
16:11Until we got to the final line of the oath.
16:13Do you swear not to pursue romantic or sexual relationships within this service or other guard units,
16:19except under special royal dispensation?
16:21Five people did not answer.
16:23Instructor Emmett called each of them by name, asking for their reasoning.
16:26Each said they had never been told that rule existed beforehand.
16:29He patiently explained how casualties caused by broken-up in-unit relationships
16:33outweighed harm from outside enemies.
16:35All five took the oath after that.
16:38Then that thought hit me again.
16:40Not coming from any of my team members.
16:41A cold, distant thought flooding into my head from behind me,
16:45and I could not identify whose mind it came from.
16:48It's true.
16:49The Kane girl is inside these walls.
16:52Send word about her presence to him.
16:54I spun around so fast I nearly twisted my ankle.
16:57The doorway was full of people.
16:59Eleven faces in total,
17:00but every single one of them was looking somewhere else.
17:03Commander?
17:04I'm fine.
17:05Only four people on this entire continent knew I was Aurora Kane,
17:08going by R. Voss.
17:09The King, Instructor Larson, the Gate Sentry, and myself.
17:14And someone inside this hall was sending information about me to an unknown third party.
17:22We occupied the East Wing of Barracks 3.
17:25The West Wing belonged to 1st Squad,
17:27the most capable unit in the Guard,
17:30commanded by Jaron Rourke.
17:32For those ten months,
17:34I had not spoken a single word to any of them.
17:38It was strategy,
17:40not cowardice.
17:41My team took meals in our private top-floor kitchen,
17:45trained at 5 o'clock each morning to avoid the crowded yard.
17:49To the rest of the Guard,
17:50we were nothing but rumor,
17:52and in those rumors,
17:54Commander Voss was a man.
17:56I heard them plain as day,
17:58even through two stone walls,
18:00talking about me.
18:01Has anyone actually seen Commander Vox?
18:04Reese caught a glimpse once at the oath-taking ceremony.
18:07Short, black hair,
18:09didn't catch the name.
18:10I bet Voss is just another spare noble son.
18:14Always like that.
18:15Arrogant, stuck-up li-
18:17Watch your mouth.
18:18This guy aced every single evaluation.
18:20That was Jaron's voice,
18:22deep, rough,
18:23with weary dry amusement at his own men.
18:26I never corrected them.
18:29Being underestimated and profiting from it is a rare gift.
18:32For ten whole months,
18:34I let them build their imagined version of me inside their heads.
18:38Meanwhile, I sharpened my skills day after day,
18:42growing more capable.
18:43My enhanced senses grew both more terrifying
18:45and more useful at the same time.
18:48Sometimes out on the training grounds,
18:50I could hear what was going on down in the kitchens.
18:54Sometimes total strangers' thoughts
18:56would crash into my head so loud,
18:58I would stumble mid-step.
19:00I told my whole team about it.
19:02I gathered all 34 of us in one room
19:05and closed the doors.
19:07It was the biggest risk I had ever taken,
19:10and also the best decision I ever made.
19:17Dancia went digging through records first.
19:20Then Rain.
19:21Captain Rain,
19:22my steadiest officer,
19:23who had studied bloodline nanetics before combat training,
19:26came to me holding printed papers,
19:28her face ashen.
19:30There are only two documented bloodlines
19:32gifted with heightened perception still alive.
19:34One died out in 1904.
19:37What about the other?
19:38The Canes.
19:40The room went dead silent.
19:42There's someone written about in the archives.
19:44Alice Kane, born 1890.
19:46Her powers awakened on her 18th birthday.
19:49She married at 19 to a man of great name,
19:52enormous family, vast fortune.
19:56Her parents trusted that man
19:59and told him the full truth of her gift.
20:02And then he used her
20:04for 11 full years.
20:07Brought her to every gathering
20:09to listen to other people's private thoughts.
20:13When she refused to keep doing it,
20:15there are medical records, Commander.
20:18She died at 30,
20:19carrying a baby daughter.
20:21It was listed as an accident.
20:24It was not.
20:25Chaya swore quietly.
20:27Skylar clapped a hand over her mouth.
20:30That family still exists to this day.
20:33On the night of my 18th birthday,
20:35fleeing the manor,
20:37my father's words came flooding back.
20:39She will not live to see Sunday
20:41no matter what happens.
20:43She must never learn the truth.
20:49I buried my face in my hands.
20:51The team gathered silently around me.
20:54No one told me everything would be fine
20:56because nothing would.
20:58That night,
20:59all 34 of us swore on our commissions,
21:01never to reveal my real identity
21:03or my gift outside these barracks.
21:06We finished our training three weeks early.
21:09All seven squads passed with zero dismissals,
21:12something that had not happened
21:14in 40 years at this academy.
21:16We had four days of leave
21:17before active duty assignments.
21:19On the second day of leave,
21:21I asked Rain to cut my hair down to shoulder length.
21:26Braids were a vulnerability
21:27and I was tired of having them grabbed.
21:30On the fourth day of leave,
21:31I heard Rain's footsteps on the stairs
21:33before she even set foot on the second floor.
21:36I knew something was wrong
21:37purely from the sound of her footsteps.
21:39She burst into the kitchen trembling,
21:42shoved a supply crate into Whelan's arms
21:44and went straight over to Beck.
21:46Beck, her partner,
21:47who had loved her since week nine of training.
21:50Beck wrapped his arms around her
21:51as she sobbed
21:52and she told them what had happened to her.
21:55She had gone to the main building kitchen alone,
21:57out of uniform.
21:58Commander Burns had blocked her at the doorway.
22:00He told her to show up to his quarters
22:02in one hour naked
22:03and get down on her knees for him.
22:04She refused.
22:05He laughed and threatened her.
22:07Deliver a report stating you are unfit
22:09for duty to the king on Monday.
22:12Who do you think?
22:13His majesty will believe?
22:15A nine-year senior commander
22:16or an 18-year-old girl from an unknown squad?
22:20Beck's voice tore with rage.
22:22No, everyone in the room turned to look at me.
22:25Nobody touches him.
22:27No one leaves the east wing of these barracks unnotified.
22:31Who else has been subjected to this kind of coercion
22:33from other commanders?
22:35Speak now.
22:36Nine female team members were in the room.
22:38None spoke.
22:39I grabbed my outer jacket.
22:42Burns.
22:43I will handle him.
22:48Everyone in the room surged to their feet,
22:50but no one was fast enough to stop me.
22:53I stood over him,
22:55my voice low and dangerous.
22:57If you ever threaten to file a false report,
23:01labeling a woman unfit for duty
23:03because she refuses your advances,
23:05then the king will be the least of your worries.
23:07I will find you,
23:08and you will regret ever being a boy.
23:11Do you understand me?
23:14Burns stopped struggling,
23:15made no attempt to get back up.
23:18Commander Vos.
23:19The king's hand rested lightly on my shoulder,
23:21his demeanor calm.
23:23Tell us the full story.
23:24I laid everything bare.
23:26Everything that had happened on Friday,
23:28what Reen had endured,
23:29the coercion at the doorway,
23:31the one-hour ultimatum,
23:32and the threat of the false fitness for duty report.
23:34Your majesty,
23:36I pressed the question.
23:38How many women over these nine years
23:40have been given an unfit for duty label
23:43solely for saying no?
23:44A long,
23:45heavy silence fell across the council chambers.
23:48Larson?
23:49Guards?
23:50Take him away.
23:51Two royal guards stepped forward,
23:53seized Burns,
23:53and dragged him out of the room.
23:55I watched him go,
23:56and I felt nothing.
23:57After this council meeting concludes,
24:00I will speak with every commander one-on-one.
24:03If any of you have used this kind of coercive tactic,
24:06I will uncover every last instance.
24:08The penalty will not simply be dismissal.
24:11It will be imprisonment.
24:12The room felt completely quiet.
24:15We sat back down and moved on to official business.
24:18Two active case files lay on the table.
24:20One already resolved,
24:22in usual circumstances,
24:23handled by first squad.
24:25The second was a cold case stalled for two years,
24:28on the brink of open fighting over land.
24:30Two squads have been sent to mediate,
24:31both returned with nothing accomplished.
24:34If we delay further,
24:35people will bleed and die.
24:38Your Majesty,
24:39what do the files state
24:40as the root cause of this land dispute?
24:42Silence fell across the room.
24:44The king flipped through the documents again and again,
24:47then lifted his head,
24:48his expression one I would not soon forget.
24:51The files do not state the reason at all.
24:53For two full years,
24:54no one ever thought to ask.
24:56May I take this case?
25:00He did not ask a single further question.
25:03He cast the case file across the table.
25:06The rest of the commanders filed out one by one.
25:10I gathered my stack of documents,
25:11and was heading through the door,
25:12and the king called my name quietly.
25:14It's Kane.
25:19He petitioned the royal family
25:21for something no member of the Kane family
25:23had ever asked for in three hundred years.
25:26Whatever he asked for,
25:27I'm not interested.
25:29Aurora, sit down.
25:31I did not sit.
25:32I stood in the doorway,
25:34a stack of files tucked under my ribs,
25:35my hands gradually going numb.
25:40The king walked around to this side of the desk.
25:42Up close,
25:43he was no longer the lofty monarch,
25:45just a man in his fifties.
25:48He asked me to send royal witnesses,
25:50official observers,
25:51to record everything under seal,
25:53to attend a private closed-door family gathering
25:56on your 18th birthday.
25:57He petitioned to add a Kane child
25:59to the royal protected person's role,
26:01and he demanded the whole matter stay secret.
26:04If it become public,
26:05you won't live a month.
26:08He didn't speak a single word to me
26:10for a whole year.
26:12My tone had completely changed.
26:15Not one word.
26:16My mother cancelled Lauren's
26:17our 11-year-old Wednesday
26:18mother-daughter date.
26:20I lived in the cottage on the estate
26:21for four months,
26:22and nobody noticed.
26:24Do you understand what I'm saying?
26:26Nobody noticed.
26:28I understand.
26:30The king said,
26:32the don't tell me he was doing this
26:33to protect me.
26:34The way he handled this was cowardly.
26:36The king said.
26:37I told him as much in my written reply.
26:41But before you pass judgment,
26:43you deserve to know the full context
26:45of what came before.
26:46With all due respect,
26:47your majesty,
26:49I'd already made up my mind
26:50by the 90th day.
26:53He almost smiled.
26:54Your father said you were the most stubborn person
26:56this family had ever produced.
26:58He would say that to you,
26:59but never to me.
27:02I turned and walked out of the room.
27:09Back in the barracks,
27:1134 team members waited for me
27:13in the top floor common room.
27:15I told them most of the truth,
27:17holding back only that final part.
27:19Byron is in the cell now.
27:21The king is questioning
27:22all guard commanders.
27:24Rain buried her face in her hands,
27:26and Beck and Beck put his arms around her.
27:32She whispered.
27:34Don't thank me.
27:35This was my duty.
27:38I looked around the room at everyone.
27:40Every single one of you.
27:42If someone lays hands on you,
27:45threatens you,
27:46even just verbally humiliates you
27:48in the hallway
27:48and makes you feel small,
27:51come to me at once.
27:52Don't wait until afterwards.
27:55Immediately.
27:56Then I handed out case files
27:58and got to work.
27:59Only work could hold me together.
28:02Two hours later,
28:04team assignments were finished,
28:06and all mission briefings
28:07were in place.
28:08The House of Aldridge
28:09and the House of Serrano
28:11locked in a two-year conflict
28:13over a disputed valley.
28:16We will summon both
28:18planned patriarchs
28:19to meet at the border.
28:20Not on either family's estate.
28:22Right there,
28:23on the disputed land.
28:25Hear both sides out,
28:26and I will deliver a resolution.
28:29If they refuse,
28:31the crown will issue
28:32a mandatory ruling.
28:34And nobody wants that outcome.
28:36What if they refuse
28:37even the crown's ruling?
28:39Then they will learn
28:40exactly
28:41what the king's scarred
28:43exists for.
28:47We packed our supplies,
28:49preparing for a four-day deployment.
28:53As we headed for the door,
28:55I saw Flora slip a playing card
28:57into the crack of the stair hall door
28:59before locking it.
29:02What's that for?
29:03Some of us suspect
29:04our barracks have been broken into.
29:07Strange things started happening
29:09about a week ago.
29:11Doors left open
29:12would be found shut,
29:13drawers shifted out of place.
29:18If the card is still wedged there
29:20when we get back,
29:21we were just imagining things.
29:23If the card is on the floor,
29:26it means someone has been inside.
29:28Hmm.
29:29Good work.
29:30Come tell me the very next day
29:32something like this happens in the future.
29:33At noon,
29:35At noon,
29:35two off-road vehicles
29:36drove out of the valley.
29:38An hour out from Serrano lands,
29:40we stopped
29:41to eat at a small diner
29:43among the pine trees.
29:46Over dinner,
29:47I thought back to the old days.
29:50When I was three years old,
29:52the first time I answered
29:53my father's office phone,
29:55my voice still childish.
29:58Hello?
29:59Who is this calling?
30:01Weiland laughed so hard
30:03he nearly collapsed onto the table.
30:05For that one short hour,
30:08I felt a happiness
30:09I hadn't known in a long time.
30:13Then the phone on the table vibrated.
30:15Unknown number.
30:17Only one single message.
30:19Before I even opened it,
30:21cold dread washed over me.
30:23I recognized this writing style
30:25very well from childhood.
30:31Rory, it's Aston.
30:32Don't delete this message.
30:34We know where you are.
30:35We've tracked your movements
30:36for six days.
30:38It's not only us
30:39who have found you.
30:40Whatever you do,
30:41stay far away
30:42from the house of Aldrich.
30:43I set the phone face down
30:44on the table
30:45and finished my coffee.
30:47Commander?
30:48A message from home?
30:50Everyone, assemble.
30:51Move out.
30:52After a full year
30:53of being ignored,
30:54when they finally reached out,
30:55I could not bring myself
30:57to trust them.
30:58We arrived at the gates
30:59of the Serrano Estate first.
31:01I got out of the vehicle
31:02and walked toward
31:03two armed guards
31:04twice my size.
31:05Tell your patriarch
31:06to meet you
31:06at the northeast border
31:07of your lands
31:08in one hour.
31:09No refusals.
31:12Without waiting
31:12for their reply,
31:13I turned and walked away.
31:15I did exactly the same thing
31:16at the Aldrich State,
31:17then turned
31:18and left.
31:19When we drove out
31:20to that valley,
31:2130 armed men
31:22stood on Serrano's side
31:23and 35 on Aldrich.
31:25things must not go wrong today.
31:27Not while I was here.
31:29I ordered my team
31:30to form a line
31:31right in the middle
31:32of the valley.
31:3334 sets of silver
31:34and black royal guard uniforms.
31:36I stood at the center
31:37of the formation,
31:38two case files
31:39tucked under my arm,
31:40waiting for the two patriarchs
31:42to walk towards me.
31:43Lord Serrano looked
31:44about 60,
31:45and it was plain
31:46he had not slept well
31:47in two years.
31:48Aldrich was younger,
31:49sharp-featured,
31:50with an air
31:51of grim determination.
31:53The crown sends
31:54just you to resolve this?
31:56Just a little girl?
32:01The crown sends
32:02just you to resolve this?
32:04Just a little girl?
32:05What stands before you
32:06is your commander.
32:09We will occupy
32:10one hour of your time.
32:11After that,
32:12if you insist
32:12on slaughtering one another,
32:14you may do as you please.
32:17I asked only one question,
32:19a question nobody
32:20had bothered to ask
32:20for two full years.
32:22Why are you fighting
32:23over this valley?
32:24Aldrich began talking
32:25of strategic terrain,
32:27water rights,
32:27honor,
32:28and brand principles.
32:29He was lying.
32:30Deep in his thoughts came,
32:32if they dig here,
32:33they will find her.
32:34I turned toward
32:34Lord Serrano.
32:35My lord,
32:36why do you want this valley?
32:37The old man's lips trembled.
32:39In front of 65 armed men,
32:41he completely broke down.
32:43My daughter is buried
32:44in this valley.
32:45Only wind echoed
32:46across the valley.
32:47Elena died at 19.
32:50At the north end
32:51of the valley
32:51sits a small old chapel,
32:53unmarked,
32:54long since fallen
32:55into ruin.
32:56She died in 1997.
32:58We buried her here
32:59because this was
33:00neutral ground,
33:01accessible to both houses.
33:03And...
33:04His voice cracked with grief.
33:05It was his father
33:06behind the hit and run
33:07all those years ago.
33:12We drove back
33:13through the night.
33:14Ashton's message
33:15weighed heavy on my phone.
33:16It's not only us
33:17who have found you.
33:19Six days.
33:20My family had known
33:21where I was
33:22for six whole days
33:23and never come for me.
33:25There were only
33:26two possibilities.
33:27Either they had
33:28completely given up on me
33:29or someone had ordered
33:30them not to come.
33:32To show themselves
33:33would mean giving away
33:33my location
33:34to our enemies.
33:36I did not know
33:37which possibility hurt were.
33:39We got back to the academy
33:40at four o'clock
33:41in the early morning.
33:42I opened the stairwell door
33:43and shone my flashlight downward.
33:46Flora's playing card
33:46lay face up
33:47on the third step.
33:48Thirty-four people
33:49hurried upstairs
33:50and searched
33:51every single room
33:52in the barracks.
33:53At last,
33:54on my desk
33:55in the top floor room,
33:56we found what the intruder
33:57had left behind.
33:58A single photograph.
34:00Six-year-old me
34:01in a blue dress
34:01sitting on the floor
34:02of my father's office
34:03holding a telephone receiver.
34:05Only one place
34:06in the whole world
34:06held this photograph.
34:08The locked archive vault
34:09deep under Blackwater Manor.
34:11On the back of the photograph,
34:12written in ballpoint pen,
34:14one single line.
34:15Her voice sounded so sweet
34:16when she answered the phone.
34:19The photograph
34:20was about to slip out
34:21of my hand
34:21and Faith caught it.
34:23I did not even remember
34:24letting go of it.
34:29Someone on the inside.
34:30We ended up
34:31in the empty mess hall.
34:32Two mugs of coffee
34:33between us.
34:36Vos.
34:37He turned the ceramic mug
34:38around in his hands.
34:40Why should I not
34:40call you Vos?
34:41I stared at him
34:42for a long time.
34:43His mind stayed shielded.
34:45Kane.
34:46Aurora Kane.
34:47He did not look terrified.
34:49He only went rigid,
34:50a reaction heavier than fear.
34:52Damon Kane's daughter.
34:54That is correct.
34:55The only girl
34:56born to the Kanes.
34:57One hundred and fifteen years.
35:00I set my mug down.
35:02How do you know that?
35:04Jaron glanced
35:04toward the doorway
35:05and finally told the secret
35:07he had kept for ten months.
35:09I am not just another cadet.
35:12I am crown house service personnel.
35:14My father is
35:14captain general
35:15of the royal guard.
35:16When Prince Casillas ascends,
35:18I will succeed him.
35:20There exists a sealed
35:21crown house file
35:21on your family.
35:23I have read it.
35:25Three weeks before
35:26you rode up
35:26to the academy gates,
35:28the king unsealed
35:28that archive.
35:30Say the name.
35:31The house of Colvin.
35:33Emory Colvin,
35:34great grandson
35:34of the man
35:35who married Alice Kane
35:36and destroyed her
35:37over eleven years
35:38back in 1909.
35:39Aurora.
35:41This whole family
35:42has waited a full century
35:43for another girl
35:44to be born into the Kanes.
35:48This whole family
35:49has waited a full century
35:50for another girl
35:51to be born into the Kanes.
35:54They had men
35:54watching your father's manner
35:55long before you ever
35:57learned to walk.
35:58The mess hall
35:58fell dead silent.
35:59They know I am here.
36:01The sniper knew.
36:03There is someone
36:04inside these walls
36:04feeding them information.
36:06Then we will root
36:07the traitor out
36:07today.
36:10He stood up.
36:12Do your family know
36:13what danger is coming for you?
36:14At that exact moment,
36:15something deep inside me
36:16finally shattered.
36:18My father had begged
36:19the king for witnesses.
36:20He had said,
36:21she will not live
36:22to see Sunday.
36:24He had tried
36:25to build a wall
36:25to protect me
36:26and he had forgotten
36:27to tell me
36:28I was locked inside a cage.
36:30Almost without
36:30my own control,
36:31I picked up my phone
36:32and dialed the number
36:33for home.
36:35The phone rang once.
36:37Before the second ring
36:38could finish,
36:38my mother answered.
36:43Rory!
36:44Rory!
36:44My God!
36:46A full year had passed
36:47since I'd last heard
36:48her say my name.
36:50I could only sit down
36:51on the mess hall floor,
36:52my back braced
36:53against a table leg.
36:55Mother!
36:57A sob tore out
36:58of her throat.
37:00Don't hang up on me,
37:01please, baby!
37:02Don't hang up!
37:03I will not hang up.
37:05I need you to answer
37:06me one question.
37:08Does the name
37:08Amerik Coleran
37:09mean anything to you?
37:10The crying stopped short.
37:12I heard out of the mouthpiece
37:14with her hand
37:14and shout for my father
37:15across the huge manor house.
37:17Five hours later,
37:19they arrived
37:19at the academy gates.
37:20I made them wait
37:2140 minutes outside the gates.
37:23Compared to a full year
37:24of suffering,
37:2540 minutes was nothing.
37:26I only wanted them
37:27to taste a thousandth
37:28of what I went through.
37:29Then I walked downstairs
37:30in full dress uniform,
37:31two team captains
37:32following close behind me.
37:33For the first time
37:34in 12 months,
37:35my family saw
37:35who I had become.
37:38My mother clapped
37:39both hands
37:39over her mouth.
37:40My father,
37:41Damon Cain,
37:42the man of overwhelming presence,
37:44staggered one single step.
37:46Ashton caught him
37:47by the arm.
37:47I had cut my hair short
37:48and eight subordinates
37:49stood behind me
37:50ready to take a bullet for me.
37:54We purchased a property
37:56in Allaville
37:56with no mention
37:57of your name
37:58anywhere on the deeds.
37:59We were going to throw you
38:00an unforgettable birthday
38:02out in the west side
38:04woodland clearing.
38:06Indigo and burgundy decorations.
38:09We were going
38:10to tell you
38:11you everything
38:12that night.
38:14And we wanted to give you
38:15wanted to give you
38:16one perfect night first.
38:18And the simple solution
38:20you chose
38:20to keep this secret
38:21from me
38:22was to never speak
38:23to me
38:23at all.
38:25Nobody said a word.
38:27All of you,
38:29I want you to understand
38:30what you have done.
38:32Declan was in tears.
38:34Hudson could not bring himself
38:35to look down
38:36from the gravel
38:36at his own feet.
38:37We thought it would
38:39only last a few weeks.
38:40Every morning
38:41we told ourselves
38:41just get through
38:42this week.
38:43But day after day
38:45passed, Rory.
38:46You stopped
38:46asking questions
38:47and it grew easier.
38:50And we let ourselves
38:51keep making
38:52that terrible mistake.
38:54I will never forget.
38:55I lived 111 nights
38:57in the gardener's cottage.
38:58My mother broke down
39:00into quiet sobbing.
39:01I packed my things
39:02and moved out
39:03of that house
39:03bit by bit
39:04and nobody noticed.
39:07I pulled my own file
39:08out of the family archives.
39:14Do you know
39:14what the very last line said?
39:19Do you know
39:20what the very last line said?
39:22Rory.
39:22No further record.
39:24My father raised a hand
39:25and covered his own eyes.
39:26At that moment,
39:27my mother stepped forward
39:28and held out
39:28a black ringbender notebook.
39:30Her hands shook so hard
39:31she could barely
39:32hold on to it.
39:33I started writing in it
39:35the day you were born, Rory.
39:37I stared for a long time
39:38at that notebook.
39:40The bitter truth was
39:41I wanted so badly
39:43to take it.
39:44You keep it.
39:46There is danger
39:47behind these academy walls.
39:48A dead sniper
39:49lies in the crown morgue.
39:51Upstairs I have
39:5134 people
39:53who will always
39:53remember who I am.
39:55If you want me to come home,
39:57show me action.
39:58Send
39:58every single
40:00document
40:01you hold
40:01on the Colbin house.
40:03To me,
40:04before the end
40:04of this night,
40:05I turned
40:06and walked away.
40:07It was the second time
40:08I had walked away
40:08from my family
40:09within a single year.
40:10As I walked away,
40:11a thought from my father
40:12drifted unabitted
40:13into my mind.
40:14Please don't let it
40:15be the little brother.
40:16Anyone but him.
40:18If she finds out
40:19it was Gideon
40:19who betrayed her,
40:20it will break her in half.
40:22I came to a complete
40:23stop in my steps.
40:24Gideon,
40:25old family friend,
40:26my godfather.
40:27The man on the other
40:28end of that phone call.
40:29I'd answered when
40:30I was three years old.
40:34I did not look back,
40:36forcing myself
40:37to keep walking forward.
40:38If I turned around,
40:39my father would read
40:40the shock right off my face.
40:42Back upstairs
40:42to the dormitory,
40:43I punched straight
40:44through the drywall
40:45plaster of the wall.
40:46Commander,
40:46speak it out.
40:47Gideon Voss.
40:48Skyler's brows
40:49drew together in a frown.
40:51Voss?
40:52Could it be,
40:53he was my godfather,
40:54my father's oldest
40:55and closest friend.
40:56When I was nine years old,
40:58he gave me my first
40:59small knife.
41:00I used his last name
41:01as a pseudonym
41:01when I enrolled.
41:03It was the only
41:04fake identity I trusted.
41:05Danica was already
41:06sitting in front
41:07of the laptop.
41:08Commander,
41:09if he is the mole,
41:10then the moment
41:11you submitted your application
41:12under the surname Voss,
41:13you directly told him
41:14where to find you.
41:15That means he has had
41:16ten whole months.
41:17Bribe staff,
41:18duplicate keys,
41:19sneak in
41:20and leave that photograph.
41:21I know.
41:22Danica's fingers
41:23hovered above the keyboard.
41:25Commander,
41:26he is in charge
41:26of site and archive maintenance.
41:28He passed vetting
41:30eleven months ago.
41:31He is inside the academy
41:32right now.
41:33In an instant,
41:34every sound
41:35from the entire building
41:36flooded into my senses.
41:38The heartbeat of people
41:39inside all six barracks,
41:41rain beating down
41:42on the east side roof,
41:43and one door
41:44on the ground floor
41:45of our barrack
41:46being pushed open.
41:47Beneath all the noise,
41:48a thought I knew
41:49all too well
41:50drifted in,
41:51faint and full of fear.
41:52Rory,
41:53don't go downstairs.
41:54He is...
41:58Rory,
41:58don't go downstairs.
41:59He is...
42:00It was Rayan.
42:01Rayan is trapped
42:02in the stairwell.
42:02I yelled,
42:03then climbed
42:03straight out of the window.
42:05Three stories high.
42:07I rolled on landing,
42:08scraping skin
42:09off my forearms,
42:10then got to my feet
42:11and sprinted
42:11toward the ground floor door.
42:13Down at the bottom
42:13of our own stairwell,
42:14he was holding
42:15Rayan hostage.
42:15Gideon Voss,
42:1762 years old,
42:18one arm locked
42:18around Rayan's neck,
42:19a syringe pressed
42:20against the side
42:21of her neck.
42:21You finally came.
42:23Hello there,
42:24good child.
42:25Let her go.
42:26She ran right into me,
42:27poor girl.
42:28I only came looking
42:29for you.
42:30He looked toward me,
42:31that exact smile
42:32from long ago
42:32on his face.
42:33You cut your hair.
42:35Your mother
42:36will be very upset.
42:38Gideon,
42:38my voice held
42:39no inflection at all.
42:41How long
42:41has this been going on?
42:4319 years.
42:43He spoke calmly.
42:45Ever since the week
42:46you were born,
42:47Aurora,
42:47do you know
42:48what price
42:48the House of Colben
42:49will pay
42:50for information
42:50about a cane girl?
42:51Do you understand
42:52how valuable
42:53this gift is
42:54to a family
42:54that has waited
42:55an entire century?
42:57You were the one
42:57holding me
42:58at my baptism.
42:59That is true.
43:00A flicker of genuine
43:01emotion crossed his eyes.
43:03If I had not argued
43:04on your behalf,
43:05they would have
43:06taken you away
43:06when you were six.
43:07In a way,
43:08I bought you
43:0912 extra years.
43:11Lord Emeril
43:11is at the East Gate.
43:13He wants to talk to you.
43:18He wants to talk to you.
43:20Come with me
43:21or I will inject
43:21400 milligrams
43:22of this drug
43:24straight into
43:24this girl's neck.
43:26You will watch her
43:27slowly die
43:27right here
43:28on our own stairwell.
43:30It is that simple.
43:31Commander,
43:32don't go.
43:32A year earlier,
43:33I would have gone
43:34with him obediently.
43:35But over these
43:36past 10 months,
43:37I was no longer
43:38worthless.
43:38I was the commander
43:39of all these people.
43:41Gideon,
43:41what is behind you?
43:42He would not fall for it.
43:43Of course he would not.
43:44But everyone's body
43:45will react unconsciously
43:47when they hear
43:47a question like that.
43:48Beck came charging
43:49down the stairs
43:49barefooted,
43:50consumed by rage.
43:52He grabbed Gideon's elbow
43:53holding the syringe.
43:54I pulled Ray into safety.
43:55We restrained him
43:56flat on the floor
43:57using zip ties.
43:58Ray knelt on the ground,
43:59one hand covering her neck.
44:01Good child.
44:02Colvin has 14 men
44:03waiting at the East Gate.
44:05He also holds
44:05a royal archived
44:06marriage contract
44:07dated 1909.
44:08written in black and white,
44:10stating that the
44:11firstborn girl
44:12of the house of Cain
44:13shall marry into his family.
44:15That document
44:16carries no legal force.
44:17Jalen said coldly.
44:18It is true,
44:19it is not legal statute,
44:21but it is bargaining leverage.
44:23And he has already
44:24breached the academy's
44:26outer perimeter wall.
44:27Your family just
44:28drove out to meet
44:29all eight of them.
44:3120 minutes ago,
44:32I sent them the message
44:33using your phone.
44:37I would replay
44:38those nine minutes
44:39countless times
44:40in my head afterward,
44:41but the things
44:41I truly remember
44:42are only fragmented images.
44:44I remember that Jaren
44:44was the first one
44:45to burst out
44:46through that door.
44:46When he reached
44:47the top step,
44:48he looked back at me
44:48and said only one thing.
44:50Commander,
44:50give the order.
44:51I also remember
44:52how my voice sounded
44:52at that moment,
44:53unusually steady.
44:54Flora,
44:55seal off this side.
44:56Keep Gideon contained.
44:58No one speaks to him
44:59and no one moves him away.
45:00Enzo,
45:01wake the guard barracks,
45:02contact the duty captain.
45:03Tell him to activate
45:03black alert at the east gate.
45:05Maeve,
45:06notify the king directly.
45:07Go through no intermediaries.
45:08Orson Weiland,
45:09hold the outer perimeter.
45:10Do not engage
45:11of your own accord.
45:12Beck Rayan,
45:13go to the medical unit.
45:14Beck,
45:15this is an order.
45:15Do not argue with me.
45:18Chaya,
45:18Skylar,
45:19Denasa,
45:19Faith,
45:20come with me.
45:22Jeron,
45:23take your men
45:23and swing around
45:24from the north.
45:25We will close in
45:25from both sides.
45:29Heavy rain was falling
45:30that night.
45:31Searchlights shunned
45:32down onto the ground.
45:33The second I stepped outside,
45:35I saw three black sedans
45:36and 14 men
45:37and my family.
45:38They were all lined up,
45:39hands held
45:40where everyone could see them.
45:41Standing at the front of them
45:42was a Merrick Colvin,
45:4350 years old,
45:44dressed in an expensive
45:45tailored suit.
45:46The kind of face
45:47that would still be described
45:48as dignified and refined
45:49even in an obituary.
45:54The kind of face
45:55that would still be described
45:56as dignified and refined
45:57even in an obituary.
45:59The second he laid eyes
46:00on me,
46:00he smiled.
46:01Rory,
46:01get back!
46:02Go back inside the walls!
46:04I cut him off directly.
46:05Shut up,
46:06Father.
46:06I stopped roughly
46:0710 feet away from Colvin.
46:09This is Crown Land.
46:11You have brought
46:1114 armed men
46:13and breached
46:14the outer perimeter
46:14defenses of a royal
46:15military facility.
46:17Do you realize
46:18what you have done tonight?
46:19But Colvin
46:20could not care less.
46:22He said he had
46:23merely come to collect
46:24a 115-year-old debt.
46:26He said my
46:27great-grandmother
46:28had belonged to them.
46:31They even had documents
46:32to prove it
46:32but I told him
46:33that was no debt at all.
46:34That was a girl
46:35named Alice.
46:36His great-grandfather
46:37had exploited her
46:38for 11 full years
46:39using her as a tool.
46:41In the end,
46:42Alice had chosen
46:43to end her own life
46:43at 30
46:44rather than hand over
46:45a daughter
46:46into their grasp
46:47so she never owed
46:47the house of Colvin
46:48a single thing.
46:49The ones who truly
46:50owed a debt were them
46:51because it was a human life
46:52and they had never
46:53paid for it.
46:53Colvin's expression
46:54did not change
46:55but in that exact instant
46:56I heard his thoughts.
46:58She can hear.
47:00Watch her reaction.
47:01She hears every unspoken
47:02word inside my head.
47:03Damn it.
47:04She inherited
47:05the full power.
47:06She is worth far more
47:07than that manor house.
47:11She is worth far more
47:12than that manor house.
47:13When I heard those words
47:14I finally understood
47:16everything.
47:16What my father had feared
47:17for all those years.
47:18And I finally understood
47:19why he had tried
47:20so hard to protect me.
47:22Only,
47:22the method he had chosen
47:23was utterly rotten.
47:24Colvin spoke my name again.
47:26Aurora.
47:27His tone turned
47:27unexpectedly gentle.
47:29He even held
47:30one hand out towards me.
47:31He said
47:31if I would just come
47:32and talk to him
47:33just talk
47:33my family would get out
47:34of here on unharmed tonight.
47:36As for me and him
47:36before he could finish
47:37his sentence
47:38Jaron's voice crackled
47:39in my earpiece.
47:40Commander
47:41Northern team is in position.
47:43All 14 targets confirmed.
47:45Awaiting your order.
47:45I looked at the hand
47:46Colvin was holding out to me.
47:48Then,
47:48in front of every single
47:49person present
47:49I told him clearly.
47:51My name is Aurora Cain.
47:52Commander of the Royal King's Guard.
47:54You are all under arrest now.
47:56The whole fight
47:57lasted only 40 seconds.
47:58We had 14 men.
48:00We had
48:00two complete Royal Guards.
48:0241 more Royal Guards
48:03were rushing down
48:04from the hills behind us.
48:05Driver in the left-hand car
48:06reaching for his gun.
48:07Skylar!
48:07Right after that
48:08I picked up another thought.
48:10Colvin's target
48:11was my father.
48:12I shouted at once.
48:14Ashton, get down!
48:18All you really needed to do
48:19was tell me the truth.
48:20Off to one side,
48:22Colvin was already pinned
48:23to the gravel ground
48:23by Jaron's knee.
48:25But Colvin still
48:26would not stop talking.
48:27Man like him
48:27never shut their mouths
48:28until the very last second.
48:30You cannot lock me away.
48:32You have no idea
48:33what you have stumbled
48:34into tonight.
48:36Then,
48:36he told me something else.
48:38Besides the house of Colvin,
48:39there were nine other families.
48:40They had been trading
48:41Kane family archives
48:42among each other
48:43sipped to my tree
48:43since 1912.
48:44And Colvin
48:45was only the one
48:46I had seen so far.
48:47Car headlights lit up
48:48from behind the hills.
48:50Right behind it
48:50came the Crown Prince's car.
48:52And near the end
48:53of this worst ever
48:54night of my life,
48:55I looked over at Jaron.
48:57He was soaked all over.
48:59Blood was trickling
48:59from the corner of his eyebrow.
49:01Then he said one of the most
49:02wildly inappropriate lines
49:03I had ever heard in my life.
49:05You were absolutely terrifying
49:06a moment ago.
49:07If you were not my superior,
49:09I would have kissed you
49:09right there at the East Gate.
49:14Three months later,
49:16I stood in a clearing
49:17near the western border
49:18of Blackwater, Manisher,
49:19wearing an indigo blue dress.
49:22Before all of that,
49:23Emreer Colvin
49:24sat locked up
49:25in royal facility custody
49:27awaiting trial.
49:28He faced nine counts
49:29of charges,
49:30including the death
49:31of Alice Kane
49:32back in 1920.
49:34Legally speaking,
49:35this matter was complicated.
49:37Morally speaking,
49:38it could not be
49:40more straightforward.
49:41Gideon Voss
49:42entered a guilty plea
49:43and reached a plea deal agreement.
49:45He would spend the rest
49:46of his life
49:47trying to explain to himself
49:48exactly what he had done
49:50for those 19 years.
49:52Nine families.
49:53That was what Colvin
49:54had told us,
49:55and he had told the truth.
49:57Because if he had been lying,
49:59I would certainly
50:00have heard it
50:00in his thoughts.
50:01The king set up
50:03a permanent royal
50:04special investigation
50:05task force
50:06to hunt down
50:06the remaining eight families.
50:08Then he appointed a person
50:10to command this task force.
50:12That person was me.
50:14In that very same
50:15council chamber,
50:17the king looked at me
50:18and said,
50:18You are only 18 years old,
50:21and I am about to make you
50:23the youngest
50:23Black Alert commander
50:25in 300 years.
50:28Half my ministers
50:29will lose their minds
50:30over this.
50:31Then let them
50:32lose their minds,
50:32your majesty.
50:34I will hear
50:35every single thought
50:36going through their heads.
50:41Now Rain ran
50:43my intelligence division,
50:44and Beck was almost
50:45never far from her side.
50:48They were planning
50:49to get married
50:50the following spring.
50:51Faith handled
50:52my day-to-day
50:53administrative affairs.
50:55Danya had built
50:55a comprehensive database.
50:57I guarantee
50:58those centuries-old
50:59ancient families
51:00are going to hate it bitterly.
51:01As for Jaren Rusker,
51:02he resigned his military commission
51:04six weeks later.
51:06Around that same time,
51:08his father finally announced
51:09his retirement
51:10as Captain General
51:11of the Royal Guard.
51:13Before inviting me out
51:14for our first proper dinner,
51:16he had gone to see
51:17the king first.
51:19He petitioned the king
51:20for official exemption
51:21from Statute 9.
51:23Over that dinner,
51:24he showed me
51:25the sealed approval letter.
51:27I read it twice.
51:29You went to petition
51:30the king before you
51:31even asked if I wanted
51:32to go out with you?
51:35I go to the king
51:36for everything.
51:38Call it one of my
51:39character flaws.
51:40I kissed him right there
51:41inside the dining hall.
51:43After that,
51:44I sat through conversation
51:45after conversation.
51:48I took the phone calls
51:50they placed to me.
51:51I made my father
51:52tell me face to face
51:53out in the open sunlight
51:54exactly what he had done.
51:56He told me.
51:58He had made that decision
51:59all by himself
52:00at the very beginning.
52:02He had believed my safety
52:04mattered more than my heart.
52:05But he had been wrong.
52:07He knew he had been cowardly.
52:09And he had never mustered
52:11the courage to admit it.
52:12I made my mother
52:13spend every single Wednesday
52:15with me for 11 straight weeks.
52:17Only at the very end
52:19did I allow her
52:20to hold me in her arms.
52:25Two weeks after
52:26the Colbin incident,
52:27I also made Ashton
52:29stand out at the East Gate.
52:31It kept raining that day.
52:34He stood there
52:35for four whole hours,
52:37refusing to leave.
52:40Until I came down
52:41to meet him.
52:42Then, one Saturday
52:43in September,
52:44I finally allowed them
52:46to hold that birthday feast.
52:48They had spent
52:49an entire year preparing.
52:51My six older brothers,
52:53both my parents,
52:5534 Royal Guardsmen
52:57in formal dress uniforms.
52:59This later caused
53:01quite a bit of trouble
53:02for the local young women.
53:04200 lights were strung
53:06on the tree branches.
53:08And my father stood
53:09at the very front
53:10of the crowd.
53:11He held a wine cup
53:12in his hand,
53:13facing everyone we knew.
53:15When he spoke
53:16his very first sentence,
53:17his voice was already
53:19breaking with emotion.
53:20I have seven children.
53:22My youngest is the only child
53:24who ever frightened me.
53:26And also the one
53:27I underestimated
53:28above all others.
53:30And I ruined
53:32everything terribly.
53:33She left this house
53:34and became commander
53:35of the Royal King's Guard.
53:37And none of us
53:38even noticed
53:39when she had packed
53:40her bags and gone.
53:42When he finished speaking,
53:44he looked toward me.
53:47Rory,
53:48down in the archive's vault,
53:49there is a file
53:50bearing your name.
53:52The very last entry
53:53was written
53:54by my own hand.
53:55It was written
53:56on the day
53:57of your 17th birthday.
54:00It reads
54:01only two words.
54:05After everything.
54:07He set down
54:08his wine glass
54:09after finishing speaking.
54:11Then he pulled out
54:12a folded sheet of paper
54:13from inside his coat.
54:14I have already
54:15written the next entry.
54:17Eleven full pages.
54:19It begins
54:20after everything.
54:21People told me
54:22I had been crying.
54:23I refused to admit it.
54:25Late that same night,
54:27Jaron found me
54:28on the edge
54:28of the clearing.
54:29Right where the lantern
54:30light could not reach.
54:32We stood side by side.
54:34Two hundred feet away,
54:35my older brothers
54:36were still arguing
54:37over something trivial.
54:39Jaden suddenly asked me,
54:41What do you hear?
54:43He always asked me that.
54:45And that was one of the things
54:47I liked most about him.
54:48I closed my eyes.
54:50Nine hundred insects.
54:52The sound of the river flowing.
54:55The crackle and burn
54:56of two hundred candles.
54:59My mother was laughing.
55:01It sounded like Deacon
55:03had just said something funny.
55:04And sixty feet away,
55:06my father's heartbeat.
55:08Sixty beats
55:09every single minute.
55:10For the very first time
55:12in an entire year,
55:13it was completely calm.
55:15And thirty-four other people.
55:18People who had never
55:19forgotten my name.
55:21Beneath all these sounds,
55:23there was one quiet,
55:24clear thought.
55:25And the silent thought
55:27in the man's mind,
55:28I want to marry her.
55:30I opened my eyes.
55:32I smiled out
55:33into the darkness.
55:34Then I answered,
55:36everything.
55:37Everything.
55:38Everything.
55:39I opened my eyes.
55:39and see you there's a
55:40I don't know how
55:40and do it I love it.
55:40You'll see you there's a