- 19 minutes ago
Reborn to Wed the Serpent King New
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00:00Bold words from a human. Your father holds a border post, that's all.
00:05This is a good point. But more than that, I took out the candlestick spike and cut into my wrist.
00:11There wasn't a single drop of blood on my wrist, yet black blood began to seep from the Kale's wrist.
00:16Kale looked at me in disbelief.
00:18What did you do to me?
00:20Nothing.
00:23Remember, I was born evil and cursed.
00:26I am more monstrous than you.
00:28Any harm done to my body can be transferred to others.
00:31Kale dispersed the serpent swarm.
00:33The spider was just a spider. I won't hold it against you.
00:37Generous.
00:38We still haven't completed the matching ceremony.
00:41You killed my pet, and you want to-
00:44He stopped, stared.
00:45The ceremony isn't finished.
00:47Then it stays unfinished. Be grateful I'm not having you thrown out.
00:52I smiled and turned toward the crowd.
00:54My eyes landed on the royal physician Idris, standing near the far pillar.
00:58Young, silver-robed, and cruel.
01:00Watching the spectacle with an expression of profound discomfort.
01:04I walked toward him.
01:05In my past life, it was him who made Cecilia a living blood clot, cutting her alive.
01:10If Kale won't complete the ceremony, perhaps you would be willing to stand in.
01:14Idris was shocked, looking at Kale in horror.
01:17This was an insult to the king, though in a passive way.
01:20Execute him.
01:21Anyone suspected of cuckolding the serpent king will never survive.
01:25I said nothing, just waited.
01:27Kale's jaw tightened.
01:28Idris was taken away in despair.
01:30Kale turned back to the altar.
01:32Fine.
01:33He completed the ceremony.
01:34I did not make it easy for him.
01:38That night, he didn't come to the chamber.
01:44In our past life, Cecilia had waited until dawn, sitting alone in her wedding dress, hoping.
01:50I gave him exactly one hour.
01:52Pack his things.
01:54All of them.
01:56If he doesn't want to share the chamber, we shouldn't inconvenient him by leaving his belongings here.
01:59They didn't hesitate by the time Sale heard what was happening and came to the courtyard in a fury.
02:04I was already asleep.
02:06My guards, my father's people, loyal to me, blocked the door.
02:09Vesper.
02:10He said my name like a threat.
02:13Open this door!
02:15I didn't respond.
02:16He transformed into a snake and slithered into the chamber.
02:19Suddenly, I felt something cold wrapping itself around my body.
02:28Do you know how the last person who provoked me like that ended up?
02:33If you want to kill me, it won't be tonight.
02:36My lord, you still need the border garrison.
02:39The night was long.
02:40The next morning, the Queen Mother's attendant arrived before dawn.
02:43She forced me to attend her morning ritual.
02:45I dressed without hurrying.
02:47The moment I stepped into the Queen Mother's chamber, I saw a pot boiling on the stove.
02:51Hold that pot.
02:52I looked at the Queen Mother and the boiling pot in a past life.
02:55I noticed that every time Cecilia came home, her hands were covered in blisters.
03:00So that's how it was.
03:01Do you really want me to hold it?
03:03You will learn your place here.
03:05I waited until she had finished dressing.
03:07Until she was standing in her finest robes, silver-threaded ancient.
03:11Then, I calmly walked over and dipped my arm into the boiling water.
03:17With a blood-curdling scream, blisters instantly broke out all over the Queen Mother's arm.
03:22Her shriek brought Seal through the door in under a minute.
03:25He stood in the doorway and looked at his mother, shocked, furious.
03:28Extensive burns on one arm, and then at me, standing beside her with a provocative expression.
03:33Throw her out.
03:36Void the contract.
03:38She's a devil!
03:39We can't.
03:41We need the garrison.
03:44Worthless, Lys!
03:45The Queen Mother slammed her goblet into Kale's chest and shrieked that he was good for nothing.
03:50That he didn't even have the spine to cast me out of the fortress.
03:53She was right.
03:54He didn't.
03:55Call the Serpent King had pledged his sword to the Great King of the Iron Maul, the most
03:59powerful orc warlord on the step.
04:01He needs grain routes, city gates left unbarred, and human nobles.
04:05My family controlled the Eastern Pass.
04:07His advisor would have made certain he understood that before the betrothal seal was pressed.
04:11In my past life, he had broken my sister Cecilia slowly and deliberately because he had only
04:17learned after the vows were spoken that she carried no political weight.
04:20This time, he knew exactly what he was acquiring.
04:23I had made sure of it.
04:24I left the Queen Mother to her collapse and walked out alongside Kale into the cold corridor
04:28beyond her chambers.
04:30Three days later came the customary return to my family's estate.
04:33Kale had not intended to come.
04:35He had been keeping his nights at a private house in the lower city, where he kept his first
04:39love, waiting for the right season to bring her through the fortress gates, and to install
04:43her as a favored consort.
04:45In the past life, he had not returned to Cecilia at all.
04:48She went alone.
04:48Her mother called her useless for being unable to manage her own husband.
04:52Cecilia had stood with her eyes downcast and received every word in silence.
04:56No one had known what she endured inside these walls.
04:59I found Kale before he could vanish, and had him escorted firmly into the carriage.
05:03He tried his best to control Fury.
05:05Vesper, have I shown you too much patience?
05:08If Serpent King fails to appear at my family state, the insult falls on them.
05:12That is not my concern.
05:13I have obligations today.
05:15It is his fox lover, Lush's name, Day.
05:17Naturally.
05:19Then stay, and I'll make sure to have that fox's daughter killed before evening bells.
05:23You wouldn't.
05:24I held his gaze until he understood I was not performing.
05:27Lady Luisha, the daughter of the condemned fox moored.
05:31Did you imagine you could quietly bury her origins and bring her through the gates as a consort?
05:35If I had her killed, your people will love me.
05:39Cell went very still.
05:40He had not known I had gone that deep.
05:42A condemned lineage was not something he could afford to have surfaced.
05:45Not with the great king of the Iron Maw claim, still fragile.
05:48The temperature in the carriage dropped.
05:50Sit quietly, ride with me, and Luinha lives another day.
05:56If you get out of this carriage, she's dead.
06:00I raised my hand and drew one finger slowly across my own neck.
06:04Kale looked like he wanted to put his hands around mine.
06:07Viper, you absolute viper.
06:10He came unwillingly.
06:12When we arrived, my sister Cecilia was already there with her husband, Lucien, the Lion Arbiter.
06:17She had brought half a cartload of gifts, pressed remedies and silk from the eastern provinces.
06:21My mother received them with polite indifference.
06:25How thoughtful.
06:26And handed everything to the steward without looking.
06:28Cecilia's expression did not change.
06:30She had long since learned to carry disappointment without showing it.
06:34But Lucien noticed.
06:35He reached over and covered her hand with his.
06:37Tenderly.
06:38Sister.
06:38Cecilia saw me and smiled.
06:40She inspected me carefully and then exhaled when she found me safe and sound.
06:44Have they treated you bad?
06:46Before I could answer, Kale stepped forward.
06:49Who would dare?
06:50She's turned the entire fortress upside down.
06:53She threatened to kill me before we'd been married.
06:56He was still furious about it.
06:58Cecilia blinked at him.
06:59In the past life, he had not come here.
07:01His presence surprised her and scared her.
07:03She flinched.
07:04Lucien noticed her fear.
07:05Come.
07:06Let's walk the garden.
07:07They left together.
07:08Kale watched her go.
07:09Something shifted in his expression.
07:11Your sister is gentle.
07:15Composed.
07:16Gracious.
07:16He turned to look at me.
07:17You and she share the same blood.
07:19How is it possible you are so entirely unlike her?
07:22I should have taken her instead of you.
07:24I turned to face him.
07:26In the past life, he had taken Cecilia, and he had unmade her, piece by piece, season by
07:31season, until there was nothing left that resembled the girl who had once circled me in the courtyard,
07:35checking for bruises.
07:36Even his stablemen could land a hand on her.
07:39He had used her as a blood vessel to sustain that Lucia's life.
07:42Regrets?
07:43Say her name once more and I'll have Luis's tongue cut out.
07:47I misspoke.
07:48Don't touch her.
07:49Then go.
07:49I need to speak with my mother.
07:51I left him there and went inside.
07:54We returned to the fortress by late afternoon.
07:56Kale still had somewhere to be tonight.
07:58He went to Lady Lucia's place.
08:00Lucia rose when he entered, her eyes filling at once.
08:03My lord, I feared you had forgotten me.
08:06I was detained.
08:08The viper forced my hand.
08:10Of course.
08:12I knew it was she.
08:14She threw herself into Kale's arms.
08:17Good girl.
08:19Kale's hand slipped beneath Lucia's clothes, and the two became entwined.
08:23After the tenderness subsided, Lucia held onto Kale.
08:26Her eyes and cheeks still flushed with the afterglow of passion.
08:30Our son is old enough to find a tutor.
08:32Could I not bring him to the palace?
08:34Pack your things.
08:36In two days I will send for you.
08:38You are coming to the palace.
08:39Lucia lowered her eyes and smiled.
08:41Thank you, my lord.
08:42And behind the smile, behind the downcast lashes, emerged the calculating slyness.
08:47When we returned to the fortress, a child came at me and shouted.
08:52You!
08:53It's because of you my mother can't come home!
08:56I'll kill you!
08:56A woman came scrambling after him, snatching at his collar, her face white with terror.
09:01It was Lucia.
09:02The son of Lucia, that bastard, was brought into my courtyard screaming threats.
09:07That he would have me expelled.
09:09That his father would come.
09:10That I would regret it.
09:11I let him exhaust himself.
09:13Then I crouched to his level and closed my hand around his throat.
09:17Not crushing.
09:17Just present.
09:19His screaming stopped.
09:20Listen to me carefully.
09:21You are not what you think you are.
09:22You have no title.
09:24No protection that I cannot remove.
09:25I could end you and call it a household matter and no one with any authority would tell me I
09:29was wrong.
09:29He stared at me.
09:31His lip was trembling.
09:33Your mother, if she ever enters these walls, will have no standing to raise you.
09:36That right belongs to me.
09:37Which means that by every law in this kingdom, I am the closest thing to a mother you have in
09:40this house.
09:40You're not my mother!
09:42No, I'm not.
09:45But I am the woman you will address accordingly.
09:47Or you will kneel in that courtyard until you change your mind.
09:51He was not stupid.
09:52He could feel my grip.
09:53He went limp.
09:54I released him.
09:55Of course I wouldn't really kill him.
09:57He's just a kid.
09:58I just wanted to make his mother submit.
10:00I kept my promise and spared Lucia's life.
10:03But she wasn't satisfied.
10:04She still wanted to be the consort of Kale.
10:07Lucia curtsied did, holding her hand over the wound on her chest, which still ached faintly.
10:12I sipped my wine.
10:13In the past life, Cecilia had been here, which meant Lucia had Kale to lean on.
10:18This life, with me occupying this position, Kale didn't dare move against me openly,
10:24which meant Lucia had no lever to pull.
10:26Accept me.
10:27So here she was.
10:28Please, I am asking for a way forward.
10:31We are both women.
10:33You know what it is to have no ground beneath you.
10:36If I am not brought into the fortress properly, I have nowhere to go.
10:41She let her voice break on the last word.
10:44She was playing the sympathy card with both hands.
10:47I had no sympathy for Lucia.
10:49She had watched Cecilia being bled on a schedule and called it none of her business.
10:54She had benefited from every drop.
10:56She can find no soft feeling in me.
10:59You may stay.
11:00She exhaled.
11:03As a chambermaid.
11:05The exhale stopped.
11:06My lady?
11:07Kale had been summoned to the Great King.
11:10Roland had seen us arrive together, side by side like a happy couple.
11:15While Kale was inside with the Great King, Roland materialized at my elbow with the particular
11:20expression of a man assembling a complaint.
11:23Since when have you and the Serpent King become so...
11:29Companionally?
11:31Since it suited me.
11:34There's nothing.
11:35He has his uses.
11:36Don't stay too close to him.
11:38Go back to your family's estate for a while.
11:40Say you're unwell.
11:41A few weeks.
11:42He wasn't asking.
11:43Roland.
11:44He was warning.
11:45He knew about the coup.
11:46If I dissolved my arrangement with Kale, formally, legally me, would you mate me?
11:51He went still.
11:52You have been mated.
11:54The binding rites were never completed at the altar, technically...
11:56Vespa.
11:57Is it because I've been another man's mate?
11:59He turned to look at me.
12:00Eyes darkened.
12:01That is not the reason.
12:04I have never cared about such things.
12:06If someone devilish like me could be worth the effort of becoming better, it would only
12:11ever be for someone like him.
12:12Then I'll wait for you to come for me.
12:15And I walked away before he could answer.
12:18Kale was waiting when I returned.
12:19Who were you with?
12:20Roland?
12:20Something moved across his face.
12:23When I have what I owe.
12:24When the throne is settled.
12:26He'll be the first one I remove.
12:29Then I'll look forward to that day.
12:31He stared at me.
12:32I went inside.
12:33A fortnight later, Kale and his allies moved on the palace.
12:37They were surrounded before they reached the inner gates.
12:40I had given Roland everything.
12:42The documents.
12:44The correspondence.
12:45The names.
12:46The dates.
12:46Roland had gone to the crow prince.
12:49The crow prince had gone to my father.
12:52My father had arrived at the palace first and waited in the dark with 15,000 men at his
12:57back.
12:58The coup lasted approximately one hour.
13:00Kale's household was seized three days later.
13:04He looked at me across the courtyard of the fortress he no longer owned.
13:07And his expression dimmed like a smoldering candle.
13:10You gave the evidence all to Roland.
13:12You were going to destroy my family.
13:14I wasn't going to let that happen twice.
13:20The fortress was stripped.
13:22The household condemned.
13:23Those who had served the coup were dealt with according to the law.
13:28Lucia ran.
13:29She took the boy and tried for the eastern road.
13:32They were caught before nightfall.
13:35She had miscalculated, as people often do when they have spent too long believing themselves
13:40protected.
13:41She had spent years cultivating Kale as her shelter.
13:45In the end, he could not shelter even himself.
13:49The great king received me personally.
13:52My father had defended the palace.
13:54I had provided the intelligence that made the defense possible.
13:58By every accounting, I had been on the right side of this from the beginning.
14:02By the following week, I was the talk of the capital again, though the nature of the talk
14:06had shifted.
14:07Less mockery now.
14:08More of the uneasy fascination.
14:12I'm sorry.
14:13This should have been me.
14:14If I had been the one, you wouldn't have had to-
14:16You have nothing to apologize for.
14:18You and Lucien are well.
14:20That's enough.
14:23Three days later, two matching ceremonies were held at once.
14:27Lucien, the Lion Arbiter, came to collect Cecilia himself.
14:30He arrived in formal white and gold, the kind of man who made ceremonial dress look effortless.
14:36Be good to her, I thought, watching him help Cecilia into the carriage.
14:40She deserves your love.
14:42Then I turned and stepped into my own.
14:44Kale had not come to meet me.
14:46He'd spent last night at a brothel house with his mistress and couldn't drag himself out of bed before noon.
14:52I thought Kale not coming to meet my procession was insult enough.
14:56It wasn't.
14:57When the matching ceremony began, he still hadn't appeared.
15:01What came in his place was a spider, larger than my fist, its legs polished black, adorned with a ceremonial
15:07ribbon tied around its midsection.
15:09It was placed on the altar before me.
15:11Is the Serpent King really doing this?
15:13A human bride, bound to a pest.
15:16How fitting.
15:17If I were her, I'd kill myself.
15:19What's left to preserve?
15:20Kale's attendant stepped forward.
15:22My lady, the king was occupied through the night and could not rise in time.
15:25This is his most prized companion.
15:27He felt it appropriate that it stand in his place for the ceremony.
15:30The king despises me.
15:32Even his servants don't bother hiding it.
15:34I said nothing.
15:35I looked past him to the Queen Mother, seated on the high dais.
15:38Your husband returned from campaign exhausted.
15:41As his mate, Grace, is expected of you.
15:43The guests are waiting.
15:45Complete the ceremony.
15:46This was what Cecilia had endured in our past life.
15:49She never told me.
15:51Vespo!
15:52Stop stalling!
15:54You're asking me to complete a matching ceremony with a bug?
15:58So the Serpent King is equivalent to this bug?
16:00How dare you!
16:02I dare nothing.
16:04I came here to bind myself to a king.
16:07Not a bug.
16:08Silence, then scattered laughter.
16:10Nervous, surprised, quickly smothered.
16:12The Queen Mother's composure cracked at the edges.
16:15The spider felt the shift in the air.
16:17It lunged, spitting venom.
16:19I dodged and drove the candlestick spike through it in one clean motion.
16:23A black stain spread outward from the altar.
16:26Droplets caught the front of my wedding whites.
16:29Dark, deliberate looking, like I'd planned it.
16:31The hall erupted.
16:32She killed it!
16:33She killed the king's companion!
16:35The Queen Mother was on her feet.
16:37You!
16:38It attacked me.
16:39I pulled the spike free and wiped it on the altar cloth.
16:43What would you have had me do?
16:44Seize her!
16:45Someone fetch the king!
16:47The doors opened.
16:48The ground trembled faintly as Kale walked in.
16:51Eyes that swept the room and landed on me.
16:53On the crushed creature.
16:54On the stain spreading across the altar stone.
16:57And the absolute calm on my face.
16:59You killed my spider.
17:01It started first.
17:03I'm going to kill you.
17:04I smiled.
17:05I knew he'd come eventually.
17:07Kale crossed the hall in a few strides and beckoned.
17:09Then thousands of serpents swarmed forward.
17:12I didn't move.
17:13The guests held their breath.
17:15Half terrified.
17:16Half fascinated.
17:17Wondering if he'd actually do it.
17:18A swarm of serpents had crawled up to my waist.
17:21Kale.
17:22Just before the A-serpent's tail stopped an inch from my throat.
17:25Kill me and you'll die.
17:27She hauled him back and turned to leave.
17:29The boy still thrashing in her arms.
17:31Still screaming.
17:32Wait.
17:32She stopped then.
17:34Slowly she sank to her knees with the child still clutched against her chest.
17:37My lady.
17:38He is only small.
17:40Children say foolish things.
17:42Please.
17:43He means nothing by it.
17:45What do you call him?
17:47The young lord.
17:49My handmaid quickly stepped forward and struck Lucia across the face.
17:52The boy erupted.
17:54Witch!
17:54You hit my mother!
17:56I'll have my father kill you!
17:58I'll have you all killed!
18:00In the past life, this same child had put serpents in Cecilia's bedchamber.
18:04Serpents in her shoes.
18:05He had tormented her until she fell ill with fright and lay shaking for days.
18:09This life I would teach him differently.
18:11I looked at him for a moment.
18:13Then I crossed the distance between us and slapped him.
18:16I had not particularly wanted to.
18:18But he had raised his hand to me first in my own house.
18:21And there are rules about that.
18:23How dare you touch my son!
18:24And he's the future lord!
18:26Lucia shrieked in fury.
18:27My handmaid struck her again.
18:29You are confused.
18:30The lady has no children yet.
18:32There is no young lord.
18:34Everyone calls him.
18:36Even the queen mother has never objected.
18:38Everyone has been imprecise.
18:40A young lord is born of a lady and a king.
18:43You are neither legitimate nor formally acknowledged.
18:45You are a bastard.
18:46I looked down at the boy who had gone very still.
18:48And since you are the king's blood, however informally, you will come and live in my wing.
18:54Lucia suddenly lunged at me like a madwoman.
18:56If you dare lay a finger upon my son, I'll kill you!
19:00In the struggle, Lucia suddenly took advantage of my distraction to snatch the dagger I was using for self-defense.
19:06Then gritted her teeth and plunged it into her right shoulder, causing blood to gush out.
19:12Kale arrived with a drawn sword.
19:14He crossed the courtyard, sword leveled, the markings along his jaw pulled taut with fury.
19:19Lucia with eyes already wet when she saw shale coming.
19:22She threw herself into his arms with all her might.
19:25Kale's eyes were filled with pity.
19:26And then he looked up and shot me an angry glance.
19:29Vesper, you touched Lucia and my son.
19:32Your son charged at me in my own hall and threatened to kill my servants.
19:36I disciplined him.
19:38That is my right.
19:40Apologize to my son.
19:41I almost laughed.
19:42Or I will end you for this.
19:44Your bastard has no acknowledged title, no formal standing, and no right to that courtyard without my lead.
19:49He is here only because I permit it.
19:51While this bitch, she deserves to die.
19:54In the past life, this Lucia framed my sister in the same way.
19:57She deliberately bled herself.
19:59But when she stabbed herself, she avoided the vital areas.
20:02Although the wound looked scary, it was only a superficial injury.
20:05But Kale cut Cecilia open and drained her blood for Lucia.
20:10Kale, please.
20:11She is the lady of the house.
20:13You cannot...
20:14But I could tell she wasn't using much force.
20:17He shook her off easily and kept walking.
20:19I stood where I was.
20:21Lucia, do you really want me to die?
20:24Lucia lowered her head, pretending not to dare to see what would happen next.
20:28But her eyes betrayed an uncontrollable, triumphant smile.
20:31The sword stayed raised for another moment.
20:33The tip of the sword was just an inch away from me.
20:36Seizing the moment, I grabbed the blade and thrust it straight into my chest.
20:40Right into my heart.
20:42A blood-curdling scream rang off the walls.
20:45Not mine, but Lucia's.
20:46Blood gushed from Lucia's chest like a fountain.
20:49Kale faced.
20:49She pressed her hand against the wound, only to find the blood flowing faster and faster.
20:54This can't be...
20:55Lucia!
20:56Mother!
20:57Kale and the boy rushed over to Lucia at the same time.
21:01Fetch the royal position!
21:03Kale shouted, extremely furious.
21:05He looked at me as if his eyes were about to shoot fire.
21:09Guards!
21:10Cut this woman into pieces!
21:12The serpent guards.
21:13After witnessing all this, none of them dared to touch me.
21:16Idris was executed.
21:18In your hands.
21:21The look on his face suddenly changed into disbelief and fear.
21:25So it was you all along.
21:28You planned this from the very beginning.
21:30Looks like you're not all that dumb after all.
21:34But why?
21:36Why are you doing this to me?
21:38We had no history of conflict before we met!
21:42He cried out in despair.
21:44No conflict?
21:46You seem to have no recollection of how you mistreated my sister.
21:51That really is a bit unfair.
21:52Here's the deal.
21:53If you want to save this woman,
21:55come with me to the spring hunt organized by Lucian the Lion of Auger.
21:59He had no reason to object.
22:01Lucian organized a spring hunting expedition.
22:04A riding party into the hills beyond the city.
22:07Ostensibly for the season.
22:08Practically for the politics.
22:10The guest list reads like a map of every alliance and rivalry in the capital.
22:14The moment Cecilia and I appeared, the whispers started.
22:18Isn't that the Serpent King's mate?
22:20The one who was wed to his pet spider?
22:21She still shows her face.
22:23Remarkable.
22:24He doesn't even treat her as a person.
22:27I'd have drowned myself.
22:30That last one came from Lady Maron from Snake Clan.
22:33Old enemy of mine.
22:34And I know she had a crush on Kale for years.
22:37She was standing with a cluster of other ladies near the treeline.
22:40Not bothering to lower her voice.
22:42She had never needed a reason to look at me with contempt.
22:45And today, she considered herself well supplied.
22:48Cecilia's eyes went red.
22:49My sister has done nothing wrong.
22:52The fault lies with the Serpent King.
22:54Not with her.
22:56I squeezed her hand.
22:57Don't.
22:57In the past life, they had said these things to Cecilia.
23:00I only learned later.
23:02Cecilia walking alone through the snow while they called after her.
23:06No one standing beside her.
23:07No one speaking.
23:08I crossed the grass toward Lady Maron.
23:10She didn't step back.
23:11She thought I wouldn't dare.
23:13Out here.
23:13In front of everyone.
23:15I slapped her.
23:15The crowd went quiet.
23:17Somewhere in the trees, a bird startled and fled.
23:21You.
23:22You struck me.
23:24Do you know who my father is?
23:26I know exactly who your father is.
23:28And when a king's mate is present, you bow.
23:31You don't perform for your friends at her expense.
23:33Your father failed to teach you that.
23:35Consider this a correction.
23:37You think you're untouchable?
23:39My cousin is Serpent King's favorite.
23:40She will discipline you and your father and your brothers.
23:44She had been rattled into saying something she couldn't take back.
23:47You mean Louessa.
23:50What's so funny?
23:51I called for my maid and she came in carrying a tray.
23:56Lady Maron took one look at the tray and nearly three.
24:00Lady Maron left.
24:01Quickly and without her friends, the tray held a fox's paw still adorned with a signet ring.
24:06It was Lucia's.
24:07This is exactly morbid of you, Vesper.
24:09A gentle but calm voice rang at my ear.
24:11I looked over my shoulder and saw a handsome man wearing dark green riding gear.
24:16Roland, the prince of the Serpent clan, Kale's nephew.
24:19I stood there for a moment, genuinely caught off guard.
24:22In another life, when the Serpent King's coup collapsed and my father was swept up in the wreckage,
24:27it had been Roland who stepped forward.
24:29He had argued my father's case before the great king of Iron Ma.
24:33He had taken 30 lashes for it, and 30 lashes had nearly killed him.
24:37I had never thanked him.
24:38I hadn't known.
24:40Roland, thank you.
24:42I only said you're Morid.
24:44What are you thanking me for?
24:45He turned to go.
24:46I caught his sleeve.
24:49You ran.
24:51When I told you I wanted to mate you, you actually ran.
24:58My lady, I would strongly advise against pursuing this particular...
25:01I licked his hand.
25:04He went completely still.
25:05Then he pulled his hand back and stared at me the way a man stares at something that has
25:10justified his understanding of how the world works.
25:13You...
25:15We are outside.
25:16There are...
25:16There are people.
25:17You cannot simply...
25:18There are horses the horses can see.
25:21I know.
25:22He stared at me for another moment, color climbing steadily up the back of his neck,
25:26and then turned and walked away with tremendous dignity and absolutely no idea where he was
25:31going.
25:32Hale and I never completed the binding rites, nor did we ever sleep together.
25:37By any strict reading of the law, we are not truly wed.
25:41Roland's face had gone the color of fresh linen.
25:43Whatever is between you and the serpent king has nothing to do with me.
25:46You should not...
25:47You must not...
25:48This is entirely...
25:48He stopped, seemed to decide that finishing the sentence was too dangerous.
25:52Then he turned and walked away very quickly.
25:55Roland!
25:56I called after him.
25:57He kept walking.
25:58If you're willing, once I've dissolved the arrangement with Kale, I'd mate you.
26:03He walked faster.
26:04He was almost at the treeline.
26:06I was fairly certain he was considering breaking into a run and had only his dignity to lose.
26:11Coward, I thought.
26:12With great affection.
26:13Absolute coward.
26:14You viper.
26:15Kale appeared from my left, materializing out of the expedition crowd, setting his teeth
26:19on edge.
26:20I'm not dead yet.
26:23You'd like to dissolve our arrangement and mate Roland over my living body.
26:28He had come after all, some belated instinct about appearances, most likely.
26:32And he had arrived at exactly the wrong moment.
26:35I'm considering my options.
26:38I'm considering.
26:41He said very quietly.
26:44Finding a convenient moment to have you removed.
26:48Are you?
26:49Yes.
26:50I looked at him.
26:53That would be...
26:56a miscalculation.
26:58He stared at me.
26:59His jaw worked.
27:00He knew I was right.
27:01He couldn't touch me without consequences.
27:03He wasn't prepared to face.
27:05He couldn't risk to lose my father's support.
27:07And Lucia's fate lies in my hands.
27:09You asked me to come here with you.
27:12Was it just so I could watch you cheat on me?
27:15Not exactly.
27:17Cecilia, come here.
27:19I saw my younger sister standing not far away, but I didn't dare to approach us.
27:23She feared Kale deep to bone.
27:25She approached cautiously, holding the sacred artifact of the Lion Clan, a deer antler, in
27:30her hands.
27:31It was no ordinary antler.
27:32I picked up the antler and stabbed the Serpent King with its sharpest point.
27:36You want to kill me?
27:38That would be too easy for you.
27:39The antler is a relic of the Lion Clan's prophet.
27:42When it come into contact with blood, they reveal the truths of past lives.
27:46You should repent for everything you did to my sister.
27:49Kale, remember this.
27:50It's a fight to the death between us.
27:52And of course you're the one who's going to die.
27:54But I won't let you die easily.
27:56Kale left.
27:57Ladder.
27:57Someone told me he had spent the ride home in uncharacteristic silence.
28:01I was told he kept reaching up to touch the back of his neck, as though feeling a draft
28:05from somewhere he couldn't locate.
28:07Good, I thought.
28:08He should start getting used to that feeling.
28:10A condemned lord's daughter does not become a favored concord.
28:14You have no name, no title, and no standing I am obgraged to recognize.
28:20I bore him a son.
28:22The softness had thinned at the edges now.
28:24That counts for something.
28:25It counts for the boy's existence.
28:27It does not count for yours.
28:29You produced an illegitimate child outside of any formal arrangement and called it a service.
28:34In most households, that gets you killed.
28:37She stood there, not quite able to speak.
28:41In truth, I didn't particularly care what she was called.
28:44What I cared about was Cecilia, and the years Lucia had spent comfortable while Cecilia bled.
28:51Let her kneel for a while.
28:53Let her learn the texture of the floor.
28:55I understand.
28:56She bowed her head and went down.
28:58The weeks that followed had a rhythm.
29:01Lucia came to attend me every morning, dutiful and precise, and every evening went to Kale to describe in soft
29:07detail how difficult I had made her day.
29:10Kale, caught between two immovable objects, eventually lost patience, and snapped at her.
29:21I was told Lucia did not speak to him for three days after that.
29:27Meanwhile, I worked through the fortress household piece by piece, repositioning those who could be turned, removing those who couldn't,
29:34watching the architecture of loyalty shift beneath my hands.
29:38And I watched Kale.
29:39He was planning something.
29:41The signs were there.
29:42Meetings that ended when I entered rooms.
29:45Correspondence sealed with unfamiliar marks.
29:47Certain lords appearing in the fortress with no announced purpose.
29:52A coup in preparation moves like weather.
29:55You feel it before you can name it.
29:57I needed evidence.
29:59Which meant staying close to Kale.
30:01Close enough to search.
30:03Close enough to be seen.
30:04And there was Roland as my ally.
30:06Gracias Whether that wasn't the Questions were.
30:06A few things went over.aczego
30:06few things went over. By
30:06the way. I
30:06to apply. Then
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