Hollow Kingdom / Season 1, Episode 5
Shadows of Decay
Eleanor’s fingers tightened around the stem of the wine glass, the cool crystal biting into her palm as Margot’s voice sliced through the dim dining room. The chandelier above flickered, its weak amber light casting long, wavering shadows across the warped mahogany table, where plates of congealed roast and wilted greens sat untouched. The air was thick with the scent of damp wood and something sweeter, cloying, like overripe fruit left to rot in a forgotten corner. “You think you can just waltz back here, El, after all this time, and pretend you give a damn about any of us?” Margot’s words came sharp, her painter’s hands gesturing wildly, smudged with charcoal even now, as if she’d come straight from her easel to this miserable supper. Her dark eyes glinted, catching the candlelight, and Eleanor felt the old, familiar weight of her sister’s resentment press down, heavier than the sagging plaster ceiling above them. “I’m here because I have to be,” Eleanor said, her voice low, clipped, the barrister’s tone she used to disarm opponents in court. She set the glass down with a deliberate clink, the sound swallowed by the cavernous room. “Same as you. Same as Thomas. Don’t make this personal when it’s just—business.” “Business?” Margot barked a laugh, short and bitter, leaning forward so her tangled chestnut...