Page 91 of Haunted Crowns
“You love her, don’t you?”
Kareon didn’t answer, and in that silence, Stephan found everything he needed to know. His breath turned shallow. A sharp, unwanted pressure coiled in his chest, dangerously close to fear.
Kareon loved her. And what if… What if she loved him too?Gods. No.
Eris was his. His to protect. His to fight for.
Something snapped.
Fury roared through him like wildfire, drowning every rational thought. He charged, blade swinging with the weight of pure, reckless rage.
“You twisted her,” he seethed.
Kareon caught the strike. “You’re a fool.”
“You are not worthy of her,” Stephan spat, driving forward, forcing Kareon back.
“And you are?” Kareon growled, holding firm. “You claim to know her. To understand her. But you keep hurting her, again and again, because you don’t trust her.”
Stephan froze, half a heartbeat. The words slammed into him like a punch to the gut, because it was true; he had doubted her. He had let fear and pride drive a wedge between them, and it had nearly cost him everything. A mistake he’d sworn never to repeat.
For a second, the raw truth hung in the air. Then Stephan struck. This time, he didn’t move with rage. He moved with precision.
Kareon barely parried. Stephan’s blade knocked his aside and forced an opening with a sharp twist and an unforgiving shove.
Kareon hit the ground, his sword flung from his grasp. Stephan loomed over him, breath ragged, blade poised, but Kareon didn’t look defeated. He looked up, smirked, and tilted his head.
“How do you think Eris will feel,” he murmured, “when she learns you set this up just to prove your paranoia? That while you schemed to turn her against us, we stood beside her. And she knows,” his voice dropped, “we would die for her.”
The words didn’t cut. They crushed. Stephan felt them settle behind his ribs like a vow he should have spoken first. His fingers twitched around the hilt, then eased. He hadn’t meant to stage this, but Kareon had forced him to face what he had buried—that he had made Kareon the enemy to avoid the truth.
He was afraid. Not just that he wasn’t enough, but that Eris might slip away, that even the fiercest love could still be lost. And Kareon, of all people, had seen it. Named it. Stripped him bare. His stomach twisted, not with rage, but something close to shame. Kareon wasn’t the threat he’d imagined. He wasn’t a brute or a rival scheming to take what wasn’t his. He was fiercely in love with her. The kind of love that stood unflinching in the face of war and death. The kind of love Stephan understood.
He had spent his life preparing to protect Eris. But now he knew that when war came, Kareon would stand too. Not in Stephan’s place, but beside him. It didn’t comfort him, but it steadied him. Her safety still mattered more than pride. More than anything.
Still, respect wasn’t surrender. Kareon’s love was real, but so was his. Kareon had earned his respect, but Stephan would never yield. He would never stop fighting for her. Not now. Not ever.
The weight of that truth settled in his bones. This war of pride and denial was over, but the fight for her heart would never be.
Stephan hesitated for only a breath before extending a hand. It wasn’t peace or friendship. It was something close to understanding.
Kareon stared at it. His golden eyes flickered, something unreadable passing through before his lips curved into something almost smug.
“Careful, Prince,” he murmured. “I’d hate for you to start liking me.”
Stephan’s expression didn’t shift. “I do not. And I never will.”
Silence stretched between them. For so long, Kareon had seen Stephan as a cold, calculating heir—someone who would sacrifice Eris to preserve legacy. But now, he saw something else: a man in love, desperate, unraveling under the weight ofwhat he couldn’t control. Not fighting to win, but to keep from losing her.
Kareon’s expression softened, just slightly. Perhaps for the first time, he understood him.
He clasped Stephan’s hand. Stephan pulled him to his feet with a sharp tug, his grip just tight enough to make a point. The rivalry remained, untamed. The battlefield, however, had changed.
They stood in silence. The weight between them—history, blood, and Eris—hung thick and unspoken. Neither would ever let her go. And yet, for the first time, respect had room to exist between them.
Kareon arched a brow, smirk laced with knowing amusement. “Don’t you have an important appointment tonight? You’d best prepare yourself.”
Stephan’s eyes narrowed. “What? How do you—” He stilled as recognition flickered through him. He exhaled and dragged a hand down his face. “Don’t tell me.” He shook his head once. “I know.”
