Page 121 of Haunted Crowns
She laughed too loud. She ran too fast. She got her dress dirty. She listened to wind that should not speak.
Stephan’s hands curled tightly in quiet fury. He had always known the cage they built around her. He had watched them shape her shame.
She picked at her dress, her shoulders curving inward. “Maybe the person I am waiting for is not coming, because they think I am embarrassing too.”
It broke something inside him. “Do not say that.” His voice cracked, rough and full of ache. “You do not have to change for anyone.” He turned to her completely, voice raw. “You are fearless. Brave. Sacred. Do not let them take that from you.”
She looked up, her wide green eyes searching his. Then she smiled—a small, knowing thing. “I like you.”
His heart stopped, breaking and mending in the same breath. If they ever made it back, he would tear apart anyone who made her doubt herself again.
She leapt to her feet and grabbed his hand. “Come on! Let’s play!”
He exhaled, smiling despite himself. “Are you sure you want to play with a boring old prince?”
She grinned, eyes bright. “I bet I beat you.”
He laughed and shook his head. “All right. Show me.”
She darted into the maze, and just like that, he was ten again. Her laughter echoed through the hedges, light, free. Perfect. The most beautiful sound in the world. He would give anything to hear it forever.
She turned too quickly, rounded a corner, and ran straight into him. Eris yelped and tumbled back.
“Eris—” He dropped to his knees.
She blinked up at him, cheeks flushed, curls untamed. He brushed the hair from her face with aching tenderness. Then she spoke.
“I think I remember.”
He froze. “What do you remember?”
Her brow furrowed in concentration. “Who I am waiting for.” She paused, eyes distant. “Someone special.” The world seemed to hold its breath. “He makes me laugh, makes me feel safe. Like you do.”
His heart slammed against his ribs. It was him. She had always been waiting for him.
“Try, little one,” he whispered. “Say his name.”
She squeezed her eyes shut as panic rose in her small frame. The world trembled, and shadows began to gather.
Stephan’s voice cracked. “Say it, Eris. Please.”
She looked at him, trembling, desperate. The shadows surged as the world twisted around them. “His name is…” Her fingers clutched his sleeves.
The ground split beneath them, and darkness rose.
She gasped. “Stephan.”
Joy broke through him, raw and absolute. “That’s it.”
His voice was full of something sacred and whole. He wanted to stay, to hold this moment forever, but the void pulled him back, weightless and spiraling, and the last thing he saw was her smile.
Stephan gasped. Air tore from his lungs like a man dragged from drowning. Cold bit into his skin, anchoring him to the present. The monoliths pulsed faintly, their glow flickering like dying embers.
But none of it mattered, because the moment he came back to himself, he saw her still motionless on the ground. His stomach dropped.
“No!” The word slipped out as panic surged through him. He turned and brushed her cheek with trembling fingers. “Eris.”
No response.
