Page 1 of Haunted Crowns
Chapter 1
The wind arrived before the whispers. Cold, sharp, and wrong. It slipped through the high tower windows, curling around Eris's bare arms like a ghost brushing bone. She couldn’t breathe. Her hands pressed into the silken coverlet, knuckles bloodless, heart already racing. The candle beside her guttered, flame bowing toward some invisible presence.
Then came the voices. Whisper-thin. Ancient. Crawling behind her ear like breath from a forgotten god. She stiffened as the world narrowed around her, breath catching in her throat. Her spine arched. The glass slipped from her hand and shattered, wine blooming like blood. Her mouth opened, but the voice that came wasn’t hers. “The lake remembers the blood. The forest mourns the bones. A queen must fall for a world to rise.”
The words echoed through the marble hush, wrong and ancient, like a voice pulled from a grave. Her vision tunnelled. And then—
“Lady Eris!” Artina burst through the door, her skirt swishing as she crossed the room in three strides and caught Eris just before she slipped off the bed’s edge. “Breathe, princess. Come back. Come back to me.”
Eris shuddered violently. Her eyes fluttered as the trance broke. The room snapped back into shape. The wind was gone. Her heart thundered.
Artina steadied her. “That was stronger than the last. You said—”
“I don’t want to know what I said,” Eris interrupted, breathless. She pulled away, pressing her palms to her eyes. “I thought I had more time. Thought I was controlling it.”
But control was a myth, and hope was a fool’s gamble.
Artina didn’t flinch. She hadn’t served Eris long, but she already knew the signs.
“They’re worsening, aren’t they?”
Eris exhaled sharply. “They’re changing.”
She hated how her hands still trembled.
Artina offered a cloth. “Should I call the doctor?”
“No.” Eris took the cloth but didn’t use it. “Stephan arrives today. He should be here any minute.”
Understanding passed between them.
“You don’t want him to know,” Artina said gently.
Eris nodded, jaw tight. “He has enough to carry already. If he finds out, he’ll worry, and he’ll put everything else aside just to watch over me.”
“He always has.”
“I know.” Her voice softened. “If it weren’t for Stephan... I would’ve been completely alone.” She paused, drawing in a slow breath. “He’s the only one who ever truly saw me. Even when I couldn’t explain what was happening. He stood between me and the noble children who called me cursed. Took his father’s fury more than once, just so I wouldn’t suffer the consequences of my... rebellions.”
Artina smoothed the blanket at the edge of the bed. “And now?”
“Now he’s buried in border skirmishes and council decrees. I won’t be the reason he gets pulled from them.”
“You think he’d drop everything for you?”
“I know he would,” she said softly. “That’s what scares me.”
A thoughtful silence passed between them. Then Artina murmured, “It’s because he’s always been in love with you.”
Eris flushed and turned her head. “Don’t be ridiculous. He’s not.” Then, with a breathy laugh and the faintest doubt, “He probably just sees me as the royal mischief he’s stuck cleaning up after.”
Artina smirked, reaching to smooth a strand of hair from Eris’s brow. “You can lie to yourself, Your Highness, but even the walls know Prince Stephan is hopelessly smitten.” She began gathering Eris’s auburn curls into her hands with practiced fingers. “A marriage between the two of you wouldn’t just be perfect. It would be ideal. You’re both Firstblood vampires. Both Dragovs. Children of the twin kings of Goznoth. The strongest magic flows in your veins.” She eased a section between her fingers, gently now. “Your fathers, King Yori and King Raphael, married their own cousins to keep the bloodline potent and the throne unified. You and Stephan? You are the clearest path to fortifying the crown.”
Then she tugged at a knot a little too sharply.
“Ouch!” Eris winced, glaring playfully at her.
Artina grinned, unrepentant.
