Page 28 of Haunted Crowns
Silence.
Her fingers curled into her palm. She knocked again, harder.
Still nothing.
She drew a slow breath, hesitated, then pushed the door open. Inside, the fire burned low. Shadows stretched long across the study, waiting. The air smelled of parchment and steel, of Stephan. But tonight, there was no warmth in it. He stood behind his desk, spine rigid, shoulders tight. A parchment trembled in his hands. Eris froze.
“Stephan?”
No response.
He crushed the parchment in his fist. When he finally spoke, his voice was hoarse, disbelieving.
“Eris. Tell me this is not true.”
The words struck sharp. Her stomach twisted.
“What is?”
He exhaled hard through his nose and slammed the parchment onto the desk. The Dragov Watchers’ seal gleamed in the firelight, wax split clean. Their reports landed on his desk before the kings, before the council, because he decided what mattered. His voice dropped, dangerously controlled.
“The Watchers saw you enter pack territory.” He swallowed hard, like the words tasted all wrong. “With Kareon Duskbane.” His throat worked, as if forcing out the truth. “And you came out hours later.”
The room shrank. For a single, fragile second, she considered lying, but that wasn’t who she was. Not with Stephan. She lifted her chin.
“It is true.”
Stephan just stared, silent, like his mind was still trying to reject what his ears had heard. His breath turned sharp and uneven.
“Eris, what have you done?”
The quiet devastation in his voice pressed deep into her ribs. She stepped closer.
“I needed answers.”
His laugh snapped, sharp and bitter. “So you thought waltzing into enemy territory was the way to get them?” He raked a hand through his hair, already pacing. “You could have been killed. Taken. Or worse.”
She had expected his anger, but she hadn’t expected him to look so broken.
“I had no choice.”
He stopped mid-stride and turned sharply.
“No choice? You had every choice. You could have come to me. Waited. Trusted me—” He stopped himself, breath heavy, hands braced against the desk, knuckles white.
Eris’s jaw tightened. “I couldn’t wait. I needed to know why I’m not like everyone else. Why I feel things I shouldn’t feel. Why I hear voices no one else hears.” Her voice was raw, tight with desperation. “And I am here. Isn’t that enough? I walked into their territory and came back. If it was a trap, I wouldn’t be standing here, would I?”
Stephan’s head snapped up. “That’s not the point!”
Her chest ached as the moment slipped through her fingers. He wasn’t listening. Still, she pressed on. “The shaman didn’t just explain the whispers. He told me about Seraphina. About why I hear them.”
His expression flickered, just for a second, a fear he refused to name. Then he shut it down.
“Seraphina tried to reunite our people, Stephan. She tried to end the war. But she failed.” Eris swallowed. “And now, she speaks through me.”
His breath left him. “Eris…”
She steadied herself. “I have her gift. I feel people’s emotions, stronger than anyone should. It’s growing. I know it’s real.” Stephan went still. Her voice softened. “If I don’t finish what she began…everything she died for will burn with us.”
