Chapter Ninety Eight - Peace With The Past

Chapter Ninety Eight - Peace With The Past
Eron’s POV

“Sky.” I whispered.

She stood just a few feet away from me, framed by the soft light filtering through the forest leaves.

For a heartbeat, everything in me stopped, my pulse, my thoughts, the restless storm that had been gnawing at me for weeks.

I’d spent so long chasing ghosts of her across borders and burned trails that I had forgotten what her presence actually felt like. And now here she was, standing before me.

Her hair had grown longer, her skin paler but still neat, her eyes… those hadn’t changed. They still carried that same quiet depth of calm, patient, and knowing. There was no fear in them, no bitterness, nothing of that sort.

Just a faint sadness, or maybe something gentler.

“Eron,” she said softly.

Her warm voice hit me like the wind through an open wound, familiar, and painful all at once.

I swallowed hard, forcing words to come out, but all that escaped was a broken whisper. “You’re… here.”

She gave a faint smile and nodded. “I am.”

My throat tightened. I didn’t know what to do, approach her, drop to my knees, apologize again for all the times I failed her. Every instinct screamed to hold her, but guilt pinned me where I stood.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” I managed to say. “Not after—”

“After I was sold,” she finished quietly. Her tone wasn’t sharp, wasn't harsh either. There was no accusation in it, just truth.

That stung worse.

She took a step closer, slow and careful, like she knew I might break. “You’ve changed,” she said. “You look… tired.”

I almost laughed at that, tired didn’t even begin to cover it. “The council sees to that almost everyday,” I muttered, half under my breath.

“They call me in for every mistake I make, every choice I take, as though I’m still a child they can correct.”

Her brows furrowed. “And your father?”

“He’s… trying. Always has been. He sees both sides now, but that’s what getting him just as tired.” I exhaled, shaking my head. “He says he wants peace, but peace doesn’t come by waiting. It comes by doing something about what’s broken.”

Her eyes softened, and something flickered behind them, understanding maybe. “And yet you didn’t come for me sooner,” she said.

That cut through me like blades.

I turned away, dragging a hand over my face, trying to gather the words I should’ve said long ago.

“I tried,” I said. “You think I didn’t? When I found out where they took you, I begged the King to send a rescue party. I offered gold, men, everything I could but... He refused. Said it was too dangerous, that we couldn’t risk war over one girl.”

Her lips parted slightly, but she didn’t speak.

I forced myself to look at her again. “I still went,” I said quietly. “I crossed into the werewolf territory myself. I offered Kael everything instead, land, armies, whatever he wanted, if he’d let you go.”

She stared at me like she couldn’t quite believe it. “You did that?”

I nodded. “He refused me.”

Silence fell between us, heavy, thick. I could hear the sound of my own heartbeat pounding in my ears.

She took another step closer. “Why?” she asked softly.

“Because I couldn’t stand knowing what they’d done to you,” I answered, my voice barely holding steady. “Every night, Sky. Every night I saw it, your face, your pain. The way you looked at me when they dragged you away. I should’ve stopped them.”

My hands trembled but I clenched them into fists. “I should’ve fought harder.”

Her expression softened, painfully so. “Eron…”

But I didn’t let her finish. And just like that, the dam broke.

“I’m sorry,” I said, the words spilling out raw. “I’m sorry for not standing up to him. For being too afraid to defy my father. For watching you be punished for something you didn’t do.”

I didn’t even realize I was crying until she reached up and touched my face, her fingers brushing against my cheek with that same tenderness I used to dream about.

“You don’t have to—”

“Yes, I do,” I snapped, though my voice cracked halfway through. “Because you deserved better. You deserved someone who would’ve fought for you, even if it meant dying in the process.”

Her touch didn’t falter. She just kept her hand there, steady, warm, grounding me when I didn’t deserve it.

“I don’t hate you, Eron,” she said softly and I looked at her.

She smiled faintly, her thumb brushing a tear off my skin. “I never did.”

My chest ached with something I couldn’t name, something I dare not do.

I laughed, a weak, broken sound. “You always were kinder than you should be.”

She tilted her head slightly, a sad sort of amusement in her gaze. “Maybe. Or maybe I just learned to forgive.”

That made the tears fall harder.

I sank down onto onto my knees, burying my face in my hands for a moment. She didn’t move, didn’t speak, just stood beside me quietly. The air between us was thick with everything left unsaid.

When I finally looked up, she was studying me again, that same curious, thoughtful look she used to give me when I said something foolish.

“What did you do after?” she asked softly. “After I was gone.”

I exhaled, dragging my fingers through my hair. “I tried to forget,” I admitted. “But I couldn’t. Every village I visited, every woman I met, every duty, task or job, none of them were you, none of them could get my mind off. It sounds pathetic, doesn’t it?”

She didn’t answer that. Just looked at me with that same steady calm.

“I wanted to save you,” I whispered. “I really did.”

“And now?” she asked gently.

“Now…” I trailed off, my voice shaking. “Now I don’t even know if I deserve to look at you.”

Her expression softened again. “You’ve suffered enough for that guilt.”

I shook my head. “No. Not even close.”

Slowly, she knelt beside me. “You did what you could,” she said. “And maybe that’s enough.”

I stared at her, this woman who had every reason to hate me, yet here she was, offering comfort. It didn’t make sense. It never did.

“You’re still the same,” I murmured.

Her smile was faint but real. “Maybe not entirely.”

I wanted to believe that smile, to hold it and never let go. But deep down, I knew it didn’t belong to me anymore. There was something different in her eyes now, a quiet resolve, a strength that wasn’t there when I knew her.

And it terrified me, because I knew who she had become that for.

Kael.

I forced the thought away, standing up slowly. “You shouldn’t have come here,” I said, though it sounded weaker than I intended.

“I needed to,” she replied simply, rising up after me.

“Why?”

Her gaze softened. “To make peace. With the past.”