The Crown We Break

Two Stones On A Hill

Bonus Scene: Two Stones on the Hill

The sun hung low in the sky, burning gold across the wild grass of the northern hills.

Caelan stood alone at the summit, looking down at the twin stones set side by side.

One bore the name of the old king — his father.

The other was unmarked.

For a long time, Caelan didn’t speak.

He just stood there.

Wind swept his cloak back like it was trying to make him move again, but he didn’t. He had spent so many years in motion. Always running — from the crown, toward the people, into something larger than himself.

Now, standing still felt holy.

Footsteps behind him.

Sareth.

He carried two mugs, still steaming.

“Figured if you were gonna talk to the dead, you might want something warm,” he said.

Caelan cracked a smile. “If they answer, you’ll need something stronger than tea.”

Sareth passed him the mug and looked down at the stones.

They stood in silence for a while, until Caelan said, “I never really forgave him.”

“You don’t have to,” Sareth said. “He wasn’t built for softness. We were. That’s why we broke it all.”

Caelan sipped. “Do you ever wonder what we’d be like if none of it happened? If I’d never run? If you’d never plotted? If Lyra had just become another minister?”

Sareth chuckled. “What? A boring prince, a bitter noble, and a woman outshining both of us anyway?”

Caelan smiled faintly. “Yeah. Something like that.”

A hawk wheeled overhead. The breeze shifted. The world below them rolled out like a canvas — patchwork farms, children’s laughter echoing faintly from a distant village, the edge of the old road he’d first walked in stolen boots.

“Do you regret it?” Caelan asked.

“Sometimes,” Sareth said. “But not tonight.”

Caelan looked over. “Why not tonight?”

“Because we built something bigger than our names. Because you’re still here. And because I finally got you to drink tea.”

They laughed. Quiet. Gentle.

And then Sareth stepped closer and laid a hand on Caelan’s shoulder.

“Let them remember the prince who ran,” he said. “But never forget the man who stayed to see it through.”

Caelan closed his eyes.

And for the first time, he let himself believe it.