“And you believed them?” I ask, tilting my head at him like he was nothing more than a stupid child.
“No,” he says simply. “Not at first. But then they showed me what could be mine. A throne, power, obedience from realms that once spat at my name. I was her general, her second in command, but I was still beneath her.” He meets my eyes. “And I didn’t want to be beneath anyone anymore.”
My hand tightens around the handle of my blade.
“They offered me the kingdom,” he continues. “If I helped bring her down, I could have it. All I had to do was let them plan everything. They let the fae into the realm.” He shrugs. “I didn’t even have to do much. Not really. Just hold her still. Keep her from escaping. And I did.”
So that’s all it truly took to turn my father from a loyal second to a filthy fucking traitor. The promise of a throne that wasn’t earned, and the ability to rule people who didn’t choose him. That wouldn’t choose him. Dasmyrin was loved. She ruled fairly, not like him, who chose corruption and fear.
I felt sick just looking at him. I was by no means a kind man. I’ve acted irrationally, without thinking, without caring. But totake a queen and destroy her, one who looked at him like a brother. He truly was scum.
“I knew what I was doing, I knew what would happen. And I did it anyway. I wanted the crown.”
“You let the fae in?” I ask.
“The Divine Six did, they struck a deal. The fae would cross the realms—bring their magic, their beasts, their warriors. And in return, they’d be given a seat of influence here. A place in our realm.” His lips twist. “But they failed. They couldn’t kill her, even with all their power.”
“So the Divine Six closed the door between our universe and theirs?” I ask, desperate for all the information I could get before the elixir wore off.
“Cut them off permanently,” he confirms. “Left only the bloodlines behind. Some of them had already sired children here, others died on the battlefield.”
I begin pacing up and down the room, combing a hand through my hair. “Were there others? Anybody else who helped you in your fucking desperate climb to the throne?”
He stills, and I watch as his face twists, sweat forming on his brow. He clamps his lips shut, fisting at the furs around him. The bastard is trying to withhold information. He’s trying to fight the elixir.
I narrow my eyes, stopping dead in front of him. “Spit it out, Korran,” I growl, raising my blade to him.
“The Særathi,” he grits out, the sweat now dripping down his forehead.
I watch as his expression shifts. For the first time, I swear I see something like fear in his eyes.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“They weren’t part of the original deal,” he says slowly, still trying to fight the words. “They weren’t from the fae universe. They weren’t from any realm we knew. The Divine Six didn’ttell me much. But they said they found a door… one that wasn’t supposed to exist.”
“What door?” I push, my pulse rising with each word he mutters.
“The Aetherhollow,” he whispers.
“What are they? What is that place?” I can feel my panic rising. I’d never heard any of this information before. Not even in whispers.
He shakes his head. “I don’t know. Not truly. All I know is they aren’t mortal, or divine, or anything in between. The Divine Six were terrified of them and utterly obsessed with them at the same time. Said they lived in the space between spaces. That they could rewrite memory, and that time bends for them like wind.”
“And the Divine Six wanted their power?”
“They wanted it badly. Enough to slaughter them. Enough to steal their knowledge and bind it into a book.”
I freeze. “What book?”
He looks away, his body shaking as he tries his hardest to fight the elixir coursing through him.
“Korran. What book?” I snarl.
“They called it the Grimoire of Shattered Threads. I never saw it. I only heard them whisper about it. But it holds everything they ever learned. Everything they took.”
“Where is it?” I demand, grasping at his silken nightwear.
“I told you—I don’t know.”
