The thought eats at me until I decide I need answers. Colsar will probably be at least another hour, and by then he will be mentally exhausted. We need answers, and soon.
So I go, with Wyn trailing a careful distance behind us. The corridors are quieter at this hour, the court pulled elsewhere, the air carrying only distant movement and low voices that never fully disappear. Kiss presses against me, warm and alert despiteher exhaustion, her small hand fisting in my gown as though she refuses to let go of the day.
Sevrin's study door is closed. I knock once.
"Enter."
I nod at Wyn, who takes position outside the door. I push the door open. He is at his desk, papers spread before him, one hand braced against the wood. His attention lifts the moment I step inside, something passing through his expression before it smooths into something controlled.
"Asharin," he says.
I close the door behind me and remain near it. "I want to know about Morrath."
He studies me for a moment, then leans back slightly, as though deciding how much to give me.
"You want to understand it," he says.
"Yes."
A brief pause. "It is not what you think it is."
"Then tell me what it is."
He considers that, then exhales slowly. "Morrath is not simply a place. It is a system. A controlled environment designed to contain and direct what most kingdoms cannot afford to manage."
"Morraks," I say.
"Yes. And more."
My hand tightens slightly at Kiss's back. "More?"
“There are layers of control. Power that predates me.”
"And you control it?"
"To an extent."
"That is not an answer."
"The gate limits what I can call upon," he says. "Without it fully opened, what I can access is restricted. Contained."
I hold his eyes, weighing what he is saying against everything I have seen.
"Then I want to see it. If my daughter is to inherit this kingdom, I will not rely on what I am told."
His attention lingers on me longer this time, something quieter moving beneath it. "You could pass through the wards," he says.
"Explain."
"They are not keyed to rank alone. They are keyed to blood. Not lineage in name. In substance."
My fingers tighten slightly around Kiss.
"Feeders," I say.
"Yes. The deeper layers of Morrath respond to feeder blood. It is how control is maintained. How the system recognizes authority beyond title."
I absorb that.
