Page 214 of Severed Heir

“Stars and silver?” I echoed, uncertain.

His gaze shifted toward the window. “Look around. No Scavengers. No illusionists. The people are restless. They want something real to believe in.”

I hesitated, then gave voice to the question I’d buried for weeks. “Were you in love with my mother?”

His exhale came slow. “I loved your mother,” he said quietly. “But not the way you’re asking. It wasn’t romantic. She was something larger. A force of nature. I was her Serpent mentor, and I knew how wrong that was.”

I swallowed. “Do you still believe she was good? Even though she… killed people?”

“Yes,” he said without pause. “She loved your father so fiercely she made a bargain with the Forgotten. One with consequences.”

“What kind of bargain?”

Hadrian smiled faintly. “In time, I’ll tell you everything. Call me cruel, but I know the only reason you talk to me is for answers. So let’s strike our own deal. Once a week, I’ll give you a piece of the truth. In return, I want one thing from you.”

“What?”

“I want to know you, Severyn.”

“I won’t ever respect you,” I said. “Not until you prove you deserve it.”

He turned back to the window. “She was always fire. A fire that couldn’t be contained. Not even by me.” Then his gaze returned to mine, and something shifted in the air. “And you… you are her. In ways I hadn’t noticed until now.”

I swallowed hard, a lump rising in my throat. Because I wasn’t just my father’s daughter. I was hers, too. And that meant I wasn’t made to be safe.

I was made to burn and destroy.

“Do you know who her mother was?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Then why didn’t she inherit flame? Why death?”

“Our quells adapt,” he said. “They’re born from need. Your mother was raised in chaos. She needed death to survive it.”

My voice dropped. “But what if I’m not enough? What if the legacy is too much for me to carry?”

Hadrian’s expression softened. “You will rise. She wielded death, but she wielded it with purpose.”

I wanted to be more than just an heir to a bloodline I never asked for. More than the legacy that kept dragging me into fires I didn’t know how to put out.

“Your mother didn’t fight for a crown,” he said. “She fought to protect Ravensla. To protect her people. In the end, she surrendered her right so Victor could win. Because survival meant more than a throne.”

The words coiled around my ribs like chains. “I don’t think I want to be queen,” I whispered.

“Yes, you do,” Hadrian said. “I saw it when you demanded I release the barrens. You already have ideas of how the world should be ruled.”

Estella cut in quietly. “Don’t force her.”

“You don’t have to live up to anyone,” he told me. “But the fire’s already inside you. And it’s going to burn, whether you like it or not.”

He stood. “You’ll find your way, Severyn. Maybe one day, you’ll even stop hating me.”

I looked up. “You’re not all that horrible, Hadrian. I don’thateyou.”

His final words lingered, and they were perhaps the most fatherly thing he would ever say to me. “You are not a severed heir, Severyn. You are my daughter. My heir. Andri will always be your father, but I have twenty-two years to make up for.”

Before I could respond, Estella turned toward the door with a wry smile. “Ah. The ruler of shadows has arrived, and he didn’t knock… again.”

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