Pale skin and black hair.
Until today, Kel had only seen such a striking combination in one person.
The Dragon Emperor.
Even the idea that the emperor, a man born from the womb of the previous empress, had so much as a drop of Subterra blood in his veins was ridiculous. It wasn't worth wasting a second thinking about.
"That has nothing to do with what we're talking about," Kel insisted, turning away from Soren. "Don't change th-"
"It doesn't?" Soren scoffed, cutting her off. "I already knew you didn't have the sharpest wits, but have you really not pieced this much together?"
Blood connection. A specific set of genetics. Snow white skin and raven hair.
The pieces were all there, swirling aimlessly in Kel's mind as she refused to afford them any concentration. To say the emperor was of the same race as these cultish ground-dwellers was unlikely--no, it was impossible.
