Caston Cleargh is the most powerful lord in Mordikhaan. With Santaris dying and no clear successor, he moved to consolidate power in the political vacuum — calculating, manoeuvring, willing to be ruthless when necessary. He secretly ordered the execution of his own brother-in-law Randall Madim as a political liability. He plays the long game.

Then a Thartan Master presses a parasitic stone into his forehead and begins to turn him into a King of Thralls.

Khe arrives in time. The Thyral stone javelin destroys the Master. Caston survives — but barely. The Benefactor appears from the shadows and heals his corrupted wound, which should have been impossible.

The man who emerges from Talerin Rock is humbled in a way that cannot be undone. He abandons his ambitions for Mordikhaan’s throne. He stays at Talerin Rock to defend it. This is either the beginning of his redemption or the end of his usefulness — the series hasn’t decided which.