Cael told him everything he knew.
"The Patriarch believes the main production and trafficking origin isn't here." Cael's eyes stayed level. "He believes it's in Creslan. Closest territory to the Emerald Kingdom in the empire. Whatever crosses that border finds its way into the rest of the kingdoms eventually. Ishkral is downstream. Not the source."
Arthur sat with that for a moment, then looked at Vexis.
Vexis hovered near the courtyard wall, an expression Arthur hadn't seen on him before. Disgust layered over guilt, layered over something close to remorse.
Whoever made distribution possible in this kingdom had to be the figurehead Vak answered to.
The Blauenstein family had elven aetheric essence on at least two members. Roz had confirmed that months ago.
Two possibilities. Either they'd consumed the drug themselves and somehow stabilized against it. Or they were the ones making distribution possible, using their standing to keep the supply lines open.
