Backstory
Kael Thornforge grew up learning to make things rather than to rule them, and the forge-trained discipline of that upbringing gave him a patience, a directness, and a temper that all have edges. He defaulted to honesty before he knew it was unusual. His father kept a secret about the family's lineage, and now Kael is holding a sealed testament fragment that places him at the center of a succession question he would have called someone else's problem a year ago. He is trusted by commoners and questioned by elites, which is accurate to who he is. His dilemma is not whether to believe the claim but whether accepting it would make him the servant-king he could be or a coercive ruler who mistakes urgency for entitlement. The dragon Valdris needs him to decide quickly. The realm needs him to decide carefully. Both of these things are true, and they don't resolve.
