Before the fight in the ballroom….
"Aldric has arrived in the palace,"
Valerie balled his hands into fists when Derek informed him of his arrival. All through the evening, he had planned several ways of dealing with his devil of a brother for what he did to Islinda. He killed her. There was no way the entire family could be dead without his brother's involvement, not when Aldric tracked him down in the human realm.
Aldric had always hated and coveted his things. He must have killed Islinda to get back at him for allegedly stealing his position. The Fae realm was cutthroat and only the strongest would rule the kingdom of Astaria, not the eldest, or else his brother Theodore would have been the crown prince.
However, Aldric claimed to be the strongest when everyone in the kingdom knew he was only strong thanks to his dark magic. Neither could they crown a dark Fae as king, that would be an abomination! It has never been done and evil would never win over good.