Raffin had no designs to the throne. He had no desire to lead a kingdom that was well enough left alone. He'd much rather spend his time among his experiments or with his friends. And this was where the problem lay. His friends, his comrades in arms, those that he wished to protect. And out of all of them Katsa was the most troublesome. His father may see her as a monster, but he knew better than to judge her for her grace. After all Katsa was the one who had brought so many across the seven kingdoms with her council to oppose the kings, all be it in small instalments with no real damage done to any king's honour or pride. And only he could save her from her cage whilst she believed that she had no power. And for that he was willing to take to the throne. He was prepared to be subjugated to the stares and the ridicule of his courtiers and the envious eyes of the Royal line. He was willing to endure the stares of the young women who all had their eyes on the throne, their fingers all but digging into his flesh at the balls and their fathers all commenting on his own daughter above all the others. Though he'd much rather do without.
Then Prince Greening Grandemalion came to the court, came and told Katsa what he could not have done for fear of offence and his own welfare. Katsa was not known for her even temper. Perhaps the graceling prince had more of idea what she was going through what with his own strange grace. And that had left him alone in a castle that knew not of Randa's cruelty to his own blood. The morning that they left Raffin felt a part of him leave; he knew that the she would not be able to come to him till his Father's death. He knew that he would never again hear her council on such and such a matter. That they would never again laugh at the ridiculousness of Helda's choice in clothes, nor the timid suitors that Randa had lined up for her. They would never laugh at his experiments and suffer at the hand of his father together anymore. The castle would become quite without the constant sound of her battling some guard. Nor would they have secret meeting in her chambers to discuss the council. He would no longer be the potions master whose medicines had enabled so many of their successes, given him importance that depended not on his father's whim. The small freedom and adventure that had accompanied her presence would not be felt. Unless he became king.
It was then that he had decided to speed up his plans for the throne. The pills that the gracling cook put in his father's meals increased in dose and the effects quickly became apparent. The king was losing his grip on the throne. Not least because of his medicine. The people had decided to rebel against the tyranny of the Lord King and the missions that Katsa's council preformed became more politically fuelled. Raffin found himself being consulted more and more on such and such a matter that an underlord had, or the amount of tax that the people should give to the king from this summer's harvest. And all the while the medicine ate away at the king's mind and he was soon only King in name. One day the King had fallen grievously ill, he had had to remain in his chambers the week following. Raffin attended to him, gave him the drugs that his father had scorned in his error. Raffin told his father what he was doing to him. That he was killing him from the inside out. That the boy he ignored so often was now taking the power from this bully king. No one believed the King once he had recovered. All commented on the King's incapability.
Raffin had lost word of Katsa's whereabouts the day that he was crowned. The day that the kings advisors had had enough. It was a small crowning with only the necessary present. Raffin had no plans to attract unwanted attention to himself. He let his father be the puppet king and arranged affairs such that if Katsa wanted she could return. He wondered to himself one day as he was sitting in the counting, whether he was not paying her undue attention. Almost immediately he brushed that thought away. He was not in love with her, not possibly, not when he could see what she and Po would soon have. He returned to paper in front of him.
When Skye came to the court, Raffin truly believed that he was the only one not surprised by the Lady's escapades. He set out at once to Monsea, Bann, Oll and some of his other close friends in tow. He gave his father a deadly dose that day. He would be crowned King after three weeks, when the lead poison would bleed slowly into his system and be the death of the arrogant King. The treatment for the poison that his father would receive ensured that it would be painful. No one would defy his order to make the king better, though he was sure that the puzzled faces would never guess why. As he rode out on route to Bitterblue's wedding he realised three things. That he would feel no remorse for his father's death, that Katsa must never find out about his part in the whole escapade, and that he would just as much rather not to be King.