Folk of the Air
by Holly Black
Two mortal girls are left orphans and taken into the world of the faeries, to be raised there as if they belong. This series follows one of those twins, Jude, as she tries to find her place and protect her family in the process.
Check out all of Holly Black's work at https://blackholly.com/
All the spoilers ahead. Proceed with extreme caution! Jude Duarte is seven years old. She’s living with her parents, her twin sister, Taryn, and her older sister, Vivienne. Vivienne doesn’t look like everyone else; she has cat-like eyes and furry, pointed ears. A man shows up at their house one day who has eyes like Vivi’s. Her mother yells for the girls to go upstairs while her dad tries to fight the man, but the man kills both her dad and her mom. He says he’s here to take Vivi, his daughter, to Elfhame. He also takes the twins since they have no one else anymore. Jude grows up from that point in the land of Faerie. Madoc, Vivi’s dad, has raised both Jude and Taryn as if they are his daughters as well. Since Jude and Taryn are the children of Madoc’s wife, Madoc is duty bound to care for them. Even if said wife found out she was pregnant, faked her own death, burned down your house, and disappeared with a mortal man. Jude and Taryn have been educated next to the children of the royal courts, and Madoc has taught them how to fight. Jude has come to love Madoc despite what he’s done, but it is not an easy love; and she knows that Madoc loves them in his way. Vivi on the other hand, has vowed to hate him. Madoc is now remarried to Oriana, and they have a sickly, seven-year-old son together named Oak. Madoc is the High King Eldred’s general. Eldred has six children: Balekin, Elowyn, Dain, Caelia, Rhyia, and Cardan. The three eldest children are often at odds, and the court has essentially been divided into three as well, separated by the prince or princess that they follow. Balekin and his Circle of Grackles, who enjoy merriment and debauchery above all. Elowyn and her Circle of Larks, who value art. Lastly, Dain and his Circle of Falcons, who are warriors and strategists. There are two ways for a mortal to become a permanent member of the High Court. Either marry into it or win their place by becoming the best at a skill, like playing the flute or woodworking. Jude is hoping to be able to win a place in Dain’s court by proving her skill with a sword. There’s a mock battle coming up, in which everyone can showcase their fighting skills; if the combatant wears a green sash it indicates they’re also up for hire. Madoc tells Jude that she can fight but she cannot adorn the green sash, dashing her plans for joining Dain. Madoc insists that she isn’t ready yet, maybe next year. After the mock battle takes place, Prince Dain approaches Jude at home one day, meets with her alone, and asks her to spy for him. She agrees and he lays a geas on her, a sort of enchantment. His geas makes it so that no one will be able to magically control her, either in mind or body, except for him. He adds that last part without her prior consent. During lessons the next day, Jude’s arch nemesis, Prince Cardan, is there with his band of friends: Nicasia, Valerian, and Locke. Cardan is a spoiled princeling unused to being told no. Jude and Taryn usually fly under the radar, trying to stay out of his notice, but ever since Madoc told Jude no about her wearing the green sash, she can’t seem to keep her emotions in check. Even when it puts her or her sister in danger. She attracts the notice of Cardan’s friends, Nicasia proceeds to smack her in the face, and Valerian forces faerie fruit in her mouth, almost choking her. When a mortal eats faerie fruit, they become desperate for more and will do anything to get another taste. It lays an enchantment of its own, which Dain’s geas does not counteract since it is not an enchantment created by a person. Jude and Taryn both carry salt with them, which counteracts the effect of the faerie fruit, but Jude is unable to grab her salt. Cardan pushes Valerian off Jude, which prevents her from choking to death, so Nicasia and Valerian find new ways for her to humiliate herself, like crawling on the ground. Cardan seems angry about what’s happening, and finally Locke puts a stop to the show and decides to take Jude home. Before they leave, Cardan pokes Jude’s thumb with a pin from his coat, making Jude bleed slightly. She sucks on the wound and the salt from her blood slowly brings her back to herself. When they get home, Locke tells Jude he wants to see her again. I guess not all of Cardan’s friends hate her. That night, she’s given her first assignment by Prince Dain: go to Hollow Hall, the home of Prince Balekin, and find evidence of treason. Jude pretends to be a mortal servant at Hollow Hall, ensorcelled by faerie fruit like the other mortal servants are. She ends up in a room that she eventually realizes belongs to Cardan. She thought Cardan lived with his father, the High King, but apparently not. Now she has to make sure they don’t run into each other since he will definitely recognize her. She finds her way into another room, this one belonging to Prince Balekin. Possibly an office of some sort. She finds a note on the desk and copies it down, trying to mimic the handwriting as well as she can. Before the copy can dry entirely, Balekin comes in with Cardan. He forces Cardan to swordfight one of his servants. Cardan is uninterested in doing so, and when Balekin decides he’s not trying hard enough, he hits Cardan in the head with a wooden staff. He seems like a great guy. Balekin continues hitting Cardan, goading him into fighting. But Cardan is not a fighter and cannot beat Balekin, so Balekin calls him a disappointment and orders the mortal servant to beat Cardan with a belt. Cardan takes his shirt off to receive his punishment and from her hiding spot, Jude can see old scars all over his back. After a few blows, Cardan rushes for his sword. Balekin encourages him to use the sword and kill the servant, but Cardan responds that he’s no murderer and takes the rest of his “punishment” instead. Jude takes copied note to Dain. He recognizes the handwriting as belonging to Queen Orlagh, the Queen of the Undersea, who also happens to be Nicasia’s mom. Dain believes that Balekin is bribing Orlagh for poison, blusher mushroom, most likely to use on Dain before he’s crowned king. The High King Eldred has decided that it’s time for him to step down and has decided to pass the crown on to Dain. The coronation is already being planned. Balekin will not be able to hurt Dain once he’s crowned. Jude meets “the roach”, a goblin spy for Dain. Dain compels Jude to never utter any word about his spies or their secrets, whether written or spoken. She then meets the rest of his spies, the Court of Shadows. It consists of the roach, a handsome faerie they call “the ghost”, a delicate, small girl with wings called “the bomb”, and Jude, who won’t get a codename until the rest of the spies decide to accept her. When Jude returns home, Locke is there. He asks both Jude and Taryn to come back to lessons, neither of them went today after some run-ins with Cardan and Company. Locke then kisses Jude’s palm, and he is about to kiss her mouth when she’s called in to dinner. Jude confides to Taryn what happened with Locke, and Taryn reveals that someone is going to ask for her hand at Dain’s coronation, but she won’t say who it is. She’s promised him that she won’t tell who he is until the coronation, but Taryn thinks Jude will like him. While Jude has been trying to win her way into the faerie court, Taryn has apparently decided to marry in. That night, Jude looks through a book she took from Cardan’s room and a folded piece of paper falls out. On the paper is her name written angrily over and over and over again, nothing else. Oriana, Jude, Taryn, and Vivi get fitted for their coronation dresses. Even Vivi will go to the coronation, which is out of the ordinary since she doesn’t like to do anything that Madoc wants her to do. Jude starts advanced training with Madoc, both fighting and strategy, with new moves and puzzles that she’s expected to solve. She builds up her immunity to faerie poisons by poisoning herself with small amounts of poison, including the faerie fruit. This was suggested to her by Dain. She trains with the ghost that night, learning to move silently. She’s given two more tasks by Dain, to steal items. Jude continues training. Locke continues flirting. Taryn continues worrying, seemingly suspicious of Locke. One day Jude falls asleep during lessons, no wonder with all the stuff she’s been doing, and is caught by Valerian, who cuts the rowan berry necklace from her (rowan berries help prevent mortals from being compelled by faeries). He tries to compel Jude to yell out of the tower that Cardan has won and then jump from the tower. Because of Dain’s geas, she doesn’t have to obey him, which infuriates Valerian even if he doesn’t understand WHY she isn’t being compelled. He starts to choke her; she stabs him with the knife she carries in her pocket and runs away. Locke tells Jude that Cardan probably didn’t know what Valerian was going to do. Cardan likes to think he’s their leader but really, Nicasia likes power, Valerian likes violence, and Locke likes dramatics. Locke likes stories to unfold, and if there’ s no story then he makes one. Cardan is able to provide all three of those things. Locke takes Jude to his home, where he lives alone. His father was too feral and left Locke’s mother to go live in the woods. Then Locke’s mother died. She was one of the High King’s consorts and got pregnant, possibly with another heir to the High King. Locke asks Jude to come to the party he is throwing that night, she eventually agrees. She dresses in one of his mother’s old dresses (creepy) and puts a knife in the dress pocket, finding a tiny golden acorn that was left in it all those years ago. Jude wakes up the morning after the party, nothing more exciting than drinking and Cardan glaring in her general direction happened at the party, and Jude takes the little golden acorn with her when she leaves. She runs into Nicasia on her way out, who mentions that Nicasia’s mom and Cardan’s brother always thought the two of them would get married and form an alliance, but he likes to ruin things. Jude assumes she refers to Cardan, but she also knows that Nicasia left Cardan for Locke, who then left Nicasia for a mortal, Jude. In lessons, they discuss the succession. Queen Mab started the Greenbriar line by bringing the Seelie and Unseelie courts together with the wild fey. Not all wild fey have sworn allegiance, but many of them have. The Court of Termites, for example, have not yet sworn allegiance yet but may do so at Dain’s coronation. The crown can only pass to the descendants of Queen Mab. If ever there are fewer than two descendants, one to give the crown and one to receive it, all of Elfhame are released from their oaths to the crown. There’s an enchantment on the crown, if you murder the person who wears the crown, you will also die. Jude realizes that the golden acorn she stole opens to reveal the last words of Liriope. Liriope had created three golden acorns, three tries to get her message into the right hands. One of which clearly never made it out of Liriope’s possession since Jude found it in her dress pocket. Liriope knew she had been poisoned. She asks whomever the message is for to protect “him” and take him far from court. Never tell him the truth of what happened to her. Liriope is Locke’s mom, is she talking about Locke? Jude breaks into Balekin’s office again, this time on her own volition, but she doesn’t find anything useful. She does steal an entranced mortal servant girl and takes the girl to her house so that Vivi can return her to the mortal world. Jude, Vivi, and the girl start to fly back to the mortal world but when they're over the water, the girl purposely falls off the horse and into the waters. She was overcome with the knowledge of what had happened to her in the land of Faerie. Jude and Vivi search for the girl, but they can’t find any sign of her and they assume she died. Dain makes a visit to Jude. He knows that Jude stabbed Valerian. Valerian will be fine, all the important organs were missed, but Dain has come to punish Jude. He seems to think that she put all of his plans in danger and should have done what Valerian tried to compel her to do. You know, jump from the top of a tower. He makes her stab her own hand, without any compulsion, to prove her loyalty to him. Jude manages it, then Oriana walks in, preventing anything further from happening. Oriana thinks that Jude has started an affair with Dain and Oriana reveals that she used to be the High King’s consort before she married Madoc. She warns Jude. Dain is about to be crowned; the coronation starts in two days. Being the king’s consort means you are always a pawn; you are always in danger. She talks about Liriope briefly as an example of what could happen, although she doesn’t name her. She also mentions that Balekin had come to speak with Madoc and that the two of them were locked in Madoc’s office together for hours. The night before the coronation, Valerian climbs in Jude’s balcony window with a huge knife, intent on killing her. He mentions during the ensuing fight that Cardan didn’t know he’d attacked Jude and that he’d said that Cardan deserved to get stabbed. As they fight, Jude manages to stab him in the chest, and Valerian curses her as he dies. He says he curses her three times, but he only manages to get two out: may her hands always be covered in blood and may death be her only companion. After Valerian dies, Jude hides his body and cleans up any remaining blood. When the ghost comes that night to train her, he doesn’t notice anything amiss. He takes Jude to the High King’s palace. They’re supposed to assassinate a messenger from Balekin’s estate before it gets to the royal quarters. The ghost has Jude shoot the messenger with a mini crossbow and they manage to steal the papers the messenger was carrying. The message says, “kill the bearer of this message” and nothing more. The ghost thinks that Balekin has set them up, trying to distract them, but Jude doesn’t tell him that she recognized the messenger as one of Madoc’s spies. The next day is Dain’s coronation. Jude and her family preparing to go when Madoc brings her a sword named Nightfell. It was made for Madoc by Jude’s father, Justin Duarte. Madoc has something of Justin’s for Taryn as well; a set of table knives sharp enough to cut through bone. Justin and Madoc met when Justin came to faerie as a master swordsman already, but seeking the kind of swords that only the fey can make. Jude’s parents had met on Madoc’s estate. When her parents later escaped together, Justin had bragged about stealing the faerie’s secrets as well as about his new wife. Eventually, word made it to Balekin, and he told Madoc. Madoc tells everyone how the coronation will proceed. Everyone will swear their oaths to Dain, and until the oaths are made Madoc must stand next to Prince Dain to ensure he’s protected. He asks the family to stay close to the dais, where his guards will be, during the actual coronation. When they arrive, Jude dances with Vivi and Taryn first, then finds herself dancing with Locke, who is acting strangely and speaking in riddles. Cardan claims a dance with Jude next, which confuses Jude just as much. After all of this dancing, the High King Eldred steps down as the king, explaining that he has been feeling tired and his time is done. The entire royal family except Prince Cardan is standing on the dais. Prince Dain is accepted by the Unseelie, the Seelie, and lastly, the wild fey. Before Eldred can crown Prince Dain, while the crown is unclaimed by anyone, Balekin steps forward with a sword and challenges Dain for the crown. Dain refuses, so Balekin takes their sister Elowyn and cuts her throat. Dain calls for the guards to come to his aid, but instead, they all turn away from the royal family on the dais, which prevents any of the crowd from coming to Dain’s assistance either. Jude looks for Cardan but cannot find him in the crowd. Princess Caelia tries to protect Dain with a small knife that she had with her while Dain’s mother, Taniot, tries to stop Elowyn’s bleeding. The ghost, in the rafters, hits Balekin with crossbow bolts twice, but does not do him any significant damage. Meanwhile, Madoc stabs Dain with his sword and kills him. Balekin tries to use Taniot as a bargaining chip so that his father will crown him as High King, but it doesn’t work and Taniot is killed, then Balekin kills Eldred. Princess Caelia agrees to crown Balekin, to stop all the madness, but a crossbow from the rafters kills her before she manages it. Princess Rhyia kills herself instead of crowning Balekin. That leaves only Balekin and Cardan alive. Cardan, who is now missing. The ghost is forced from the rafters and tries to flee. Balekin attempts to make the palace scribe crown him and calls for the faerie’s oaths, but no one in the audience gives them. There is no High King right now. If no one is crowned in the next three days, the oaths that were given to the crown will dissolve. Chaos ensues. Now is not a great time to be a mortal in a sea of faeries, and Jude is surrounded. She needs to find a way out of the palace. As she’s sneaking around, she manages to find Cardan and brings him with her. He’s a wanted man now. He’s also quite drunk. He mentions how his father hated him and that he never really knew most of his siblings. Dain is the reason that he wasn’t allowed to live in the King’s palace and had to live with Balekin instead. When they’re safely out of the ballroom, Jude takes Cardan hostage. She takes him to the headquarters of the Court of Shadows, they’re still there when the ghost and the roach reappear. Cardan explains to the group of them that Dain was terrible. He killed is own child while it was still in the womb and gaslit their father into trusting no one but him. Dain even poisoned Eldred so that Eldred began to believe he was too tired to continue to rule. Jude realizes that Dain was the father of Liriope’s child, not Eldred. Dain had heard a prophecy that if the child, a boy, was born that Dain himself would never become king, so he had Liriope killed seven years ago. Jude leaves Cardan with the other spies and goes home to find out what’s happening, taking Cardan’s royal signet right with her. Locke is there at the house, asking for Taryn’s hand in marriage. He was Taryn’s beau all along and all of Locke’s friends knew about it. Not to mention that Jude’s own twin sister hid the information from her and allowed Jude to make a fool of herself. Jude challenges Taryn to a duel, not for Locke but for her own honor, and Taryn doesn’t have a choice but to accept. This probably isn’t going to make their relationship better. Vivi stops their fighting, magically because no one will listen to reason. Madoc tells Locke that he is unworthy of either sister, but he will not stop Taryn from marrying him; he does warn Taryn that it will not end well. Madoc then talks to Jude. He tells her that he loved Dain well enough but there are others that claim his loyalty. He doesn’t mention who those others are. That night, Vivi asks both Taryn and Jude to escape to the mortal world with her, citing that Balekin is awful, and dumb on top of it. Faerie is not going to be a good place for mortals if he’s crowned, and possibly worse if no one at all is crowned. Not that Faerie is great for mortals now. Vivi won’t tell Jude what Taryn has decided, she would like Jude to decide for herself. Jude says she will think about going with her, but she can’t leave tonight, she needs a day. The next morning Jude tries to find Taryn and ends up in Oriana’s room. Oriana tells her that Taryn is at Locke’s house, and they won’t see her until the following day. There is going to be another feast, Balekin’s three days will be up and either there will be a new High King, or the oaths given will dissolve. Jude has never been in Oriana’s room before and as she’s looking around, she spots a little golden acorn sitting with Oriana’s jewelry. All at once Jude realizes that Liriope’s child did NOT die with her. Oak is that child. Oriana explains that she and Liriope were both Eldred’s consorts at the same time, but instead of being jealous of one another, they became friends and confidantes. Blusher mushroom kills you slowly, your body stops working bit by bit, but your mind never does. Liriope knew what was happening to her and Oriana was able to cut the baby from her body and save his life. Madoc has always known Oak’s true parentage and raised him as his own; now Jude believes Madoc means to put Oak on the throne. Jude goes back to Cardan and questions him. When did Locke start up with Taryn? She now realizes that when Nicosia said “he” likes to ruin things, she was talking about Locke. Why does Cardan hate her? Why does he hate her, really? It’s because Cardan can’t stop thinking about her and he hates it. So, Jude kisses him. It really backfires because she ends up enjoying it too much. Jude decides what to do about Oak and confers with the rest of the Court of Shadows, including the bomb who has reappeared during the night. They’re going to steal the crown. They will crown Oak and send him to the mortal world to learn how to not be a monster. He will be with Vivi until he’s ready to lead. But Jude needs to secure the throne for him until that time, and she will need Cardan’s help to do it. He agrees to help her for one year and one day only, during which time she will even be able to command him; all he really wants is to live at Hollow Hall and be left alone. She agrees that he will get just that. Jude meets separately with Lord Severin, who favors mortals and whose father (the Alderking) has been banished, he is more likely to listen to a mortal girl and backing a new candidate that becomes High King may help restore some of his family’s reputation; and with King Roiben, who does not like Balekin and whose court is big enough to be of consequence if they can sway him to their side. Both agree to back her coronation attempt, but Roiben also asks for an unspecified promise that he can call upon at any time in the future. Jude talks to Vivi about taking Oak to the mortal world, and that she won’t be going with them. Vivi agrees to the plan but I wouldn’t say she’s overjoyed about it. The coronation feast - take two - is scheduled and the Court of Shadows makes a plan. It goes: 1. Get in (Jude and Cardan). 2. Get everyone else in (the roach, the ghost, the bomb). 3. Get the crown. 4. Crown Oak. 5. Get out. Easy peasy. Cardan and Jude attend the coronation feast together, raising some eyebrows, and while Cardan deals with not so veiled threats from his brother, Jude goes off to find an entrance for the rest of the group. Before they make it inside, Madoc finds her and fights her. He knows she is here to thwart his plans. Unfortunately for Madoc, Jude managed to poison him and the poison kicks in before he can beat her. Well, actually she poisoned both of them since she wasn’t sure which wine he would choose, and she wanted to make sure he got some. But she’s been poisoning herself for some time now and is able to fight through it. Madoc is not as prepared, and after the other Court of Shadows members slip in, they put his unconscious body in a room where he won’t be found for a while. As everyone sits down for dinner, the bomb causes an explosion and a crossbow bolt lands in front of Cardan, as if someone had tried to assassinate him. This causes quite a commotion, in which the ghost steals the crown and passes it to who he thinks is Jude. However, Jude was delayed getting into position and he actually passes it to Taryn. Taryn picks up the crown. Balekin threatens her, trying to force her to give the crown to him, but King Roiben steps in front of him, effectively stopping Balekin from doing anything further than threatening. Jude takes the crown from Taryn but instead of having Oak crowned, she gives the crown to Oak and commands Cardan to stay in the kneeling position. Oak crowns Cardan. Cardan is now king, and he’s furious about it. At the end of the night, Jude gets her code name. The queen. Oak goes to the mortal world to live with Vivi and her girlfriend Heather. Neither Taryn nor Jude goes with them. The plan is still to make him the High King, when he’s ready.
Click below, when you're ready. We pick up only five months after the end of The Cruel Prince, Cardan is the High King of Elfhame and Jude is his seneschal, his most trusted advisor. But in reality, Jude still has command of Cardan because of the year and a day that he promised her, and she can compel him to do as she wants; making him more of a shadow king, at best. Almost half of the time that he promised her has already passed, she needs to find a way to get him to give her more so that Oak has a chance to be a kid before becoming king. Oak is currently living in the mortal world with Vivi and her mortal girlfriend, Heather. Jude is with Cardan and the rest of his court that night when he’s petitioned by Grimsen the Smith. Grimsen is a legendary smith, having made the blood crown for Queen Man, the crown that Cardan currently wears. He has been in exile with the Alderking, to whom Grimsen had given his oath and was, therefore, exiled with. Now that Alderking is dead and Grimsen, free from his oath, would like to return, but he does not want to make a vow this time around. The last vow he made forced him into exile. Cardan allows him to return and even gives him a space to work in. They also see Mother Marrow, who brings Cardan a piece of cloth that will turn away any blade. She tries to trick Cardan into marrying either herself or her daughter, but they’re wise to her tricks and Mother Marrow ends up giving Cardan the small piece of cloth freely. After they’re finished meeting petitioners, Locke asks for, and is granted, the title of Cardan’s Master of Revels. Jude has been intercepting notes to Cardan from Balekin, who is currently imprisoned in the Tower of Forgetting, asking for Cardan to come see him so they can make a bargain. She decides to go in his stead, she hasn’t even told Cardan about Balekin’s requests, but Balekin won’t give any information to her. Instead, Balekin makes a vague threat, saying that if Cardan refuses to come get the message in person, then he will have to get the message to Cardan a different way, and soon. Jude notices that even in the Tower of Forgetting, Balekin is living a pretty nice life, and he commands the guards as if they are his personal servants. On the way out of the tower, which it seems is actually dug into the ground, a woman in one of the cells grabs Jude’s ankle. She says that she knew Jude’s mother, Eva, and Eva’s secrets; Jude ignores her and continues out of the tower. Once outside, she pricks one of the guards with a poison pin that knocks him unconscious and takes him back to the palace with her. Once they’re back in the palace, she takes her kidnapped guard to the Court of Shadows’ hidden headquarters and questions him with the Roach. The guard doesn’t know what bargain Balekin wants to make with Cardan, but he does know a different secret: Balekin has been talking to Queen Orlagh, the Queen of the Undersea. The guards aren’t sure how they’re doing it, but Orlagh’s people are able to get into the tower. Rumor has it that Orlagh wants to break her treaty with the land and destroy Cardan. Jude and the Roach make a deal with the guard, he will trade them any information he gleans for a better posting, and they set him free. The Court of Shadows have managed to gain some new recruits, including the spies that Cardan’s other siblings were employing. After releasing the guard, Jude spars with the Ghost and goes back to her room. To find Taryn. Who she hasn’t spoken to in five months. Taryn offers to bring over some of Jude’s things from Madoc’s house, a peace offering instead of an apology. Jude accepts and agrees to come to Taryn’s wedding. Taryn leaves, Jude takes her doses of the poisons she’s been imbibing (see The Cruel Prince), and then she falls asleep. It’s really more like she passes out. The Ghost wakes her up, there’s been some sort of incident in Cardan’s rooms. When they get there and manage to kick out all of the drunk faeries – including Locke – Cardan tells them that he was in his bedchamber with a “companion” when someone shot a crossbow at him. Twice. One of the shots grazed him, the other shot his guest in the leg. They came from a secret passageway, a passageway none of them knew about. Jude and the Ghost search for the passageway and once they find it, Jude goes in. It’s a straight passage, without any twists or turns, that leads directly to the old High King’s rooms. Cardan refused to stay there upon becoming the new High King and chose different rooms for himself. Jude finds Nicasia sitting in the rooms, waiting. Nicasia says she wasn’t trying to kill Cardan, but the girl that he was with. Someone needs to work on their jealousy. What Nicasia has done is treason, even if she wasn’t aiming at Cardan, and they could sentence her to death; she makes a deal with Jude. Jude will keep her identity a secret, pretending she didn’t find anyone in the rooms, if Nicasia tells her what Queen Orlagh (Nicasia’s mother) is planning. Orlagh thinks that Cardan is too young and relying too much on his advisors, so she will make some demands of him. Among them, she wants to see Cardan and Nicasia married. If he agrees, there won’t be any repercussions. If not, she will break her oath and drown the Isles of Elfhame. Balekin is just her back up plan. Nicasia also mentions that Jude has already been betrayed by someone close to her. Someone that she trusts. That night, Jude moves Cardan to her room for the night, unsure of her ability to keep him safe in a different room. He drunkenly asks her for another kiss. That’s not quite right. He asks her to kiss him until he’s sick of it. The living council, a group of advisors that were originally assembled by Cardan’s father, asks to see Jude. They ask about the injured girl that got shot the night before. Rumors are already running rampant, mostly that Cardan shot her himself. A rumor not helped by that fact that someone sent the injured girl a ruby anklet, but that someone could not be Cardan as he’s been sleeping since he made it to Jude’s room. He would have had to arrange for the anklet to be delivered before Jude arrived in his rooms, and he was pretty drunk at the time. During the meeting, the Royal Astrologer gives Jude some new information: the High King is tied to the land and his subjects in a more tangible way than mortal kings. Since Cardan’s reign has begun the land has started to awaken: storms come in quicker and ancient things that have long been thought gone are appearing in the forests again. When Cardan’s blood falls, things grow. Just the night before, Jude saw evidence of this in the little white flowers that had sprouted on bed next to droplets of blood. Cardan has quite a bond with the land. This is a complication that Jude did not foresee. In addition, some strange arrangements are being made in the lower courts. Some of the heirs of those courts were sent away and raised in the mortal lands, never giving their oaths to the crown after returning. Some of the wild fey never gave a vow either. And the general of the Court of Teeth, Grima Mog, has left her post but no one knows why. The one thing that Jude does know is that Queen Orlagh is plotting against them, she tells the Living Council, but they disregard her concerns. Jude and the Bomb search the old High King’s rooms for any more hidden passageways. Jude is going to convince Cardan to stay in these rooms once they’re fully secured. Jude learns more about how the Bomb and the Roach became spies for Dain. The two of them had worked together and were caught by the Court of Teeth. They were cursed and had multiple geas placed on them. But Dain was able to find a way for them to betray the Court of Teeth and they started to work for him. Jude asks about Cardan’s mom and the Bomb mentions that his mother was a girl originally from one of the lower courts. She was never made a consort, even after becoming pregnant with Cardan, and she doesn’t know what happened to her. Tatterfell, Jude’s old maid while in Madoc’s house, arrives in Jude’s rooms with Taryn. Tatterfell works for Madoc because she owes him a debt. Taryn convinced Madoc to trade the debt over to Jude, but Jude believes Tatterfell’s loyalties still lie with Madoc. They’ve brought all of Jude’s dresses, coats, and jewels. Taryn has also drawn up some sketches, new outfits for Jude that she will take to her tailor, outfits that showcase Jude’s new role as seneschal. In exchange, she wants Jude to prevent Locke from becoming Cardan’s Master of Revels. Jude doesn’t say as much to Taryn, but she doesn’t think this is a worthy fight to have with Cardan and although she tells Taryn she will speak to him, she doesn’t bother even bringing it up. Cardan’s court celebrates the Hunter’s Moon in the Milkwood. Cardan has made sure that Taryn is not there, for Jude. He tells Jude that she shouldn’t be there either, encouraging her to leave the party, but Jude needs to meet with King Roiben first. Instead of seeing Roiben in person, Jude speaks to his emissary, who reminds Jude of the debt she owes to Roiben (see The Cruel Prince). They’ve heard of the rumors about Cardan shooting someone and are not pleased. As Jude finishes up this meeting, Locke decides it’s time to crown the Queen of Mirth. The Queen of Mirth is a little faerie tradition where they make a mortal girl drink faerie wine and then they’re mean to her. The girl doesn’t understand what’s happening, so drunk on the wine and dancing, and laps it all up as if she’s being complimented; the faeries apparently find that hilarious. Locke chooses Jude as the Queen of Mirth, he decided this ahead of time but it’s the only choice anyway, she’s the only mortal present. They humiliate her and she allows it to happen, refusing to drink but playing the game with them until she’s able to leave. As she makes her escape, she sees selkies come from the Undersea armed with blades. The selkies give Cardan a message: marry Nicasia or else. Once the selkies leave Cardan, he gives Jude an order to assemble the Living Council; an order that she obeys without a second thought before realizing she’s supposed to be the one in charge. Their roles are shifting, it seems the land isn’t the only one thinking of Cardan as the real High King. Madoc summons Jude before the meeting of the council (which he is a member of) and makes her an offer. They should join forces. Just one thing, he won’t tell her what his plan is until she needs to know. She agrees to help stop any marriage to the Undersea but promises nothing else. The Living Council convenes, Cardan shows up to the meeting for the first time. They all agree that Cardan can’t marry Nicasia without seeming like they are afraid of Orlagh. They dissect the poems the selkies had brought with them: spurn the sea once and we will have your blood. Cardan believes that’s likely Oak since Balekin is their backup plan, and imprisoned. The rest of the missive seems straightforward. Spurn them twice and they will take the land, three times and they will take the crown. Cardan asks to have Nicasia brought to them and questions her in front of the council, but she refuses to give them any information, saying the plan was all her mother’s and they’d have to speak directly to Orlagh. Jude needs to figure out what to do with Balekin, maybe she can get information from him somehow. She remembers the woman who grabbed her ankle the last time she was there, the woman who knew Jude’s mother. She may be able to use her to get to Balekin without either the woman or Balekin realizing. She does some digging; the woman is Lady Asha. Cardan’s mother. Lady Asha is brought to Jude’s office by the Roach. She wants her freedom and safe passage away from the isles of Elfhame. And she doesn’t want Cardan to know anything about it…ever. Only with those promises will Asha give Jude any information about her mom. Jude asks for proof, something real, and she will think about making the agreement. She’s told that a prophecy was given to her mother, Eva, when she was pregnant with Vivi. Something about how Eva’s child would be a greater weapon than any sword that Justin (Jude’s father) could ever forge. Presumably Eva thought the prophecy referred to the child she was pregnant with, but perhaps it meant one of the other girls. Jude excuses Lady Asha, saying this information isn’t good enough. But before Asha leaves, she mentions that their spies monitor all notes going in and out of the tower when they’re passed to the palace from the guards. If she thinks of anything else for Jude, she can get a note to her that way. It does not need to be addressed to Jude; she will see it regardless. After Asha is taken out to return to the tower, the Roach mentions that he gleaned some information from Asha when he fetched her to the meeting. Apparently, Asha was such a negligent parent that Cardan was nursed by a kitchen cat whose litter had been stillborn. We have seen through some other memories that show she was dismissive of him and only paid attention when he was lording his power over someone else. He wasn’t properly clothed, nor does it appear they worried about keeping him fed. When Asha was sent to the tower, Cardan was sent to Balekin. The Living Council meets again to discuss Oak’s safety while at Taryn’s wedding. In order for Mab’s crown to have any power, two of her descendants must be alive. One to be crowned the High King, one to do the crowning. If Balekin is unwilling to be a participant, they must ensure that Oak is safe, or all the oaths made to the crown will dissolve. Both Madoc and Jude are focused on protecting him from the Undersea, but they have very different ideas on how to keep him safe. Jude wants to eliminate any threats; Madoc wants to use him as bait to lure the threats out and dispatch them. After the meeting adjourns, Jude is given some advice by another council member, Randalin. If she doesn’t want to work with Madoc, find someone to replace him with. An interesting thought. Vivi sends Jude a note, asking her to escort both her and Oak into Elfhame in one week. Earlier than Madoc believed them to be coming. She also hears from Cardan. He’s received a missive from Balekin. Jude confesses to Cardan what she’s learned of the situation with Balekin, and about how Nicasia is the one who shot him. She has been keeping him in the dark about most of the things she learns. She comes clean about some, but not all, of it now. She suggests to Cardan that he seduce Nicasia to find out what she knows, and they can use that against Balekin. Instead, Cardan seduces Jude. she realizes something awful then, something she’s suspected for some time. She doesn’t hate Cardan; she’s actually starting to like him as a person. Jude visits Locke when he’s alone and gives him a threatening warning: do not mess with her, do not mess with Cardan, and do not toy with Taryn’s affections. She believes that Locke actually cares for Taryn, but she makes it clear that he better keep the faith once they’re married. Anything he does, Taryn better be on board for. Or else. Jude and the Roach go to the mortal world together to return their mortal laborers. They’ve been using mortal labor to dig out the new headquarters of the Court of Shadows. One of the spies makes a deal with the mortals, they take the mortals from their bed for one night, the mortals work the night through and then are returned to their beds before the morning. When they wake up, they have a big pile of gold and no recollection of the night before, other than being very tired. Jude plans to pick up Vivi and Oak when they’re done returning the mortals. She’s got a little time to kill, so she goes to a diner with the Roach. He advises her to tell Cardan about dealing with Lady Asha. They, the Court of Shadows, don’t lie to each other. And she may not think so, but Cardan is as much a member as any of the rest of them. He may be playing the most dangerous role of them all: the High King. Jude picks up Vivi, whose girlfriend Heather is also attending the wedding, even though she doesn’t know that the wedding is in Faerie, she doesn’t know Vivi is a faerie, and she doesn’t believe in magic; this should be an interesting visit. Vivi waits until the very moment that she makes a horse out of some ragweed to break the news to Heather. Heather takes it surprisingly well and still ends up coming to the wedding. Vivi seems incredible blasé about keeping Heather safe, so Jude gives her some rules, makes her a charm of rowan berries to help her from being compelled, and a sachet of salt to sprinkle on her food. Jude returns to the palace, where she sees Cardan paying special attention to Nicasia. Attention she asked him to give but hating every second of it. Jude visits Grimsen’s new forge that Cardan granted him. Grimsen has made things for Cardan, but he’s also made things for Nicasia, and he seems to be spending a lot of time with her. Worried that Grimsen is being courted by Orlagh, Jude wants to speak to him and goes under the pretext of finding a wedding gift for Taryn. Grimsen tells her that he knew their father, although he doesn’t tell us anything new about him. Jude chooses a pair of earrings for Taryn that will make her look even more beautiful. So beautiful that her husband will not want to leave her side for some time. To pay for the earrings, she gives Grimsen a single tear and agrees to take an offer to Cardan. If Cardan declares war, Grimsen will make him an armor of ice that will shatter any blade that touches it and will make Cardan’s heart too cold to feel pity. He will also make three swords that fight with the might of thirty men when used in the same battle. Turns out, Grimsen wants to rebuild his reputation and he wants Cardan to go to war so he can do that. Cardan and Jude are back to pretending they don’t have any actual feelings for each other, other than contempt, but he visits Jude to tell her what he learned from Nicasia. Orlagh will attack during Taryn’s wedding to Locke. Jude breaks down and goes to Madoc. She’s been trying to think of any, and every, possible threat to Oak and she realizes that she can’t protect him from everything, all the time. Madoc’s way may be better after all; they’re going to have to work together. Jude sends Asha a note, detailing Oak’s return to the mortal world and implying that Asha could be on his boat as well. Cardan agrees to grant Balekin an audience. Balekin baits Cardan, saying that Cardan hated their father and brother more than he did, if anything Balekin did Cardan a favor by killing them. Cardan asks about their sisters, did they need to die too, but Balekin counters that they never came to Cardan’s rescue either. Why should Cardan care about what happened to them? Cardan never wanted to do any of the real work. Let Balekin do the ruling of the country. He could essentially act as regent, even though Cardan is of age. Without Balekin, Cardan would be nothing. Without Balekin, Cardan IS nothing. Cardan refuses and sends Balekin back to the tower. The more I read, the worse I feel for Cardan. Jude plans to spend the night before the wedding at Madoc’s house with both of her sisters. On her way to the house, she’s riding her horse through the woods alone and is attacked by about seven other riders. She spurs her horse, hoping to make it to Madoc’s house before they overwhelm her, but she quickly realizes that she won’t make it in time. She stands in her saddle, grabbing a tree branch and pulling herself up into the canopy, her horse continuing on without her. She tries to elude her attackers but they’re aiming weapons at her: arrows, axes, whatever they have. She takes one of their axes and throws it back at them, falling when she does it but managing to take out one of the riders; she then kills another of their horses from the ground. That horse traps its rider when it falls. The riders decide to retreat, which seems weird since she was still very outnumbered and on foot, but Jude takes the good luck where she can get it. She finds her horse as she limps to the house; it’s been killed, and all her luggage is lost, including Taryn’s earrings. Once she reaches Madoc’s house, she’s able to stitch up her wound with Vivi’s help but refuses to tell anyone else what happened. Jude originally wonders if Madoc sent the riders to attack her, but the more she thinks about it the less likely it seems. So, who was behind the attack? The next day is Taryn’s wedding day, and Jude no longer has anything to wear. Oriana lets her wear one of her dresses, a beautiful, very low cut, silver number. Jude travels in a coach to Locke’s estate with Madoc, Oriana, Vivi, Heather, Taryn, Oak, and Oak’s body double. They’ve orchestrated three different scenarios for Orlagh to try to take Oak. The first – as everyone disembarks from the carriage, Jude and Oak stay hidden and sneak into the house through a window instead, hoping Orlagh takes Oak’s body double – goes untaken. Once Jude and Oak are inside, Jude turns Oak over to the Bomb, and runs into Cardan. She suggests to him not to spend the night alone, he suggests that he never planned on it, she decides he’s not being serious enough and commands him not to be alone a tall today or tomorrow. Unfortunately, Madoc hears this exchange and now is the only person other than Jude and Cardan to know their secret. He doesn’t take the news well. Jude goes into the maze where the real party is and on her way to the center, she finds Heather, who has been spelled to look like a cat. Jude manages to find the culprit, who changes Heather back, but now Heather is hysterical and demanding to be taken home. Vivi glamours her to forget the whole thing instead. Not cool Vivi. Afterward, Jude is approached and told that the Undersea did make their move, but it was against Balekin instead of Oak. She needs to go to the tower, but she wants to see Taryn first. To say congratulations, and to prove that she was at the party. When Locke and Taryn emerge from making their vows to each other, done in private, Taryn is wearing the earrings that Jude got for her. The earrings that were lost during the attack. And Locke is limping. He orchestrated the attack on Jude, he was one of the attackers. Jude leaves without speaking to Taryn. She goes to the tower. On her way down to Balekin’s cell, she stops and frees Asha; telling her to go and forget any of their potential bargains. When she arrives to Balekin’s cell, it’s empty. The Ghost is behind her in the tower, calling her name. When he steps into view, he’s with three of the sea Folk. This is the betrayal that Nicasia warned Jude about. She’s knocked unconscious and taken to the Undersea. She wakes up imprisoned by Orlagh. Her captors bring her to dinner with Orlagh, Nicasia, and Balekin. Orlagh tries to glamour Jude into loving the three of them, trusting them, wanting to do anything to please them; Jude pretends that it works. Nicasia believes that Grimsen can make a new crown just like the blood crown, Cardan’s crown. Grimsen made the blood crown for Queen Mab after all, he could do it again. They also believe that Cardan masterminded the coup to become High King, that Jude was just a pawn he used in his scheme. They keep Jude imprisoned; she starts to go through withdrawal from the poisons she’s been dosing herself with. Now her body depends on them. She’s suffering from starvation and thirst; she doesn’t know how long she’s been there for. She’s weak and dangerously thin. One day, Balekin arrives and questions her about why Cardan took the mantle of High King. He wants to know if Jude would kill Cardan for him, stabbing Cardan again and again. He asks if Jude would kiss him. She does so. Then he asks her to kiss him as if he was Cardan. After he leaves, they start to prepare Jude to return to the surface. Cardan has paid some sort of ransom for her return. Balekin glamours her again, separate from Orlagh’s glamour, giving Jude instructions on what to do when she’s back on the surface. She needs to kill Cardan. Grimsen will make Orlagh and Balekin a new crown, but he can’t do it until Cardan is dead. The next day, they dress Jude in her silver dress from the wedding, now in a much worse condition from being in the saltwater for however long, and they put new pearl earrings in her ears. Orlagh takes Jude and Balekin to the surface, Balekin emerging from the Undersea as their new ambassador. When Jude is given over to Cardan’s forces, she’s taken directly to Madoc’s house. She’s been gone for a little more than a month, Vivi and Oak have returned to the mortal world and Taryn is living in her new home with Locke. Madoc’s household is told that Jude is not to leave the house. They don’t want to allow Jude a visitor, but they can’t stop her from seeing the envoy from the Court of Termites when she arrives. Jude is told that Cardan gave the Undersea permission to attack the Court of Termites, and they’re forbidden from retaliating. It was his exchange for Jude. Now Roiben wants Jude to kill Balekin to fulfill her promise to him. Jude escapes from Madoc’s house, leaving her sword behind to do so. She walks to the palace, but Madoc has barred her from there as well. She tries to get in through a secret entrance to the Court of Shadows, but it has been destroyed, possibly by the Ghost. She’s worried about the Roach and the Bomb, they don’t know that the Ghost betrayed her, and he could hurt them as well. Having no way in and nowhere to go at the moment, she goes to see Balekin at Hollow Hall. The palace is having a masquerade, he will sneak her in with him when he attends as the Undersea’s ambassador, but she will provide her own costume. She rests at Hollow Hall, sleeping in Cardan’s room for a while without Balekin knowing she’s still there. When most of the Folk should be sleeping, she goes to the palace and scales the wall, going to Cardan’s room and waking him. Madoc had told him that she needed to rest and heal, he didn’t want to bother her. Cardan confesses to her, telling her why he always treated others so poorly. It doesn’t excuse his past behavior, but he hated himself more when she was gone than he ever did before and needed to tell her. He likes her, and he thinks she likes him too. Suddenly, the Roach and the Bomb appear. They’ve been tracking Jude and know that she came from Balekin’s house. Jude tells them that Balekin did try to glamour her, but she can’t be glamoured anymore. They test this and end up believing her, then explain that the Ghost betrayed them too, destroying the Court of Shadows and half of the castle in the process. Now he’s disappeared, but they don’t know where. The four of them discuss what to do. Jude offers to let Balekin sneak her in like he plans, or she could just kill him instead. Cardan disagrees, Balekin is under Orlagh’s protection. Killing him would incur her wrath. The Roach wants to cut off Grimsen’s hands as punishment for betraying them, Cardan disagrees with that as well. He believes that Orlagh is testing him, they need to prove that he can rule. The masquerade is for Roiben, they will appease him as well as they can while he’s here. Balekin is not to be killed. But they will pick up Grimsen if they can and force him to pick a side. Jude goes to the mandrake market to find something to wear to the masquerade. She finds a leather mask that is gifted to her, all the maker asks is to offer to make Cardan a mask when he compliments Jude’s. While looking for a dress, Jude runs into Mother Marrow. She gives Jude a walnut that she claims is a dress in exchange for Jude’s new pearl earrings. Jude goes to Hollow Hall and cracks the walnut, revealing a beautiful peach dress. She and Balekin go to the masquerade. While there, Jude runs into Locke and lets him know that she knows about the little game he and his friends played with her in the woods. He says it wasn’t supposed to be serious, she decides to deal with him later. She has a lot going on right now. King Roiben comes to talk to her. He will also talk to Cardan, but if Cardan can’t assuage his concerns, then he intends to call in Jude’s debt, demanding Balekin’s life. Jude sees Madoc and Oriana…and Asha. She didn’t disappear after all. Then Cardan arrives, he’s so drunk he’s tripping all over himself. Not a good look, especially in front of Roiben who is already concerned that Cardan is too impetuous to be a good high king. Jude goes to Cardan, and when he kisses her in front of everyone, she tastes wraithberry on his mouth. He’s not drunk, he’s been poisoned. Before she can reveal this, Balekin comes over claiming that the High King has been poisoned. He tries to compel Jude to turn out her pockets. One of Balekin’s instruction to her from earlier was to poison Cardan, Balekin had given her a vial of poison and told her to keep it on her at all times. He meant to frame her! Instead of turning out her pockets, Jude insists that Cardan is just drunk and takes him to her room instead. Now Balekin knows she isn’t glamoured. Cardan is in a bad state, Jude sends runners to try to find the Bomb who may know of a remedy. In an effort to keep Cardan awake, they talk about their parents. The Bomb arrives, instructing Cardan to eat some clay that she’s brought. She hopes that it can contain and draw the poisons out from Cardan’s body. It definitely could if he knew how to control the land like a proper High King, but he hasn’t learned how. She’s also brought them an ultimatum from Balekin. He will give Jude the antidote if she brings him Cardan’s crown. Jude agrees to go and get the antidote, but the crown will be staying where it is. Cardan commands the Bomb to accompany Jude. Jude meets Balekin in an alcove, alone. She tells him that the crown is hidden nearby, she needs to make sure that the antidote works. She will poison herself and he will give her the antidote. Only then will she retrieve the crown for him, in trade for more of the antidote. She drinks the wraithberry from the vial Balekin gave her earlier, Balekin gives her one single drop of the antidote, but she spits it into her empty vial and tosses it up to the Bomb, who has been hiding in the tree canopy this whole time. The Bomb catches the vial and ferries it off to Cardan, leaving Balekin and Jude alone. Jude reveals to Balekin that she had already emptied the wraithberry from the vial before meeting him, she hadn’t poisoned herself at all. These faeries are always forgetting that she can lie. He challenges her with a sword, but all she has is a dagger to fight him with. Turns out it’s good enough; she still manages to kill him. Against Cardan’s wishes. Jude goes to see how Cardan is fairing, but when she arrives, he’s super confused. She’s already been to see him. Turns out, Taryn came dressed in one of the outfits she had made for Jude, pretending to be Jude. Jude isn’t the only one that can lie. She pretended to be Jude and asked him to free Madoc of his vows to the crown, so that Madoc could take half of their forces and fight Orlagh. Taryn explained that Madoc needed to be able to function independent of the crown, so repercussions would not fall on them. He trusted that Jude had a plan and did as he was asked, without being commanded. After a short break to think, Cardan calls Jude in and asks her for his own freedom. She denies him at first, but he pleads his case, and it’s a good one. Then he proposes marriage to her. She would be Queen, and able to rule in her own right; he would have his freedom. It would last only until they were ready for Oak to ascend. She agrees. They marry each other right then and she immediately releases him from his promise. They spend the night together. In the morning, they’re awoken to the news that Balekin has been found dead (oops, forgot to tell Cardan about that) and that Orlagh is demanding recompense. Cardan knows it was Jude that killed Balekin but there’s no time to discuss it. They go together to meet Orlagh, who is dressed for war. Orlagh also knows that it was Jude, and she makes a lot of threats, including that Cardan should not declare war against the water while on an island. But Cardan has tricks of his own; underneath all that water is land. Volcanic land, land that he controls. He makes the volcanoes erupt, heating the water and creating a new island that he calls “island of ash”. Nicasia steps onto the land to come toward him and he traps her by making a tree grow around her. He warns Orlagh that they will have peace; an alliance like she did with his father and Queen Mab, or he will make her pay for her disrespect of the land. Orlagh agrees and asks for her daughter back, but Cardan frees Nicasia and makes her the new ambassador of the Undersea instead, keeping her on land. He also imparts judgement of Jude for the murder of Balekin; he exiles her to the mortal world until such a time that the crown decides to pardon her. Jude goes to Vivi’s. Heather isn’t there. After they returned from Taryn’s wedding, Heather asked questions, and more questions, so Vivi finally unglamoured her and now that she remembers, Heather is staying with her parents and not answering Vivi’s calls. Vivi tells Jude that when she’s ready, she can always join Madoc. He’d make her grovel a lot, sure, but they’d also made Cardan pay.
Go ahead and click. But be prepared! We open when Cardan is only a few days old, having his future read as he’s introduced to his father, the king, for the first time. His parents Eldren and Asha, Val Moren (seneschal to the King), and two members of the living council are present (Baphen and Randalin), no one else other than the baby himself. Baphen, the astrologer, tells what he sees. Cardan will be the King’s last child, and will end the crown and the throne. His spilled blood will give rise to a great ruler but only after the rest has happened. That’s not great. Eldren gives Asha a necklace of emeralds and tells her to do as she wishes with Cardan. He ignores the boy completely and Asha cares more for parties than her son; no one cares for Cardan, takes care of him, or gives him any boundaries. He craves his father’s attention, any attention at all. One day, Cardan’s brother Dain frames him for shooting and killing a mortal man, one important to the king’s seneschal, and no one will listen to Cardan’s pleas that he is innocent. His mother was locked in the Tower of Forgetting in punishment for the killing. And thus, Cardan’s cruel reputation was born. It’s present day and Jude is in exile, living in Maine with her sister Vivi and brother Oak. She’s trying to train Oak in swordplay and how to be a good ruler while still allowing him to be a child. For work, Jude is doing odd jobs for faeries that live on the border of the two worlds: fae and mortal, her contact is a phooka named Bryern. She takes a job in which she has to extract a promise from one faerie who has been killing and eating other Fair Folk that they will stop. On further investigation, Jude finds out the perpetrator is a redcap named Grima Mog, who was a general for the Court of Teeth before she disappeared, and legendary in her strategy. Jude goes to Grima Mog’s apartment and convinces her to talk, then finds Grima Mog’s cap (very important to redcaps) and threatens to burn it unless Grima Mog agrees to stop the killing. Instead, Grima Mog offers a different deal. Spar with Grima Mog and if Jude wins, she will get her promise and some juicy gossip about Cardan as well. If Jude loses, Grima Mog will continue to do as she pleases. They will fight until one of them yields. Jude eventually wins by throwing the cap into Grima Mog’s face and then wailing on her while she’s blinded. Cheating, but all’s fair in love and war. In payment, Grima Mog tells Jude that the Court of Teeth has joined Jude’s stepfather Madoc and plans to dethrone Cardan within the month. She gives Jude a promise not to hunt in the mortal lands and invites her back to fight again, for more secrets. When Jude gets home, she finds Vivi’s ex-girlfriend Heather sitting on the front stoop of their apartment building. Vivi has been apologizing for glamouring Heather while in Faerie and Heather is thinking about forgiving her. Jude and Heather talk and Heather helps Jude inside the apartment, she looks terrible after her fight. When they get inside, they find Taryn visiting with Vivi. Jude doesn’t want to see Taryn, since Taryn betrayed Jude when she went to Cardan pretending to be Jude and convinced him to release Madoc from his oath to the crown. Taryn needs Jude’s help, but Jude refuses to listen until Taryn tells her that she killed Locke. He had begun leaving her for weeks on end, when Taryn begged for something to change, he told her that she’d run out of story and she snapped (her words), stabbing him in the throat with a letter opener and dumping his body in the river. His body has already been discovered and there will be an inquest, they intend to glamour Taryn and question her. She wants Jude to take her place and insist that she is not the murderer. But Jude has been exiled and will be killed if she is discovered. Taryn knows and asks anyway because she’s a great sister and not at all selfish, and Jude eventually agrees. Jude asks if this is really an ornate trap for her, if Taryn was told to come here by Cardan. The answer is no but there is one thing Taryn hasn’t told her yet. Taryn is pregnant with Locke’s baby. Before she leaves for Faerie, Jude gives Oak her ruby ring to hold for her, it is very noticeable. Jude goes to Faerie, dressed in Taryn’s clothing, and makes her way to the inquest. There, Cardan glamours and questions her, she denies having killed Locke or orchestrating his murder. Nicasia is close by, and she proposes that Taryn asked Jude to kill Locke, which she again denies. Lady Asha is also near and recalls a rumor that Jude loves Locke, but Locke chose Taryn. Maybe Jude did it without the suggestion from Taryn, but “Taryn” denies that Jude loved Locke. Jude did love someone, and it is only that person that Jude would with dead. Before she is free to go, Nicasia suggests that Taryn may have some sort of charm that protects her from glamours, and they decide to search her. At “Taryn’s” outrage, Cardan says he will search her in his rooms, alone. Guards escort Jude to Cardan’s rooms. Before they get there, a servant trips in the hallway and spills wine on Jude, slipping her a knife and telling her that Madoc is coming to rescue her, believing that he is rescuing Taryn. When they get to Cardan’s room, the guards stay outside as Cardan and Jude enter the room alone. Cardan tells Jude he knows it’s really her, he knew as soon as she walked in. He asks if she got any of his letters and Jude doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Cardan almost seems happy to see her. Then the guards outside are attacked and Jude peers into the hallway, where Madoc knocks her unconscious. She wakes up in the woods with Oriana. Madoc tells “Taryn” that Cardan fought hard to keep her, he had well trained guards and the land itself fought for her. They travel until they reach the camp where anyone who plans to fight against Cardan gathers. Jude realizes that she is in a position to spy on Madoc and figure out his plan, but he will kill her if he finds out she is not actually Taryn. They have dinner with the Court of Teeth: Lady Nore and Lord Jarel, and their daughter Queen Suren, who is not much older than Oak. She wears a golden bridle around her mouth and throat. At dinner, Madoc and Lady Nore discuss the other courts that may come to their side, they mention the Court of Termites. Jude speaks to Grimsen, who invites her to his forge. The next morning, Oriana warns her against Grimsen. He may just decide that he wants her, just to see if Madoc would give her up. “Taryn” agrees that she will be careful and then goes out to forage and explore. She sees that the camp also contains a cave, one that is heavily guarded. She goes to Grimsen’s forge. He tells her that he’s crafting a sword for Madoc that will “crack the firmament of the isles”. It also sounds like he’s cursed a good number, if not all of his creations, such as the blood crown and Taryn’s earrings, which will drain your beauty completely if you remove the stones from their settings. She asks him about the earring he made for Cardan. It allows Cardan to hear what is being said just out of earshot, but Grimsen could turn it into a spider that would bite and kill Cardan. Jude remembers a red spider that Cardan kept trapped in a globe and she realizes that Grimsen tried, and failed, to kill Cardan at least once before. When she returns, Madoc is sitting outside the tent, and she joins him. She asks what his plan is, if he really thinks he can win. Madoc plans to challenge Cardan to a duel, for loave and for duty, and kill him. They discuss Jude’s betrayal and how loyal Taryn has been to madoc. Madoc knows that Taryn killed Locke and he seems proud of the fact. Jude believes that she won’t be able to keep up this charade for much longer and decides to run that night, even though she hasn’t learned much about Madoc’s plans. Jude prepares to leave, grabbing matches, a knife, and some cheese and apples. She leaves the tent, telling the guard she’s going to the bathroom, and heads toward the cave where she can steal one of the reindeer that the guards use as steeds. But when she gets close, Jude hears someone cry out from inside the cave and decides to investigate. They’re keeping the Ghost prisoner. He explains that he felt so bad after killing Locke’s mom (and believing he’d killed her baby as well) that he went to Locke and offered him his true name. Locke used it to have the Ghost spy on people and cause mischief, which the Ghost that was harmless enough, until the night that the Ghost was commanded to take Jude to the tower. After that, the Ghost ran, trying to escape his guilt and Locke, but Locke had sold his name to Madoc as part of Taryn’s bridal price, and Madoc took the Ghost prisoner. Grimsen has made his shackles, they are unable to be locked except by a key that Grimsen holds. He asks Jude to kill him before she leaves, but Jude decides to stay another day and try to take him with her if she can. Oriana is waiting when Jude returns to the tent. She knows that Jude is not Taryn. Jude explains that she was pretending to be Taryn during the inquest when Madoc rescued her, that’s the only reason she’s here at all, and she believed she had to continue pretending for her safety. Oriana agrees to write to Vivi to come get Jude. Oriana has been worried about Taryn, at court alone. Especially with Lady Asha, who Oriana does not like, let alone trust. From then, Oriana does not allow Jude to stray far, so Jude is not able to search for the Ghost’s manacle key. Madoc calls for “Taryn” and gives her a tent of her own, which Oriana is not in favor of but cannot argue with, since she’s agreed to keep Jude’s identity a secret. Jude plans to drug Madoc and Oriana into sleeping so she can sneak out and try to find the key before Vivi arrives in the morning to take her away. In the night, she’s woken by the Roach and Cardan himself, come to rescue her after Vivi reached out, thinking the letter from Oriana may have been a trap. Her sisters are waiting for Jude at the edge of camp, but she can’t leave the Ghost. Jude, Cardan, and the Roach go to Grimsen’s forge and steal the key, but it’s booby trapped, and arrows shoot at the intruders, hitting the Roach. Jude insists on going to her sisters so don’t continue waiting for her and put themselves at risk, so Cardan leaves alone to rush the Roach to where he may be healed. Jude hurries to the cave to get the Ghost, but Madoc is waiting there for her. He has sent the Ghost after someone, we don’t know who, but Jude believes it’s Cardan, and Madoc is ready to fight Jude. But Jude knows she is at a disadvantage fighting Madoc and takes off running instead. Madoc pursues her and quickly catches up; he stabs her in the stomach. He seems scared of what he’s done but before either of them can do anything, someone behind Jude shoots him with arrows. Vivi and Taryn have come to defend their sister, and they’ve brought Grima Mog with them. Madoc is worried that Jude is going to die and wants to take her back to camp, but no one trusts him. He eventually backs away, disappearing back into the forest, and the others try to take care of Jude. She tells Taryn to pack the wound with grass and leaves and sew the wound up, remembering that since the High King is connected to the land, the High Queen (her) may be as well. Her hunch is right, and she starts to get some energy back. She takes the ragweed pony to try to warn Cardan about the Ghost, the others will follow more slowly on their horses. Jude stops first at Madoc’s house for clothes, then continues for the palace, slipping in with a group of musicians. She bribes one of the musicians to take a note to the High King, explaining that there is an assassin…somewhere. Jude sets herself up in the rafters with a small bow and some arrows that she took from Madoc’s house, but her stitches have torn and she’s unsteady from blood loss. She’s waiting for a while when Cardan finally comes into the hall and Jude sees the Bomb searching the rafters, it’s then that Jude realizes that she’s been set up. SHE is the assassin that they’ve been warned about, or at least that’s what it looks like. The Ghost was never sent here. She tries to back up into safety but she’s dizzy and falls to the floor, which can’t be good for her injury. The rest of the court members wait for Cardan to give the execution order, but instead he announces that she is his wife and not in exile after all. They give her something that keeps Jude unconscious for a few days while she heals. When she wakes up, she finds out that Heather and Oak are also in Elfhame with her sisters. Vivi mentions that after Jude was taken by Madoc, Cardan came to the mortal realm looking for her and was there when Oriana’s letter came. Cardan himself shows up to speak to Jude, the living council is requesting a meeting with both of them now that Jude is awake. They go but take a little detour to talk. Cardan explains that yes, he did exile her. But the crown could pardon her, and she was the crown just as much as he was, he expected her to figure that out quickly. The letters he wrote to her were begging her to return. He wants her next to him. He trusts her to stop him if he ever threatened to become a bad king, like the legend foretold, but he also wants her by his side as his queen. After all this, they go to meet the council and give them the details of the rebel camp. Once she’s back in her room, the Bomb pulls out Jude’s stitches and Lady Asha requests a meeting. What does a girl have to do to get some rest after her stepdad stabs her with a sword in the stomach?! Jude goes to Lady Asha’s rooms and accuses her of intercepting Cardan’s letters. Lady Asha does not refute it but warns Jude that Cardan will tire of her as soon as she’s no longer a puzzle to be solved. Joke’s on Lady Asha, Jude can’t even figure herself out, let alone Cardan do it. An emissary from the Undersea comes with news, Queen Orlagh has been shot with a weird arrow. Although it has not pierced anything vital, the arrow continues to move inside Orlagh so it cannot be removed, and it may have iron in it, which will poison her. THAT’S where the Ghost was sent. Cardan and Jude call the generals and they discuss new plans, based on what information Jude brought and what just happened to Orlagh. The meeting with the generals is interrupted with a message for Jude, Taryn needs her right away at Hallow Hall. This message seems fishy since Taryn has never been to Hallow Hall, so Cardan decides to accompany Jude. They find not only Taryn but the Ghost too, imprisoned. The Ghost went to Taryn and begged her to lock him up where he could not get out, he even knew where she could do that. He tells them what his orders were when it came to Orlagh and that he has more orders: to hurt Jude and Cardan. Luckily, Taryn also knows the Ghost’s true name from Locke and releases him from all other commands. They take the Ghost to the Bomb for now, until they decide what to do with him. Jude wakes up the next morning and is accosted by Randalin, a council member, who strides in her room demanding an audience. She gives it to him, but not before scolding the guards outside and hiring her first personal guard member, Fand. Randalin says the lower courts are amassing in Elfhame, they want to see if there’s any weakness to spot. He’s here to try to convince Jude to step down, a mortal Queen is a weakness and Madoc will be there in just a few days to challenge Cardan, they need to appear as strong as possible. Plus, Madoc seems to blame Cardan for his daughter’s death, which can’t make him more amenable. It seems that Madoc doesn’t know that Jude made it. Just then, Cardan comes into the room with Grima Mog, wanting a word of his own with the councilor. Grima Mog brings soup for Jude that will give her some strength and tells her that she tried to return the knife Jude had dropped when they fought, but Jude was already gone. Luckily, Taryn filled Grima Mog in on what was happening, and Grima Mog decided to come to Elfhame and work with Cardan. Tatterfell and Fand bring clothes for Jude, and Heather accompanies them. She hadn’t seen Jude since she woke up and wanted to check on her. Jude encourages Heather and Vivi to leave with Oak before Madoc gets there, but Heather wants to stay. She’s made a deal with Vivi that as soon as they return to the mortal world, Vivi will make Heather forget Faerie and forget Vivi, but Heather is now regretting that choice. Unfortunately, part of the agreement is that Vivi would go through with it no matter what Heather said when the time came. The High King and High Queen have a ball to welcome all the leaders of the lower courts. They schmooze and Jude lies and by the end, their subjects see Jude as more than just a weak mortal. That night, Jude and Cardan start to trust each other a little more. Madoc arrives to Elfhame and requests a parley with Cardan. Cardan and Jude move their soldiers and spies into position before meeting with him. Oak wants to see what happens, so Taryn, Heather, and Vivi will accompany him to the safe space from which Jude and Taryn used to watch the revels. He will be able to see and hear but cannot be seen by Madoc. Madoc arrives with Oriana, Grimsen, the three rulers of the Court of Teeth, and some of his generals. He uses the sword that Grimsen just made to split a crack in the ground that travels to the throne and splits the throne in half. Madoc challenges Cardan to a duel, even allowing Cardan to use a superior weapon. If Cardan does not accept, Madoc issues a separate challenge: allow his courtiers to choose their king. A duel of loyalty and love. If Cardan still refuses, the arrow in Queen Orlagh’s body will kill her, and it would be Cardan’s fault. I’m not sure I follow that logic completely but okay. Cardan refuses anyway, saying that a king is neither throne nor crown. But Madoc is right, loyalty and love should not be compelled, but ruling Elfhame should also not be won or lost in a wager. Besides, Elfhame has two rulers now. Even if Madoc killed Cardan, Jude would still rule. Cardan reminds everyone that the prophecy he was born with said he would cause both the throne and the crown to be broken, although he did not think it was meant literally until now. Then Cardan snaps the blood crown into pieces, freeing everyone from their oaths and he asks them to make their choice freely. The court kneels to Cardan, choosing him as their High King anyway. But as this happens, Cardan’s eyes go black and Jude remembers that Grimsen cursed the crown, Cardan becomes a giant serpent. Grimsen yells that nothing will bring Cardan back and Madoc screams that he is going to kill the serpent and be king himself. Jude steps up and reminds everyone that she is High Queen, demanding that the guards imprison Madoc and his party. Randalin backs her up and the group of rebels is surrounded. Just then the serpent comes towards them, intent on killing Grimsen. Jude commands everyone else out of the room and leaves herself, locking the Cardan serpent inside alone. Outside, Jude is overwhelmed until Grima Mog takes her aside for a moment. Jude makes Grima Mog her new Grand General and asks her to send Taryn, Fand, and the Bomb to her. She also needs Baphen, the astrologer. When the Bomb gets there, Jude tasks her with finding out who is loyal to her, who is turning their loyalty over to Madoc, and who wants to rule themselves. If anyone mentions assassinating Jude, kill them, she doesn’t need to be notified first. When Taryn comes, Jude charges her with making her a new throne room and finding her clothes that make a statement. She needs to look like a High Queen. Baphen comes and Jude asks him to repeat his prophecy from when Cardan was born, repeat it exactly as he told it the first time. If Cardan was to rule, it would cause the throne and the crown to be ruined, but a great ruler would rise from his spilled blood. She asks if there’s any way to break the curse, but he is not aware of any way to reverse it. She asks him to look at his star charts again to be sure they aren’t missing anything. She needs to meet with the living council next but before she can, she receives word from Grima Mog that the serpent has escaped through the crack that Madoc created, and that her new throne room is ready. Taryn works quickly. Jude has the council brought in and gives them the bad news about the serpent. Grima Mog enters and tells everyone that Madoc intends on attacking at dawn. Their numbers are about even to Madoc’s, most of the lower courts want to sit it out and see who wins. The serpent has been found, everywhere it goes it leaves scorched earth. Cursing the king has cursed the land as well. Jude goes to see serpent Cardan, remembering that Cardan told her that he trusted her to keep him in check as the High King, that if he ever fulfilled the prophecy he would want to be stopped. She begs the land to heal him, but nothing happens. At least snake Cardan doesn’t try to kill Jude, he almost seems to know her. Madoc sends Jude a note, asking to see her, Oak, Oriana, and her sisters, he wants to Nore and Jarel with him. She agrees to the meeting, but weapons are not allowed. They meet outside, they brought Queen Suren as well. She has had her bridle removed but now she has wristbands that serve as leashes and a circlet sewn to her head. What is the deal with this kid? Madoc and his side offer to allow Jude to continue as High Queen, dismissing the living council and making Madoc her only councilor. Nore and Jarel have a bridle, ostensibly the one their daughter had been wearing, that allows the person who speaks the magic words to control whatever is wearing it. She could use that on the serpent and have it under her power. And they would marry Oak to Suren, so the two would ascend together when it was time. Jude asks them to free Orlagh from the arrow threatening her, Madoc agrees. Jude agrees to try the bridle, but she makes no promises for Oak, and Jarel tells Jude how to make the bridle work, she has to tie three strands of her hair to the bridle before placing it on the snake and then utter the power word, which Jarel will tell her when it’s time. After the meeting, Jude goes to the shore and sends a note asking Nicasia for her help. The Bomb asks Jude to try to heal the Roach. They go to the new Court of Secrets; the Ghost is waiting there to help them. Jude is able to heal the Roach, but only after battling some imposter syndrome. He and the Bomb tell each other they love one another, and Jude and the Ghost sneak out to give them some alone time. They go to visit Severin and Mother Marrow instead, but both of them tell Jude that she already knows how to break the curse, death. Mother Marrow talks to her about the halter. Turns out, if she ties her hair to it like she was told by the Court of Teeth, she would be bound to whomever said the power word with the serpent. Mother Marrow says it’s probably activated by a word, Jude and the Ghost think it’s “Grimsen” which is the only word the smith cared about people remembering. Jude goes to the banquet where she is expected to acknowledge her alliance with Madoc and the Court of Teeth and the end of the rebellion. She explains to her subjects that she and the rebels will meet on the battlefield tomorrow and harness snake Cardan. Roiben approaches Jude at the feast and tells her that he believes Cardan is the true High King, although he never particularly liked Cardan, he liked Jude. Then Nicasia shows up, and in the fray, Jude is able to pluck a few of Madoc’s hairs without his notice. Nicasia and Jude go off to talk but Nicasia just begs Jude to break the curse. As Jude prepares to go to the serpent the next day, Vivi and Taryn bring her a set of armor they found in the treasury. Made for a queen, possibly for Mab herself. While they dress her, the Roach brings her three more hairs, silver this time. They prepare the armies, in case the bridling does not go well, or Madoc and Jarel think to try something, and Baphen the astrologer reports to Jude. The stars will not speak to him, they’re hiding what they know. Which means what happens next is going to be big. It will reshape the future and only then will the stars be able to be read. While Jude has been preparing, snake Cardan has been growing. He’s about the length of a ship now, absolutely huge, but the harness will magically adjust to fit him. But when Jude gets to his lair and sees him, she has second thoughts. She doesn’t really want to use the bridle. She tells snake Cardan that she loves him and draws the sword she carries. It is not Nightfell, but Heartsworn. She had asked Severin to borrow it because it can cut through anything. She uses it to cut the snake’s head off completely and the world erupts into chaos around her. Madoc and Jarel are not happy, and battle breaks out. Nicasia comes from the sea with her army to assist Jude’s forces. Madoc directs Jude’s attention to the snake, where Cardan is emerging from the snake’s body, alive, covered in blood, and definitely no longer a snake. Around them, Madoc’s forces are swearing oaths to Cardan. They put Madoc in chains. Cardan and Jude go to see the broken throne, where Cardan heals the fissure in the ground and creates two thrones out of the broken one. That evening, Jude tells him again that she loves him, and Cardan takes some convincing, but he finally comes around. Their coronation is a week later and Oak crowns them both. They give positions in their household to three makers: Mother Marrow, a hob but it’s unclear what their trade is, and a human smith who once knew Jude’s father. They pass out boons: they give the sword that Madoc used to split the earth to Grima Mog, they clear Taryn of any charges and give her Locke’s estates and land, and to the three notable Court of Shadows members, they give enchanted masks, so they do not always need to be on the shadows. With these masks, no one will be able to remember details about them or turn them away. Then Jude punishes those that fought against them. Two soldiers come forward: one who represents those who followed Madoc when their vows were released and want to atone for that decision, and another who stands for those who would follow Madoc again. Those who regret their decision will make their oath to the High King and High Queen and will be accepted, but their hands will always be red to mark their betrayal. For the others, they will become falcons and if ever they want to return to their true form, they must not hurt another living thing for a year and a day, subsisting only on the kindness of others. Next, Jude sees Lady Nore and Queen Suren. Jude asks Lady Nore to swear loyalty to Suren, her daughter, or else she can wear the bridle. Once that’s done, Oak asks Jude to be lenient with Suren, and when Suren swears fealty to the High King and Queen, Jude does not punish her further except to dissolve the Court of Teeth, abolishing their titles and taking their lands. If Nore tries to restore the Court, Suren will be the one to punish her as Nore just swore loyalty to her. Last up is Madoc. He comes forward and does not bow or speak. Jude is willing to show him mercy on three conditions: he forgets the Ghost’s true name forever more, he swears obedience and loyalty to Cardan and herself, and he must do both of those things in good faith, without knowing what his merciful punishment will be, just knowing that he will still receive one. When he agrees with those terms, Jude sentences Madoc to a life in the mortal world, never to touch a weapon again. Oriana decides to go with Madoc to the mortal world, and Oak chooses the same, for now. Heather asked Vivi to make herself forget after all but asked that Vivi reintroduce herself and let them fall in love again but being truthful this time. So Vivi will also be returning to the mortal world. The rest of them accompany Vivi and Oak, including Cardan, and they have a little pizza party to celebrate Jude’s marriage, where they all get to reintroduce themselves to Heather.
