The Folk of the Air (series)

The Cruel Prince is the first book in the series. It follows Jude Duarte, a mortal girl living in Elfhame, a faerie world. Swept against her will to Elfhame, Jude must adapt to living alongside powerful creatures with a deep disdain for humans and a penchant for violent delights while also figuring out her feelings for faerie prince Cardan Greenbriar. (2018)[2]

A Visit to the Impossible Lands is a companion short story told from the perspective of Kaye and Roiben from the Modern Tale of Faerie series as they witness the events of The Cruel Prince unfold. The story was released as a bonus exclusive for the Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition of The Cruel Prince. (2018)[3]

The Lost Sisters is a companion novella from the perspective of Jude's twin sister Taryn Duarte. It is available only as an audiobook and an e-book. (2018)[4]

The Wicked King is the second book in the series. It follows Jude and her newfound power and position in the faerie world of Elfhame while Cardan is thrust on the throne. The two fall for each other amidst politics, scandals, parties and plotting. (2019)[5]

The Queen of Nothing is the third book of the series. It follows Jude and Cardan as they face not just Madoc who is hungry for the power and position of the throne, but also the extent of their love for each other. (2019)[6]

How the King of Elfhame Learned To Hate Stories is a companion novella that focuses on Cardan's perspective. (2020)[7]

Plot

Madoc, Vivienne’s biological father, murders Jude and Taryn’s parents. He whisks all three of them away to Faerie to live as his charges. Ten years later, twins Jude and Taryn love life in Faerie, are obedient, and try to live by the rules. Vivi, the true faerie, doesn’t obey or want to be part of this world.

The twins attend a faerie ball, one of many where they must be careful and watch from the sidelines. Valerian insults Jude.

A typical day at faerie lessons for the twins involves torture by Cardan and his posse.

Humans can stay in Faerie in adulthood if they fall in love and marry (Taryn’s choice) or if they show a skill (Jude’s choice—to serve as a knight after proving her fighting ability in the Summer Tournament).

King Eldred will soon choose a successor from among his children. Everyone thinks it will be Dain, his third oldest.

Madoc says Jude can’t compete in the Summer Tournament.

Jude and Cardan torture each other back and forth. One day, he nearly drowns Jude asking her not to participate in the Summer Tournament. She won’t withdraw. Taryn has to kiss each of his cheeks to rescue Jude.

The three sisters go to a mortal mall. Vivi tells her sisters she wants them to move to the mortal world with her and live with her girlfriend. Vivi wants to be human and the twins want to be fae. Before they leave the mall, Jude hurts a boy who was trying to hit on her.

Jude pushes Cardan when she sees him talking to a crying Taryn. He says she’ll regret it. Taryn won’t tell her what happened. She says the tears weren’t about Jude and begs her to make things right with Cardan and not to fight him tomorrow.

On the first day of the tournament, Jude fights well against Cardan and his posse. He asks her to beg for forgiveness for her wrongs in front of everyone. She will not. He is furious. As she lies there wounded, Locke comes to visit with her and tend to her wounds. He‘s extremely gentle, seems to like her for the second time recently, and says she gets under Cardan’s skin like no one else.

That night, Jude has a prince waiting for her in the parlor. She storms in, assuming it’s Cardan. But it’s Prince Dain. He asks her what she desires. She wants to be a knight in his court. He asks what she really desires. She wants to be an immortal fae, but she hates she even thought it. Instead, she tells him that she wants to be invulnerable to enchantments. He agrees to do this if she will be a spy for him. So he puts a geas on her saying that she can be enchanted by no one except him. Now Jude is Prince Dain’s spy.

The next day during their lessons, Jude answers a question from the teacher about constellations. When he tries to get Cardan to answer a question, he says the lesson is boring and demands the teacher choose a new one. While the teacher is scrambling to look for a new lesson, Nicasia snatches Jude‘s notebook. When Jude grabs it back, she slaps her.

While Jude is on the ground, Valerian shoves a faerie apple into her mouth. It’s something that Dain’s protection won’t shield her from. She ends up filled with joy, the intention of the apple. The students decide to take advantage of Jude‘s state. They ask her who she would like to kiss out of all of them. They have her take off her dress. They ask her to take off her necklace with rowan berries, which usually protects her from their enchantments. Cardan steps in and asks Jude to kiss his foot instead. He says he’s the prince after all. For just a second, Jude sees fury, desire, and shame in his eyes. Then they return to their usual coolness.

Locke comes to her rescue. He picks her up off the ground to take her home. Before they walk away, Cardan stabs one of Jude’s fingers with the back of a pin he’s wearing. As she’s walking home, she sucks on the injured finger. The salt in her blood wipes away the effects of the apple. When she gets home, Locke says he would like to see her again because he wants to be a part of her unfolding story. He kisses each of her fingers before leaving.

Madoc wants to know who did this to her. Jude refuses to tell him because she knows he will go after and kill all of them. Then the king will kill him. Instead, she tells him she wants to train even harder so she can defeat them.

When Jude makes it to her room, a hob is there with her first assignment from Prince Dain. She‘s to go to the house of his eldest sibling (Prince Balekin) in disguise tomorrow and find out a treasonous secret.

The next day at Prince Balekin’s house, she finds a letter to take back to Dain. She also sees Cardan being whipped. She’s surprised Cardan lives there with his older brother.

Dain recognises the handwriting in the message as Locke‘s mother’s. Dain then has Roach escort Jude to the Court of Shadows. She meets the others spies. She will do some training with them.

She’s surprised Locke is at her house when she gets home. He kisses her hand. Taryn soon comes to tell them dinner is ready. Locke declines the invitation but hopes to see Jude back at school soon. Before Jude goes to sleep that night, Taryn comes in to ask what Locke wanted. She wants to make sure he wasn’t being mean. Jude assures her he wasn’t.

Taryn admits that she’s going to become engaged the night of Dain’s coronation. But she can’t say to whom. Jude thanks about how she saw Cardan and Taryn talking and hopes it isn’t him. Then Jude shows Taryn the copy of Alice in Wonderland that she found at Prince Balekin’s House. A piece of paper slips out, but Taryn doesn’t notice. Jude stashes it under her pillow to review later. She falls asleep as Taryn reads the book to her. She looks at the note the next morning. It’s her name written over and over in Cardan’s angry scrawl. She thinks it means he hates her more than she ever imagined.

A dressmaker comes to measure the sisters for new gowns. Jude ends up fighting with Oriana because she wants to tell her son Oak a story and Oriana won’t let her.

The next day at school, Locke smiles at Jude. She notices Cardan moving slowly because of the welts on his back.

On her way home from school, Jude picks up several faerie fruits and vegetables that are poisonous to humans. She eats a little bits of each of them, trying to condition herself to withstand the poison. She ends up sick. When she wakes up, Roach is there to take her to more training. He’s teaching her stealth. Then she does all again the next day. She learns a lot from Madoc, Roach, and the Ghost.

Locke joins her often after school, kissing her goodbye right before they reach Madoc’s land. One day at school, Jude overhears Nicasia asking Locke what he sees in her. She says Cardan will be mad. He asks if Cardan will be angrier with her for choosing Locke or with Locke for choosing Jude.

Jude falls asleep one day during lunch break because of all her late night antics. She awakes to Valerian standing over her, her rowan beads dangling in his hand. He cuts them off and thinks he can control her now. He tells her to go verbally relent to Cardan and then go jump off a building to kill herself. He’s shocked she can disobey him. If it wasn’t for Dain’s protection, Jude would be dead. Valerian pushes her against a wall in his anger. She stabs him with her small knife.

Jude goes home with Locke after school. He invites her to stay for a party with his friends that night. She dresses in one of his mother’s dresses and spends the night dancing and kissing Locke. Cardan watches her all night long. She finds herself blushing as she watches him kissing other girls.

Jude finds an acorn in the pocket of the dress as she’s taking it off. At home, she manages to open it. It reveals a message that seems to be from Locke’s mother before she died predicting her death and asking her best friend to take care of “him,” presumably Locke. Jude wonders how it pairs with the letter about Locke’s mother that she found at Prince Balekin’s and took to Dain.

Jude goes back to Balekin’s house to look for more evidence but finds none. As she’s leaving, she passes a servant girl named Sophie. Her heart breaks for the girl. She decides to sneak her out. When they’re out on the lawn, Cardan rides up. Jude’s afraid he sees her. But he must take her for just another servant girl because he barely looks her way.

When Jude makes it home, she begs Vivi to sneak this girl back to the human world. Vivi agrees to do so. As they ride magic horses toward the human world, Sophie pitches herself off the side of a cliff, not wanting to live away from this new life she’s come to know. Jude feels overwhelming guilt.

The next morning, Jude is summoned to the parlor. Dain is there to scold her. She thinks it’s for kidnapping Sophie, but it’s for stabbing Valerian. To prove her loyalty, he asks Jude to stab herself in the hand. At first she thinks he will compel her to do it. Then she realizes he is asking her to do it of her own will to prove her loyalty. She does so.

Their dresses for the coronation arrive. Jude’s is different than what she ordered…an ombré blue embroidered with trees. It’s the most beautiful thing she’s ever seen. Her stepmother Oriana cautions her to not aspire to rise above her station. She thinks Dain was at their house earlier this morning because Jude has a relationship with him.

Jude learns Oriana was a consort to the current king before marrying Madoc. She warns Jude again about how dangerous the court is, citing the murder of another consort who was pregnant. Everyone assumes a prince did it so there wouldn’t be another heir. Jude realizes she doesn’t know anything at all about Oriana and all of her cautions to the girls come from experience. Jude learns that Balekin was there in a long meeting with Madoc and wonders what it was about.

Valerian sneaks into Jude’s room drunk late that night. He threatens her and pulls a blade on her. She stabs him. He dies. Before he’s gone, he says he curses her three times. She hides his body just before Ghost arrives for her lesson. They are going to track and kill a messenger on Balekin’s tonight. Ghost makes Jude perform the kill. He thinks it’s her first ever, but it’s actually the second of the night. When she gets a closer look at her victim, Jude realizes it’s a spy of Madoc’s. The note she holds says to kill the bearer of the message. Ghost thinks it means Balekin set them up. Jude tries to work through what Liriope’s murder has to do with the current coronation. She buries Valerian’s body by their stables that night.

As they dress for the festivities, Jude and Vivi wonder who Taryn’s fiancé will be. Madoc arrives to have a private talk with Jude. He gives her a sword forged by her mortal father. She’s surprised when he tells her a bit about both of her parents.

At the coronation ball, Jude thinks she sees Sophie with the merfolk of the Undersea, now with fanged teeth. Jude dances with her sisters and then with Locke. He speaks in riddles, asking if she loves him enough to give him up and what she’d do if he hurt her. Cardan cuts in as Locke is ready to say more. They dance briefly, with Cardan saying she must really hate him. As they line up for the coronation, Jude is confused to see Taryn push a piece of Locke’s hair behind his ear in an intimate gesture.

The crowning ceremony goes as planned until the crown is to be placed on Dain’s head. Balekin and his followers—whom Jude is shocked to see includes Madoc—kill Dain. Balekin wants to assume the throne but can’t place the crown on his head until his subjects agree. The visiting fae say Balekin has three days to get the crown on or they will be gone and so will their loyalty. More fighting and death occurs. Soon all of Eldred’s children are dead besides Balekin and Cardan, who is nowhere to be seen.

Jude knows she needs to sneak away. Soon the party will resume, and she won’t be safe. She runs into a drunk and hiding Cardan during her escape. He says she’s very unsafe as a mortal. She knows he’s quite unsafe being the only one left who can crown Balekin. Jude takes her hair down and steals a mask, and then the two of them make their way out. Two guards stop them, but with his party mask on Cardan can carefully form sentences to “lie” his way out.

Jude puts him at knife point and threatens him. Jude takes them straight to the Court of Shadows. Cardan is shocked she was a spy for Dain. He’s sorry he was passed out drunk when his family was murdered. They both question each other about whether they knew of Balekin’s and Madoc’s plan. Neither did.

The Ghost and Roach arrive and question whether Jude’s on her father’s side. They realize quickly that she wouldn’t be here alone if she was. Jude learns that Dain is the one who poisoned Liriope because she was carrying was his child. He didn’t want his father to find out. The Ghost and Roach give Jude 24 hours. They will hold Cardan prisoner for her, but if she doesn’t return he’ll be their prisoner to do with what they will.

Vivi is relieved to see Jude when she gets home. Taryn is there with her new fiancé. It’s Locke. Suddenly Jude works through little things Locke and his friends said to her and realize he’s played her the whole time. She’s furious at both him and Taryn. She challenges Taryn to a duel.

Madoc breaks up theirs fight and sends them to his office. It’s an hour before he arrives. He gives Taryn permission to pursue the relationship with Locke even though he has misgivings about it. He asks Jude to tell him where Cardan is if she knows because Taryn’s parting words were that she saw the two of them dancing. Madoc says she could trade him for any position in Balekin’s court and any man she desires. This is what she came here for…to trade Cardan for something more useful.

Vivi comes to Jude’s room. She tells her she noticed she could dodge her command earlier when she tried to get her to stop fighting with Taryn. Dain’s geas is still in place. And Vivi asks Jude to come to the human world with her tonight. She’s asked Taryn, too, but won’t reveal her answer so Jude will decide for herself. Jude asks to give her one day to get things in order, and then she’ll decide.

The next morning, Jude goes to Taryn’s room to reconcile with her but finds it empty. She goes to Oriana’s room, a place she never visits, to search for Taryn. She sees a golden acorn on her dresser. It’s identical to the one she found in Liriope’s dress.

Many things Jude’s heard and said come together in her mind. She suddenly realizes Oak isn’t Oriana and Madoc’s son. He is Dain’s and Liriope’s. Liriope was a consort to King Eldred at the same time as Oriana. She had a tryst with Prince Dain on the side and got pregnant. She was poisoned, but Oriana found her just before or after she died and cut the baby out. Oriana instantly married her new beau, Madoc, and they claimed the baby as their own (her friend’s dying wish). Madoc did it to someday use the boy’s blood to take over the throne. Jude realizes Cardan is not the only one with royal blood still alive. And her theory is Madoc wants Oak on the throne, with him serving as royal regent until Oak comes of age (and maybe always if Oak comes to rely on him enough).

Jude is horrified to see Cardan out of his bonds and playing cards with the Roach and the Ghost when she returns to their lair. She takes Cardan to a private room where she can question him. He vows to answer anything she asks. She starts off mentioning the piece of paper she saw where he wrote her name all over it. But she never actually asks him a question about this. She asks how long Locke and Taryn have been together. She asks if Cardan loved Nicasia. He says he did.

Jude asks why he hates her so much. Cardan says it’s because though she is a human her father loves her and she is not subjected to beatings by her brother. She asks why he hates her most of all, though. She realizes there’s something else going on. He says it’s because even though she’s a human and he shouldn’t, he wants her. She puts down her crossbow and puts a knife to Cardan‘s throat. But instead of hurting him, she kisses him to test what he saying. They both end up lost in the kiss.

Jude finally decides that Oak needs to be king. And Cardan can crown him. But first he needs to spend some years living among humans to gain sympathy and have a normal childhood. She goes back to the lair and tells Cardan about her plan. She asks him to go into her service until Oak is ready to return to faerie. Cardan agrees to back her plan but will only swear into her service for one year and one day. She accepts this bargain. Jude commands Cardan to stay in the woods for 24 hours to spy on any comings and goings. He’s impressed how complete her command is, with hardly any room for him to go against her will.

Jude goes around trying to drum up support among the other fae courts for crowning Oak as king. It’s not easy. She doesn’t even make it past the guard to ask the master of the first court. At Cardan’s admonishment, she tries a lesser known court that isn’t favored under the current crown because they would have more reason to support an alternate choice for king. This one agrees to back Jude’s king if she gets a more prominent backer in addition to him.

Jude goes to Roiben, the leader of a very powerful court, and finally convinces him, too. But he will only do it for the promise of a favor from the new king someday. Jude says it must be of equal value to what he’s doing for them. They agree on the deal.

Jude goes back to the lair and gets all three on board with her plan: the Bomb, Roach, and the Ghost. Then she goes home to convince Vivi to take Oak with her to the human world for several years to raise him and keep him safe. Jude will have people guarding them for extra safety. She convinces Vivi that Madoc is going to make Oak king anyway, which would put him as regent for years until Oak was ready to rule. Vivi is especially worried about Madoc’s wrath, but Jude has a plan that will keep him from going after them. Vivi agrees.

Jude sees Taryn in the hallway as she’s leaving, but Taryn goes into her room and closes the door without speaking to Jude.

How did The Cruel Prince end? Everyone is shocked when Cardan (who had been missing) shows up to Balekin’s banquet with Jude. Balekin and Madoc rush over to them. Cardan and Jude both play along with their assumptions: that Jude completed the task Madoc gave her in finding Cardan and that Cardan is there to crown Balekin, the brother who raised him, king.

When Jude leaves the party to let the Shadow Court spies in, Madoc meets her in the hall. She tells him what she knows about Oak. She asks him if he can promise he’ll be ready to give up his regency when Oak comes of age. He can’t. The two duel. Madoc is better and stronger but begins to grow weak. Jude poisoned the glass of wine she offered him earlier that evening. She lets the spies in and drags Madoc to a room to sleep. The effects of the poison will last for an hour or so.

The whole crowd is being seated for dinner when Jude returns. Locke comes over to flirt with her for a second before she’s seated. It gives Jude a rush (and then makes her mad at her own reaction) when Cardan tells her how “awful” she looks. She was also a little jealous earlier in the evening when he warned Nicasia to be careful.

Just as Balekin rises to speak, the Bomb sets off her bomb as promised. Roach launches arrows near Cardan, persuading everyone he’s trying to kill him. Balekin jumps on top of his brother, making Jude a little sad that her plan turned Cardan against the man who raised him, cruel as he may have been to him.

Everything is going as planned until Ghost tosses the crown he just stole to Taryn instead of Jude. It’s too late when realizes his mistake. Jude yells to Taryn to toss the crown to Vivi, who will be ready to hand it to Cardan to place on Oaks’ head, making him the king. Taryn can’t decide what to do, glancing between Jude, Vivi, and Balekin.

Jude gets the crown from Taryn and asks Cardan to come over. Vivi walks Oak to stand near them. Jude asks Cardan to show Oak what he’s supposed to do, so he kneels. She commands him to be still for a full minute. Then when Oak comes over, Jude gives him the crown instead. Just as they told him to, he places the crown on Cardan‘s head and anoints him king. Unbeknownst to Cardan, this was Jude’s plan all along. Cardan is furious, but he has to comply for a year and a day. He rises as king, and no one knows any different. They think it was the plan all along. Everyone kneels before him.

The epilogue shows Jude and Vivi shopping for new things for Vivi and Oak at Target. They are going to live with Heather until they can get on their feet. Jude is sad to leave them but knows she needs to get home. Oak asks her when he will know that he learned the things she wants him to learn. She tells him when it seems easier to stay with the humans than to go home and when he’s not missing home anymore, that means it’s time to go back.

Jude returns to her new home at the palace. She hasn’t spoken to Cardan yet and knows it’s time. She goes to find him and finally comes across him in the throne room. He looks regal and every bit the king. He says he will play his role and be fun and charming. She can make the decisions and rule behind the scenes. But she knows he’ll make her pay for what she’s done. She has a year and a day. Then he’s under her command no more.

Plot

Cardan is five months into his reign as king and five months into his one year plus one day submission to Jude. No one knows she’s pulling the strings to his every move and word. They hate each other as much as ever.

Jude hopes she can extend the link beyond then to protect her brother Oak, who she sent to the mortal world with her other sister Viv to have a semblance of a normal childhood before he returns to rule.

Jude sees Taryn dancing with her betrothed, Locke. They will be married in three weeks, and Jude wishes she and her twin were on speaking terms before then.

Severin and Grimsen come forth asking the king for a pardon. He will grant it for an oath, but they don’t want to be tied to another one. They want a chance to prove their loyalty through their legendary metalworking. Cardan grants this before the suspicious Jude has gone to protest and use her control over him to stop him.

A hag comes before him next with gifts. Jude senses some kind of deception and intercepts the transaction. The hex leaves her magical cloth as one gift for the king and leaves after revealing she was trying to compel him to marry her or her daughter.

Locke approaches, and Jude wishes their past tryst didn’t make her still respond to him. He wants to be the new Master of Revels for his king. Jude wants to have him deny this request but can’t find a way to tell him to do so under Locke’s watchful eye.

A Court of Shadows member approaches with another note to Cardan from Balekin that she intercepted. He wants his brother to come visit him in prison. Once again, Jude’s glad to be a part of the Court of Shadows because they have her back.

Jude goes to visit Balekin instead. But he won’t share the message meant for Cardan with her. On her way out, Jude snags a guard name Vulciber to take back as a captive.

Jude wants Vulciber to tell her what Balekin wouldn’t. But he doesn’t know what the intended message was. He says he has a better secret he’ll exchange for his freedom. Messages are being exchanged by Balekin and the queen of the Undersea. She’s planning to use the information Balekin is giving her to ruin Cardan. Jude is surprised since her daughter Nicasia is one of Cardan’s friends. Jude will get Vulciber a new position outside the prison if he promises to bring her news of any further communication between Balekin and the queen.

Jude is shocked to find Taryn in her room. Her sister doesn’t apologize but clearly wants to make up. She begs Jude to come to her wedding. Jude relents and says she’ll come. Then she offers to help Jude dress, the only thing she can think of to give as a thanks.

Jude is taking small amounts of poison daily to slowly inoculate herself to its affects.

The Ghost brings Jude to Cardan’s room where he, Locke, and two other faeries lie drunk and half undressed. The room is a wreck. Jude orders everyone out to find out why Cardan sent for her.

Cardan leads her to his bed and shows her the two arrows shot into it. Someone tried to assassinate him. He says he didn’t see who it was but that they faded into the wall as soon as the shots were fired. They search the wall and find a secret passageway they didn’t know about. Jude goes down the tunnel alone. It leads to the former king’s rooms, the ones Cardan didn’t want and no one dared occupy after his passing. Nicasia sits on the bed. Was this Balekin‘s plan with her mom: for her to kill Cardan? But she says she only wanted to kill the girl he was with. She went to surprise him in his room and then was furious to see someone else there. She shot at his guest in her jealous fury.

Jude tells her she will be executed for her crime unless she agrees to her terms. She wants to know what the girl’s mother wants with Cardan. Orlagh wants Nicasia to marry him and rule as queen. If not, she’ll use her water power to sink Faerie. Nicasia tells Jude that someone she trusts has already betrayed her.

Jude brings Cardan to her rooms, the only place she’s confident he’ll be safe. He asks her to kiss him. She hates that she wants to. She doesn’t do it. He falls asleep on her bed. She thinks of their past kisses and how much he hated that he wanted her.

Jude goes to the council meeting in Cardan’s place. He never shows up, so this isn’t unusual. She tries to convince the council that Orlagh wants to move against their kingdom soon, but they don’t believe her and quickly move on to other discussions. Madoc pulls Jude aside after the meeting and says he still cares about her despite the fact that she poisoned him. He’s glad she and Taryn are speaking again.

Jude searches the former king’s rooms, finding all kinds of artifacts. She’s making sure it’s safe for Cardan to move into. The Bomb is with her and admits she’s in love with the Roach.

Nicasia catches Jude staring at Cardan at a party, his request for kisses still ringing in her head. Nicasia still wants him, too, and wants to know what Jude has over him. Jude asks her about Cardan’s mother. She says she was a girl from the lower courts, and the king never even made her a consort.

Taryn posed as Jude to get a key to her room and is there waiting for her sister. She’d brought all of Jude’s old clothes and jewels as well as sketches for new outfits. Jude asks what she wants in return. Taryn doesn’t want Locke to be Master of Revels and wants Jude to make sure it doesn’t happen.

Jude says she will but is lying. She thinks Locke would know she’s the one who made the request and be suspicious of her hold over Cardan. Taryn’s eyes dart to Cardan’s clothes on the floor before she departs.

Jude talks with the former king’s seneschal. He tries to give her advice as he juggles. Jude leaves angry. He calls after her that he foretold she wouldn’t take his advice.

As Jude approaches Cardan, she thinks about how the kingdom, both nature and its people, react to him. She notices her ring on his finger. She realizes he stole it from her hand when he grasped it earlier on the day. He pulls her aside to tell her he made sure Taryn isn’t here to see the spectacle Locke created for tonight.

Jude hates how Cardan’s touch is affecting her. When he departs, she notices how familiar he now is with his subjects and how he even allows them to touch him without punishment. She wonders if he has changed or if she’s noticing different things about him now.

Grimsen brings him what looks like an earring, a single drop, apparently the first thing he has made in Elfhame’s service.

Jude finally spots who she’s looking for, Dulcamara from the Court of Termites. But then Locke makes an announcement. Jude was wondering when he was going to stir up this run of the mill ball. He says they’ll crown a queen of mirth tonight. It’s where they select a mortal girl to get drunk and hurl insults at, all the while she thinks she’s being honored as the new queen. He selects the only mortal girl at the ball: Jude.

The two dance as part of the sham and both seem to enjoy it yet hate that they do. When it’s over, Cardan says she’s free to go or stay. When Jude gets outside, she sees creatures approaching from the shore. Orlagh has sent them with a message they announce to the crowd: She wants to unite her daughter and Cardan in marriage. The announcement also gives threats for if he disobeys her up to three times.

Cardan hears them out and then welcomes them to stay at the revel. He calls Jude over and asks her to quietly pull his council together. He’ll leave the revel as soon as possible to meet with them.

Before the council gathers, Madoc calls Jude into a private meeting. He wants her to come to his side. He says the daughter he knew would be furious after being humiliated by the king tonight. He doesn’t know that they both want Oak on the throne eventually. He wants her to ensure that Cardan doesn’t marry Nicasia. He says the Undersea queen slowly conquered all of the other small sea kingdoms until she was total ruler. And he knows she will have Cardan and Nicasia do the same until there are no smaller courts below them and they rule everywhere. Jude will block it because it’s also not what she wants.

After others have given their opinion, Madoc asks Jude to give hers. Cardan is upset when Jude shares information about Balekin that she had not told him. He then asks Jude to bring Nicasia to him. Jude is frustrated by being ordered around but goes to fetch her anyway.

When Nicasia approaches Cardan, he says to tell her mother that the next time she threatens him, her daughter will become his prisoner. She says that even though the message was a demand when it should’ve been a request, there is wisdom in it. He then asks whether she would want to be bound to him forever in an unhappy union, and Nicasia says there’s more to ruling than happiness, and she thinks her mother’s idea is a good one.

Nicasia leaves, and Cardan kicks everyone out of the room except Jude. When only the two of them remain, Jude tells Cardan she will humiliate him in front of everyone if he ever issues her another order. Then she leaves, too.

Jude thinks over all of the possible options for rulers of the faerie world. She’s nervous about Oak’s presence at Taryn’s upcoming wedding. He’s too important to risk exposure to the realm at this tumultuous time. She decided to use a prisoner to send false information to Balekin about Oak. There was a woman at the prison wanting give Jude information about her mother. When she describes the woman to the Bomb so she can send for her, she surprises Jude by saying she knows who this woman is. It’s Cardan’s mother.

When they bring Asha before Jude, she asks for information about her mother. Asha gives small things, and Jude says that’s not enough. They’ve fed and clothed her and will give her a turn in the gardens before going back to prison, but she’s going to need to give up much more important information to win her freedom and secret passage away from their king and kingdom, like she’s requesting. Jude says to send word if she decides she wants to tell her more.

The council meets to discuss the safest path for the kingdom. Madoc wants to use Oak as bait to draw Orlagh out. Jude refuses to let this happen.

A council member stops Jude after the meeting to remind her that as the king’s right hand woman, she can fire Madoc if she desires and find a new general.

Cardan summons Jude to the throne room. He’s deciding on a dispute between two musicians with stolen lyres. Once that’s done, he pulls her into a small room she’s never seen before. He shows her a message Balekin sent him. He wants to speak to Cardan and wants him to get Jude under control.

Jude is glad her message from Asha has already been delivered. Cardan is concerned that there’s much Jude has done that he’s not aware of. He asks why Balekin is contacting him now. Jude admits it’s because she gave him information with that very intent. Cardan asks what he’s supposed to do with it then. She tells him to have Balekin brought to him in chains to see what he wants.

Jude asks him to seduce Nicasia to see if he can get some information from her first, though. Cardan can’t believe she’s asking him to do this. He practices his wiles on Jude, driving her crazy (much to her dismay). As they kiss, Jude thinks about how, out of all the mean things he’s done to her over the years, making her like him more than anyone else (against her will) is the very worst one.

Jude works as a spy the next day to try to distract herself from thoughts of Cardan and what happened between them. She finds Locke and threatens him to stop bothering Cardan. Locke can make him lose favor with and eventually power over his subjects every time he makes Cardan look weak. She also warns him to never hurt her sister.

Jude and the Roach travel back to the mortal world to retrieve Vivi and Oak. They stop at a diner when they first make it there. While they eat, he recommends Jude not keep things from Cardan, especially about his mother. He eventually convinces her that she needs to tell him.

Jude asks him about the Bomb. He seems interested in her, but he doesn’t really want to talk about it and isn’t sure he could trust anything she says because as a mortal, she can lie.

Vivi still hasn’t told her girlfriend about anything Faerie-related. She thinks they’re going to a normal wedding off the coast of Maine. Jude actually likes that Vivi hasn’t been honest so she can try to convince Vivi to bail, both keeping Heather in the dark about their heritage and keeping Oak safe in the mortal world. But there’s no changing her mind; they’re coming. She finally tells Heather the truth at the last minute, just before they hoist atop a magic steed they’ll ride to Faerie. She seems a bit awestruck but accepts it and Vivi’s withholding of the truth very easily.

Once they arrive at their family home, Jude pulls Heather aside to go over some rules she should know to keep herself out of trouble in Faerie. She gives her advice as well as rowan berries and salt. When they rejoin the group, Vivi wants to give Jude a gift she brought for Cardan, but Jude says she should give it to him herself.

When she gets back to the castle, Jude sees Cardan and Nicasia together. Nicasia is glowing under his attention. Jude can’t help but feel jealous.

Jude visits Grimsen to buy a gift for Taryn’s wedding. Grimsen first tells her he knows of her mortal father’s metalworking and maybe taught him a few things years ago, but he won’t say for sure. He says there’s nothing she can purchase; she’ll have to trade because he only deals in barter now.

In exchange for one of Jude‘s tears, she receives a pair of earrings that will magnify Taryn’s beauty tremendously. Grimsen also asks Jude to take a message to the king. If they go to war, he’ll fashion him armor of ice that cannot be penetrated and swords so strong Cardan will easily win.

Jude goes to the Court of Shadows to work on her safety plans for Oak. Cardan arrives to bring her news of what he discovered from Nicasia after a few kisses. Her mother plans to act during Taryn’s wedding. Before he leaves, he tries to bring up what happened between them the other night. Jude cuts him off and says she’s sure it served the same purpose for both of them: to get it out of their system. Cardan leaves with a tight-lipped expression.

Jude goes to Madoc to claim she wants to work together to ensure Oak’s safety now that he’s here. He’s suspicious of her intentions (and wisely so). She tells him she knows from Nicasia that Orlagh is planning to strike during the wedding. She also confides that she has a messenger through which she can get a message to Balekin.

Jude sends a note to Asha to arrive just when Balekin’s being brought up the stairs. It says she can get Asha off the island after the wedding.

Balekin comes before Cardan, basically saying he wants to act as regent to him even though he’s of age. He’s as cruel and insulting as ever, and Cardan sends him away. Jude can easily see the hate in Cardan’s eyes.

Madoc and Jude say three traps for the Undersea forces during the wedding to try to draw them to strong.

Taryn wants to spend the last night before her wedding with her sisters. On her way to Madoc’s house for the get together, Jude is attacked by men on horseback. She’s hit in the thigh with an arrow. She fights back and somehow escapes, but her horse is killed.

Jude sneaks to her old room and tries to treat the wound before anyone notices. Vivi finds her as she’s trying to stitch up the way it helps. She begs Jude to come back to the mortal world with her after the wedding so she doesn’t face all of this danger. But there’s no way Jude can.

The next morning, Oriana brings Jude a silver dress from her own closet for Jude to borrow for the wedding. It’s much more revealing then Jude would ever choose for herself, but she doesn’t have much choice. And it’s beautiful.

Jude sees Cardan not long after arriving at the wedding. She sees the same look in his eye that’s not unlike hatred that she saw the last time she was here at Locke’s house when he was watching her and Locke kiss. He just tells her nice dress. Jude is worried that she’s falling in love with him and, if so, how that will affect her where he is concerned. She tells herself she should kill him before she’s fully in love and orders Cardan to never be alone tonight even though the implications of the statement bother her.

Madoc heard their exchange and now knows about Jude’s control over Cardan. He says they’ll work together to defeat Orlagh, but after that they’re enemies.

Jude hears someone crying nearby and goes to investigate. She finds that Heather has been turned into a cat. It’s a charm that can be undone, and Vivi quickly reverses it and erases Heather’s memory of the incident. Jude is furious that Vivi didn’t prepare Heather better and that she would erase a memory Heather needed to learn from to keep herself safe.

Taryn finally makes her appearance. Jude notices the earrings she lost the other night dangling from her sister’s ears. Then she notices Locke’s limp. He and his friends are the ones who attacked her, perhaps as part of his bachelor party.

The Court of Shadows calls Jude away because there’s word that Orlagh has made her move at the prison. Jude first checks on Asha, but she’s safe. She sets her free and tells her it’s on account of Cardan that she does so. Jude goes to Balekin’s cell next. He’s gone. Orlagh has rescued him in hopes of marrying her daughter to him and making him king someday. It will be tough to do so since either Oak or Cardan must be the one to crown him. But maybe she has a plan for that, too.

The Ghost joins Orlagh’s party before they depart. He’s betrayed her. He’s been the one she was warned who was working against her from within her ranks. Jude is mad and sad. She’s hit from behind and blacks out.

Jude wakes at the bottom of the sea. She is held captive in a cell, and Nicasia comes to punch and pester her and eventually knocks Jude out. When Jude wakes again, someone is there to dress her and take her to dinner with Orlagh.

Since she isn’t wearing any charms or other protectors, Orlagh believes Jude can be persuaded to do whatever she glamours her. Jude has to act like she is under their spell even though Dane’s geas makes it impossible for faeries to control her. Orlagh tells Jude that nothing that is said or done can be spoken about to anyone besides those in this room. Jude will need to be a very good actress to convince them she’s obedient to their every command.

Jude is questioned by Orlagh, and then she gets to overhear some of their schemes as she sits quietly. One of the most important things mentioned is that Grimsen is making a new crown. If it‘s not a blood crown like the current one, then a relative might not need to place it on Balekin’s head to make him ruler. If Jude can escape, she now knows how to foul their plan: to stop Grimsen’s forging of the new crown.

When Jude wakes the next morning, she’s having withdrawals from the poison. She had slowly upped her dosage over the past few months and is now addicted to it. Her body is craving it.

In the quiet of her room, Jude thinks about Cardan, about how he grew up being tortured by his brother and feeling like he was not loved. She can’t help but wonder what would’ve happened between them if she had admitted the truth: that he isn’t out of her system.

After several days, somebody finally comes to June’s room. They quiz her about her life. She has to act like she’s forgotten all of the questioning when they glamour her to do so. She also has to pretend like she’s comfortable when she’s not and that she’s full when she’s not. She wants to escape but doesn’t have the endurance it would take to swim to the surface. Her life dissolves to just trying to survive hour by hour.

Balekin quizzes Jude about why someone who seemed to live only for pleasure like Cardan ever wanted to be king. Jude must scramble for an answer because her mind and body are exhausted. She finally says that maybe he did it to spite his father. Balekin considers this answer as something that might be true. He asks Jude whether she would stab Cardan in his bed if they ask her to do so. She says she would do it with pleasure. He orders her to kiss him. It’s a cold kiss. He then says to kiss him like she would kiss Cardan.

Cardan has offered to pay a ransom to get Jude back. She‘s surprised and wonders why. Balekin glamours her again to make sure she‘s loyal to them and that she’s intent on the plan to kill Cardin.

Balekin‘s freedom is part of the price of Jude‘s release. He says she’s to come to him in Hollow Hall whenever she can. If he ever drops a red cloth in her path, that’s her signal to come to him immediately. Before she leaves Balekin, Jude asks him whether he has the new crown. She holds her breath and awaits his answer. He says it’s very nearly ready. He orders her to avoid all charms to make sure she stays under their influence.

Jude wonders what price Cardan paid. Part of it is that Balekin is now the ambassador to the faerie world from the Undersea. But Jude does not know what rest of it is yet.

When she’s out of the sea and loaded into a carriage, Jude finds out that she’s going to Madoc’s house. She wants to go to the castle instead, but they don’t honor her wishes.

Taryn is there when Jude awakes. It‘s good to see her, but Jude knows she needs to get to the castle to talk to Cardan and to warn him about the Ghost, among other things. Taryn tells Jude she’s been gone about a month and that the high king and their father formed a truce to try to get her back.

Jude hears someone arrive and ask for her. It is Dulcamara from the Court of Termites. Jude figures she’s there to call in the favor Jude owes them after they helped her get Cardan crowned king.

Dulcamara tells Jude that Cardan gave the Undersea permission to attack and many people died with the promise of no retaliation from Cardan.

At first Jude doesn’t understand, but Dulcamara explains this was one of the conditions of her release. And Balekin chose the Court of Termites to attack. Dulcamara says they pledged to King Cardan because he was supposed to protect them. She says they never should have done so. She also reminds Jude that she still owes their court a favor. The favor they request is to kill Prince Balekin. Jude says she can’t. If she kills him, then they will be at war with the Undersea. She doesn’t care. She says then go to war.

Jude rushes to the castle to try to talk to Cardan. But the guards say they have been ordered not to let her in. Cardan could not have issued this order, but Madoc could have. And Jude thinks Cardan was somehow involved.

She goes to the Court of Shadows next and sees it has been destroyed. She hopes the Roach and the Bomb are okay. Next she sees Val Moren. They talk about Eldred’s and Val Moren’s love for him.

There’s only one other person Jude can think to turn to: Balekin. She goes to Hollow Hall to look for him. He gives Jude poison and tells her to use it to kill Cardan at the upcoming masquerade ball.

Jude sneaks into his old room to catch a quick nap. Then she goes through his closet and finds something she can wear. Then she sneaks through the passageway to Cardan’s current room. He’s asleep, so she covers his mouth with her hand before she wakes him. He pulls her onto him when he sees who it is. She tells him that Orlagh and Balekin planning his murder. She could’ve told him this sooner if he hadn’t barred her from seeing him. He has no idea what she’s talking about. Jude realizes it was totally Madoc’s idea to keep her out.

Cardan says he knows she wants an explanation for why he gave up the Court of Termites to rescue her. He said it’s because it took her being kidnapped to figure out how he truly felt. He became cruel long ago since that’s what his father believed him to be, and this has made it hard to sort out what he’s ever feeling for sure. He says while she was gone, he tried to come up with every order she would’ve given him and then he obeyed every one of them.

A crossbow appears in Jude’s vision and is lowered at her head. It’s the Roach and the Bomb, and they order the king out of his bed. They say that Jude is working under orders from Balekin to kill him. They search Jude and find the poison the Balekin gave her. She explains that he gave it to her and glamoured her, telling her to kill Cardan with it. But she explains that she can’t be glamoured of the gesh from Dane. She explains that if she was glamoured, she wouldn’t be able to tell them any of this. They have Cardan try to glamour her. When it doesn’t work, they know she’s telling the truth.

Jude asks when they knew about the Ghost’s betrayal. They found out at the same time she did. The Roach says she emerged from the Undersea even tougher than before.

Cardan sends for food and tea and won’t allow anyone else info the room. He carries the tray in himself. They decide the Roach will talk to Grimsen to ask him to choose a side. Cardan says he’s done a lot of research while Jude was gone, and he‘s determined that the best answer for Orlagh is not to overthrow either kingdom. He thinks she her best hope is to put Balekin on the throne instead of to overthrow him.

Jude goes shopping for the masquerade ball. The lady gives her a mask for free, her only requirement that Jude let her make one for the king if he compliments it. Then Mother Marrow provides her a bowl of soup as well as a dress.

At the masquerade ball, Jude tells Locke she knows he tried to kill her during his bachelor party, and she plans to retaliate. Lord Roiben shows up and says he wants Jude to make good on her promise. Jude spots Asha next and is shocked. She wonders whether Cardan reconciled with his mother.

Everyone keeps asking Jude where Cardan is. When he finally arrives, he seems very drunk. He makes a fool of himself. He eventually pulls Jude onto the dance floor and kisses her very publicly. She recognizes the taste on his tongue: wraithberry. He’s not drunk; he’s been poisoned.

Balekin announces this fact to the crowd and asks Jude to turn out her pockets. He had given her a vial earlier, and she realizes his scheme. She insists that he’s drunk and she needs to escort him away. Cardan says she’s right, and they leave together.

She makes him drink much water and eat something the Bomb brings to try to dilute the poison in his system. Nothing is helping.

Balekin sends a note that he has a remedy for the toxin. He’ll give it to Cardan in exchange for the crown. Jude says she’ll go get the antidote from him somehow.

She brings the vial Balekin gave her to execute Cardan. She says she’s going to drink it because she’s not important. If she takes the antidote and doesn’t die, then she’ll give the rest to Cardan and return with the crown. He pours the antidote on her tongue. Instead of swallowing it, Jude spits it into the now empty vial. It had been cleaned out and filled with water. Now it’s filled with the antidote. The two fight with blades, and Jude kills Balekin.

When Jude gets back to Cardan, she discovers Madoc had Taryn dress up as her and fool Cardan. They requested half of the army and for Madoc to be free from the demands of the crown. Cardan agreed because he trusts Jude.

Later that night, Cardan calls Jude back to his room and asks her to give him his free will back. He says this isn’t working and they need to trust each other. He asks her to marry him. Then she can give any royal orders she wants and won’t have to order him around to get things done. He says they don’t have to stay married forever but just until it’s Oak’s turn to rule.

Jude is reluctant but agrees. They perform the ceremony themselves right then and there. And then she follows through and releases him from his vow to her. They trade kisses in his bed that night, and Jude sleeps the best she has in a long time.

How did The Wicked King end? A servant comes in the morning to let Cardan know his brother was killed in a duel. He immediately knows it was Jude. His tone is cool with her.

They go out for an audience with Orlagh, who the servant said just arrived. She’s furious Balekin’s dead. Cardan will accept no blame because it wasn’t his wish that his brother die. Orlagh knows it was Jude and demands justice. She threatens war, and he threatens to use his powers of nature to overwhelm her in her own sea. He can control the land under all of the water, after all. He says he’s ready to fight her people if necessary but promises to show no mercy. He causes a small new island to emerge from the water to prove his powers.

Cardan requests Nicasia stay behind on the land to serve as an ambassador. Jude doesn’t like this at all. Then he says he must dispense justice to Jude. He exiles her to the mortal world. She tries to protest that he can’t do this to the High Queen. But everyone just laughs and doesn’t believe her. She’s led away.

Jude has been home for a month. Heather isn’t there. When the glamour was lifted and her memories returned, she moved out. Vivi tells Jude to work to get back at Cardan.

• Jude Duarte: High Queen of Elfhame; Eva and Justin's daughter; Taryn's twin sister; Vivi's half-sister; Madoc's foster daughter; Oak's foster sister; Cardan's wife
• Cardan Greenbriar: High King of Elfhame; Asha and Eldred's son; Balekin, Elowyn, Dain, Rhyia and Caelia's half-brother; Jude's husband
• Madoc: Former Grand General of Elfhame; Eva's former husband; Vivi's father; Jude, Taryn and Oak's foster father; Oriana's husband
• Taryn Duarte: Eva and Justin's daughter; Jude's twin sister; Vivi's half-sister; Madoc's foster daughter; Oak's foster sister; Locke's former wife
• Vivienne "Vivi" Duarte: Eva and Madoc's daughter; Justin's foster daughter; Jude and Taryn's half-sister; Oak's foster sister; Heather's girlfriend
• Oriana: Eldred's former lover; Liriope's friend; Madoc's wife; Oak's foster mother
• Oak Greenbriar: Liriope and Dain's son; Oriana and Madoc's foster son; Jude, Taryn and Vivi's foster brother
• Locke: Elfhame's former Master of Revels; Liriope's son; Cardan and Valerian's former friend; Nicasia's former fling; Taryn's former husband; killed by Taryn
• Nicasia: Princess of the Undersea; Orlagh's daughter; Cardan's former girlfriend; Locke's former fling
• Balekin Greenbriar: Former ambassador of the Undersea; Eldred's eldest son; Elowyn, Dain, Rhyia, Caelia and Cardan's half-brother; killed by Jude
• Orlagh: Queen of the Undersea; Nicasia's mother
• Van aka The Roach: Member of the Court of Shadows; Dain's former spy and theft expert; Liliver's lover
• Liliver aka The Bomb: Member of the Court of Shadows; Dain's former spy and explosives expert; Van's lover
• Garrett aka The Ghost: Member of the Court of Shadows; Dain's former spy and shooting expert; Taryn's lover
• Heather: Vivi's mortal girlfriend
• Grima Mog: Former general of the Court of Teeth; Grand General of Elfhame
• Dain Greenbriar: Taniot and Eldred's son; Balekin, Elowyn, Rhyia, Caelia and Cardan's half-brother; Oak's father; killed by Madoc
• Lady Asha: Eldred's consort; Cardan's mother
• Valerian: Cardan, Locke and Nicasia's former friend; killed by Jude

The series features appearances by characters from Black's previous Modern Tale of Faerie trilogy, as well as characters from her standalone novel The Darkest Part of the Forest, establishing that those books take place in the same universe as The Folk of the Air series.

In June 2017, it was announced that The Cruel Prince had been optioned for a film adaptation produced by Universal Pictures and Michael De Luca.[8]