#there's just a special place in my heart for cardan in the mortal world

[dietmountaindewb8by]

I have finally thought of something! Maybe. I don't know, it just occurred to me. So my idea is that the reader is human and considering how the fae like and enjoy belittling and degrading humans - Cardan included - it could reach a point where reader feels as though she can't do anything correctly. So she just kind of curls into herself and she just feels completely hopeless with everyday life. If it's set before Cardan is king and they're all still in school, then it could be a massive declining in her grades and when she has to eat lunch she just doesn't in fear of being judged for it. I guess Cardan will take advantage of that and make her completely dependant on him. So basically, he's the asshole for making her feel like that in the first place but then he "redeems" himself by claiming he'll look out for her and essentially just takes the reigns on her entire life. Hope you're alright!

hi!

warnings: i’m wicked tired so this might be incoherent; food; mentions of food; allusions to weight loss; bullying; cardan actually being cruel; controlling cardan; cardan kinda treating you like a baby in the end

THE WORLD IS OURS

It was no secret that you were intelligent. More than that. You could be considered a genius by faerie standards, never mind mortal ones. 

But it was no secret that your special quality had left you a long time ago, much like the light in your eyes and the love you held for yourself and the world. Everything had become so bleak with the vile words that dripped from his tongue so easily, every sentence branding itself into your head disturbingly.

At night it was all you could think of. And then, you realized, that he was right. Cardan was right, the disgusting boy who could never seem to leave you alone no matter how much you showed him that you were not worth his time. He only fought harder when he heard that.

You saw him less and less now that you had stopped trying. You hid somewhere in the back when you were in school; you no longer ate with the rest of your peers, instead moving somewhere else to mull over your failure. The death of all things good about you.

Every thought turned sour. Every day became rotten.

And it was all your fault.

~*~

It was no secret that you were his.

He had made it abundantly clear from the beginning. You did not respond well to it, turning him away with the smug look that always sat on your face, the righteousness that always hung around you like a cloak. It was addicting.

You were addicting.

You were lovely and smart and beautiful and you knew it, too. But the air of superiority that he wanted to crack, just slightly to worm his way into your heart, had shattered. His weak, weak human. So fragile, like a flower plucked from the ground.

You no longer ate with them. You no longer studied with them. You no longer smiled or laughed or even cried. He pushed you to your limit–even farther, for you had broken long before. It hurt him more than you would know.

Only when he saw how hollow your cheeks had grown, how dull your eyes had gotten had he realized what he had done, the transgressions he had so carelessly committed. He slammed his door when he had gotten into the castle. He had snapped pens over papers in which he had started letters to you, papers which he had just written your name hundreds upon hundreds of times.

“My sweet angel,” he whispered, tracing the familiar letters of your name over again with his finger, blackened with ink. “I will not allow you to languish. I will atone for my sins just as you have for yours. I swear.”

~*~

You did not expect to see Cardan Greenbriar sitting on your picnic blanket with a basket, free of his usual posse, but not free of a scowl. 

It was not a welcome sight.

“What are you doing?” you asked, looking down your nose at him, lying on his side, lounging in your sanctuary. While it was open, it was still yours. He would not take that too.

“What are you doing?”

“That–I’m sitting down. On my blanket. Yours is over there, Cardan.” Your eyebrows furrowed and your arms crossed defensively. He only smiled, ironically soft. You could not look angry if you tried. You were too tired, too weakened for a show of strength. You knew that better than anyone.

“Nicasia can keep it company. Have you eaten today, darling?” he asked, turning away from you, opening the basket. He put his hand inside, but turned to you before he could. He shrugged, his eyes widening comically. “Well? Sit down, won’t you? Lunch doesn’t last forever, dearest.”

You ignored the pet name, sitting down at his command. Ridiculous, you thought. It was your blanket.

“This is my blanket,” you said again. You mentally slapped yourself. Dumb. No wonder he thought you were dumb.

“I’m well aware of that. Now eat something, won’t you?”

“I’m not hungry.” You were. But you would not eat in front of him. You would not be compared to an animal again.

“I wasn’t asking.”

~*~

Cardan was suffocating. Once upon a time he had despised you. Now he was treating you like he would someone under his care.

At the beginning of the day, just before you left for school, he would be there, holding food and demanding you take his arm. Then, you two would share a blanket during your lessons. His arm would be around your waist and he would ask if you were too cold. Then you two would eat together. There would be more lessons, and then he’d walk you home. He’d leave you with a kiss on the forehead.

But he would not quite leave. Not really.

He would return later in the night. He would spend hours with you. He’d rub your back as you fell asleep. Sometimes, he’d even sleep with you, leaving you in the morning.

He was always there.

You had not known a moment without him. Not a moment without you being taken into his arms, being told that you were the most exquisite creature to roam the Earth, not a moment without his lips leaving your skin.

It needed to end.

~*~

“Cardan, why can’t you just hate me again! It’s suffocating! You despise me, what are you doing?!?”

The crown on his head was tilted, but it did not take away from the poise he oozed. He had given up drinking months before, becoming colder to the world. But he never seemed to not soften when you walked into the room, demanding you sit with him.

“Darling–”

“No. I’m not your darling. You need to stop, King Cardan.”

“You are really referring to me as king when you are queen?” He had stolen the crown that sat atop his head. He had killed off his brothers when they had threatened you. His father died and he had stolen that bloody, jeweled crown. “Stop this nonsense, dear, and sit with me. It’s getting late, and you’re not thinking straight.” He got up from his throne, swiftly moving toward you. He gathered you up in his arms, pressing his lips to the top of your head. “Come on, darling, you must be tired.”

“I am thinking straight.” You struggled in his hold to no avail. “My head is more than clear. You hate me. Go back to hating me. There are far too many reasons for you to hate me rather than treat me like this.”

“You deserve everything I offer you, sweetness. You deserve every ounce of affection I give you and more. The world will be yours whether you want it or not.”

“I don’t want it. I want to go home. Cardan, please–”

“You are home.” You were swept off your feet. “Now come on. We should go to sleep. It’s been a long day.”

#cardan greenbriar #cardan greenbriar x reader #cardan greenbriar x you #cardan x reader #cardan x you #dark cardan greenbriar #dark cardan #dark cardan x reader #dark cardan x you #tfota #the folk of the air #the cruel prince #the cruel prince x reader #tcp #tcp x reader #tcp x you

[cardanapologist]

Jude takes Cardan to Times Square so he can experience the holidays in the city with all the crowds, lights, the tree, and the ice skating. And the entire time, Cardan is just in complete and utter awe. He’s absolutely delighted.

“The crowds in Faerie hardly ever appear like this,” he marvels, the lights shining in his dark eyes. “Shall we host events like this too? What did you call it?”

“There are a lot of things to celebrate this time of the year, but a big one is Christmas,” Jude answers, yanking him against her when he finds himself distracted by a particularly large blown up Santa by the edge of the street. He’s been nearly swept away by the crowd twice already and she’s had to hold his hand. “It’s a holiday.”

“Christmas,” he repeats quietly to himself. “We must have Christmas in Faerie now. And it must look exactly like this.” Then he points at the Santa. “And what is this creature?”

“That’s Santa. He brings presents to everyone on Christmas.”

“Everyone?” Cardan says, looking very impressed. “What an extraordinary being! We, too, must have a Santa in Faerie.”

#cardan greenbriar #there's just a special place in my heart for cardan in the mortal world #cardan x jude #jude duarte #jurdan #the cruel prince #the queen of nothing #the wicked king #the folk of the air

[snusbandxknifewife]

Photo Fic 2: Electric Boogaloo

Ok so this is the sequel to the first fic I ever posted on this account. (If you wanna read that one first, click on the photo fic tag at the bottom.) I think it’s cute as hell and I’m soft about it so 🥺 Jude and Cardan wanting to take pictures together makes me 🥺🥺🥺

~~~~~~~~~

In the year after Cardan and Jude took their very first photos in a photobooth, photography became a bit of a fascination in Faerie. Jude didn’t intend for it to happen, but what royalty does tends to become the fad in the kingdom.

It started when they’d bought a Polaroid and began to take pictures of one another, eventually amassing so many that they’d dedicated an entire hall to photos of them. It was both of their favorite place in the entire palace, where they both went to see the other smile and drown in happy memories.

Then a servant had left a door open and a visiting dignitary had seen inside. After that, word quickly spread around the kingdom of the King and Queen’s portrait hall: the place where they’d managed to capture pieces of real life. Jude and Cardan had sighed and agreed to throw the doors open, allowing people to tour the wonder.

(Of course they’d continued to take dumb photos and risqué ones too, but they were much better at hiding those. Jude was insistent that only the dramatic or kickass photos get sent to the hall.)

They’d graduated to a better camera and they’d started to send requests for Vivi to print them. As the photos got bigger and more detailed, the people of Elfhame grew more impressed. All over the kingdom, tinkerers and witches and everyone in between began trying to craft devices that would capture photos in ways the mortal devices couldn’t. It had become a fierce competition, one that amused both Jude and Cardan.

Now, on Cardan’s birthday, the entire kingdom was watching with bated breath. The Living Council had announced a competition to find the best camera creation and, in addition to all the gifts people were bringing for the king, the great hall was full of photographs. The king would be choosing the most realistic picture, and he’d also be awarding the most beautiful one.

Jude sat on her throne, her red empire waist dress floating down to her feet and glittering in the light. She’d worn it at Cardan’s insistence; since he’d announced that their subjects would undoubtedly be taking pictures of them and he wanted his wife to shine just as much as her.

Beside her, Cardan smiled and greeted the family of a soldier from the Court of Termites. Bomb took their gift and stacked it on a table to the side of the royal dais. The picture they brought with them is a gorgeous rendering of a hill overlooking a lake at sunset. It appears to be painted, the work of an extremely diligent artist who had undoubtedly spent days getting everything right.

The photos people came with weren’t all actual photographs, most were art pieces, but it made Jude smile. She couldn’t help but feel proud at the fact that she’d inspired her kingdom to try something they’d never really focused on before. At least she knew she wouldn’t have to keep going to the mortal world to get pictures with her husband. She’d be able to stay in Faerie, safe in what she was familiar with, and she’d still be able to capture important moments in her life.

Still, she’d had to go to the mortal world to get the gift she wanted for Cardan. She’d done that a few times in the past year—her husband’s favorite had been the pinup shoot she’d done about five months prior—and he had a habit of rotating the framed pictures of her he kept on his desk.

She knew she’d have to stop eventually, so she took all her chances while she still had them. She was glad that the timing of this one has worked out.

Time passed and she played the dutiful queen and adoring wife, dancing with Cardan and eating to her heart’s content, greeting her subjects and accepting gifts that didn’t come with any strings attached.

Cardan watched her over the top of his chalice, grinning at how effortlessly she swayed across the floor. With her head held high and her shoulders back, she commanded the whole room without a word. His wife was gorgeous, she was his everything.

Eventually their people became antsy, looking around at the pictures hanging all around the hall and wondering who would be announced the winner. Members of the Living Council were interviewing everyone who’d put in an entry to find out how they made their picture as Cardan led Jude to look at each piece. They’d make the decision on the most beautiful picture alone, and they’d take the Living Council’s input on the best camera entry.

Jude’s favorite was definitely the picture someone had turned in of a revel from a few weeks back. It had been outside, everyone barefoot and dancing until the sun had long come up. The picture showed a dance floor lined with faeries in all manner of dress, watching on as she and Cardan danced. Her dress that night had been a spring green piece with a dangerously low back and skirts that danced around her ankles. Her husband, shown smiling as he swung her around, had a ruffled shirt open low on his pale stomach and breeches of forest green.

Cardan’s favorite was a picture put in by a guard, one that showed his wife dressed in fighting gear as she practiced out in the gardens; her hair sticking to her skin and her face fierce as she lunged towards her sparring partner. He always adored little reminders of how deadly his wife was, loved to see glimpses of the creature that he’d managed to tame, the one who’d tamed him in turn.

They retreated to their thrones to deliberate as Cardan opened gifts. The whole hall went silent, watching the king’s reaction to each parcel. While gifts had to be freely given, everyone knew that those who gave the best gifts would be looked upon favorably.

Jude watched the room for threats as her heart began to race. She knew that the last gift Cardan would open would be the one from her. She’d made sure that Bomb arranged everything that way.

She’d worked her ass off to keep her gift a secret from him. Cardan had been a pain in the neck for WEEKS, trying to catch her in a slip up. She had to engineer a diplomatic mission for him to go on just so she could sneak away to the mortal world and she’d threatened a few lives to keep it from him. Thankfully, it would all be over in a few hours.

Cardan opened all manner of magical gifts: cloaks meant to make the wearer invisible, doublets of impenetrable spider silk, jewelry that helped you understand and speak other languages. Everything he was given was gorgeous and unbelievably expensive.

Everything except for one thing.

Cardan was just about to grab the parchment from Randalin that announced the best camera so they could make their announcements when Jude stopped him.

“Cardan, you’ve got one more gift,” she gently announced and his brows furrowed. One, Jude was hardly ever gentle and two, he had opened everything he’d been given.

Bomb walked up and handed Jude a box, one made of lush purple velvet and wrapped up in a bow of the cleanest white satin.

“What on Earth?” Cardan tilted his head to the side as he accepted the gift, his long fingers wrapping all the way around it as he tried to weigh it to guess what was inside.

“Consider it my entry into the photo contest,” she grinned, only confusing him more.

He pulled the bow off and the entire crowd watched closely. Some were intrigued, others were angry—nobody had been told the queen would be submitting a photo—and others were just being quiet to avoid the ire of the royal family.

When Cardan took the top off the box, he found a picture frame upside down and he snorted. It was just like Jude to prolong the drama.

Jude grabbed fistfuls of her fluffy tulle skirt and bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to make it bleed. She knew that she’d have to explain what it was and that was making her nervous enough to shake.

She’d debated for hours if she should give him his birthday gift in private or if she should do it at his party. Eventually, at the insistence of Vivi and Heather, she’d taken the plunge and decided on a public announcement. She knew everyone would find out eventually.

“It’s.....a photo?”

Jude snorted at Cardan’s evident confusion as he looked at the black and white fuzzy picture, no larger than his hand. She’d put it in a pretty white frame, one that she would eventually write a name on.

“You’re right, my love,” she agreed. “It’s a photo from the mortal world. You see, mortals have figured out how to take pictures for medical purposes. They can use special devices to see inside the body.”

He looked to her, delicately clutching the frame in one hand. She fought the urge to laugh at how he still hadn’t put two and two together. Out in the crowd, faeries were tittering amongst themselves, trying to figure out what their queen has given their king.

“Is this a photograph of you?” He turned back to the picture, gripping it in both hands again and turning it like a different angle would make it make more sense.

“Sort of,” she shook her hand in a so-so gesture. “I’d say I’m the background of the photo. You should be focusing here.”

She walked over and pointed, her nail with its unchipped purple paint tapping against the glass over a strangely shaped white blob. Cardan naturally leaned closer to her, as he always did when she got near, one of his arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her close as he tilted his head and squinted his eyes.

Silence stretched out for a few more seconds before Jude, near giddy with mirth, stepped away from her husband.

“Maybe it’ll help if you know where the photo was taken,” she offers as she grabs the frame from his hands. Cardan, his mind still swimming with possibilities, allowed her.

Then, as his wife turned the photo to face him and drew it back so the frame was flush against her lower abdomen, his jaw dropped.

If she was the background, and the photo was taken inside the body—

“Jude, gods above, how long have you known?” Cardan’s eyes welled up with tears and he fell to his knees, his hands coming up to cup his wife’s hips and his thumbs running over where the frame covered her stomach.

Just that quickly, her throat closed up from emotion and all she could do was nod. Cardan grabbed the frame from her and tucked it against his heart as he pressed his face into her skirts, trying to kiss her stomach and hide his crying all at the same time.

Some faeries had put the clues together and were watching with gaping mouths, unsure of what to do as their king hugged their queen.

Then, Jude pulled Cardan to his feet and she turned to the crowd. “The gift I present to my king and husband is the first photograph of our child, which grows inside me as we speak.”

And, just like that, the entire hall erupted with celebration. Most of their subjects had grown to love their new king and queen and, even if that weren’t the case, a pregnancy was always cause for celebration among the fertility-challenged fae. A royal baby, especially so early on in both the king and queen’s rule and their marriage, was unheard of.

Randalin—who looked a bit annoyed at not being informed of the royal pregnancy before the court was—led the partygoers in a toast, one that Cardan happily joined in. Beside the beaming king, Jude raised her glass of water in solidarity; no wine for her for a few more months.

“How long?” Cardan asked her, near giddy with excitement.

“The doctor said twelve weeks,” she whispered back, wrapping her arm around her husband’s hips as they raised their glasses again. “I’ve suspected for a month or so. I should’ve known sooner, but my first missed period was during that last uprising attempt, so I was a bit distracted.”

Cardan held out the photo and Jude pointed out the body parts that were already forming. When she told him that she’d be going back, that he’d be able to come with her and hear their baby’s heartbeat while it was still inside her, he nearly began to bawl again.

“When do we announce the winners?” Jude asked, thinking back to that gorgeous picture of them dancing.

“I can’t think of anything more beautiful than this.” He held up the photo of their baby and Jude blushed, elbowing his side and telling him to be serious.

Cardan told her that he was being serious and she bit her lip, looking down at the photo she’d already stared at so much.

The party would grow into a week-long celebration of the new heir; a practice run for the celebrations that would rock Elfhame when the child was born. Eventually, both the faeries who made the two pictures Jude and Cardan had enjoyed the most were made aware that their works were hanging in the royal picture hall and another faerie who’d made the best camera was given a job by the Living Council and they became the first official royal photographer.

Elfhame would grow to love photography, all because of a mortal queen who wanted a picture with her husband.

~~~~~~~~~~

Hnnnnng pregnancy announcements are so cute lol

Tag list: @cardan-greenbriar-tcp @hizqueen4life @slightlyrebelliouswriter23 @thewickedkings @aelin-queen-of-terrasen @cheekycheekycheeks @queen-of-glass @b00kworm @doingmyrainbow @andromeddea @jurdanhell @thesirenwashere @sweetlyvillainous @clouds-and-peonies @clockworkgraystairs

#cardan greenbriar #jude duarte #tfota #jurdan #judecardan #photo fic #tyrannosaurus lex writes #pregnancy announcement #im SO fucking soft for this

[librarian-of-orynth]

OK JURDAN HC. so Jude has an old Walkman/tape recorder, and it’s really special to her. she listens to it whenever she’s really upset or needs it. she hasn’t shown it to anyone, but one day she shows it to Cardan. it has a bunch of old classic rock 70s songs on it, and at first they’re just listening to it. then a slow song plays and cardan’s all like “let’s dance.” And eventually “hey Jude” by the Beatles comes on AND CARDAN FRICKIN LOSES IT AND HES ALL LIKE “JUDE, DEAR, THIS IS YOUR SONG.”

okay omfg i love this so much BUT I wrote it as a fic I hope you like it!! 

“The mortal world is fascinating,” Cardan said, beaming up at Jude. 

She rolled her eyes. “You’ve been here for an hour, Cardan. What could you possibly have found that would be so fascinating?” 

Cardan shook his head at her, not understanding. This world…he hadn’t expected mortals to be so…savvy. It’s not as though a world without magic couldn’t be impressive, but, well, Cardan certainly hadn’t expected it. And it even seemed like–like they were more advanced, what with their giant metal boxes that moved (Jude told him they were cars, but that word meant nothing to him, and she refused to explain, anyway), their methods of playing music–how could they store so much music in a little tiny device!–and even the way pictures formed on what Jude told him were televisions. He’d never seen anything like it, and for Jude to tell him it wasn’t surprising?! 

Oh, Jude. 

Sure, she’d been born to this world–and had visited with her sister plenty of times–but how could this all seem normal? Cardan figured she’d be so used to Faerie that this was as foreign to her as to him, but instead, she seemed to be the expert. She navigated the world with ease, unafraid. And sure, she lived in Faerie with a similar bravery, but even he knew that she still felt a level of fear there. She wasn’t as relaxed, as comfortable, there. Here, though, her shoulders relaxed, she lounged on the couch with no fear of her things being stolen or her hair being knotted by a stray faerie looking for some trouble. She didn’t even have her sword with her! Normally, Jude kept it strapped to her side at all times. 

But here…she didn’t seem to need that. There was an ease to living here. At least, for mortals. 

For Faeries it was harder, as though the mortals knew how to protect themselves against the despite not knowing of their existence. 

Iron was everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. In the buildings, in the so-called cars, their jewelry, hell, it was even in some of the water! It left Cardan feeling eternally uncomfortable. And grateful that the house they were staying in was some sort of log cabin from when Jude was young. 

It wasn’t just the iron, though. There was salt, too. In everything. Their meat was seasoned with salt almost always, according to Jude. So were the vegetables. Even the desserts! As soon as they got to the cabin, Jude opened the cabinet and plopped a salted caramel candy into her mouth–without offering him one, of course. Instead of sweets, Cardan had a nice snack of bread and butter. 

And promptly spit it out, realizing there was salt in the bread, too. 

Sorry, Jude had said sheepishly. As though she didn’t know there was salt in it. But Cardan knew better. They might be on better terms as of late, but she still loved to trick him. To mess with him. To lie to him. If she got a good laugh out of it, too, that was another plus. 

She hadn’t laughed this time, but he saw a smile creep up on her lips, as though she’d had a feeling there was salt and fed it to him anyway. 

This world was not meant for him. Or any Faerie. However Vivi lived here, he had no idea. There was nothing to eat, to drink, to enjoy. At least, not for him. 

Regardless, there was something fascinating about the endurance of the mortal world and their technologies. Sure, he wouldn’t vacation here by any means, but staying here for a day or two…could be fun. There was so much to see, after all. 

“Cardan?”

“Hmm?” 

“You’re staring.” 

“Am I not allowed to stare at your beautiful face?” he purred, moving closer to Jude. 

“You’re staring at the television,” she replied blandly. 

“…oh.” Cardan shifted, taking his eyes off of the pictures moving across the screen. It was harder than he wanted to admit, though. The story, the pictures telling the story…it was all so fascinating. He knew if Jude hadn’t awoken him from his trance, he likely would’ve stared at that television, thinking about it–and the mortal world’s ways–all day. 

“How is it that despite not having magic, mortals produce things like this–” he pointed to the tv “and those–” he pointed outside, to the cars lining the street. 

“They had to adapt,” Jude said, taking a box out from under her bed, “mortals didn’t have magic to rely on–to help them. So instead, they had to help themselves. Machines, technology, art…all of it developed because there was no magic.” 

“But how,” Cardan wondered. 

“Brain power. How about an example. Once upon a time, we had to play instruments to hear music. We couldn’t record it, couldn’t store it anywhere. To hear a song again, you had to find a musician. I’m going to fast forward here a bit, but after that, you had record players, and then tape recorders, like this one.” She held out her hand, showing him the device. It was fairly bulky, with a few buttons and a space to put something inside, with a pair of headphones attached at the top. 

“Tape recorder?” 

“Well they were actually called Walkmans, back in the day. This one–this one was my mom’s. Before she was killed.” 

“May I…”

Jude smiled. “You can see it. If you want. I’ll even put a tape in for you.” 

Cardan held his hands out, waiting, while Jude placed a rectangular object inside of the device. He took it from her gingerly, being sure not to crush it between his hands. He wasn’t about to ruin something of her mother’s. He knew how much it meant to her that she still had this–a memory of her and her past. And of Madoc’s cruelty. 

But he had no idea what to do with it. So he turned it over in his hand, inspecting the device. The buttons had odd symbols that he couldn’t figure out. Two lines. A sideways triangle. Two sideways triangles facing one way, and another two facing another. A square. What was it all for?

“Jude, how do I use this device?” 

She laughed. “Put on the headphones and press the single triangle.” 

He did as she said, and music came flowing from the Walkman into his ears. Cardan’s eyes went wide. How did this work? He decided instantly that he needed one of his own. 

The music was unlike anything he’d ever heard. No lute he’d ever heard sounded like that! As though…as though it were releasing lightning with every note. And the drums were so complete. Was one person doing all of this? Jude once told him that drummers in the mortal world had drum sets. Was this what drum sets sounded like? 

And then there was the voice. All gravelly and like nothing he’d ever heard in Faerie. There, one needed skill to sing for the folk–they needed to hit every note, let their vocals cascade over the audience. This was…not so beautiful. But Cardan found that he enjoyed it–he needed something different nowadays. 

“This is like nothing I’ve ever heard before,” Cardan said, amazement in his voice. 

“I guessed as much,” she said, chuckling. “The next song’s my favorite. My mom used to sing it to me every night.” 

At that, Cardan stood and held out his hand, putting the walkman in his pocket. “Then shall we?” 

Jude furrowed her brows. “Shall we what?” 

“Dance, of course. If you will do me the honor?” 

“I can’t exactly hear the music, Cardan. How am I going to dance?” 

“Like this.” He waved his hand, and the music began to fill the room. “Better?” 

“Fine,” she huffed, and took his hand. 

Hey Jude, don’t make it bad

Take a sad song, and make it better

Remember to let her in your heart 

Then you can start to make it better

The song filled the air, surprising Cardan with every word. 

“Hey Jude?” Cardan said, eyes wide.

“Yeah?” 

“Is this song about you?” 

She laughed. “No, no. It’s by the Beatles. My mom used to tell me it was, though.” 

“She was lying?” 

“Of course. I wasn’t even born when the Beatles wrote this song.” 

“Oh. This is a beautiful song.” 

Cardan wasn’t lying. He loved it. He wanted every bard in Faerie to learn this song, to play it when he asked. He wanted to listen to Hey Jude over and over again, until the court demanded he stop. And then he wanted to hear it some more. 

“I think it is, too,” Jude said, and rested her head on Cardan’s. He placed a kiss on her forehead. 

They remained like that, her head on his, his arms around her, dancing until the song was over. Eventually, Jude pulled back and looked at Cardan, who was grinning. “What?” she asked. 

“This is your song, Jude.” 

“I didn’t write it.” 

“It’s still yours. Your mom gave it to you, and now you’ve given it to me. And I will bring it back to Faerie, for all to hear. To enjoy.” 

“Cardan, I don’t think–” 

“It’s a beautiful song. As beautiful as you are. And our world–our home–should learn of its beauty. Of your beauty.” He moved closer, taking her hand in his. 

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, given that I’m–” she pointed to her ears, to the rounded tops. 

“They must know. I am done letting them walk all over you. Treating you like you are nothing. You are their Queen. They should be honoring you.” 

“Cardan, they won’t, though. I’m mortal.” 

“We can try, Jude. Try to make them see you as I see you.” 

“You didn’t see me like this before,” Jude grumbled.

“That was years ago, Jude. It is ancient history. If not for them, would you allow me to bring the song home for you? For me? I would certainly love to hear it again.” 

Jude thought for a moment. “Fine. But you’ll teach it only to bards within our court. And you won’t tell them why you want them to learn it.” 

“Deal,” he said, sealing their agreement with a kiss.

Cardan did as he was told. He taught only the bards within their court Hey Jude, not explaining why, and telling them to keep it a secret. But you know what happens when bards love a song are told to keep it a secret. Word spreads, songs spread, and soon, every bard in Faerie knew the words to Hey Jude. 

#jurdan #tcp #the cruel prince #the wicked king #twk #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #zoe writes #tfota #the folk of the air #jurdan fluff #jurdan fic #jurdan fanfic #jurdan fanfictioin #tcp fic #tcp fanfic #tcp fanfiction #twk spoilers

[journeyinyourhand]

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black Review (Spoilers)

The Cruel Prince follows the story of Jude Duarte, a human living among the creatures of fay in a magical place called Elfhame. When she was 7 years old, along with her two sisters, she witnessed the murder of her mother and father by the man who would become her foster father, a man she would learn to love and respect. This man’s name is Madoc and he is the high general for the King of Elfhame.

In the Kingdom of Faerie, humans a are viewed upon as second class citizens. Humans in Elfhame fall into one of several categories: People who were tricked to be in service of the fay, a human who has shown some special skill that is favored by one of the fay, used as lovers to keep the blood of the fay alive (it is very hard for the fay to have children), or in the case of Jude and her twin sister Taryn, as wards under the protection of one of the fay. This is especially shown in the schooling of the gentry (the highborn of Elfhame). Even though being human, Jude and Taryn are allowed to join these lessons being the foster daughters of Madoc, the high general. In school, Jude and Taryn constantly get bullied for something they can’t change about themselves, which is the fact that they are human. While reading, I viewed this portion of the book to be an allegory to the big problem of bullying in our world in this day in age. Kids can be bullied for the smallest things, usually things that they can’t change about themselves. Jude decided that if she is going to be picked on, she is going to make life a living hell for the people who are picking on her, especially after witnessing her sister cry from being bullied. The main culprit for all the bullying that is done to Jude and her sister is the youngest prince of the high king, Prince Cardan. In the first half of the book, I hated Cardan. He is such a jerk. What you start to find out later in the book is that just like in the real world, people who are bullies tend to get bullied themselves in some other capacity. Cardan is being bullied at home by his older brother Balekin. Since he is humiliated at home, he wanted someone else to share in his pain. This doesn’t excuse Cardan’s behavior, but it does give reason to it. One member of Cardan’s posy, Locke, shows an interest in Jude and decides to somewhat stand up for her and try to woe her. To his success, it works. Jude starts to really like Locke. She likes his company, she likes kissing him, she likes having someone pay attention to her for something other than the fact that she is human.

One thing that Jude wants more than anything is to make a spot for herself in the kingdom of Elfhame that is more than just the human foster child of the high general. To do this, she wants to become a knight. Growing up in Madoc’s household and being taught with the gentry, Jude has become proficient in sword fighting and views it to be one of her only skill sets. Jude plans to volunteer to be picked to be a knight at the next tournament but her dreams get shattered when Madoc tells her that he won’t allow it. Madoc’s decision here is really the inciting incident for later decisions in the book. Jude would have been happy being a knight but since she is not allowed to do the thing she wants, she ends up finding a place for herself in another way. Jude still decided to fight in the tournament and her skill catches the eye of Prince Dain, the next King of Elfhame. Prince Dain recruits Jude to become a spy for him for the fact that she can lie unlike the fay and that she is pretty good with a weapon. He also grants her resistance from glamour. The spies of Prince Dain are called the Court of Shadows.

Being a part of the Court of Shadow, Jude learns new skills and is assigned on missions. One mission is to go to Hallow Hall, where Prince Balekin and Prince Cardan live, and find something of worthy that Prince Dain can use. Jude completes this mission, but not without stealing Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland from Prince Cardan’s room and witnessing Cardan getting beaten by a human servant under Balekins orders. The completion of this mission was finding a letter in Queen Orlagh handwriting stating “I know the provenance of the blusher mushroom that you ask after, but what you do with it must not be tied to me. After this, consider my dept paid. Let my name be stricken from your lips” that was addressed to Balekin. Later when Jude opens Alice and Wonderland at home, she finds a piece of paper tucked inside the book with her name written over and over again in Cardan’s handwriting with smudges and holes in the paper from writing too hard. At that moment, she comes to the conclusion that Cardan must really hate her.

When it comes time for Prince Dain’s coronation, everything goes wrong. First, Jude finds out that Locke had been playing a game with her and her twin sister. Locke had asked Taryn to marry him under one condition, she prove her love for him. The way she would prove her love is to let Locke try to get with Jude and not tell her anything about Locke and Taryn. This is such a stupid way to show someone you love them. It’s an awful deal for Taryn. She betrays her sister and gets to see her man cheat on her just so she can marry him. When I found this out, I began to not like Taryn or Locke very much. Locke is an asshole and Taryn chose a boy over her sister and that is just not right. Next, Balekin, along with the help of Madoc, murders the entire royal family, aside from Cardan because he was nowhere to be found, to try to get the crown. The crown can only be passed down from one member of the Greenbriar line to the next and Balekin believed he would be a better king than his younger brother Dain. My jaw was probably wide open when I read this chapter the first time because I was really surprised of the events that passed. Jude was witness to all of this and for a second time in the book, her heart breaks. All that she has worked for to find a place in Elfhame were she belonged was stabbed in the back by Madoc. Jude tries to escape and who does she find on her way, none other than Cardan; the person that everyone is looking for because he is the only one who can crown Balekin now. She brings him to the Court of Shadows and he is surprised to find out that she was a spy for Prince Dain. Even though throughout the entire first part of the book, you really hate Cardan, you start to feel bad for him. All of his family just died, even if none of them really liked him much, and he is just scared about what is to come next. He is scared for his life. The author emoted such hatred for this character to then have you feel sorry for him and to hope that he makes it out alive.

When trying to figure out what to do, Jude leaves Cardan with the Court of Shadows to go home and see what Madoc’s play is. Jude is given a day to come back. If she takes longer than that, the Court of Shadows will cut their loses and kill Cardan. When Jude sees Taryn, anger takes over her and she challenges her to a duel for her honor, which was grievously betrayed. Taryn states that she wanted to tell Jude but she couldn’t because then she would fail the test that Locke gave her to prove her love. Jude then asked what Cardan said to her the day she witnessed her crying from his words. Cardan told Taryn that it was because of her that he kicked dirt onto Jude’s food. Locke tricked him into thinking that Jude stole Locke from Nicasia. That Jude was suffering in Taryn’s place. Jude throws her sword at Taryn and tells her to pick it up. Jude grabs the sword on the wall and tells Taryn she can make the first strike with the better sword. The two sisters start fighting and would have probably seriously hurt each other if Vivi did not glamour them to stop. Well, Vivi was only able to glamour Taryn because Jude is resistant to glamours but Jude ended up throwing her sword across the room as to not seriously hurt her twin when she realized Taryn would not block her blow from the glamour. Madoc pulls the two girls into his study to lecture them about family fighting with family. After Taryn leaves, Madoc mentions that he is not too fond of Locke and does not think he is good for either Taryn or Jude. He also asked Jude if she knew where Prince Cardan was and Jude lies to him saying she does not. Later that night, Vivi offers Jude to run away with her to the mortal world. Jude asked Vivi to give her a day to think on it.

The next day, Jude goes to Oriana’s room to find Taryn since she wasn’t in her room. Taryn is at Locke’s house and Jude catches eyes of a golden acorn on Oriana’s desk. This acorn is the twin to the one she had taken from Locke’s house earlier in the book. From that small acorn, Jude figures out that Oak is not Madoc’s child and Prince Dain had Liriope (Oaks actual mother and the mother of Locke) murdered with poison that was provided by Queen Orlagh of the undersea. With this knowledge, Oak is part of the Greenbriar line and can crown a King, or even be crowned himself. Oriana lets Jude know that Madoc is already privy to this knowledge and Jude suggest that Madoc will probably get Oak crowned king so he can rule as his regent. Oriana does not want this for Oak and makes Jude promise that she will find a way to make sure Oak is safe. Jude gives her a maybe as an answer.

When Jude returns back to the Court of Shadows, she comes to find Cardan drinking and laughing and playing cards with them the Roach, the Ghost, and the Bomb (all members of the Court of Shadows). Jude, angry that Cardan is having a good time, pulls him into the other room to have a chat with him. She has him sit down and then she sits at Prince Dain’s desk and points the crossbow at Cardan. Cardan tells Jude he is terrified and that he will answer any question she has for him. Through the whole interrogation, Jude finally finds out why Cardan hates her so much. He hates her because she has a father that loves her even though she is a human who was born to an unfaithful wife while his never cared for him even though he is a prince of Faerie. He hates her because she doesn’t have a brother who beats her. He hates her because Locke used her and Taryn to make Nicasia cry after he stole her from him. He hates her because after the tournament, Balekin never failed to throw Jude in his face as the mortal who could beat him. Cardan is jealous of Jude. But the thing that makes Cardan hate Jude most of all is that he thinks of her, often. Jude doesn’t believe him at first and goes around the desk and pulls a knife on Cardan and leans in close enough to him for a kiss. His eyes widen and his face shows a combination of panic and desire. Jude then kisses him. This moment of the book is so intense and quite funny. Jude ends up making out with a person she hates while holding a knife to his throat.

Jude comes up with a plan and makes Cardan think that he will be crowing Oak High King of Elfhame to then have him go to the mortal world with Vivi to grow up so that Madoc does not have true influence over him. To enact her plan, Jude ask Cardan to be in her service to make sure that he won’t betray her. He agrees to be in her service for one year and a day after Jude agrees that Cardan can live in Hallow Hall, get every last bottle in the royal cellars, and have the Roach teach him how steal. Cardan and Jude then travel to the Unseelie courts to try and get them to agree to backing a new king. One of the Kings of the Unseelie court, King Roiben says he will back this new king if the king will give him a favor in the future. Jude makes this agreement with him. By this point, Jude has made multiple promises to people she may not be able to keep. She has definitely spread herself thin.

When Jude arrives to Balekin’s dinner, everyone is surprised to see Cardan with her. In Cardan’s mind, he is working alongside Jude to enact her big plan. What he doesn’t know is that Jude was keeping her true plan away from him. She told him to kneel down to show Oak how it’s done to be crowned king and while he was in that position, she ordered him not to move for a full minute. In that minute, Oak crowns him High King of Elfhame. Jude’s thought process is that the safest way to make sure Oak can get the crown when he is older is to have someone else wear it while he grows up in the mortal world. After Cardan is crowned, he makes a toast to Jude, who gave him a gift tonight, one he will repay in full. This scares Jude because she knows how angry he is with her at that moment because Cardan never wanted to be king. The Court of Shadows decide to give Jude her code name after this whole debacle, The Queen.

In the epilogue, Cardan warns Jude that a year and a day can pass in the blink of an eye. He tells her he won’t be a good king. He will be her puppet. Jude will do the work of ruling while Cardan will drink wine and make his subjects laugh. He promises her that he will not be useful.

I highly recommend this book. The characters are written really well and you really get to see the motivations of each characters even if you are only reading from Jude’s perspective. Cardan is not happy with Jude by the end of the book, but he has always held a hatred/disdain for her. Like they say, there is a fine line between love and hate and that is definitely explored more in the next book.

#the cruel prince #holly black #review #spoilers