#jurdannetrevels

[jurdannetrevels]

Sisters can be mean, sisters can be scary, but when your sister is a killer? The stories are bound to be legendary!

Don’t forget to tag @jurdannet & @jurdannetrevels

[acciomanorian]

Horror Movie Marathon

Friday the 13th

Hosted by @jurdannet and @jurdannetrevels

[beloved-daydreams]

Folktober2023 Prompt: "Accidental summoning" 🫢🌿

An attempt by

Hosted by @jurdannetrevels and @jurdannet

📘 1500+ words

😎 Characters: Jude, Cardan

✒️ Tags: Jurdan, wholesome, fluff, "training", cute idiots, post TQON

📢 Summary: Cardan is helping Jude, training her to get a better hang of her powers. She isn’t so successful though, until Cardan tries to take another approach...

✏️✏️✏️

"Try again." Cardan urges me.

The look he's giving me is, I suppose, what he believes to be an encouraging one but all it does is make me even more frustrated. It's not like I don't want to do it, in fact I've done something even more amazing with it before: I’ve saved a life. Two even, if I count mine. Yet standing here, in front of him, fully aware of all of my movements, it's just different. I feel shy and then stupid for feeling shy.

We made a deal. I'll teach him how to wield a sword, he'll teach me how to use my newly acquired powers. He told me it was a bit different from regular magic since we are "linked" to the land, whatever that means, but because he has had magic flowing through him since he was born, getting the hang of this power wasn't that difficult. Me however…

"Listen, maybe I should just… find a teacher who's actually specialized in teaching magic."

Cardan raises his eyebrows at me, a bit vexed I imagine.

"Really? I didn't think I'm quite so bad at teaching that you would need to go look for someone else."

I put my hands on my hips and turn away from him, rolling my eyes. I can't help it. Everything just gets harder in front of Cardan. I know I shouldn't feel embarrassed about being incompetent but I don't want him to see that side of me. Which is ridiculous, since he has already seen me on the brink of death. If that isn't the height of incompetence then I don't know what is.

"That's not what I mean. I just think it might be better to learn from someone more skilled, I mean, I'm practically a sword master but you're not especially known for your magical affinity-"

I sneak a glance at him and he has that same look on his face. The raised eyebrows that say: "Oh, so I'm not worthy of teaching you? You think you're so great? That you can teach me but you can't learn anything from me in turn because I'm too untalented for your liking?"

I sigh. Or more like, I force the air out of my nose.

"Okay, no. What I meant is- I feel like we're losing time and maybe both of us would rather do something more productive and efficient. I'm sure you're great, it's just, I'm having trouble with something I've never had. Does that make sense?"

Finally, he lets his eyebrows drop back to their usual place. I feel relieved at having managed to word my thoughts out better. Somehow, we've always been great at misunderstanding each other and I'd like to stop that trend, both of us would actually, I think.

Cardan approaches me, his steps are light but his gaze carries a heaviness I recognize. As I thought, he embraced me from behind, placing his chin up on my head, arms around my waist. Without any resistance, I let him wrap himself around me like a needy pet snake would.

"Time spent with you is never wasted. Do you feel like it's a waste to be with me?"

Finally, he lets his signature move sway me as it always does. His tail that I now find to be an irresistibly cute trait of his, zigzags around my leg.

"...No. I'm just worried you'll get bored of me being unable to do something you've been able to do naturally your whole life."

He chuckles. And I realize again, that for him time isn't as consequent as it is to me. Maybe he's the one more worried of being a waste of time, knowing that my time might be more limited than his.

"You're putting too much pressure on yourself. To channel magic, you need to be in touch with your inner world. To-"

"-materialize the mind and heart into the real world. I know."

I realize I sound bitter, yet I can feel his smile widen. He tilts his head to the side, now resting his cheek on my head.

"Well. Let me guide you entirely then. Give your mind to me, put it under my control."

Putting his possessive tone aside, for a split second I wonder if he means glamoring me and I'm about to remind him that I can't be glamored but he unwraps his arms from around my waist and places them on the sides of my arms, caressing them up and down in a reassuring manner. And then his low and hushed voice makes its way to my ears, I realize that if it's Cardan, he doesn't need to glamor me. His soft-spoken voice and gentle touch would be enough to get almost anything out of me.

"Close your eyes, relax your shoulders… Mh-hm. Good. Do the same for your jaw, don't press your teeth against each other, let them separate. Now feel the earth beneath you, breathe the air that is always full of its pollen…"

That's the voice he uses late at night, when he wants me to get under him or on top of him. I shudder. He keeps telling me to focus on the land. On the trees and leaves ruffling in the wind. Yet all I can feel is him. All I hear and breathe is him.

"You're full of its life. Remember how it healed you? Try to think back to how that felt. When its power flowed through you and you used it to save yourself. And once you're full of it, let it out in any form you want. Flowers. A tree. What is it that you want?"

I think back to that moment. Truth is, when I was dying I was still thinking of him. What saved me wasn't the land alone, it was my memory of him, my hopes of him. My heart speeds, I feel like my lungs are about to burst. Is that the "feeling of being full" he keeps talking about? So now what's left is to supposedly let it out. But how? His question hangs in my mind. "What is it that you want?" As if that wasn't already obvious.

Suddenly, I feel his hands let go of me, his tail untangle from my leg. Cardan lets out a small scream in surprise. Alarmed, I turn back, my hand already on the hilt of my sword by habit. And yet-

Cardan is hanging by vines, supporting him in mid-air. They're around his legs, his arms, they're grabbing him everywhere, curling around his limbs. One of the vines has pulled up his shirt a bit, another might be trying to get into his mouth, or around it. I'm not sure what it's doing but it doesn't look like it wants to hurt him.

I draw my sword and as I'm about to cut the vines, I stop. Wait. So these are actually…

Cardan smirks at me, half proud and half mocking.

"Dear, if you’ve wanted to tie me up all this time, you could've just asked. Those vines are just as solid as your knots, you know?"

My cheeks heat as I look at the scene again more closely, this time with the knowledge that I'm the one who did that.

"Oh I- I didn't mean to."

"Sure you didn't."

Although his words can be branded as sarcasm, the fact that he was able to say them tells me that he actually does believe that I didn't do it on purpose. Or well, not completely consciously. Subconsciously though? Absolutely. Taking in the sight and burning it into my brain, I raise my sword, less assuredly than before but, well, he has to get out of there in some way or another, right?

Yet this time, he's the one who stops me.

"Why don't you try to get me out of here through your thoughts instead of your sword?"

"I-"

I know I won't be able to. Letting go of him? That's not gonna happen.

"Yes?"

By his shit eating grin I can already tell that he knows that I can't. If those vines are a reflection of my inner world or whatever, then I don't think my inner world will ever let Cardan walk out of there even if I tried to push him out. And so I sigh.

"Are you sure you're not just stalling because you want to stay tied up?"

"Well, I'd rather be tied up in bed. Not in the open like thi-"

The vines tighten around him, he groans.

"Okay okay, get me out of here oh High Queen of my soul and heart."

"So dramatic."

I cut the vines with some difficulty, cursing my own attachment to him. And as they fall to the ground along with Cardan who was suspended in mid-air just a second ago, some blue daisies bloom around our feet. I smile.

"What's that? A gift to show your gratitude?"

He looks at me almost dumbfounded then smiles in turn. A kind smile.

"Are you really so unconscious of what you do? I'm not the one who grew these."

I blush.

The flowers multiply and Cardan lets out a laugh.

✏️✏️✏️

Sorry if you expected something more spicy based on the sussy worded summary 🧐 And if you want to decrease the amount of my sad girl hours, please consider leaving comments/tags 💖

[absinthemind3d]

𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔠𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔢𝔡, 𝔪𝔶 𝔰𝔴𝔢𝔢𝔱 𝔳𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔫?

Folktober 2023, Prompt 13: Accidental summoning, hosted by @jurdannet & @jurdannetrevels

[jurdannet]

Folktober 2023 Prompt Suggestion Box

Greetings Folk and folks! It's that time of year again, when we don our spookiest of caps and get ghostin.

Jurdannet is delighted to host our fourth annual Folktober for you all this October! However, we'll be doing things a little differently this time around...

This year we want to take YOUR coziest and/or creepiest Halloween prompts into consideration when concocting our potion of a prompt list. Here's how you can contribute to this year's wicked brew:

 👻 Fill out THIS PROMPT SUGGESTION FORM with any and all theme and prompt ideas.

 👻 The prompts can be spooky, the prompts can be sexy, they can be mysterious or cozy. Or they can be anywhere in between!

 👻 You can submit as many of these forms as you'd like, so don't worry if you think of another prompt later- you can just submit another form.

 👻 All responses are anonymous (unless otherwise specified).

 👻 We'll be taking prompt suggestions until 17 September, and shortly thereafter, we shall post the official Folktober 2023 prompt list based on the results gathered here.

 👻 Please keep prompts under 15 words, and Halloween/Samhain/autumn-related.

If you're new to the Jurdan coven, and have questions, you can find answers in our ask box here at @jurdannet , at @jurdannetrevels , or any of the Living Council's personal askboxes: @slightlyrebelliouswriter23 @acciomanorian @clockworkgraystairs @booksandlewks @kevin-day-is-bi

Additionally, if you'd like more immediate replies/information, WE HAVE A DISCORD! For any and all TFOTA/book lovers, feel free to join us.

Stay spooky!

-𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔏𝔦𝔳𝔦𝔫𝔤 ℭ𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔠𝔦𝔩 👻🔮

[deathsweetblossoms]

Cardan is being haunted.

The flickering ghosts of his late siblings infiltrate every moment of his life, only staying for a few moments at a time, growing more desperate to be heard by the day. In the race to discover their murderer, Cardan tries his hand at every branch of magic known to pierce the veil and communicate with the dead. The only problem is Cardan is an earth based magician; to the chagrin of the rest of the famed Greenbriar witches, his main specialty lies in communing with plants, the soil, things that are very much alive.

Necromancy doesn’t work. Scrying merely leaves him with a splitting headache. Divination produces flimsy results at best.

Having no other avenue to turn to, he starts walking the poison path, a branch of magic devoted to the use of poisonous flora in microdose form for the purpose of entering a trancelike state to cross the veil. With his black cat familiar, Roach, the only remaining ally on his side, he gathers the materials he needs to perform a ritual to harvest and activate the queen of deadly nightshades, the judicus florica.

But something goes very, very wrong in the ritual. Instead of being able to call upon the spirit of this baneful flower like he does with every other plant in his arsenal, the bud goes up in a burst of green flames until the shadowy figure of a girl slowly takes shape before him. Heart pounding, he begins to take note of the tell tale signs of the very real fact that he has, perhaps, quite unknowingly and very accidentally summoned a demon.

“Who are you?” He asks this girl-shaped demon.

“You can call me Jude,” she responds, her smile a scythe in the dark.

++++

For Folktober 2023, “Accidental Summoning” @jurdannetrevels @jurdannet

(Will I ever post this as a full fic? Maybe, maybe not. Do I have the entire thing mapped out already, backstories fully fleshed out, Witch boy/Demon girl love story primed and ready to go? Of course. But will it ever see the light of day beyond my google docs? 🙃 Please accept this humble offering in the meantime. Happy spook season, ghoulies!!)

[theoppositequeens]

come on, we can't delay

Fandom: Folk of the Air Rating: M Warnings: Attempted rape/non-con, Canon-typical violence Read on AO3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51081748

Written for Folktober Day 9: "My sister, the serial killer." Hosted by @jurdannet and @jurdannetrevels

come on, we can't delay

It's past midmorning when Cardan's tail twitches over her calf in response to a sound outside their door, his way of waking her up quietly and discreetly.

They've been sleeping in after a revel, one of many, and Jude isn't exactly happy about the interruption. She stumbles from bed, grabs a robe and a dagger, and heads to figure out who needs them. Cardan, the opportunistic creature, has already closed his eyes again, with no intention of getting up.

"What is it?" Jude demands of the wide-eyed messenger. She's passed a note, hastily scribbled onto the back of a receipt:

Will you help me build a snowman? Come on, we can't delay. -T

Under that is an address.

Jude snorts. Trust Taryn to use Disney songs and their dark TikTok counterparts to send coded messages. And okay, they've seen that film a dozen times with Taryn's little one and Oak, the adults miming will you help me hide a body... behind the kids' backs. But it's still a gamble.

"What the fuck, Taryn," Jude mutters, and scrambles to put on some clothes.

The address is a nice suburban house in the human world, too nice for what's waiting inside. Taryn's covering her face in one corner, her shirt blood-soaked and torn. The fae guard Jude has ordered to guard her twin sister is standing in the hallway, shame-faced. He's likely responsible for getting the message to Jude, but he doesn't seem to have been of much help.

"What's happened?" Jude demands, her own shadows scattering to search the house. She tosses Taryn the leather jacket she was wearing, watching as her sister pulls it on, covering up red marks which are rapidly becoming bruises.

"Jude," Taryn sighs, weirdly collected and resigned. She isn't in shock or crying, as Jude perhaps expected. She's just resting her forehead against her hand, looking tired.

Taryn gestures a hand towards the living room, and Jude briefly inspects the man who has bled out on the sofa. The tiny dagger she gave Taryn for Christmas lies abandoned on the blood-splattered floor. Jude can assume what happened: the two glasses of wine, the signs of a struggle, Taryn's ripped clothes, the bruises forming on her twin’s wrists and neck.

"He wasn't successful," Taryn calls, and Jude picks up the dagger before she returns, washing it off in the kitchen sink.

"Good," she comments shortly, and then more softly, "Want a hug?"

They're not exactly the hugging type, but Taryn sinks into her arms and trembles lightly, Jude's shadows already at work on the cleanup.

"I don't... He didn't. End of story." Taryn's voice is firm.

"Certainly his end," Jude mutters darkly, and to her surprise Taryn laughs. It's wild and perhaps a bit unhinged, but a laugh.

"You and Madoc taught me well."

"You did good," Jude says into Taryn's hair, softer than she intends to.

"Clearly I have bad taste in men," her twin sighs, and Jude doesn't bother denying that. Taryn wouldn't listen right now, anyway. Instead she says,

"Disney, Taryn? Really?"

"Hey, it worked," Taryn defends, but Jude can hear she's smiling. "Besides, it's not like we ever made up a code for I killed my date who wouldn't listen to the word no and I need help."

"My sister, the serial killer," Jude jokes, though Taryn doesn't exactly fit that definition. Taryn huffs a laugh against her throat. "Best not mess with you."

Taryn hums in agreement.

"Let's get out of here," Jude suggests. "And perhaps shower before you gain the nickname bloody mummy at home."

[hoshikuzuhime]

Of course Oak knew that most of the things in these books were nonsense. A chant wouldn’t accomplish anything, humans couldn’t see enough of the stars to do a proper astral divination, and half the ingredients to make the concoctions that would accomplish anything weren’t available in Ironside. All of the theatrics and plausibility of mortal witchcraft aside, Oak had real magic. Magic that he could use to fool his friends and make them believe what they were doing was effective. Oak and friends follow along with a summoning ritual from a book of spells. POV Oak

It's a real tragedy I don't have the time to write a short fic for every Folktober prompt. But this fic from last year kind of fits today's prompt of accidental summoning? Kinda? Folktober 2023, hosted by @jurdannet & @jurdannetrevels

[neonforgetmenot]

one p̶o̶i̶s̶o̶n pumpkin spice latte for Nicasia ;) 

technically this is cheating because it’s an old piece, but i cleaned her up in procreate and gave her a mysterious new background especially for the folktober day 2 prompt, pumpkin spice 

concept: a lowkey au where Jude ditched Elfhame and got a job at Moon in a Cup Cafe. oh, and a revenge haircut. this was the og concept for my coffee shop fic snakes & lattes so i decided to post her here on my dedicated writeblr :) 

thanks @jurdannet @jurdannetrevels keep up the lovely work <3

[jurdannetrevels]

💀 Seven devils all around you / Seven devils in your house / See, I was dead when I woke up this morning / I'll be dead before the day is done. 💀

Don’t forget to tag @jurdannet & @jurdannetrevels

[adxmparriish]

"Above me is the same silvery moon that shines down on you. Looking at it makes me recall the glint of your blade pressed against my throat... and other romantic moments." Cardan Greenbriar in his letters to Jude Duarte

folktober day two - the glint of your blade for @jurdannet @jurdannetrevels

[beloved-daydreams]

Folktober2023 Prompt: "Coraline AU" 🚪🍷

An attempt by

Hosted by @jurdannet and @jurdannetrevels

📘 1 400+ words

😎 Characters: Cardan, AU "human" Jude, Jude

✒️ Tags: drunk Cardan, silly, sweet, hallucination (?)

📢 Summary: Cardan finds a mysterious door while drunk and decides to walk in. What he didn’t expect though, is that on the other side he’d end up in the human world, meeting a Jude that grew up there and has no knowledge of Faerie. A silly conversation ensues.

✏️✏️✏️

Cardan had made it past a mysterious door in the palace. He had never seen it before though, maybe he was just so drunk out of his mind that he had imagined it. Yet past the door, there was the human world. Okay. Well now there’s no doubt about it, not only is he drunk, he’s also high off his ass.

The door behind him had disappeared. Now, how to make it back?

As he was quietly freaking out, a girl appeared out of the not so dark shadows of the human world (because of the light pollution) and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Yo, you good?"

The girl looked exactly like Jude, well, aside from not having a missing finger. But somehow he could still feel that this was Jude, not Taryn. She was wearing jean shorts, high boots that ended just under her knees and a huge red and black sweater that had a stylized "Brooklyn" print on the back. She looks like what Jude would’ve looked like had she grown up in the human world away from Faerie, Cardan thinks.

"...Jude?"

At his question, the girl looked surprised.

"Yeah? Sorry. Do we know each other?"

Cardan blinks. The very "overly-human" looking Jude blinks.

"Uh you just seemed really lost there, and it’s late. Oh wait, I know. You must be someone from my school, right? I’m really sorry, I’m bad at memorizing faces and names… Though with how handsome you are, I’m surprised I forgot."

Cardan has no idea how to react or even what to say. Should he even say anything, actually? She looks him up and down, almost scrutinizing his clothes before something seems to click in her brain.

"Ooooh so you’re like, cosplaying, right? Nice. What character?"

Under the streetlights, despite not being his Jude, this Jude is also incredibly lovely and pretty. Oh well. If this is a dream then Cardan will at least enjoy himself, why the heck not. What is she talking about? Cosplay? Cardan digs his mind and remembers his nephew Oak desperately trying to explain to him some human words and terms. He’s pretty sure cosplaying was something like a roleplay.

"Um. I’m Cardan. Cardan Greenbriar from…" He pauses. If he were from a story what would the name of the book even be? "...I suppose The Queen of Swords would be the title." Jude blinks at his peculiar way of phrasing his answer but she shrugs it off. When Cardan had first read Alice in wonderland, Alice seemed to obviously be the Jude of the story. Now, knowing her better, she might actually be the Queen of Hearts. Though swords might fit her better.

The Jude from the human world hums.

"Never heard of it. Sounds like a fantasy type of story though, with like- love, war and betrayal. Lots of frustrating betrayals that end in more wars, then more love."

Cardan laughs awkwardly. Why is she nailing this? This Jude’s fiction literacy must be high, unlike his Jude who’s less interested in books than scheming. She then asks for his real name, in a panic, since he cannot lie on his identity, he asks her to call him by his "cosplay name" whatever the fuck that’s supposed to mean. Hornless Jude laughs at his dedication to the character. Then they walk, she explains how he must sober up so she can lead him home to safety.

"Why don’t you think about your safety first, Jude?"

The girl looks up to the starless sky.

"Hmm. I’ll be fine, I’m familiar with the surroundings. Also…" She punches the air in a couple of swift motions. "I’m trained in MMA! Pretty cool, right?"

Cardan’s confused at whatever those letters mean, unfortunately Jude takes his confusion as disbelief.

"Oh come on, I’m serious! I know it doesn’t look like it because my sweater is hiding my upper body but- Agh. I’ll just show you!"

She takes the sweater off, revealing her abs and firm arms. She was only wearing a sports bra underneath… Cardan is unsure if checking out this Jude would be cheating but he can’t help himself. Satisfied with how the boy looks bewildered, crownless Jude puts her sweater back on.

"See? Anyway. I don’t know what you were smoking but it’s gotten you high as fuck bud. Still can’t remember where you live?"

Cardan shakes his head since he can’t open his mouth to lie. He does remember where he lives with his awesome and hot wife but he’s not sure how to make it back.

"I’ll be fine. There’s no need for you to lead me anywhere, I’ll find my way back once I’m sober."

"Uh-huh. You say that but you were getting high. Alone. In an empty street while cosplaying some ethereal elf prince."

"King now. Not prince."

"Gee, sorry." Very human Jude rolls her eyes with a smile on her lips. She must be thinking that the guy is cringy for committing to the bit so hard. Nonetheless she’s amused by this encounter as well. Cardan looks at her relaxed smile in awe, he wishes he could also make his Jude smile like this. Unfortunately, his Jude is much more difficult and shy with her smiles.

"... And you know, that King has a very amazing wife. Thus the title."

"So the wife is the main character?"

"Mh-hm. She wields a sword and is skilled in the arts of war. And she rose to power in a land where she didn’t belong at first."

Hornless Jude whistles.

"She sounds like a badass."

Now that’s a word Cardan knows. Again, thanks to Oak but this one was way easier to grasp and remember.

"She is."

"Is the King any good then?" She asks half-mockingly, yet her tone is gentle.

Cardan ponders.

"He’s… a great pillow to sleep with."

"Wooow."

"A clever and funny boy."

"Uh-huh. And let me guess: he’s fun at parties?"

"Oh, absolutely. He’s the King of revels."

"So, with a bit of an alcohol problem? It checks out."

"It checks uh- yes?"

Cardan is not sure what checks exactly, all he knows is that the alcohol problem is in fact there and oftentimes, the only way for him to not drink at all in a day is to make a promise to Jude after she scolds him about it. His Jude. Now that he thinks about it, just before he walked through that door wasn’t he drinking again?

A voice rings out in his head. Cardan Cardan Cardan. He looks at crownless Jude and his vision blurs.

The next time he opens his eyes, he’s lying on his bed, probably looking like he’s completely out of it while Jude is calling out for him, slapping his cheeks not so gently and tugging at his clothes. Probably trying to take them off so he can sleep tight.

"Cardan." Jude utters, clearly unimpressed by his sorry state.

"My Jude!" Cardan cries out happily as if he hasn’t seen his wife in days, despite him literally dreaming of her any day she might not be home in his arms. But there she is.

"God. I was gone for only a day and one night, is it really so unbearable to be without me that you absolutely need to get drunk?"

"Ahaha, you have no idea!"

She rolls her eyes, exactly like the Jude in his dreams. My recollections of her are so accurate. Cardan tells himself, proud of his visions and vivid manifestations of her. Needily, he pulls his beautiful wife towards him.

"Come here…" His eyes are sparkling over the haziness, no matter his state, Cardan always lights up at the sight of his wife in front of him. Jude thinks he’s silly but enjoys it nonetheless. Giving up, she joins him.

"You have an alcohol problem, Cardan, please try to cut down on it."

"Yesss anything for you, Queen of swords. But oh- Whenever will you call me by a sweet nickname???"

Jude laughs under her breath at how ridiculously cute her husband is.

"Yes yes hubby. Anything for the King of getting shitfaced."

Cardan snuggles in his wife’s arms and an image of the other Jude flashes in his mind. I’m trained in MMA! Pretty cool, right? It’s a comforting thought to believe that a Jude who would grow up in the human world would also have arms as strong as his Jude. But still, this is truly home and she belongs here. Not anywhere else, not in a world where he wouldn’t have been able to meet her.

✏️✏️✏️

That moment when you realize that this fic is just Cardan bragging about his wife... to his wife from another world 😂 God this is just- well, it’s so very Cardan.

And don’t forget: If you’d like to decrease the amount of my sad girl hours, please consider leaving comments/tags! 💖

[absinthemind3d]

Folktober 2023, Prompt 11: The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe, hosted by @jurdannet & @jurdannetrevels

Oh poor Cardan, where is sweet Jude leading you with those murderous eyes?

[jurdannet]

Folktober 2022 Prompt Lists 👻🕯🎃

It's time to get scary, it’s time to get mean. Tell all your Folks, this is Halloween!

join the revel 🕯 |  FAQs 🎃 |  prompt lists in text format 👻

[deathsweetblossoms]

You must come with me, loving me, to death; or else hate me, and still come with me, hating me through death and after.

Vampire Cardan for Folktober

@jurdannet @jurdannetrevels

[theoppositequeens]

this is our place (we make the rules)

Title: this is our place (we make the rules) Pairing: Jude/Cardan Rating: T Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51059275

Written for Folktober 2023, Prompt 13: Accidental summoning. Hosted by @jurdannet and @jurdannetrevels

---

The delegation from another court was being exceptionally rude. Oh, they were disguising their attempts at undermining her, a mere mortal, and Jude was accustomed to that. She'd long since learned that ignoring it usually worked better than sticking her dagger into visiting dignitaries. Her subjects were used to her by now, but visitors always took a while to understand that they were taking commands from someone they usually would consider a plaything or a nuisance.

But the members of this particular delegation were also not so subtly pointing out what a huge mistake Cardan had made in marrying her, along with other barbs. Those aimed at how her human fertility hadn't yet helped secure the Greenbriar line made Jude see red - they were insulting Oak by forgetting his existence. The fact that Jude and Cardan had been trying for a child unsuccessfully for half a year was not common knowledge, and they were grasping at straws.

She wouldn't let them get any from her.

Jude lounged on her throne, trying her best to look regal, disinterested and snobby. They didn't know that she was fuming inside, and that if someone would draw a cartoon of her at that exact moment, she'd be having steam coming out of her ears.

She didn't like people being rude to her. She didn't like people being rude to Oak. And she definitely didn't like people being rude to Cardan when she couldn't put them down - the pleasure of insulting him was reserved for her, and her alone.

Sighing for the hundredth time in the space of an hour, Jude shifted restlessly on her seat, disguising it as a careless shrug of her shoulders.

"I don't see how that is related to the matter at hand," Jude lied – because she did see – and continued to act indifferent to their thinly veiled insults.

"Ah, of course not, your Majesty," the leader of the delegation bowed and scraped and failed to conceal the disgust on his face behind a simpering smile. "May we inquire as to the availability of his Majesty, the King?"

"Alas," Jude drawled, spinning her bejeweled dagger slowly and pinning the leader with a stare, "he is still occupied with other matters. It has been merely minutes since you last inquired." She stroked the arm of her chair, twisting her fingers into the vines and pulling some mental strength from the way they came alive for her. She was the rightful Queen, after all, and she would deal with this, no matter how much she did wish Cardan was here. They made a formidable team, these days, and while she hadn't lost her bloodthirst or edge, Jude felt like she'd gotten used to him having her back. "I, also, wish his Majesty my husband were here to hear your... Charming opinions."

And bash you over the head, perhaps. Though violence was more her style.

She pulled on the vines again, and hoped Cardan's meeting would be over soon so he could get here and help finish what she's started. Her patience wasn't infinite. Stretching lazily, Jude was about to start offering up some more cutting remarks, when the vines on the throne beside her came alive, and Cardan melted out from them.

Startled, Jude met his gaze, and found him just as confused. He covered it up quickly by casting a look at the visitors and gauging the mood of the room: Jude, internally fuming; visitors, too self-confident for anyone's liking. He threw a dark stare at the group gathered below the dais, and turned to Jude with a flourish, bending to kiss her hand.

"You called, dearest?" His smirk was both smug and amazed.

And indeed she had, she realized. She'd wished for him here and Elfhame had responded.

An accident, she mimed out of sight of the others, and said haughtily, "Our guests required more than my presence," and Cardan's eyes flashed.

"Did they, now?" He murmured, taking a seat by her side, shifting his suddenly cool gaze from her to the visitors. "And who are you to requireanything of a Queen, let alone my Queen?"

Jude let a wicked grin spread across her face, leaning back to watch the show.

After that, the summoning was not quite accidental anymore. Jude had the time of her life scaring the defiance out of anyone questioning her by summoning Cardan out of shadows and vines.

And if Cardan in turn summoned her to whatever corner he was skulking in to divest her of some clothes, Jude wasn't complaining.