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oli-reads · 11 days

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𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 "𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠" 𝐛𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤

“Yes, my sweet villain, my darling god… Sweet Jude. You are my dearest punishment”

Title The Wicked King

Author Holly Black

Genre Fantasy

Pages 336

THIS REVIEW HAS A COUPLE OF SPOILERS, NOTHING TOO SIGNIFICANT.

Hello fellow readers! What I have in my paws today is a review of 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 by 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤! This is the second book of the Folk Of The Air series and is a political fantasy with a sub-plot of romance, enemies to lovers. After finally The Cruel Prince ending, Jude has Cardan under her control due to a vow he made. Jude is basically puppeteering the now High King.

Reading Flow ★★★★★

Writing ★★★★★

Plot ★★★★★

Characters ★★★★

Spicy none (just descriptions of kissing scenes that get cut before they go somewhere)

“Kiss me again,” he says, drunk and foolish. “Kiss me until I am sick of it.”

Goodreads rating 4.30★ My rating 5★

I absolutely loved this one, honestly. The world, the plot, the sub-plot, all of it. After re-reading The Cruel Prince (I didn't enjoy it so much on the first read) I got very curious to read the rest of the series. Yes, the first book is very dense and it gets a bit boring at times but every good fantasy world needs a proper introduction, so when I read it the second time, I enjoyed it much more because I started to take it as it was: an introduction to this series.

A lot of people expect a romantasy but this is mostly political-fantasy. Though I must say, the romance scenes? Are top tier. I found it very balanced and I was eager to keep reading even on the more political bits.

I'm very very excited to continue this series and I highly reccomend it if you enjoy YA Fantasies. And if you decided to not read more because you didn't enjoy The Cruel Prince... you're missing out for real, give it a try!!

I LOVE a strong female character that isn't portrayed as defenseless all throughout the book, and that is just Jude Duarte. Kick-ass girlie.

*SPOILER ALERT* The ending left me heartbroken for Jude but also made me think if Cardan's words have double meaning... Like, is he saying she can forgive herself since she's now from the crown? Why wouldn't he acknowledge her though, if that was the case? Anyway, I'll understand soon enough since I already have The Queen Of Nothing ready to read eheh. Also, I absolutely can not listen to Taryn or Locke for one more second. For real, exile them for all I care.

“For a moment,” he says, “I wondered if it wasn’t you shooting bolts at me.” I make a face at him. “And what made you decide it wasn’t?” He grins up at me. “They missed.”

I would eat this up if it was ever adapted as a tv-show. But I'd be scared as hell cause we all know how that goes sometimes.

I made a small playlist that gave off vibes similar to the plot, if you'de like to listen!

“If he thought I was bad, I would be worse. If he thought I was cruel, I would be horrifying.”

Anyway, if you made it this far thank you for reading this review! I’ll leave you with the synopsis if you’d like to take a look, as well as it’s Goodreads link. See you soon! 𓃠

If you’d like, follow Oli’s instagram page!

SYNOPSIS

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26032887-the-wicked-king

The enchanting and bloodthirsty sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel The Cruel Prince.

You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring. The first lesson is to make yourself strong.

After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.

When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

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goblins-riddles-or-frocks · 5 months

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Yeah I don't think Cardan and Darkling are similar he'd be more of a Madoc or one of those Princes. Btw can you tell what didn't you like about Jude's treatment in the books? I would love to hear your thoughts about that.

Basically I think she’s always held back and humiliated by the narrative? The way she’s treated often doesn’t make sense with her position in universe and the higher status she obtains (senechal then queen) the more obvious it is that the narrative just refuses to let her have any dignity.

I’m struggling to organize my thoughts because I just have so many criticisms of this series. I enjoyed but that also makes me more disappointed with it when it flounders?

Like more general thoughts, I think the first book simply starts out poorly. The contemporary high school vibe to the interpersonal drama is an ill fitting one. Also the way Jude and Taryn are bullied doesn’t feel grounded in their lives and like faerie culture beyond just… looking like school yard bullying for the sake of plot. (Ironically I am fine with the high school vibes in TGT despite it being equally/more incongruous in-universe, but it serves a thematic function, so I can accept it)

Why is faerie high school a thing? Why are Jude and Taryn treated so openly poorly by anyone and everyone despite Madoc also being a fairly feared figure. There doesn’t seem to be a point where the bullying started more subtly and then grew when it became clear word wouldn’t get to Madoc/there’d be no retaliation. It just starts out feeling kind of flimsy.

(My proposed very simple fix would be to have no faerie high school and instead Cardan and his posse of important fae kids are being tutored privately and Jude and Taryn are included as a personal favor to Madoc. Which is something Cardan would take immense offense to!! Also a sort of bullying that just has more deniability than kicking dirt in their food. Like all smiles while also doing terrible shit)

Anyway past that point the first book is like. fine. If I had my way it would be longer, hingeing on some sort of plot the Court of Shadows foils. And the coup would be the sequel? To just give Jude more time to bond with them? And maybe get better at spying lol but that’s also baseline just an author failing.

Despite it feeling too early to me, I do really like how the coup goes down. And how Jude ends up out scheming everyone to put herself in power. The ending holds a lot of promise! The second book just doesn’t deliver though.

When it opens they’re like six months into the year long bargain. But there’s no implication of how that time has passed or that any of the relationships have undergone real development. Jude is supposedly seneschal and has basically styled herself as spymaster but she’s bullied in the exact. same. way.

If the main trajectory of this book is supposed to be her white knuckle clinging to her ill gained power before everything crumbles because she’s been going at it alone and refusing to lean on anyone— but she never actually achieves that high. And it feels uniquely gendered to me tbqh! Like I’m sorry a male protagonist in most other books given institutional power would be allowed to actually use that power and be afforded respect-through-fear if not genuine respect. But Jude keeps facing humiliation after humiliation.

The third act hinges on her kidnapping and being stripped of power. But like… where was that power to begin with? I didn’t really see it! It also doesn’t help that she’s uniquely terrible at statecraft. All her mistakes are just miserably obvious (not throwing out the magic blacksmith or whatever, not realizing the undersea would go for Balekin, traveling completely alone as a much disliked person so Locke’s crew could attack her) but I do think that’s more of a Holly Black issue than a Jude issue.

Then Queen of Nothing completely sidelines her in every possible sense. To the point where her personal story about her family, about her mother, are basically no longer relevant. The first two thirds are just completely focused on Cardan and speed running their relationship (that hasn’t had any real forward development since… the very first book? it’s just a constant rehashing of “does he…like like me 🥺” every single book omg) and then post snake transformation the plot is just a mess lol. Also I found the way the Madoc plotline resolved completely ridiculous. Yeah sure they’re all going to happily live in the human world. Totally.

I did leave a more detailed review of the third book on Goodreads and I basically stand by it!

#I want a madoc and oriana book so bad #that household seems so toxic but fascinating #tfota #book talk #i ramble sometimes #all the bendy punctuations #a mysterious stranger has appeared

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elephart-hi · 2 years

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How the Clever Prince became the Wise King

@slightlyrebelliouswriter23 made this post about how Cardan is less of a himbo and more of a nerd

Yall… I’ve thought about this for AGES and have been wanting to make a post about it so I’m coming out of my school year hiatus to do this. (all of my school work is currently glaring at me for doing so but oh well...)

like every post i make this basically turned into a fic and im stressed about school now ahahaha worth it

clever cardan with a backstory

rated e for everyone with some light fluff

So we all know that Jude has called Cardan too clever for his own good and that is one of the reasons that she loves him (as she says at the end of QON). I seriously doubt Jude would fall for someone who wasn't clever (aka a himbo) bc she has stated multiple times that she isn't a fool for beauty in the series and that if she was she wouldn't have lasted a day in fairyland. We also know that a lot of people think that Cardan is a himbo bc of the whole banishment ordeal but I think this is the perfect example of him being too clever for his own good and I will go into detail as to why but first...

Some headcanons about his cleverness and bookwormness:

When Cardan was a child he was left to his own devices (cough severely neglected cough) and had to find ways to entertain himself. Imagine a little prince dressed in nothing but an oversized frayed shirt and a half-wilted flower crown rummaging through the royal library with no one to supervise him but the servants who could deny him nothing since he was royalty.

Cardan would spend time learning to play chess and reading books on it. He loved the strategy in the game and it could keep him entertained for hours even if he was only playing against himself. (we will come back to this)

I of course imagine him pouring over novels but more intriguingly I also see him stumbling upon spell books. Millenium old grimoires, the only copies of them that exist, tucked in the private royal collection where they are safe from prying eyes... except for young Prince Cardan who is no older than five reading through spells as ancient and powerful as the blood crown itself and unlocking their secrets. He of course thought of it as a game to learn and began practicing and playing around with these very complex spells to keep himself entertained (Jude did say that his glamor was more powerful than normal fairies). No one cared to see what he was up to at that age (as we so heartbreakingly learned in HTKOELTHS) so he had plenty of time to do so.

He would also read books full of magical riddles and books on bargain theories explaining how to best entrap another in a deal. He became very clever with his words and loved puzzling over the way his people talked. It too became a game for him and each evening as he rummaged under the tables looking for scraps of food to eat, he would listen to the most powerful folk of fairy as they conversed with one another. He listened to centuries old tricksters try to out-trick one another right at their feet as he scavenged for his meals; as he ate, he spent his time searching for truest truths hidden in their honeyed words.

Sometimes when the opportunity presented itself he would jump out from beneath the dining tables of the burg wearing nothing but a ruined gown and the food smeared on his face. This young prince, now only 7 years in age, would manage to entrap these ancient folk in bargains so riddled in their meaning that it left the gentry gasping in horror as this young child wove spells into his words that were so complex that fairies 100 years his senior couldn’t manage to replicate it if they tried and I assure you they tried.

Reputation of his cleverness spread like wildfire through the court and the people would whisper of his curse, saying that if he were given the power of the High King, it would surely be his cleverness that would bring forth their doom.

The High King Eldred heard these whispers and even had witnessed his son, barely more than a babe, outwit the brightest member of his court, yet the king still didn’t know how to feel about his curse, so he continued to ignore Cardan. But not even the King could not deny his young child's abilities, for if he tried the words would get caught on his truthful tongue.

The king wasn’t the only family who noticed Cardan’s cleverness however… Prince Dain too saw his potential and he saw it as a threat (I mean come on there had to be a larger reason at play for why Dain did what he did)

When Cardan was barred from the palace for a crime he did not commit he learned one of the most valuable lessons thus far, being clever makes you a threat, puts a target on your back, however being unassuming, his thoughts returning to the golden Prince Dain, is the perfect mask for cleverness and in turn makes your cunning that much sharper when you use it, for your victim never saw it coming to being with. From that day on Cardan decided to hide his cleverness from prying eyes so that he might protect himself and become that much more of a threat when the folk underestimated him because of his foolish facade (Jude did say he was dangerous because of how well he hide his cleverness by playing the fool)

Many things happened when Cardan moved in with his brother at Hollow Hall. He was at last introduced to Finery, Fashion and Culture and consumed it at ungodly rates. He fell in love with the arts and music, so much so that he took up playing the lute. He quickly became what the mortals would refer to as a renaissance man and mastered many topics. He was at the forefront of fashion and always knew what was in style for often he set the precedent for it himself. He gained an arrogance to him for he knew just how clever he was, and enjoyed fooling all those around him into thinking he wasn’t and then tricking them and cursing them for his own amusement.

But these were not the only things he was introduced to… after the beatings he faced at Baelkin’s command, Carden could often scarcely move from the pain being too great. This was his first introduction with drugs. He was given downers and would spend days in a drug haze, half asleep and half awake, his body floating far away from the pain and his mind whorling with dreams and hallucinations of magical ideas he could not wait to carry out. When the drugs finally wore off and his pain had faded enough for him to function again he would find himself sluggish and despite spending nearly 3 days entirely asleep. So Cardan was introduced to uppers, drugs that would keep him up for days on end so he could make up for lost time and experiment with the new magical spells that came to him in his drugged haze from when he took the downers. He would hold himself up in his room and experiment with magic, write music, poetry and literature, design new clothing, (and ponder over round ears and scribble out a name just to ride it from his head). He would then either crash from the drugs or face another beating and this cycle would repeat.

Before Jude became a spy she would often grumble about how Cardan acted like he was so smart and would waltz around as if he was the smartest person in the room, yet in class he was often hardly awake because he took some drug. She hated him for it because he was clearly a fool at best since when he wasn’t drugged out in class he wasn’t there at all, usually off cursing people or was nowhere to be seen. However, it was while she cradled Alice in Wonderland to her chest, hidden beneath a chair, that she finally learned the reason behind all of this. On her spy mission she learned that he took drugs for the beatings and was stoned in class to help with the pain, and when he ditched class to curse people he was practicing very complex magic of his own invention. In fact, Cardan was so smart he didn't need to attend class with the Children of the Gentry at all; he had learned all the information on his own by the time he was 10. He only stayed in school to avoid his abusive brother Bealkin.

Jude could withdraw from school to get private lessons and focus more on the sword if she wanted, but truly for Jude she couldn't. She had to go to classes so she could earn the Folks respect… and so she could avoid the house that she had been kidnapped and taken to after her parents murder. Cardan too could withdraw from school and focus on his experiments and passions. But just like Jude… he truly couldn’t. He had to go to avoid Belkin. So suddenly Jude found herself having sympathy for her most hated enemy.

Sympathy was weakness in Madocs eyes, Jude herself couldn’t see why until she found her knife at cardans throat with his lips on hers. She realized that her sympathy had created a weak spot in the armor that she kept locked around her heart; as time went on she found that the clever, cruel, and cursed Cardan was slowly soaking in between the cracks of that armor, and like poison in the bloodstream seeping his way between her rib cage, and finding his way to her heart. Jude was playing a dangerous game by entrapping someone as clever as Cardan to her command, for if he were to reach her heart, his poison would surely be a killing dose.

When she thought him nothing more than a drunken idiot, his poison was much easier for her to withstand, but now that she knows better it has become a very difficult task

But when she hears him speak eloquently on matters of culture, fashion, and all things fairy with the members of his court she can’t help but wish that he was talking to her and that it was her opinion that he was asking for. She told herself that no one could blame her for desiring to converse with someone who was actually clever enough to have something to say. So she craved intellectual conversation, who didn’t, and she blamed her desires on loneliness.

However, the task of lying to herself only continued to grow more trouble some as she watch Cardan give out fair and clever judgment on his people matters, as he riddled their enemies into bargains that seemed in their own favor but proved to be entirely in his, and as he used honeyed words to sway the opinions of those around him and gain the favor or his court and others.

His poison was a tricky one indead because even with the use of his cleverness he was always able to work against her commands. She should be furious about it but frustratingly she admired him for being able to outwit her.

She found her hold on him slipping even more when he got stumped by one of her commands one day. He proceeded to tell her with a sneer that she gave him a very clever one and that he wished he could begrudge her for it but he scarcely could bc of how ingenious it was.He then promptly left and did exactly as she commanded. It was an insult as much as it was a complement.

She couldn't help the beating of her heart or how much those words meant to her, Jude began to realize just how highly she found his approval. She found she admired his cleverness far too much, and even worse she desired him to think her clever too.

So much so that even as she worked herself ragged over books on how to to run the kingdom she also poured over the same books he read as a child on riddles and bargaining to give her a clue into his mind and genius.

She found him incredibly frustrating that he was so smart but refused to put his mind to running the kingdom but Cardan could not forget the whispers from when he was a child. He was convinced that any scheme he put together would be too clever for his own good and would bring down his prophecy so he simply refused to help Jude in matter of running the kingdom,( although he would give her very good advise on how to do it, especially on matters of trade that involved importing fabrics for the new designs that he sketched).

Jude did find good use for his mind however and put him to work with The Bomb and The Roach on educating the court of shadows on complex magic but even more fun than that,Cardan got to experiment with them and with their combined intellect, they managed to create incredible potions, cursed trinkets, and magical weapons. (Jude would confess this to no one but she would often come down there to train while they worked just so she could listen to him ramble on about magic theory even though it meant nothing to her because of her mortality. He sounded so happy when he talked about his books and his passions, a large difference from his usual demeanor and tho she hated herself for it she loved seeing him like that)

Cardan even personally designed a magical dagger for Jude and gave it to her in her office. The dagger would compel anyone she used it on to give her their truest truths. He told her it was for her interrogations, and asked that she try to avoid the urge to use it on him, but that if she must, she should do so with a kiss. He gave her a wink and glanced at another dagger that was still impaled in her desk from when she threw it there after their first kiss. “Since you haven't touched this one since…” he left his sentence unfinished but they both knew what moment he was referring to. After Cardan left Jude pierced her finger with her new dagger and tried to say that she left the old one there because she simply hadn't had need for it. Instead she found herself saying into her empty office that she left it there because she liked to look at it while she worked because it reminded her of Cardan and their kiss.

She felt his poison seep fully into her heart one evening when he convinced her to play him in a game of chess (I said I would come back to it). He was still struggling with his cycle of drug usage, he couldn’t stop taking anymore than she could her poison, his body revolted against it. Again she found sympathy weakening her guard since she could see he was struggling with a rather heavy come down. So Jude relented and conceded to play a match with him. She said if she won he would have to help her catch up on the work she was missing while she played. He asked for only a kiss if he won. She was shocked at first by how good he was, but the shock wore off fast because why wouldn’t he be. The game came out to a draw after 3 hrs. It was the best match of chess she had ever played. She told him as much though she felt betrayed by her lips for doing so. He looked at her through lidded eyelashes, the planes of his face accentuated by the candle light, its flicker causing the golden ring round his iris to seemingly glow. He grabbed her hand and kissed each of her knuckles and told her that he felt the same. For a moment she thought he meant he returned her feelings, only to remember that he was talking about their game of chess. Suddenly she realized that for her to desire him to return her feelings that she would have to have feelings for him to begin with. Like a fool she kissed him despite the draw, in return he helped with the work. They were wickedly efficient when they teamed up. She hated how right it felt to work side by side with him. And she hated him for his cleverness. Most of all she hated him for how she felt.

Okay… she didn't hate him. She couldn't lie to herself about it after thinking of him everyday during her capture in the undersea. She couldn't lie like that when he had slipped that ring onto her finger and made her his queen. She just wished she could hate him. She very much hated how clever he was. He made her love him, knew he could do it, bide his time and waited till the opportunity arose. He saw her at her weakest after being captured by the undersea, body and mind weak from malnourishment, heart heavy after another betrayal by her sister along with one by her adoptive father. So Cardan chose then to offer her a bargain that was too good to be true, a bargain of love, power, acceptance, a bargain that would give her a home. She took it like all the other greedy fools had taken bargains from him just to discover in the end that they were duped. She hated how clever he was, hated that he outsmarted her, hated that he had robbed her of her home and she hated herself for loving him with all her whole heart.

It was in the rose garden after he finally proclaimed her his queen that she truly understood. He had taken her hand after she slapped him and told her that he knew himself to be clever but that he always wanted her to think of him as such. In his own arrogance and greed for her approval he assumed she would understand the meaning of his words. Assumed she would think him smart for avoiding war with the undersea while still securing her place on the throne. He thought she would come charging into the throne room and that the two of them would laugh at the folk for their surprise when he explained the truth of his words as he place a crown on her brow (he designed a new one for her every single day that she was gone, had a whole room full of crowns just for her). He had thought only of himself, and his own desires, he hadn’t thought of Judes feelings or her needs at that time, after everything that she had just endured. He told her that even for all of his cleverness he was still a fool for hurting her. (this isnt how it actually went but like its what he meant we all know this)

Jude was shocked of course but she as she took him in she felt the wound begin to heal over. The Bomb had told her how he had managed to get clean while she was gone, that he doesn’t drink more than a glass of wine in the evens now. She saw that her clever prince had grown to become a wise king, though it took him some time to get there. Tail no longer tucked away, head clear from drugs; she could hardly recongise the boy who was once so mean to her.

When her king turned into the snake she tore apart his chamber convinced that in all his brilliance he must have some answers hidden somewhere on how to save him, but all she found was a hidden drawer full of all the letter drafts ofthe ones that he sent to her. The letters which she never got (i have a fic for this that i never posted so yall just lmk if ya want it).

She thought of what Cardan said in the garden about being a fool for thinking of only his feelings instead of hers as she approached the snake with the bridel. She took a lesson from the man she loved and she chopped the head off of the cursed snake.

After Cardan returned he made time every day to teach Jude how to use her new found magic, and of course she picked it up fast.

It was her favorite time of day, her Clever Prince, turned Wise King teaching magic to the Queen of Everything.

#jurdan #tfota fanfic #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #the cruel prince #the wicked king #the queen of nothing #how the king of elfhame learned to hate stories #jude x cardan

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beeirifulmer · 2 years

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Since we’re doing Jude death prompt… Why not do a prompt where Jude dies during her exile while young. And Cardan finds out? And he goes insane. Or Jude ends up in a coma during her exile and Cardan goes insane and keeps her body with him?

In Exile We Die

//Warning: All Book Spoilers.

I'm so sorry this took longer than I expected it to!! I hope you enjoy this! <3

Standing up, Jude continued to fight. She had been dancing around with this faerie for a mission for about an hour now. His cat-like reflexes catching up to her the more she lost blood from the gash he gave her on her arm.

And her leg.

And her torso.

And her collarbone.

"You seem to be losing your strength, dumb mortal." The fae grinned as he stood and watched Jude wobble.

"I don't lose anything. Especially a fight with an exiled faerie." Jude slurred, her sword swung back and forth as she tried to see straight.

"I know you, Jude Duarte. You were exiled too, its a shame really. King Cardan took a liking to you for years, maybe he got sick of you. Maybe you didn't taste of honey like most fae he's had. Shame." The mention if her husband made Jude freeze and get distracted, it didn't last long for the faerie cut her throat the second he got the chance. "And I know you, Jude Duarte. Daughter of Madoc." The faerie swatted down as Jude fell, choking on her blood.

"He'll be pleased to see I've made my move after years of fighting for world domination." With a smirk, the end of the sword slammed onto Jude's head.

King Cardan sat on his throne, listening to the folk complain about the simplest of things. He didn't find a fraction of himself caring, not unless Taryn came, or his spy came to speak of Jude.

Cardan sent out a spy to watch over Jude, although he knew she would find out sooner or later. The spy has not come back speaking of how he was caught, so Cardan didn't worry.

Speaking of the spy. He ran into the throne room in a panic, and Cardan stood up to excuse everyone else in the room. "What have you got for me, Daniel."

"Your highness..I am so sorry.." His shaky voice made the mans heart drop. He refused to believe the worst, remembering the last time this happened yet he had just almost been caught by Jude.

"Did she finally catch you? I'm surprised it took her this long to realise. Tell me, what did she say Daniel."

Daniel stood up straight, swallowing back his pride as it wiped the smug smirk off my face. Perhaps she did not catch him, "no, do not tell me. Perhaps she's hurt? She's Jude, she fights through anything.

"She's dead, sir." The three words left the fae's mouth, and Cardan grabbed his sword. The faerie did not expect the King the glide across the room so quickly, but by the time he noticed he even stood up he was pinned against the wall with the Kings sword against his neck.

"What did you just say?" Cardan's eyes blazed with an anger not even Balekin had ever seen. It feared Daniel, but he did not say a word or cry for help. "Answer me, boy." Cardan's jaw clenched, and Daniel could have sworn he saw a flash of red seep across the King's eyes.

"She was on a mission a-and she didn't win. I'm so sorry your highness." Daniel looked at Cardan with a plea that his life would not end.

The anger turned into what Daniel thought as sorrow, pain. Daniel was the only one whi understood his and Jude's relationship, relationship of cruelness, wickedness, nothing. But above all.

Love. Love neither of them expressed physically other than the night he green gowned her. The memberance of it within the fact Daniel just said she was dead.

Letting go, Cardan simply walked away and left Daniel stuck in his spot. Afraid to move.

~~~

A week went by that Jude had been dead. And the land was terrified.

"The King's coming." A faerie panted as she told her friends, the rest of them moving out of the way in fear of Cardan.

The door swung open with a banging thud, Cardan's boots clicking on the ground rapidly. "Your highness?" A young fae stopped the King, everyone in the room tensing up. Cardan looked to her, not saying a word as he silently urged her to talk. "We found this," the girl slowly and hesitantly lifted the sword in its covering, and Cardan knew exactly what it was.

Nightfell.

Cardan felt his blood boil again as he slowly took the sword from her hands. "Unless you want this sword to go through your neck, I suggest you run." He threatened, the girl darting out and far away from Cardan.

Continuing to walk, he felt no need to condone in violence, since everyone steered clear out of his way. Nightfell now sat on his hip and his gaze seemed as if he could not see, but could imagine the whole world of Faerie crashing and burning.

Cardan finally entered his hall, noticing Jude's sisters standing up at his presence. "Cardan we need to talk." Taryn spoke lowly.

"We need to talk of nothing." The King did not stop as he walked down the hall, hearing the two's dresses pick up to follow Cardan.

"Cardan Greenbriar stop." As much as he wished he deep down didn't want to know what would happen if he didn't, he stopped when Vivienne instructed him sternly. Her face now came into his view and he stared at her in the darkest murder look.

"You are out of line."

"I am out of line?" Cardan started, "says the traitor who chose to live in the mortal world with her mortal girlfriend instead of helping her sister. And who do you think you are ordering your king?"

"I am Jude and Oak's sister. Do not try and royalty talk me. You are beyond out of line, killing people, making them scared of you. What is your issue?"

"I do not need to respond to you. Nothing you say will change my views on this world and how I rule it."

"You're acting like Balekin, Cardan.." Taryn's small voice rang through Cardan's ears. His gaze turned to fall upon the girl that looked identical to his lover, his wife, his Queen.

"What?" The King's voice was soft as if taken aback by what was just told. Once it was repeated, Cardan could only hear and see Jude looking down on him with a saddened face. His back lingered with the stings of his brother, his heart clenched remembering everytime he heard Balekin degrade him in the worst ways possible. Perhaps now Cardan understood the anger Jude felt being compared to her father.

But the two of them had the same thing in common: They both proved everyone wrong and became the King and Queen of Elfhame. And now Cardan was abusing that power.

Without another word, Cardan left. The sisters let him, hoping they got it through his head.

Cardan slammed himself into a room, his breathing picking up unaware of what was happening to himself. Falling to his knees, the soil softened the blow as he took a strangled breath.

"I've disappointed you, haven't I? You'd have my head if I acted this way during your living era." Cardan scoffed to himself as he felt the guilt of all he's done since he heard the news. "I'm so sorry, my darling God. I'm so sorry.."

The King then sobbed into his knees, saying nothing else to his wife as he looked up. The tree that sprouted out of the room seemed to feel like it stared at him, his Queen's dead body underneath it living with the roots.

"I missed you, Jude.."

#cardan greenbriar #cardanandjude #the wicked king #the cruel prince #jude duarte #jude greenbriar #jurdan #fota #queen of nothing #request

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heaven-in-a-wild-flower · 3 years

Text

Jurdan Headcanon (Jude Duarte and Cardan Greenbriar)

I’ve also published this on ao3 if you’d rather read it there, here’s the link. I’m making this a full series (Cardan in the Mortal World).

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Previous Chapter (Chapter 2.5)

Cardan in the Mortal World (Chapter 3)

Flowery Flour, Beeping Time Bombs and Chocolate Lips

Cardan decides to surprise Jude with a home-cooked meal (he read in a magazine that that is 2nd in the Top Ten Most Romantic Date Ideas! He wanted to choose the 1st but for the life of him couldn’t figure out what Net-flix and Chill meant). Jude has gone out with Vivi and so he has a few hours to prepare the food. He doesn’t think it’s going to be that difficult, there are instructions and tiny people showing the process on the Book of Mac (he imagines Jude exasperpatedly shaking her head and correcting him, “It’s called a MacBook, Cardan!)

He opens up the list of ingredients and copies it down onto a sheet of paper. Then he sets off for the nearest market, Walmart (Cardan nobody calls Walmart a market!). The door opens without his pushing it open. Hmm, maybe they have pixies to open it here.

The air is cool inside, conditioned by another Mortal device. He roams the aisles, searching for all the ingredients on his list. He’s making Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting, he doesn’t understand most of those words but it is a cake so he thinks it’ll be alright. He finds most of the ingredients quite easily (although he’s still a bit confused what flour is and if it is indeed grounded up flowers). He’s only has milk left from the list.

He knows that they usually use the milk from cows in the Mortal World. He’s wondering where they keep the cows in this place. He stops a man with the word, Walmart tattooed on his shirt (he must be the head of this market).

“How can I help?” the man asks, turning to him.

“Oh yes, I will require your assistance in determining where the cows are kept.”

The man looks befuddled, “Sorry sir. We…don’t sell cows here.”

“No, I do not intend to purchase the cows, I desire only the milk,” Cardan clarifies.

“Oh! You want milk? Okay then, follow me.” The man sets off and Cardan follows. He then leads him to a glass case of packaged bottles. “Here you are.”

Cardan looks closely at the bottles and sees some labeled ‘milk’. “Will this suffice for Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting?” he asks. He wants to make sure he’s using authentic ingredients (Jude would kill him is he mistakenly poisoned her).

“Yeah sure, dude,” the man replies.

***

Cardan is following along with the little lady on the U-Tube. It’s going perfectly. He’s even put on the right attire, a pink apron that says ‘Kiss The Cook’. He likes this idea, to give clear instructions for what to do even on the clothing. Maybe he should have some such thing sewed onto his kingly robes too (he thinks of Jude kissing him every time she reads it and grins happily. Oh yes, it is certainly a wonderful idea.)

When the lady, her name is Rosanna Pansino (he thinks this is quite a distinguished name and can’t understand why she would shorten it to ‘Ro’), says to whip the cream, he pauses. She didn’t ask him to purchase a whip. He checks the shelves, (maybe this is a normal kitchen tool?) and still doesn’t find one. He watches the video and realizes that she doesn’t use a whip at all, just some metallic contraption that he has in the kitchen too.

It takes him a few tries to crack the egg correctly (after this ordeal, his respect for his cooks has gone up drastically). Eventually the batter has been successfully transferred to a pan and placed inside the heating box (Oven). He sets the time on the dials and sits back to wait for it to be done.

In the mean time, he wonders at the bliss he sees on Mortals’ faces as they talk about chocolate. He decides to try some cocoa powder to see for himself if it is as good as they say. He picks up a spoonful of the powder and puts the whole thing in his mouth. His face shrivels up and he starts coughing madly. He drinks some wine to get the taste out of his mouth and thinks that Mortals have very strong taste buds to be able to not only endure that but to also enjoy it.

When the timer on the heating box has finally come down to 10 seconds he watches it carefully, unsure what is about to happen. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and then…beep, beep, beep! He startles and tries to figure out what to do. Ro did not show this part at all. He tries to remember what he’s seen in those moo-vies he and Jude sometimes watch. Beeping means…time bomb! The heating box has overheated or some such and is about to explode.

He runs out of the house and crashes into someone. No, not someone, Jude.

“Cardan, what are you- what’s happened?” she asks, holding his flour covered arms and staring into his panicky eyes with confusion.

“The heating box is about to explode!” he blurts out.

“The heating box? Oh, the oven. What did you do to it?” she asks, raising one brow.

“I tried to make a Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting and I followed Ro’s instructions perfectly. But at the end of the timer it started beeping like a time bomb!”

“Oh my god, oh my god,” Jude says and bursts out laughing. He loves this sound and his eyes go dreamy for a moment, all his panic forgotten and his body relaxes.

“What is it? How are you not worried?” he asks, when he’s finally regained his wits. She pulls him back into the house and opens the heating box and takes the pan out after putting on gloves (Cardan understands the importance of looking good but is this really the time to be accessorizing? But since he knows nothing about this, he stays wisely silent).

“That’s just the sound it makes when it’s done baking,” she informs him, smiling fondly.

“Oh. Well, that is bizarre and unnecessarily alarming. A tinkling of bells would have worked just fine,” he says petulantly, crossing his arms and frowning (Jude thinks this is simply adorable, even if she’ll never tell him that).

***

They continue the decorating together. He likes this a lot better. He’s gotten many many kisses. The apron is definitely working. They finally eat the chocolate cake. It takes a lot of persuading on Jude’s part (maybe even some bribing). She doesn’t understand why he’s glaring suspiciously at it. When she finally feeds him a piece, his face relaxes.

“Oh. Oh.” He says reverently. “I understand now.”

Jude is expectedly puzzled but forgets all about it when he kisses her. Mmm, Cardan hasn’t wiped his mouth properly and he tastes like chocolate but she certainly isn’t complaining.

Tagging, @jurdanhell @nee-naw-nee-naw-beepbeep

Let me know if anyone wants to be added to the tagging list (or removed).

Next Chapter

#jurdan #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #jude cardan #jurdan headcanons #jurdan hc #Cardan in the mortal world!#tcp #the cruel prince #tfota #the folk of the air

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firelxdykatara · 3 years

Note

Why the fuck do you ship jude and cardan? That man watched as his friends SEXUALLY ASSAULTED HER. fuck you.

I mean, Jude ships herself with Cardan, so why shouldn’t I?

What’s really funny about this, though, is that like... logically, I know that antis somehow manage to be fans of things that are actively hostile to their way of thinking, but it always seems to catch me by surprise. Like, if you think that the way faeries treat mortals in Holly Black’s works is so dreadful, why are you even here? Why would you read a book series like The Folk of the Air trilogy--the first book of which is titled The Cruel Prince and the eponymous prince is...well...cruel, just like the label on the tin suggested he might be--where this sort of behavior is normal and expected--not necessarily condoned, but they aren’t humans, and expecting them to behave as if they are is ridiculous--and then act surprised when faeries act like... well... faeries?

Not to mention the fact that Jude is a murderer. She’s a spy and a liar and a thief. One of the things I love most about her--and the trilogy in general--is that she is not a good person. None of them are. This is not a series where the world is split up into good people and bad people--it’s a world painted entirely in shades of grey, where the protagonist is bound and determined to become as monstrous as possible so that she can survive, so she can thrive, in a world full of monsters. The world of Faerie will not take her seriously as a mortal unless she makes them--so she is going to make them, whether by learning how to protect herself from them, learning how to kill them, or installing a man on the throne she can control because she tricked him into binding himself into her service and then accepting the crown. She will probably go further than that, I’m only halfway through The Wicked King and very excited where the rest of her story goes.

So, like, has Cardan done some awful things? Sure. So has Jude. So has everyone else in the world of Faerie. Shit, so has Vivi, to her own girlfriend, by keeping her Fae nature a secret and lying every day that they live together. Faeries are not human, and they don’t have the same sensibilities as humans do. Hell, Jude loves Madoc and sees him as her father no matter how many times she is reminded that he butchered her parents right in front of her when she was seven years old.

If what you’re looking for is some sort of admission that Cardan is Horrible and Irredeemable and that he doesn’t deserve Jude or some bullshit like that, you’ll have to go elsewhere. And I recommend finding a different book series to read. Maybe go read The Grisha Trilogy if you want to see the Bad romantic interest die and the main protag to be Unambiguously Good and wind up with The Good romantic interest. I’m here to read about Jude and Cardan going from hating each others guts even while being desperately attracted to one another, to slowly falling in love despite all their best efforts, and I’m gonna enjoy every step of the journey.

If that’s not your thing, then that’s your problem, not mine.

#jurdan #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #the folk of the air #the cruel prince #kitty reads books #me seeing this ask like... are you new???#lmao #asked #anon hate party #Anonymous

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mmvalentine · 3 years

Text

The Pianist pt 4 | Jurdan

Modern AU. Part 1 part 2 part 3 part 5

Jude woke up with a bad taste in her mouth and cotton wool in her brain. She groaned, groped around on the night stand for her phone and had to look at the screen through one eye because the light hurt her.

Does Cardan wake up like this every day? Jude wondered. And if so, how was he not dead?

Cardan. Shit.

Jude had a vague memory of kissing Cardan at Locke's party, but she was not entirely sure that she hadn't dreamt it. Fuck it. Cardan had been with so many girls she very much doubted one drunk kiss at a party would even register for him. Jude refused to be embarrassed.

In fact she was pretty sure that what she was actually feeling was annoyance, since he a) had managed to get under her skin even though she absolutely didn’t want him there and hadn’t invited him and b) was now striking up some exercises on the piano that sounded like he was playing them on the inside of her skull. Since when did Cardan start anything before lunch?

Jude tried to roll over and go back to sleep. Luckily for her, this was her one day a week off from all three of her jobs. Unluckily for her, Cardan was only just getting started.

Twenty minutes later, there was a pause. Jude sighed her relief as the infernal exercises finally stopped- only for a furious Baroque piece to begin. “No no no no,” Jude yelled. She flung back her covers, still dressed in the black dress from the night before, with bed hair and yesterday’s makeup, and stalked out the door barefoot.

Through the fire door, up one flight of steps, and down the hall to Cardan’s flat. She hammered her fist on his front door.

"Cardan!" she barked. "Cardan you insufferable ass!"

The piano stopped, and before he could get to her she yanked the door handle. It was unlocked, and Jude opened the door to a very surprised Cardan who was himself just reaching for the knob.

"Jude?"

"Yes Jude, hello it’s me your downstairs fucking neighbour who cannot sleep through this racket!"

Cardan just stood and stared at her. Some quiet part of Jude’s mind was sure she looked like a madwoman, but the louder part ignored it and continued the tirade.

"I mean for fuck’s sake Cardan what do you have against sleep?" She flung the words at him. “You keep me up all through the night because you refuse to operate during daylight hours like a normal person, and then the one time I want to sleep in, the one time- Cardan do you know I never ever ever sleep in? And then this one time I think maybe I’ll just relax a little, here you are like you’ve got some kind of personal vendetta against me getting a full eight hours!"

She paused to draw breath, and still Cardan just stood there. It was infuriating.

"Well?" She demanded.

And then Cardan put both his hands around her face, and pulled her mouth to his.

The heat was instant. Jude burned up under it in for a second, then realised what was happening and cut the kiss off.

But Cardan was having none of that. He pulled her right back to him, and Jude did not have enough willpower to break away a second time. The shocking fever of it wiped out all logical thought and the next thing she knew she was folding her arms around his neck. Cardan wrapped his own around her waist, stooping a little to reach her and then pulling her up against his body. He took a step back and Jude let him lead her into his apartment, the door closing softly behind them.

Cardan moved his mouth against hers and when his tongue lashed out she was only too eager to meet it. She scraped her nails against his neck as his hands slid into the tangle of her hair.

Jude took another step forward, and Cardan backed into a lamp. It toppled over noisily, but he didn’t let her stop the kiss. Just moved them to the side, where Jude’s back hit a shelf and two books fell out. Cardan didn‘t seem to care at all. Pushed her further into the wall while his teeth found her bottom lip, and knocked a frame down as his hand hit the plaster behind her.

Jude tugged him closer at the waist, and returned every one of his kisses. She might have kept kissing him all day, he tasted so good, but then in between one breath and the next he whispered her name, and she realised.

She was making out with Cardan.

Jude shoved him away, hard, and stormed out the door without a word.

////

Cardan didn't see Jude for a week after that.

It was strange, they had been in each other's proximity for a long time now and not had a lot to do with each other but now, somehow, he was quite sure she was avoiding him.

He didn't know quite what to feel about that kiss.

In his defence, she had started it. That night of Locke's party- no, before that. The night she started singing him to sleep through the air vents. She had floated into his life through his ears and now her absence chafed like a burr in his shoe. Of course, in the past days there was no singing. Not even when Cardan lay there for an hour, waiting to hear her voice.

Locke had seen her.

In spite of the mess that had been that party, and the morning after, it seemed that Jude had taken on Cardan's advice and agreed to meet with Locke for the play.

And according to Locke, things were going very well. He raved about Jude's voice, which irritated Cardan to no end. He had put his ear to the carpet just to hear her, and now he had to share her with Locke? Prick.

Locke, as always, had an easy time of assembling the rest of his cast. Cardan did not think him a bad writer, but he did suspect the queues for his casting call had more to do with who his father was than with his skills as a playwright.

He had been auditioning for a couple of weeks now, and with Jude in place, he was ready to call his first cast meeting. Cardan, Nicasia and Valerian were expected to attend too- Nicasia and Valerian never missed a chance to be on stage, and Cardan was invited for his "musical ear."

So there they all were, on a Friday evening, in the old theatre Locke's dad let him use. Waiting for the last few people to arrive. When Jude walked through the door she nodded to Locke, but avoided Cardan's gaze.

Fine, he thought. If she didn't want to talk to him, he certainly wasn't going to force her. He thought of the rant she had loosed on him that morning last week, and figured it was probably better this way.

Finally, Locke called them all to attention, and Cardan sat in the back row with Nicasia and Valerian as Locke addressed them all from the stage. Cardan put his feet up on the chair in front of him, and let Nicasia doze on his shoulder while Valerian picked things out of the soles of his boots with a pocket knife.

"So without further ado,' Locke was saying, may I present to you our stunning leading lady, Taryn."

Cardan looked up. The small group were politely clapping as a tall, thin woman stood and nodded at them all. She was all blonde hair and heroin chic, just Locke's type. But what about-

"And of course our vocalist, discovered by yours truly and pulled from the bowels of the subway tunnels, Jude!"

The group applauded mildly again, but Jude did not stand up. Locke continued. "Jude is going to provide the singing voice for Taryn, although I haven't decided whether we're going to pre-record or get her to sing live backstage."

What?

"What?" Jude demanded. The cast went quiet. "You want me to sing for Taryn?"

"Yes, of course," Locke said. "You've got a lovely voice, Jude, but Tarym looks more the part, don't you think?"

"Well you didn't fucking tell me that when I agreed to do this, Locke."

"Jude," Locke held up his hands. "Please stay calm. I'm sorry if you misunderstood."

"If I misunderstood? You lied to me. Why in the hell would I want to stand around behind a curtain so that someone prettier than me can get the credit?"

"Aw come on, Jude. It's not like that. This is a very common practice in show business," Locke insisted.

Now that the drama was amping up, Nicasia and Valerian were suddenly paying attention.

"Yeah come on, Jude," Valerian called down. "It's a compliment, you have a great face for recording!"

"Darling, these are all Juilliard trained performers," Nicasia added. "You didn't actually think you were going to be on stage did you?"

"I didn't ask to be here," Jude said, picking up her bag. "Fuck this, and fuck you guys slowly with a fork."

She strode out the door, right past their row.

"Jude, wait," Cardan said, scrambling out of his seat.

"You stay the hell away from me," Jude hissed, then the door slammed behind her and Nicasia burst into hysterical laughter. Cardan looked back down toward Locke, who was shaking his head tragically.

"This is why you never hire amateurs," he said sadly, and in that moment, Cardan hated them all.

****

Hooo boy okay a lot happened in this chapter! We are in a two week lockdown after a COVID break out so I guess you get lots of writing this weekend. Someone please hug them for meee

JURDAN MASTERLIST

TAGLIST: @asteria-of-mars @swankii-art-teacher @loosingdreams @feysand-loml @cityofbookish @story-scribbler

#jurdan #jurdan fic #tfota #mine

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abruisedmuse · 3 years

Text

Trickery of Snow

Illyrianwitchling's Holidrabble

Day 4 For: @slightlyrebelliouswriter23 @clockworkgraystairs ❤❤❤❤

Prompts: Jurdan + "You look even more beautiful covered in snow" & Snowball fights "I'm going to get you back for that, [name]!!

A/N: sorry if I clog your feed loves! Until I get my laptop, I can only post via mobile. I'll be be too busy the following week to back track drabbles. I'll fix it as soon as I can. Anyway enjoy!

Masterlist

Cardan stood alongside Oak. Against the bark of an aged tree. Its limbs barren due to the frigid winter of the mortal world. True in Elfhame, they had "winters" where a slight chill swept through the lands and a little snow dust over the earth. The snow there however, more reminiscent of powdered sugar on doughnuts instead of actual snow.

Yet here in the Mortal lands, there was a stark difference. What was once covered in dirt and grass the brightest greens is now blanketed thickly in a shimmering white. Enough to the point, they had specialty shoes and garments for the weather.

It took Cardan some time to get used to these puffy coats, his in black, of course, and the awkward heavy boots. Snowshoes, he remembered Jude telling him. For a while, he couldn't fathom why anyone would willingly go outside in this icy weather. The idea of sitting in warmth, in freeing clothes, a hearth alight with embers, and mulled wine sounded much his style than...snow.

Until now, this fight, for lack of a better term, was intriguing. If only for the thrill of competition.

They busied themselves, making as many snowballs as possible before Jude finds them. Oak was somewhat surprised with how quick Cardan became at making them. Within minutes, both had eight each, tucked securely within the pocket of their hoodies.

"Ready?" Oak’s tone laced with amusement, a grin on his youthful features, "and remember," he said, crouching into the snow a gloved palm keeping his arsenal steady, "Don't hit me."

"I do know what a team is," Cardan replied as if offended—repeating the movement.

They sat behind the tree listening for Jude. Sure, since joining The Court of Shadows, she mastered the art of slyfooting. Here with the heavy fall of snow, Cardan picked up her footsteps quickly. It wasn't as loud as, say, Vivienne or Heather. Jude's steps were softer, lighter, yet there's a subtle crunch on the floor when she moved. Like the one Cardan heard a second ago.

Oak seemed to notice the High King's reaction. Keeping his eyes and ears alert for his sister and turning to look at Cardan, pointing to himself and the left. Then Cardan and the right. The High King nodded.

"Be quick and keep low to the ground," Oak hissed.

"This is our third round of snowball. I assure you, Oak. I know the rules." Cardan replied a bit harsher than intended.

"Well, we lost the last two," Oak grumbled.

Cardan scowled, watching him sneak off to the left side, hiding behind another tree. Before surveying the area. Looking out for his wife, he knew lurked by.

The High King briskly moved from tree to tree. Stopping at each trunk to listen. The feather-light crunch of boots on snow guiding his way. A few minutes passed, he wasn't sure if this is working. Cardan spoke a moment too soon. Unexpectedly, Jude appeared, prowling the forest, snowball in hand, heading to Oak's location. Cardan smirked with a hint of playfulness, quietly following his wife. The Ghost trained Jude how to listen and track faerie. Cardan took every step with caution. Careful to not step on any loose branches. Keeping close to trees and inching as close as he dared to.

He caught a movement from behind a tree standing at the edge of a clearing. Immediately Cardan knew it was Oak; to his disadvantage, so did Jude. Of course, she would. Lethal, beautiful, and intelligent, he would've felt pride in his scabrous heart, had it not been for his teammate she was sprinting towards. Cardan darted in between the barren trees. Adrenaline pumping through his veins as he closed in on his wife, his darling god.

Taking a snowball from the pocket of his hoodie, Cardan pulled his arm back and swung. Watching with half-closed eyes as the rounded ball of snow soared through the sky, striking Jude on the back of the head. Glistening snow crashed against her free-flowing tresses. Like melting snow on the earthy floor. He found it striking in appearance

Jude stilled, turning gradually towards him, with a wicked glint in her eyes, stepping towards her husband.

“Three rounds and you finally landed a hit,” her steps were calculating, assessing him silently as she moved around. “I’m proud of you, husband.”

“Well, my dearest Jude, a slow learner, still learns,” he quipped, trying not to watch Oak in the back sneaking up to her.

Unfortunately, Cardan did give his nephew away. As Jude turned, Cardan shouted, “now!”

In rapid succession, Oak threw snowball after snowball at Jude. Cardan joined in, racing up to them, unleashing his entire stock on her. In one moment, Cardan stood tall, then another, his legs were kicked beneath him. He was falling into the soft snow below. Jude straddled him, hips over hips.

She leaned in, kissing the top of his ear, "I'm going to get you back for that Cardan." A promise, a threat, perhaps both. With Jude, one could never be too sure.

He only smiled up at her, all the confidence in the world on his smug expression, "Get me back how?"

Kissing him sweetly ignoring Oak's blatant disgust at her public display, before she spoke, "like this," his wife reached into the snow next to him, dropping the pile on his face. Cardan shook it all away. Hearing both Jude and Oak laughing at.

"Really, Jude?"

"Does it help if I tell you, you look even more beautiful covered in snow." She laughed, like the sweetest of wines.

"As much as I appreciate the comment, my sweet villain, I look beautiful everywhere and in everything."

"Ugh!" Shoving him into the snow and ice, "you're such an ass. Come on, Oak. Round four, you're with me."

Oak whooped and cheered, being on a team with Jude. Cardan gaped on in disbelief as the two walked away from view.

"I should've stayed inside with the mulled wine."

Tag list: @jurdanhell@slightlyrebelliouswriter23 @hizqueen4life @clockworkgraystairs @b00kworm @negativenesta @sjm-things @whataboutmyfries @justgiu12 @illyrian-bookworm @thesirenwashere @ireallyshouldsleeprn @nightbringer @vanessa172003 @thewickedkings @sleeping-and-books @thefolkofthefic @yafandomsdotnet @alittledribbledrabble @iminsanenotobsessed @theoceanfaewriter @sevenfreckles-for-sevenloves @figuredihadanodustollensofalife @awkward-avocado-s @maastrash @knifewifejude @st00pid231 @elide-lochan-salvaterre @gisellefigue08 @pcarnatio @wanderingjpg @bookishwitchling @sayosdreams @flintandtinder @starborn-faerie-queen @hopefullyanauthor @junipersuns @thewayshedreamed @hopefullyanauthor @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln @blade-given-form @perseusannabeth @notanapostatemage @danaanruhn @thegoddessofyou @swankii-art-teacher @nestable @darlinminds

#jurdan #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #cardan and his mortal adventures #jurdan fic #oak #tfota #fluff #snowball fight #holidrabbles #25 days of drabbles #slightlyrebelliouswriter23 #clockworkgraystairs #em tag #tess tag #usernite #jurdannet #userbecs

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snusbandxknifewife · 3 years

Text

I was bitching on discord and @booksandlewks gave me her braincells and reminded me that HCs exist so here you go.

•it happened at a revel, about six months after the dust had settled

•(yknow after the whole snake incident? Yeah...)

•Heather and Vivi had been visiting a ton so they’d have an excuse to avoid Madoc

•Since he was endlessly dropping in and bothering them

•the revel was outside, dying down as night bled into morning

•Jude was on Cardan’s lap

•(it was disgustingly domestic)

•Taryn was REALLY pregnant

•(like ready to pop any day)

•Cardan was happy drunk

•(can you blame him?? Jude was in his lap)

•Vivi was chilling, completely unaware of her girlfriends turmoil

•Heather. Was. Losing. It.

•the whole night

•the whole FUCKING night

•she’d been sat within earshot of the most annoying

•over confident

•full of himself

•asshole

•lyre player

•and he’d noticed her. Noticed that she was human. Noticed that she was (at Vivi’s insistence) avoiding dancing

•and he’d been waxing poetic about fae music

•all

•fucking

•night

•shit like “oh you mortals will never understand what it’s like to listen to a song with the delicate ear of a faerie” or “it must be excruciatingly difficult for you to avoid the dance floor, I know our tunes are all but irresistible to you lesser humans”

•it had been like 5 god damn hours

•Heather had long since put down her wine glass to keep from shattering it against his head

•she’d had to stop even glancing to the right, because that’s where the dance floor was

•and he would see it

•and start commenting again

•then, finally, he made his crucial mistake

•”it must be fascinating to you, knowing that we can make songs that can force you to dance, even if you don’t wish to”

•and she snapped

•”SO DOES ABBA, YOU DIPSHIT. YOURE NOT SPECIAL”

•it was deafening

•her scream ripped through the revel

•the (oh so wonderful) music ground to a strange halt

•people turned to where the human was now on her feet, yelling at a (seemingly cowed) faerie

•”I MEAN WHAT THE FUCK MAN. WHY WOULD I BE IMPRESSED BY YOUR FIFTEENTH CENTURY BULLSHIT WHEN DOLLY PARTON EXISTS. WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU TO THINK YOURE BETTER THAN DOLLY PARTON. I DONT EVEN KNOW WHO YOU ARE. “

•she decided his name was Flutterballs

•”YOU THINK YOUR SPECIAL, HUH FLUTTERBALLS? CAN YOUR DISCOUNTED GUITAR PLAY JOLENE? NO IT CANT FLUTTERBALLS. YOU AINT GOT SHIT ON DOLLY PARTON”

•Cardan was cackling

•Even Jude was grinning

•Heather started imitating Flutterballs

•”OOOH WOOH LOOK AT ME IM FLUTTERBALLS I HAVE A LYYYYYYRRE I CAN PLUCK STRIIIIIIINGS.”

•”YOU KNOW WHAT I CAN DO FLUTTERBALLS? I CAN TURN THE HEADS OF EVERY MORTAL IN A GENERATION WITH ONE FUCKING PIANO NOTE”

•”DO YOU KNOW WHAT A PIANO IS FLUTTERBALLS? NO? IS THAT TOO NEW AGE FOR YOU? NOT AS TOE TAPPING AS YOUR FUCKING LYRE?”

•”YOU THINK YOUR MUSIC MAKES ME SHAKE MY ASS THE SAME WAY THAT DANCING QUEEN DOES?”

•”YOU THINK YOUR LYRE CAN HOLD A GOD DAMNED CANDLE TO THE TRANSCENDENT EXPERIENCE THAT IS BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY?”

•Vivi’s jaw was on the fucking ground as Heather kept going

•”I MEAN FUCK THE GALL OF THIS MAN. DO YOU HEAR THIS SHIT VIVIENNE? HOW DARE THEY THINK THAT THEIR MUSIC IS BETTER! WE MOVED PAST THIS SHIT FIVE CENTURIES AGO!”

•the whole revel watched as Heather picked up her wine glass just to smash it on the ground

•she then turned back to Flutterballs

•who looked terrified

•threw him the finger

•and stormed back to the palace

•still loudly grumbling about the audacity of the bullshit

•Jude was doing damage control

•(making sure Heather didn’t get glamoured into fucking oblivion)

•Cardan was STILL cackling

•Vivi (since she moved past the surprise) agreed with every damn thing Heather said

•finally someone said it

•fucking lyres

•fuck

~~~~~~

Can you tell I’m annoyed by how in the books/fics the fae have this obvious “oh we’re better than humans oh our stuff is magical and better ooooh we can make you dance and never stop” bitch so does ABBA this ass don’t stop when Dancing Queen comes on and thats that on that

Tag list: @cardan-greenbriar-tcp @hizqueen4life @slightlyrebelliouswriter23 @thewickedkings @aelin-queen-of-terrasen @cheekycheekycheeks @queen-of-glass @b00kworm @doingmyrainbow @andromeddea @jurdanhell @thesirenwashere @illyrianwitchling @courtofjurdan @clockworkgraystairs @st00pid231 @booksandlewks @fateandluminary @addies-invisible-life @nahthanks

#tfota #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #tfota headcanon #tyrannosaurus lex writes #hcs #hc #headcanon #Vivienne Duarte #Heather

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quillify-tries-to-talk · 3 years

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Some of my favorite tropes in media

1. Found family

Welp. Why am I surprised?

In addition to a ton of platonic relationships, there's also a bang-on hilarity in each one of these groups.

Six of Crows (the progression in Kaz and Wylan's dynamic??? Nina and Inej being besties??? Jesper and Inej having a running joke of scheming face lol??? Matthias forgoing his prejudices to team up with Jesper and Kuwei???)

The Hargreeves siblings??? (We're not gonna talk about what's going on between Luther and Allison 💀 but the rest of them 🥺🥺🥺)

2. Ballroom dance scenes

Oh, to be twirling across the dancefloor in the arms of your partner (bonus points if it's your enemy💖) and you can't decide if your heightened breathing is due to the music's tempo or the 🌟tension🌟

Whyyyyyyy did we have to stop balls!?!?!? Whyyyyyyyy???? Are you telling me that we lost the opportunity to wear our most artful dresses and have a night of elegant dancing and food and it was replaced by nightclubs??? T_T

3. The sunshine character actually has problems.

Love, love, love it when the sunshine, always joking, always kind character opens up about their own issues and insecurities yet they don't stop being kind and don't lose their heart just because the world is going to hell

Prime examples: Ron Weasley (au contraire, HP fandom, this guy has one of the best characterizations in the books and y'all just sleep on him because you want your special ones so much), Leo Valdez (my boy repaired a whole dragon alone, dealt with losing his mom, was homeless and yet keeps the atmosphere light and happy and makes hilarious jokes T_T), Inej Ghafa (horribly traumatized, has done things to survive in a brutal world, deserves the world, and yet is so, so, so fiercely kind and compassionate and always there for her friends💖)

4. When the tough, scary one is soft for kids or animals

Nothing is more wholesome than watching a stone-cold badass softening towards a kid or adopting a baby animal or just showing love for their family (Five Hargreeves 🥺). Shows that they still have a bit of their heart unguarded wnd hopeful.

5. Wholesome friendships that just stay friendships + siblings being siblings.

My ace ass hates love triangles with a fiery passion and it's really tiring to see every friendship being shipped left and right or being pushed into love triangle *side-eyes CC*

Lucie Herondale and Cordelia Carstairs are my favorite parabatai duo and I need more content of their friendship and antics pleaseee. I need more of them being a chaotic duo.

Alastair and Cordelia are my favorite brother sister duo, just with the way they address each other and how Cordelia thought about killing him during the demon attacks in ChoG.

Percy Jackson and Grover Underwood. The guy sailed across the Bermuda Triangle to rescue his best friend.

Also the potential we lost with Hermione and Ginny because R*wling couldn't write more than one PoV -_-

But on a happy note, Ron and Harry are my favorite and I love these dorks so much. They really become brothers by the end *gross sobbing*

Aru and her Pandava sisters and the two braincells they share🤦‍♀️��

Once more, the Hargreeves family going from strangers to dumbass chaotic family in TUA s2😂🤦‍♀️

6. Enemies-to-lovers

Bonus points if they're also academic rivals. Why is this trope not used more? We could explore some great themes on the shit education system.

No one? Fine I'll write a fic myself.

Also, enemies to lovers =/= abusive relationships. Keep that trash away from me where the love interests are manipulative, abusive towards their love interests and then later fall in love with them. My favorite progression goes like this:

Ugh pretentious ass, look at them==>ugh why are we working together?==>why do we work so well as a team!?==>goddammit why are they so nice!?==>I guess we're friends now==>what is this tension!?!==>*notices something pretty about them* uh oh. 😳😳😳

Prime examples: Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Kallias and Alessandra from The Shadows Between Us. Jude and Cardan from TFOTA (I know they're toxic. Would not stan that relationship irl but I loved their development in the trilogy)

7. When the best friends go to an event as each other's date and are mutually pining over each other but are oblivious dumbasses.🤦‍♀️

Bonus points if other people mistake them for a couple and they can't even get out a proper explanation ;)

*whispers* Harry and Ron should've asked each other to the Yule Ball

8. More thoughtfully-written boys in YA

Please move on beyond the bad boy and broody, immortal, muscular warrior trope. Give representation to my PoC, neurodivergent, trans and fat boys. Give boys dark features (I promise they are as entrancing as blue eyes or blonde hair). Make them emotional, make them something other than stoic, make them like teenagers (and not adults playing teens). They deserve the world and well-written role models as much as girls do.

Prime example: Ron Weasley, Jesper, Wylan, Enrique and Hypnos from TGW, and Julian Blackthorn.

I could write essays for Ron but all I'll say is that r*wling did a good job by giving the role of emotional support (that's usually considered a feminine job) to a boy and made him funny and kind-hearted🥺

As for Julian, like I said before ruthless characters being soft for their family make me go T_T

9. Showing feminism with an equal society (as Tricia Levenseller does it), wholesome f/f and m/f friendships, normalizing the presence of LGBTQ people, without trashing men or femininity.

If you have to deliberately create a highly patriarchal society to show off your progressive views and badass female MC, then you're doing feminism wrong :)

Oops my saltiness leaked out in the end 😳

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themadauthorshatter · 3 years

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If you're up to date with my posts, then you know what's about to happen.

I've read the books, WE'VE ALL READ THE BOOKS, but this is a somewhat fun switch-a-roo.

Expect a BUNCH of changes that I'll try justifying, especially painful ones, so bear with me🙏

OTP SWAP PART 1: THE CRUEL PRINCE!!!!

I'm starting with the first book for obvious reasons

Like before, we start in the mortal world with Ashley Duarte(yes, human!Cardan's last name is Duarte, but like I said, bear with me) making tacos in the kitchen while one of the MANY dogs and other animals wait for her to drop some food. Baby boy Cardan and his older half-sister Rhyia are watching some human stuff, maybe Looney Tunes or old Mickey Mouse cartoons, when the door is knocked on, which alerts the animals and wakes a half asleep Cardan; Rhyia does not wake up.

Cardan answers it and finds a cloaked Madoc at the door. Rather than ask who he is or call for his mother, he stares at this man, who kneels and asks as evenly as possible if his mother is home.

Cardan slams the door in his face, which prompts Ashley to ask why he did so.

Madoc BANGS on the door and shouts, "Asha!" and Ashley pales as she realizes who is at the door.

She demands Cardan to go upstairs as Madoc kicks the door open and walks inside, giving the same speech as the original, that Balekin told him she'd ran away with his daughter, that she killed a woman who was just as pregnant as her, that she ran away and married some lowly farm hand and blacksmith. He thought it was a lie, but nope. Here she stands.

Asha(which is her real name) is deeply ashamed at his words, and tries to pull Cardan away; an angry Madoc is an unstable Madoc.

Like before, Justin rushes in to save his family, but ends up getting kebabbed with his wife.

Rhyia does wake up to see both and Madoc spills the tea that she's his and needs to pack her bags because they're leaving, and Cardan's coming with.

Cardan, despite being seven, is outraged and tries to kick Madoc into oblivion with no avail. Rhyia, however, swears that she'll never love a monster like Madoc, who simply scoffs and tells her to wrangle the human and gather her things in half an hour, because they're leaving for Faerie.

Reluctantly, they do and they never see the mortal world again for a very long time.

Jump to the present day as Cardan, a now seventeen year old human heart throb, is getting prim and proper for a revel. His hair is getting styled nice, he's in a nice suit, he's wearing a cool belt that makes him look like he has a tail, and has ear cuffs that make his ears look pointed like a faerie.

He also has rowan berries on his wrist, because he doesn't want the necklace to be easy to see as a lot of his shirts show his chest.

He's dolled up and meets Locke, his brother that came around when Madoc married Oriana and had Oak. The two did not get along, at first, but they began to tolerate each ither as they realized they were the only humans in Faerie that were gentry kids.

Locke is more of a bard or a poet, always seen with a little book, and doesn't wear the same stuff Cardan does, so no pointed ear cuffs for him. He's also more accustomed to Faerie, being good with half truths and minor deception. He's on good terms with both Madoc and Oriana.

Cardan, however, is not on good terms with either of them, as he has tried multiple times to leave Faerie, with and without Rhyia with him, and every time ended with Madoc outside scowling at him and leading him back to his room. Still has that 'no kill' rule, but he's better with sneaking and a sword, having been able to lighten his steps so he could sneak past Madoc and his guards whenever he tried to leave. He's not bad with a sword, but he still has a lot to learn, being 17 and all. When he doesn't have a sword in his hands, he has an animal in them, i.e. a foal, a dog, or, at one point, a skunk that was calm enough to not spray him. Yeah, animal lover that can hold his own.

The two exchange banter and Locke shows show rare excitement for this revel, saying the two will have the time of their lives. Locke, who isn't as close with her, wonders where Rhyia is, but Cardan reveals she's not attending, instead going to visit some friends in the mortal world.

Her funeral as the boys saddle up with Oriana amd Madic and go to the revel.

Similar events occur, like Oriana telling the boys to be careful, Madoc talking to Dain and Balekin, and Locke leading Cardan through the revel so they can have a good time.

IT GOES DOWNHILL WHEN THE GREENBRIAR TWINS AND THEIR FRIENDS ARRIVE. Jude, her older sister Taryn, and their friends, Edir, a bard that can sing and play anyone under the table, Valerian, who's a sadist, and Nicasia, the princess of the Undersea.

Jude and Taryn may have the same face and body, but don't be fooled, Jude has horns, always wears a sword, and will slap you in a dress and then set it on fire without a second’s hesitation. Taryn, however, always has a bunch of flowers in her hair, always wears a dress, and uses words as her weapon. Did you know that she broke on of the most boisterous men in Faerie qith nothing but her words? True story. Edir is the guy that keeps them both in check, an order of Balekin's, which we'll learn later. He is also more of Jude's friend and Taryn's bed buddy, in SFW terms. Nicasia is Jude's friend, like FRIEND, and Valerian is the same, really, just more of an ass now that he has more even targets.

Everyone bows to these guys, even Cardan and a smirking Locke. That smirk vanishes when Taryn winks at Cardan, who Jude GLARES AT.

Locke feels the same way, cinfused and angry, but no time to think in it because Valerian storms toward a confused Cardan and grabs him by the collar, snarling that he can play dress up and make believe all he wants because it won't hide his plain hair or round ears or barn dog smell, so he shouldn't even bother.

Valerian throws him back and Locke rounds on Cardan, asking him what the hell that was between him and Taryn. Cardan brushes him off, as it was just a wink, not a lap dance. Before they can REALLY go at it, crying draws their attention and see that Jude just pincushioned someone who didn't bow, said someone nkw having a hole in their stomach and a slash across their torso. Taryn is annoyed, Nicasia and Valerian are trying not to laugh, and Edir, who's embarassed, is scolding Jude for losing it at a revel.

Jump to after the revel and the day of school. The boys do indeed get dirt kicked on their food, but instead of 'make me,' Cardan snaps, 'TRY me,' because Nicasia asks if he's as filthy as other human boys. Locke talks him down, but Valerian, kicking more dirt and even throwing some IN Cardan's face, asks if the two qould like them for friends.

Locke apologizes for Cardan, but Jude commands he prove it by dropping out of the tournament, it'll be less embarrassing than getting his ass beaten in front of everyone.

Nicasia spots one of the ear cuffs and pulls it off, asking if he stole it. Big mistake because the cuff burns her hand, as it is iron and iron hurts Faeries.

Cardan smirks and the group leaves, Locke scolding him for being stupid.

Later, at dinnner, after talk of Dain's coronation, Cardan, despite some minor objection from Rhyia, asks Madoc a question: May he please have a green sash for the tournament? Why? He would like to be a knight, please and thank you. Madoc chikes on his wine, Locke coughs to hide a laugh, Rhyia winces, and Oriana os shicked into silence.

Madoc gives it to him straight: he's not bad with a sword, he's good on his feet,and he's the best damned rider that anyone's ever seen, but no. He cannot compete for knighthood, on the count of being the furthest thing from a killer imaginable and just being in over his head.

Cardan protests that he can do just fine, but Madoc warns him to stop before he gets himself thrown in a dungeon instead if his room until the coronation of prince Dain.

Cardan relinquishes and we get the salt prank like before, except Locke is pissed beyond all reason at his foster brother. Cardan doesn't mind until he's grabbed by Edir and Valerian, Locke being pulled by the hair by Jude and both are thrown in the river, which has Nixies in it.

Thier supplies get yeeted, Locke gets pulled out by Valerian and is made to kiss Jude on the lips and both her horns, but, when asked, Cardan does not give up, vowing that he will never give up, which makes Jude laugh and the group leave.

Locke and Cardan walk home, get some baths, and go to bed, except they go to the mortal world with Rhyia and meet her friends Vivienne and Heather at the mall. Vivienne apologizes for Jude's behavior, and we learn that Rhyia is planning to leave Faerie, and is probably going alone.

The boys return and endure a lesson, but Jude pushes Locke's buttons, so Cardan pushes her into a tree. Challenge accepted.

TOURNAMENT TIME!! Cardan fairs wellin that Valerian is lazy, Edir is out of shape, and Jude got cocky, so he wins.

Jude fumes at him, later grabbing him by the tail on his belt amd demanding he beg for her forgiveness. He does... NOT! And spits in her face that she may push him down, but he'll pull her down with him, and it will hurt her like hell.

Taryn approaches him and expresses interest in him, saying that she once took both Edir and Nicasia from Jude because people just like a sensitive girl.

She leaves and the tournament eventually ends, which leads Cardan to return hime and meet Dain, who requested one of Madoc's people to tell Cardan one of Eldred's children had come for a visit.

Dain and Cardan get talking and Dain offers him something that isn't knighthood: spying. Plus one wish.

Cardan knows what he wants: to not be controled.

Granted, but Dain can still control him and the fruits of Faerie will still effect him.

Screwy, but deal, he's a spy now

STAY TUNED FOR PART 2!!!!!

#the cruel prince #the cruel prince trilogy #folk of the air #cardan greenbriar #jude duarte #locke #taryn duarte #otp swap #jude x cardan #jurdan

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elephart-hi · 3 years

Text

The Mortal Maiden: Witch AU

Chapter 1: A (doomed) Mission at Hollow Hall

with a Jude wip for a larger piece, I'm doing for this fic!!!

Set during The Cruel Prince

Summary: For her whole life in Elfhame, Jude had been convinced that mortals were unable to do magic. She clearly remembers Madoc telling her that there were no witches in fairyland. She assumed he meant that they didn't exist, not that they had been hunted into extinction. During one of her missions at hallow hall, Jude received information about a spell that requires a unicorn and a witch and her whole world gets turned sideways as she discovers why they were eradicated. After another mission where Jude saves a strangers life, an ancient grimoire finds its way to her bed with a note from the stranger thanking her for saving them and warning her to only read the spellbook but not to practice the magic within, lest she wishes to be burned by the folk. Jude heeded the warning as if Oriana had given it to her herself, that is she completely ignored it and did what she shouldn't. Tensions are high as the coronation swiftly approaches and Jude finds herself more deeply entwined with the web of lies that ties the Greenbriar line together than ever before. With nothing but her wits and her secret sender to aid her magical studies, Jude can only hope to make it out unscathed.

Rating: Mature but not explicitly till later chapters!

Ao3 chapter 2

AN: This is set during the cruel prince. I absolutely love the different character development of the characters from book to book. Specifically, Jude in book one being like I have no clue how to be a spy I’m going to fucking die and it’s my fault for making a deal with Dain! curse me, god! Always made me laugh. So playing with that and with Cardan’s talking door. I like to think the door can move around hollow hall so that is a headcanon in here. We were robbed of spy jude content and all it’s potential so here. we get to the witches later I promise

Jude Duerte had, on numerous occasions now, cursed herself for thinking she could ever be a spy in fairyland. For starters, she was a seventeen-year-old mortal up against fairies a hundred years her senior. Her mortality happened to be the very reason she couldn’t use magic, which brings us to the second reason being a spy was a foolish, foolish thing for her to be: she was at a monumental disadvantage to everyone else in fairyland because they were magical assholes by nature.

As she raced through the crowded party at Hollow Hall, ducking between dancers and enslaved mortals caring trays of fairie wine, trying to avoid the guards who caught her stealing, Jude realized that being mortal had another disadvantage since it probably made her incredibly disposable to Dain, the prince she served under and who she was, for all intents and purposes, enslaved to thanks to the geas she struck with him. Her death would be of little consequence to the prince.

She reached her hand out and grabbed the ostentatiously carved banister to her right, using it to swing her momentum in a direction where the guards wouldn't have her surrounded. She barrelled into a stairwell hidden from the view of the ball as people started shouting. Jude had at least remembered something she’d learned from her short time training in the spy’s keep: always find multiple exit routes. She had scouted out the stairwell before her mission had gone sideways as she mingled amongst the folk.

She raced up the stairs nearly tripping on her gown as she began her climb, heart racing so fast she thought it would burst out of her corset. Her geas with Dain would protect her from fairy enchantments but it wouldn't protect her from being impaled by a sword or spear. Regardless of how skilled she was with a blade herself, ten immortal guards against one human did not seem like good odds.

As Jude continued her ascent she realized that her exit route was less of an exit and more of a path further into the manor. The roach would have her neck for her idiocy… If she lived to ever see him again. She should have gone for the servant’s quarters instead, she thought with a groan. From there she already knew her way out of the manor. She didn’t think she would have guards chasing her on her way out so she had, rather foolishly, assumed she would be able to explore more of the massive grounds and figure out the layout better for the next time Dain sent her here to spy on his elder brother: Prince Belkin. Now Jude just hoped she would live to see another night, much less another mission.

As she continued her ascent up the round cobblestone stairwell, the noise of the party became lost to her and she couldn’t hear the guards in pursuit anymore. Perhaps her quick exit had been in her benefit after all. If she had gone for the servant’s quarters they surely would have seen her use it and would have gone after her. Each turn up the stairs, she passed a candle in an alcove, lighting the cobblestone steps beneath her. She paused to rest on a dark step outside the reach of the candle’s glow, lest someone use the stairs and see her hunched over in its flickering light catching her breath.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the note she not so subtly nipped from her target. Right as she had grabbed the note out of his pocket, a fairy with copious amounts of cologne passed her and made her sneeze. The messenger in front of her immediately spun around but before he could get a word out Jude had him in a chokehold; his cries for help dying in his throat. She had thought herself so clever until the goblet in his hand clattered to the floor, gaining the attention of a nearby guard. Then she had felt like an idiot, as the guard called for reinforcements.

The manor would be crawling with them now, but they would all be looking for a fairy with horns, yellow eyes, and pointed ears. Jude had gotten the costume from a gothic store in the mall of the mortal lands and tonight it proved to be useful. She chuckled to herself as she pulled the horns from her hair and removed the fake ears and colored contact lenses. She tucked them all into a large pocket of her skirt, making sure to put her contacts into their case. Once her breath had settled and she looked nothing more than a mortal servant again, Jude continued her ascent up the stairs, hoping that she wouldn't gain any more unnecessary attention until she was a long way from the manor and back in the safety of the spy’s keep.

Once she reached the door atop the stairs, Jude leaned her ear against the wood, listening for any potential passersby in the hall. She nearly pissed herself and fell back down the flight of stairs when a doorknocker, which certainly hadn’t been on the door when she leaned against it, blinked and spoke to her.

“Looking for trouble or hiding from it, my dear”

Jude didn’t have a clue what to say. What does one even say to a doorknocker? No matter how long she has lived in fairyland, the world and its strange magic always managed to perplex her. So she just stared at the metal face that was now molded into the door completely dumbfounded.

“You’re being rude.”

Jude shook herself from her stupor, and raised her chin, “Neither. What would make you think I was in any kind of trouble?”

“Probably something to do with you pressing your ear to the door to see if the coast was clear,” the doorknocker said with a stern face.

Jude pressed her lips together. Once again cursing herself for thinking she could be a spy. It was obvious that she wasn’t the encorcelled servant she was posing to be. She internally groaned; the stars were certainly against her tonight. If she said she was hiding from trouble she would be admitting to some extent of guiltiness; with that thought a scheme started taking form in her mind.

“Looking for it,” she said decidedly, mustering up a smirk that she didn’t feel, “do you know where I could find any?”

The door squinted at her, judging the truth of her words as he eyed her round ears, “try the second to the last door on the right,” he said, swinging open for her with a returning smirk on his metal face that made Jude uneasy.

“Perfect,” she replied mustering more false bravo into her voice, “and afterward when I need to hide from the trouble I find what direction would you point me in?”

The door beamed at her then, a grin stretching the brass of its face.

“Down the hall past that door there will be a stairwell hidden behind a tapestry depicting a pixie orgy. Take the stairs to the bottom and you will find yourself at the stables,” the door still smirked at her, as if he knew what she had been planning all along.

Jude curtsied at him and went on her way, planning on foregoing the ‘looking for trouble’ bit but, to her surprise, the doorknocker’s face appeared on the backside of the door when it closed behind her. Jude was certain now that the doorknocker hadn’t been there when she arrived. It must be enchanted to move as it pleased. Now he watched every step she took. Jude would have thought it a very clever way of safeguarding one’s manor if the door was not a huge liability for her now.

As she proceeded down the carpeted hall, the doorknocker’s face magicked from one door to the next, smirking at her as she made her way past ancient doors, scenic art of battles and kings long past, and tapestries woven by the hands of skilled sprites. Every inch of the hall radiated extravagance, much like the two fairy princes who lived here.

She had no option but to go ‘looking for trouble’ now, Jude realized with irritation, not if she wanted the door to keep quiet about her lurkings. However, Jude hardly needed to look for trouble, she could hear the cries of guards searching the manor for a thief. She had already found enough of it today as is.

When she reached the second to the last door on the right, the one the doorknocker had instructed her to find, she realized that she recognized it from her last mission at Hollow Hall. Her stomach felt squeamish at the memories it brought up. Of Belkin and the belt. Of the owner of this room kneeling on the floor taking the beating.

The annoying doorknocker appeared on the wooden door, right in front of her face, his eyes squinting at her.

“Just what kind of trouble will I be getting into?” she asked, “is Cardan inside?”

Jude dreaded the answer. The door probably brought her here to turn her into him. She had the sinking feeling that she was a dead man walking. She could only imagine what Cardan would do to her when he caught her, mind drifting to the note with her name furiously scrawled onto it over and over again. A chill ran down her spine.

“I was assuming you were looking for the fun kind of trouble, Jude,” the door replied, his brass eyes glinting in mischief as he said her name as if he knew exactly what she had been thinking of. She wondered if he had watched her steal the book from Cardan’s room. She wondered how he knew her name. The torches of the corridor cast a golden gleam on the metalworking of his brass face, the craftsmanship reminded her of her father’s blades and metalworking. Her chest squeezed at the memories of her late father, but not before she shuddered at whatever the door considered being ‘fun’.

“How did you know it was my young prince’s chambers?” the door asked dubiously, suspicion laced his voice. Perhaps he hadn’t witnessed her previous mission after all.

Jude ignored his question since he ignored one of hers, “how did you know my name?” she snarked back.

The doorknocker averted his eyes, clearly not wanting to answer. She smirked and continued.

“What would you do if I were to bolt?”

“Then my prince would hear of your suspicious whereabouts,” he replied, a smirk returning to his metal face. Jude wasn't sure which prince he referred to, Belkin or Cardan. She knew one was worse than the other. Cardan was only nineteen with no true courtly power since he was still in school. Belkin on the other hand was the eldest prince to the High King, was centuries old, and was in no shortage of power.

Jude realized, as the sound of the guards searching the manor grew closer, that she had no options that were beneficial to her. She did, however, have one option that was far better than the other. The guards in question would be in the hall at any second by the sound of it. She could either bolt now, get captured by them, and have the doorknocker spill her secrets... or she could face whatever was on the other side of this door.

For all that she knew Cardan could still be at the revel a few floors down. Drunk on wine and merriment like he always was and balls deep in a pretty sprite.

The door swung open in front of her, leaving her no chance to rethink her decision as she stepped inside the threshold of the chamber, closing the door behind her. On the other side, she could hear the guards storming into the hall where she had just been standing.

“My prince,” the doorknocker called out, his face now on the backside of the door, peering inside the room, “your mortal maiden has come calling for you.”

Jude’s heart plummeted to her stomach. She couldn’t believe she had hoped that Cardan would still be enjoying the festivities downstairs. Ugh! Of course, the knocker would’ve known he was inside. He could magic from room to room after all. It seemed that the stars truly were against her that night.

She smashed her eyes shut in fear of what was to come next but all she was met with grumbling coming from the beautiful four-poster bed.

Jude peeked her eyes open and saw that Cardan hadn’t even bothered looking up to acknowledge the door. He laid on his bed sprawled out on his side, head hunched over with his nose shoved into a book, his black hair hanging in his eyes. He had one of his black nails caught between his teeth as his eyes darted across the page. He looked so... disarming like this. Nothing like the wicked boy she had come to know at school.

He probably hadn’t the slightest clue about the chaos Jude had caused downstairs, as he sat there completely wrapped up in his own world. From the way he was positioned, Jude guessed he was getting to an interesting part of his book. From behind him, Jude spotted his tail darted in and out of sight, swatting from side to side. It was almost humorous watching his tail change its pace as his eyes flew across the page; the tail speeding up and slowing down depending on what he read before him. This was a wholly unique side to Cardan she had never seen before, not at school, nor the palace revels, nor during her spy missions. So this was the person Cardan was when he was all alone?

The Cruel Prince of Elfhame was… a bookworm?

The door grumbled beside her loudly, clearing his throat, while a small incredulous smile tugged the corners of Jude’s lips.

“In a minute,” Cardan drawled slowly, as though speaking through honey, like his words had to travel all the way back from whatever far off land the book had charted him off to.

“My prince,” the doorknocker urged.

“I’m in the middle of a very important scene, my door, I don’t care for your taunts right now,” Cardan grumbled to the doorknocker, putting the same amount of emphasis on ‘my door’ as the door had on ‘my prince’. They were obviously very familiar with each other from how they spoke. “And she’s not ‘my’ anything!”

The knocker barked out a laugh followed by a wink towards Jude and with that, he vanished. Leaving her alone with Cardan. She turned to the door and tried the handle but it held firm, refusing to turn. She heard the sound of the doorknocker chuckling from the other side of the door; standing guard and locking her inside to face whatever punishment Cardan deemed fit for her. She dreaded what was to come but... he had yet to even notice her there.

Cardan reached over to the bedside table with the hand he had held hostage between his full lips and grabbed a goblet of wine from a tray of cheese, faerie fruit, and crackers. From what she could see before her, Jude decided that Cardan had the makings for a wonderful night of relaxation. The sight made something stir within her, perhaps she did want to look for trouble. How privileged of him to be able to sit here with such comforts while Jude had to enslave herself in a geas and become a spy just to get a scrap of power. He had everything she did not.

Jude realized that there would be no better trouble to find than a chance to ruin Cardan’s perfect night. And just as he was getting to the good part of his book she thought with bitter humor. Boohoo! The poor little prince! She rolled her eyes as resentment swelled within her. Resentment and rancorous jealousy. If the stars wanted her in trouble tonight then who was she to work against them.

She looked him over; his hair the color of raven feathers looked as if he had raked his hands through it a few times, probably in distress for whatever was happening in his book. How lucky he was that he only had to worry about his book and--

--and Balekin's wrath.

All schemes of trouble froze at the sickening memory of the wet sound of Cardan’s blood meeting the leather belt. The memory was a cooling draught to the burning resentment that boiled within her. Perhaps his books were a means of escape from the abuse he endured…

But none of that excused the bullshit he put her through at school! Jude was made to feel small every day since she was stolen away from the mortal world, but you don’t see her taking it out on every person she met.

And just like that, her resentment began to simmer anew. Although less powerful.

She continued to look him over, contemplating just how to ruin his night of relaxation. No adornments graced his ears for once, nor rings on his fingers. Cardan wore a plain sleep shirt whose strings were loose, leaving much of his lean chest exposed; she could see bits of his scars peeking over his shoulders.

Jude thought again about how strange it was seeing him like this. He was still heartbreakingly as handsome as usual except now, with the lack of finery and makeup, Jude almost found him more lovely. All the extravagance that he draped himself in distracted from how naturally breathtaking he was on his own. Now with nothing to distract from his unearthly beauty, Jude found herself almost speechless at the sight of him. It made her furious. How could someone so lovely on the outside be so hideous within?

Jude shook the annoying thoughts from her head and tried the door once more. Locked. Damn it.

Seeing no other option, Jude cleared her throat and spoke at last.

“I supposed I could come back another time then, your majesty,” she sunk into a curtsy to hide her grin when she heard him choke on his wine, realizing that he wasn't alone in his room.

“I would hate to interrupt... especially if you’re ‘in the middle of a very important scene’,” she phrased the last bit like a question, implying its inherent rudeness to dismiss someone over something as trivial as a good book. Although if Jude were to be honest with herself, she wouldn't mind that being a reasonable excuse to dismiss someone.

She looked up and barely choke down the laugh that tried to bubble out of her throat at the sight before her. Of a flabbergasted Cardan with wine now staining the front of his sleep shirt and his black eyes ringed with gold bugging out of his head at the sight of her. He may be beautiful but he looked ridiculous at that moment.

“Now how does your door know my name and why did he refer to me as your maiden?”

chapter 2

#jurdan fanfic #tfota #tfota fanfic #the cruel prince #the wicked king #the queen of nothing #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #my writing #the mortal maiden

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beeirifulmer · 2 years

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Flightless Bird Pt.3

//Warning, this contains all book spoilers.

This drops off of the request I had, but I have a new part so if the first part seems a bit familiar, that’s why.

~ TRIGGER WARNINGS: This series contains slightly NSFW content, kidnapping, torturing, child endangerment. This series a pretty intense, so if I miss any, please let me know! ~

As morning came, Cardan woke up and left the tent before everyone else woke up to catch the two. Jude woke up two hours later, in deep need of that sleep. The girl left the tent, noticing how everyone else was wide awake and gathered around starting to pack.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sleep in that late.” Jude clutched her shirt to her body as the morning chill hit her skin.

“No need, I would rather have a Queen who got her beauty rest than one who would have my head.” The Roach smirked as he finished packing. Jude cracked a grin as she looked over to her husband, watching the way he glanced at her before ducking into his tent and finishing up his own packing.

By the time everyone was done, they were on the walk again. Their order stayed the same, the Roach and the Bomb in front, Cardan and Jude in the middle, the Ghost in the back. The Ghost preferred to keep to himself, but didn’t mind the small conversations he would occasionally have with Jude or the group.

“So, how much of our training have you forgotten?” He teased, Jude grinning to herself.

“Surprisingly, none.” Jude glanced behind her shoulder before taking a pause in her step to think, “I think. I hope at least.” Jude smiled and the Ghost let out a small chuckle.

For a while of the walk, no one said a word, no one felt the need to. The Roach mentioned he thought they might be close, but they still didn’t know what they were looking for. “A burrow? A cave? A cabin? Cardan, you knew him best. Where would he be?”

“Wouldn’t Jude know him best?” The Ghost asked next, Jude slightly tensing as she understood his question.

“Considering half of my relationship with him was a lie? No.” Jude said simply as she continued walking, the stress building up inside of her yet again. Cardan felt the energy inside her shift, the wind swerving into them from behind. The sudden change in the weather made the King smile internally; the land hasn't had a Queen in years, and that was what came to Jude's mind every now and then: what if the land didn't accept her.

"Right, apologies." The Ghost nodded toward Jude with apologetic intentions.

"He would be in a bigger area, and he certainly wouldn't be alone." Cardan began as he thought. "Valerian and Locke were always different that way, Valerian would have picked a small remote area, but Locke will always go big."

"So we just look for a big building?" The Ghost looked around as if it would pop out of nowhere.

"Jude wouldn't be able to see it, I'm sure Locke glamoured it."

"Good thing Jude can't be glamoured," the three Court members spoke casually as they walked.

"Right, I'm still getting used to that."

"Used to what?" Jude smirked, "ordering me to crawl to you and kiss your foot in nothing but bra and panties?" Cardan only rolled his eyes, not giving Jude the reaction she wanted. “Garret could easily do that.” She muttered, loud enough for Cardan to hear.

“Oh god.” The Ghost groaned as he knew what was about to come with how desperate the two were for one another.

Cardan was quick to press Jude up against the nearest tree, caging her in with his arms on either side of her. “You’re pushing me, Jude.”

“And what do I seem to be doing that’s ‘pushing’, my King?” The way she addressed him made him almost ruin her in every possible way he could. So he started, his lips pressed against hers hungerly. Jude pressed into him, hand coming up to tangle into his dark hair. With a smirk, Jude pulled on it and felt Cardan let out a soft, content exhale.

Cardan’s hand began to search as it started on her face, then dropping down to her neck to loosely grip, before it grazed down her body and curves. His palm landed on the curve of her hip, lightly squeezing as his other hand sat on the back of Jude’s neck to hold her closer. The Queen began to become risky as she let her kisses fall down her husband’s jawline before they landed on his neck. She kept her kisses light, but was still sure to make marks.

Both of them soon pulled away for air, Jude smirking ever-so-slightly as she saw her work of art on her canvas. Cardan took a few deep breaths to prevent himself from stealing her break away and kissing her against until they both died from lack of oxygen.

“Don’t make me finish what I started before I married you,” Cardan threatened, but Jude’s face faltered at that. His eyes searched hers, trying to figure out what he had said that made her mood change. Was this not the reaction she wanted? Then it hit him.

He was not the one to take her innocence away.

Letting Jude leave his cage, Cardan continued walking, almost feeling sick to his stomach thinking of her and Garret. He wanted to tear the man apart the second he saw them talk to one another in ways only he should talk to her, when Garret looked at her with a hunger only he should ever look at her with. Cardan cursed to himself, wondering how stupid he could have been to not put two and two together that she was much older than she was two years ago when he married her and almost took it.

Jude started walking, trying to duck behind the Ghost, but he was more agile and refused to let her walk anywhere but in front where Cardan was. The awkwardness set between them quickly, Cardan in anger and jealousy, Jude in frustration and regret.

“Think they’ll get over it?” The Bomb looked to her Court partner as she spoke softly, aware the couple could possibly hear, but she never cared.

“Once this is all over, I just hope Jude stays here. We need a Queen.” The Roach adjusted the strap on his shoulder as they walked. The Bomb watched as she took in her favorite features about him. “You’re staring, Liliver.”

“I thought you had a bug on your shoulder.” The Bomb looked away as if she wasn’t just caught. The Roach only grinned.

About two hours later, it was slowly getting dark again. Countless times, the Ghost had mentioned how he was sure they were close; nothing came up. The Ghost was certain they would find Taryn tonight or the next day.

“I don’t know about that anymore,” Jude shook her head, dismissing the Ghost’s 50th speech. He tried to argue, but everyone told him to just settle down and a better plan would be created in the morning. “I say we search just a little longer, until the stars are staring us down.”

“Jude you need sleep,” Cardan began, but Jude gave him a look.

“Until the stars are staring us down.” She ordered.

“Jude I think he’s right-”

“That is an order from your Queen.” Jude looked at the Roach, eyes narrow as the four’s shoulders shrunk, aware now they had no choice but to avoid Jude’s sleep. “We’re going to find my sister.”

They continued walking, Cardan keeping an eye on his wife to ensure he would catch her needed sleep more than walking. Fog soon rolled around, covering the ground and rising. Jude’s breathing seemed to have changed almost too quickly, starting to become too deep and like she was out of breath.

“Jude?” Cardan stopped, thinking this was the moment he caught her. Jude was unresponsive, her breathing only growing worse as her eyes seemed to hold no more emotion in them. Her brain grew fuzzy, and she began to aimlessly look around her. The Ghost felt dizzy himself, trying to understand what was happening.

“Guys. This isn’t normal fog,” the Ghost closed his eyes to try and shake away the dizziness. Luckily, the Ghost was only half-human, so the fog didn’t affect him as much as it did Jude. “Cardan, keep an eye on Jude, we’re close.” The last part came out more slurred than anything.

“Cardan is she gonna be okay?” The Bomb turned to the couple, the Roach searching the woods. Jude looked up and around, eyes landing on the bright red-orange blur on the trees.

“Shit,” was all Jude could muster up before four to five other faeries fell to the ground, quick to attack everyone on the field. Nobody touched Jude, which came as a surprise to everyone, but she still reached for her sword. Just as Jude grasped the handle of Nightfell, she felt a cloth wrap over her nose and mouth.

Her body was too weak from the fog to fight as much as she normally would have. And her world soon went black.

The faerie’s ran off, the group thinking they gave up or realized the Court wasn’t who they wanted. “What the hell was that?!” Cardan watched them run into the fog as he stared confused. “Jude are you alright?” The King turned his head to where he last saw Jude, his face falling as her spot was empty. “Jude?” His eyes frantically searched the area. “Jude!” He called again, and again, and again.

Once Jude woke up, she groaned at the splitting headache she now had. Her eyes stayed shut for a few moments as she collected what recently happened before she passed out. Once she was finished comprehending, her eyes snapped open and she immediately tried to move. Her attempt failed as she realized she was tied to a chair.

Looking around the dimly lit room, Jude noticed a figure slouched in the corner. She couldn't make out who it was, all she knew was it was alive. The girl tried calling to it, whispering and hoping it wasn't what got her in this chair in the first place.

Calling for the figure again, the door swung open and the remaining lights flickered on in the room. "Apologies for the darkness, I didn't want my wife to wake up." The voice chilled her bones, the same voice she thought she was done with over two years ago. He walked closer to her, boots clicking to the ground as he stopped in front of her. "Welcome back, Jude."

"Locke."

Taglist: @fantasyfox10123 (if you'd like to be on my tag list, just let me know <3)

#jurdan #cardanandjude #jude greenbriar #jude duarte #high queen jude #locke #tarynduarte #cardan greenbriar #high king cardan #cardan my beloved #the cruel prince #the wicked king #queen of nothing #fota

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heaven-in-a-wild-flower · 3 years

Text

Jurdan Headcanon (Jude Duarte and Cardan Greenbriar)

I've also published this on ao3 if you'd rather read it there, here's the link. I'm making this a full series (Cardan in the Mortal World).

Chapter 1

Previous chapter (Chapter 2)

Cardan in the Mortal World (Chapter 2.5)

Pink Clouds, Reverent Touches and Villainous Fish

After the whole gown debacle (yes, they purchased the gown and no, of course it wasn't because Jude couldn't stop blushing every time she looked at him in it), they decide to roam the mall till Cardan finds something else he wants to do or see.

They're walking slowly, gently swinging their joined hands between them. Cardan is swivelling his head left and right and up and around, fascination shining in his eyes. Is it ironic, Jude wonders, that she loves her King best when he's acting least like a king?

Suddenly Cardan yanks her towards a stand where a tall tattooed lady is making...clouds! His eyes are as wide as the moon and his mouth has popped open a little and Jude cannot contain the laugh that bubbles out of her at his adorable expression.

"Jude! Jude! How- how is she- she's making clouds! And people are eating them?!" He sputters and to his annoyance (and hidden glee) Jude just laughs and laughs and laughs.

"They aren't clouds, love. It's called cotton candy. It's made from sugar," she tells him, when the laughs have subsided and she's finally caught her breath. She quickly buys some from the lady selling them and feeds him a piece. "Here."

He looks even more awed at her callused fingers, holding the piece of pink cotton candy in them, feeding them to him. It makes her dizzy with joy, her heart shivering in her chest. And then he bites her finger.

"Ow! What was that for?" she says, yanking her hand back.

"I wanted to see which one was sweeter, the cotton candy or you?" he replies, grinning, the incorrigible flirt (Jude will deny it till the day the devil comes for her soul, but she blushes at his answer).

***

They walk past a bookstore and Cardan's stops abruptly. The shelves of books remind him of Balekin's study. His body hunches over slightly, unable to forget the lessons it learnt there. Make yourself so small that there is no space for thoughts, for feelings, for anything at all. Even the pain will have less space to occupy, to spread its black poison.

A hand on his cheek. He knows the feel of it intimately. He loves the contradiction of the rough fingers and their soft touch. They trace the planes of his face from eyebrow to lips, from forehead to chin like a lost person does a map, reverently. He opens his eyes slowly (he doesn't remember closing them, it scares him a little what his body can do without his realising it). He sees Jude looking intensely right into his eyes, fiercely. They have always been best at fighting and so she fights him now. She's fighting to remind him that he is whole and perfect and nothing about him has to ever be small again. She's willing him, with the power of her stare, to believe that he exists in this moment, right here, not in that study, never again.

And slowly, like a feather floats through the air, Cardan's shoulders relax and expand, taking up the space he deserves. The tension in his jaw melts away, thawing under the fire in Jude's eyes. He brings his long fingers to his face, holding onto Jude's fingers, tangling them together. He smiles a small sad smile and kisses her hand, oh-so gently, it nearly brings tears to her eyes. He bends his head down a little and Jude understands perfectly, they don't need words, not always. She rises up on her tiptoes and presses a long kiss into his forehead, drawing all the tension from him with her lips.

"Come on," she whispers and pulls him away from the bookstore and he follows, awed at his Mortal Queen. Awed at the way she knows him, the way she soothes him, the way she loves him.

***

Next Cardan drags Jude to a pond. There is a little pool of water where people are dipping their feet in. There are also fish in the water which seem to be eating their feet. Cardan is at once puzzled and overjoyed.

"Let us try this!" Cardan exclaims, and Jude would never have agreed to this but seeing him so bright again after being completely empty-eyed a few moments ago sways her heart. Anything to keep him happy.

They take their shoes off and submerge their feet in the slightly chill water. And Jude thinks, hmm this is not so bad. I can do this. That is when the malicious creatures attack her feet. She squirms and squirms as they nibble at her feet. Cardan looks worried for her for a moment until he finally realises what's happening.

"Oh, my sweet villain, my darling god, vanquisher of kings, queen of the fae, are you finally defeated by puny fish?" He asks her, smirking. She glares at him.

"Do they possess a hidden power or is the explanation much simpler? Jude, are you ticklish?" His eyes are glowing and hers suddenly look defiant. He scoots closer to her, still smirking and eyes still aglow. Then he attacks. His graceful fingers jabbing at her midsection. She holds herself stiff for a moment and then the dam breaks open and she howls with laughter. That wondrous sound freezes him for an instant. There are fireworks going off in his brain.

But he quickly regains his wits and continues his attacks. She's moving around wildly now, arms windmilling and neck tossing this way and that. Her elbow collides with his nose, nearly breaking it.

"Ow, ow, ow!" He shouts, clutching his reddening nose. Jude looks proud for a moment, as if saying, ha, see, this is what you get when you mess with me. Then he pouts, and she, even she with her iron-will cannot resist. She leans forward placing a soft kiss on his nose. He goes a bit squinty-eyed as he stares at her mouth. He sighs softly, grinning dazedly. She rolls her eyes but her heart goes gooey and she has no explanation, none at all, for why she kisses his nose again.

Next Chapter

Tagging, @jurdanhell @nee-naw-nee-naw-beepbeep

Let me know if anyone else wants to be added to the tagging list

#jurdan #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #jude cardan #jurdan headcanons #jurdan hc #Cardan in the mortal world!#tcp #the cruel prince #tfota #the folk of the air

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