The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air, #2)

by Holly Black

Then I come to a heavy wooden slab carved with the royal crest, the same one stamped in Cardan’s signet ring.

I walk through the enormous, cavernous rooms of Eldred’s apartments, candle in one hand, a knife in the other.

And there, sitting on the High King’s bed, her face stained with tears, is Nicasia.

Orlagh’s daughter, Princess of the Undersea, fostered in the High King’s Court as part of the decades-ago treaty of peace between Orlagh and Eldred, Nicasia was once part of the foursome made up of Cardan and his closest, most awful friends. She was also his beloved, until she betrayed him for Locke. I haven’t seen her by Cardan’s side as of...

Is this what Balekin was whispering about with the Undersea? Is this the way ...

“You?” I shout. “You sho...

“Don’t tell him!” She glares at me furiously, wiping wet eyes. “And ...

Her hair has gotten darker since I saw it last. It was always the many colors of the sea, but now it is the sea in a storm—a deep greenish black.

“Are you out of your mind?” I yell. “You tried to assassinate the High King of Faerie.”

“I didn’t,” she says. “I swear. I only meant to kill the ...

“You thought to surprise him in his rooms.” “Yes,” she says. “But he wasn’t alone.…”

“When I saw the crossbow on the wall, it didn’t seem it would be so difficult to aim,”

I am shaking, I realize. The aftereffects of believing someone tried to assassinate Cardan, of realizing he could have died.

“I am a Princess of the Undersea,” she says haughtily, but I can see the shock on her face as my words register. “Exempt from the laws of the land. Besides, I told you I wasn’t aiming for him.”

Now I understand the worst of her behavior in school: She thought she could never be punished.

“Have you ever used a crossbow before?” I ask. “You put his life at risk. He could have died. You...

“I told you—” she starts to repeat herself. “Yes, yes, the compact between the sea and the land,” I interrupt her, still furious. “But it just so happens I know that your mother is intent on breaking the treaty. You see, she will say it was between Queen Orlagh and High King Eldred, not Queen Orlagh and ...

“How did you kno...

“Let’s assume I know everything,” I tell her instead. “Everything. Always. Yet I’m willing to make a deal with you. I’ll tell Cardan and the guards and the rest of them that the shooter got away, if you do something for me.”

“Tell me what Orlagh is planning,” I say, pushing those thoughts away.

“I thought you knew everything already,”

“Do you want to buy my silence or not?” I ask, sitting down on the edge of the cushions. “We have only a certain amount of time before someone comes looking for me. If they see you, it will be too late for denials.”

“My mother says he is a young and weak king, that he lets others influence him too much.” With that, she gives me a hard look. “She believes he will give in to her demands. If he does, then nothing will change.”

“And if he do...

“Then the truce between land and sea will be over, and it will be the land that suffers. The Isles of Elfham...

“And then what?” I ask. “Cardan is unlikely to make out with you if your ...

“You don’t understand. She wants us to be married. She wan...

“You just shot him.”

“Well, you murdered Valerian, did you not? I saw him the night he disappeared, and he was talking about you, talking about paying you back for stabbing him. People say he died at the coronation, but I don’t think he did.”

“Next time you catch me committing treason, you can force me to tell you my secrets,” I say. “But right now I’d rather hear what your mother intends to do with Balekin.”

“Nothing,”

“And here I thought the Folk co...

“I’m not! Mother believes Cardan will agree to her terms. She’s just flattering Balekin. She lets him believe he’s important, but he won’t be. He won’t.”

“Because he’s her backup plan if Cardan refuses to marry you.”

My mind is reeling with the certainty that above all else, I cannot allow Cardan to marry Nicasia. If he did, it would be impossible to prize both of t...

“You think we’re still playing some kind of game,”

“Everything’s a game, Jude,” she says. “You know that. And now it’s your move.” With those words, she heads toward the enormous doors and heaves one open. “Go ahead and tell them if you want, but you should know this—someone you trust has already betrayed you.”

“Come on,” I say, taking Cardan’s arm and pulling him unsteadily to his feet. “You can’t sleep here.”

“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. “The...

Our eyes meet, and something dangerous sparks.

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

He hates you. Even if he wants you, he hates you. Maybe he hates you the more for it.

“If you’re the sickness, I suppose you can’t also be the cure.”

My mind keeps going over Nicasia’s words. You don’t understand. She wants us to be married. She wants me to be queen.

“I don’t hate being High King,” he said. “Not always. I thought I would, and yet I do not. Make of that what you will.”

“You’ve won yourself a year and a day,” he told me. “But a lot can happen in a year and a day. Give me all the commands you want, but you’ll never think of everything.”

As I gaze at him now, stretched out on my bed, I feel more off balance than ever.

“The Living Council wants to see you,”