The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3)

by Holly Black

You are not Taryn.”

😱😱😱😱 no

I want to scream in frustration at her abrupt subject change, but I force myself to be calm.

this is so real

As the Queen of Elfhame, I am the one Madoc is against. It would give me such satisfaction for Oriana to know, when she thinks so little of me.

smfh oriana you also get on my nerves

I look Oriana in the eyes and lie as sincerely as I have ever done. “I promise.”

OOF.

Their dalliance was brief, and I am sure Eldred thought bedding her would come to nothing.

see kids this is why you need to use protection

She wanted experiences, sensations, triumphs, things that required conflict—and enemies.

and messed up cardan too

Nor was it that she didn’t feed him the most delectable cuts of meat and cake; but she forgot him for long enough that he had to scavenge for food in between. I don’t think she loved him, but then I don’t think she loved anyone. He was petted and fed wine and adored, then forgotten. But for all that, if he was bad with her, he was worse without her. They are cut from the same cloth.”

that’s actually so sad stop it💔💔

I shudder, imagining the loneliness of that life, the anger. That desire for love.

😭😭😭

“If you’re looking for reasons why he disappointed you,” Oriana says, “by all accounts, Prince Cardan was a disappointment from the beginning.”

well goddamn 😭

I’m not going to let myself get distracted by letters I never received or the way he looked at me when we were alone in his rooms or my father’s theories about his weaknesses.

you already are bbg

“Tha—that’s very kind,” I say, surprised. It is kind, and yet I cannot help wondering if it’s like one of those chess moves that looks innocuous at first but turns out to be the one setting up checkmate.

i’m suspicious 🤨🤨🤨

I will never have him behave like this with me again. But for one final night, he’s the father I remember best, the one in whose shadow I have—for better or worse—become what I am.

aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh

I slam my elbow into where I think the person holding me must be and am satisfied to hear a sharp intake of breath, as though I connected with a vulnerable part.

LMFAO

“But would he listen? I’d have ordered him, if not for the little matter of his being the High King.”

OH???????

The High King of Elfhame, in plain brown wool, a cloak on his back of a fabric so dark it seems to absorb light, leaf blade in the scabbard on his hip. He wears no crown on his brow, no rings on his fingers, nor gold paint limning his cheekbones. He looks every inch a spy from the Court of Shadows, down to the sneaky smile pulling at a corner of his beautiful mouth.

don’t make me giddy rn PLEASE

I am abruptly aware that I am in a nightgown Oriana lent me, one that is entirely too diaphanous.

oriana girllll you’re too scandalous

“We spoke after Madoc carried you off from the palace,” Cardan begins. “And whom did I find in her little dwelling but Taryn? We all had quite a lot to say to one another.”

did y’all fight better not bc i wouldnt want to miss that

But I am not so easily taken in now. If he’s here, it’s to his own purpose. Maybe allowing his queen to fall into the hands of his enemies is dangerous to him. Which means I have power. I just have to discover it and then find a way to wield it against him.

ooooh??

“Perhaps you could just allow yourself to be rescued,” Cardan says. “For once.”

HEEHHEEHEHE

But you can hold me to mine: I guarantee you safe passage. Come back to Elfhame with me, and I will give you the means to end your exile.”

HE SAID WITH MEEEEEEEEEEE 🤭🤭🤭

“Come back to Elfhame, tell me what you would tell me, and your exile will end,” he says. “I promise.”

y’all making me hyuck at 2am

Cardan glances toward me, as though for help. When I am silent, he frowns, annoyed with both of us. “Although I am wearing the cloak Mother Marrow made me, the one that will turn any blade, I still promise to run, tail between my legs. And since I have a tail, that should be amusing for everyone. Are you satisfied?”

the tail is indeed very amusing

“I wouldn’t mind ruining that before it’s put to my throat,” says Cardan.

bbrrrRRROOOOOOOO

“Really big,” I say. Cardan snorts.

ayooooooo

Cardan steps in front of me, pulling his cloak up. The metal needles glance off the fabric, falling to the floor. For a moment, we stare at each other, wide-eyed. He looks as surprised as I am that he protected me.

omg stopppp🙈🙈🙈

With surprising ease, Cardan lifts the Roach in his arms. “Tell me this wasn’t your plan,” he pleads. “Tell me.”

ooooh he’s been working out huh

“Jude,” he warns.

🫦🫦🫦

I head for the cave. There’s still time, I tell myself.

JUDEEE NOOOOOO

In his place is Madoc, outfitted in his full suit of armor. “I’m afraid you’re too late,” he says. “Much too late.” Then he draws his sword.

ARRRGGGGGG JUDEEEEE

I look Madoc in the eye, and my mouth makes the words before I can snatch them back. “Maybe I believe that it’s time for Elfhame to be ruled by a queen.”

YEEAAHHHH JUDDEEEE

He laughs at that, a bark of surprise. “You think Cardan will just hand over his power? To you? Mortal child, surely you know better. He exiled you. He reviled you. He will never see you as anything but beneath him.”

lol ok

I take a step backward. My hand goes to my knife on instinct, but fighting him when he is in armor and his weapon has the superior reach is a bad idea.

why did you even go thereeeeeeee

When I get ahold of you, I am going to keep you in chains.”

WTF??

“Do not run from me!” he shouts, a horrible echo of his final words to my mother.

ohhhhh noo…

Grabbing the cloak, he winds it around his hand, hauling me toward him. The ties choke me, then rip free. His sword sinks into my side, into my stomach.

😧

Madoc, who was my father ever since he murdered my father. Madoc, who taught me how to swing a sword to actually hit someone and not just their blade. Madoc, who sat me on his knee and read to me and told me he loved me.

the angst omfg

I fall to my knees. My legs have collapsed under me. His blade comes free, slick with my blood. My leg is wet with it. I am bleeding out.

FUCK YOU MADOC OMFG

I don’t want to die fast. I don’t want to die at all.

“Jude,” Madoc says, and for the first time that I can recall, there’s fear in his voice. Fear I don’t understand.

snanwnwmdosowwhewlwjd

From behind a tree, Vivi steps into view. Beside her is Taryn, wearing Nightfell on her hip. And with them, another person, who turns out not to be Heather at all. Grima Mog, sword drawn, sits astride a ragwort pony.

i… have no words

“Dad,” Vivi says. “Stay where you are. If you try to stop her, I’ve got plenty more arrows, and I’ve been waiting half my life to put you in the ground.”

pls do!!

Madoc looks in my direction. I must be quite a sight, blood-soaked, hand on my side. He hesitates again. “She’s not going to make it. Let me—”

“She’s not going to make it. Let me—”

OH SO NOW YOU CARE GTFO

A bout of dizziness overcomes me. I sag to one knee.

NOOO JUDEEE

I must have looked as though I was going to faint. “I’m here,” I say, reaching for her hand, letting her support my weight. I stagger forward.

GET MY GIRL SOME MEDICAL ATTENTION BROOOO

Just bring my girls to me.” The last was a growl, not actually in my direction but at the lot of us. His betraying daughters.

OH HELL NAHHHHHH

“Let me take you back to the camp, Jude,” Madoc says. “You’re dying.”

BC OF YOU ASSHOLE

“Good-bye, then, daughter,” Madoc says. “You would have made a good redcap.”

ASSHAT

I imagine lying down on it and closing my eyes.

ABSOLUTELY NOT

“Because she married Cardan,” Vivi says, sounding frustrated. “That’s what she’s talking about.”

YEAH SHE DID