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

by Holly Black

“What’s in this, exactly?” The redcap snorts. “Did you know you left your knife in my alleyway? I took it upon myself to return it.

NAHHH ANSWER THE QUESTION

I take a sip and try not to think too much about what I’m eating. It’s a thin broth, well-seasoned and seemingly harmless. I tip up the bowl, drinking it all down. It tastes good and hot and makes me feel much better than I have since I woke in Elfhame. I find myself poking at the bottom for the solid bits. If there’s something terrible in it, I am better off not knowing.

let’s hope it IS harmless 💔💔

Cardan leans against the doorframe, looking very satisfied with himself.

tell me what you said to him rn

“Including a war,” puts in Grima Mog. “What could be more delightful than that?”

soooo delightful

Leather plates at the shoulders anchor swags of shining material showing more of my cleavage than I am used to having on display.

FLASH US woah who said that wtf

“Because only one of us can tell them lies,” he continues, surprising me. “And they need to believe our victory is inevitable.” “Isn’t it?” I ask. He smiles. “You tell me.” “Madoc has no chance at all,” I lie dutifully.

power couple omfg

If anyone can get me through tonight, it’s him.

😏😏😏😏

“I am afraid so,” Cardan returns. He pushes himself to standing and offers me his arm. “Come, let us charm and confound our subjects.”

HEHEHEHHEHEHE

I hear the words as from a great distance: “The High King and High Queen of Elfhame.”

HELL YEAAHHHHHHHHHH

I lie and lie and lie.

i don’t like this premonition 😆😆😄

Roiben considers this. “He seeks to destroy you,” he counters.

thanks for the reminder

“Too bad,” Kaye replies, balling up a fist. “I’ve got something for her.”

?????

A grig comes up, offering tiny acorns filled with fermented thistle milk. Kaye throws one back like a shot and winces. I refrain.

ew

Heather shakes her head when I get close. “Damn. That’s a dress.”

🫦🫦🫦

“She told me that Oak needed someone to stay with him in Elfhame while she went and got you. And made me this offer—when we were in Faerie, we could be together. When we went back, she’d make me forget Faerie and forget her, too.”

…

“So when you go home…” “It’s over.” Despair flashes across her features. “There are things people shouldn’t get a taste for. I guess magic is like that.”

NOOOOOOOOO

“She’s an idiot,” I blurt out. “I’m the stupid one,” Heather says. “If I hadn’t been so afraid—” She cuts herself off as Vivi comes up to us, three goblets balanced in her hands.

ARGGGHHHH

Across the room, Cardan raises a goblet. “Be welcome on the Isle of Insmire,” he says. “Seelie and Unseelie, Wild Folk and Shy Folk, I am glad to have you march under my banner, glad of your loyalty, grateful for your honor.” His gaze goes to me. “To you, I offer honey wine and the hospitality of my table. But to traitors and oath breakers, I offer my queen’s hospitality instead.

MY QUEEN’S HOSPITALITY 😜😜😜😜😜

The hospitality of knives.”

my type of hospitality jude ily

Well, he has certainly made them see me as more than just the mortal queen. Now they see me as the murderess queen. I am not sure how I feel about it, but seeing the intensity of interest in their gazes now, I cannot deny it’s effective.

YEAHHHHHH ACKNOWLEDGE MY QUEEN

And by the time the party ebbs, when I pass courtiers, they all bow to me. Every last one.

I KNOW THATS RIGHT

“You were very formidable tonight, my queen,” Cardan says, crossing the floor to me.

MY QUEEENNNNNNN

Despite my fatigue, I am hyperaware of his presence, of the heat of his skin and the way his slow, conspiratorial smile makes my stomach twist with stupid longing.

snaanssnnwkofjenemw

I find my gaze drawn to his soft lips, the black of his eyes, the cliffs of his cheekbones.

🤭🤭🤭

“You didn’t come to bed last night,” I whisper.

AAAAAAA

It occurs to me abruptly that while I was unconscious, he would have spent his nights elsewhere. Perhaps not alone. It has been a long time since I was last at Court. I have no idea who is in his favor. But if there is someone else, his thoughts appear far from her.

ok so that wiped the smile off my face

“I’m here now,”

🤨🤨🤨

It’s okay to want something that’s going to hurt, I remind myself. I move toward him, so we are close enough to touch.

judeeeee😭

There is plenty of time for me to pull away from the kiss, but I don’t. I want him to kiss me. My weariness evaporates as his lips press against mine. Over and over, one kiss sliding into the next.

[banshee screeches]

“You looked like a knight in a story tonight,” he says softly against my neck. “Possibly a filthy story.” I kick him in the leg, and he kisses me again, harder.

🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠

His tail lashes back and forth, the furred end stroking over the back of my calf.

bro

He shudders and presses more tightly against me, deepening the kiss. His fingers push back my hair, damp with sweat. My whole body is tense with desire, straining toward him. I feel feverish. Every kiss seems to make my thoughts more drugged, my skin more flushed. His mouth is against my neck, his tongue on my skin. His hand moves to my hips, lifting me.

it’s def getting hot in here OMFG i need to take a walk

He releases me immediately, letting me down and then stepping back as though scalded. “We need not—” he begins, but that’s even worse. I don’t want him to guess how vulnerable I feel.

ANWNWMDLEPWWDJWNWLWODOE

“No, just give me a second,” I say, then bite my lip. His eyes are very dark, pupils dilated. He’s so beautiful, so perfectly, horribly, inhumanly beautiful that I can barely breathe. “I’ll be right back.”

i’m not ok

Once, a friend and I placed dolls in a hat and shook the hat around to indicate that they were doing it.

LMFAO WHAT

But though I understand what sex is now and how it’s accomplished, I didn’t anticipate how much it would feel like losing myself. When Cardan’s hands are on me, I am betrayed into pleasure. And he can tell. He’s practiced in the arts of love. He can draw whatever response he wants from me. I hate that, and yet I want it, all at once. But maybe I don’t have to be the only one made to feel things.

🫦🫦🫦🫦

I strip off my dress, kick off my shoes. I even take down my hair, letting it fall over my shoulders. In the mirror, I catch sight of my curves—the muscles of my arms and chest, honed by swordplay; the heaviness of my pale breasts; and the swell of my hips. Naked, there is no disguise for my mortality.

WELL DAMN GIRL 😏😏😏 [joker meme x100]

Naked, I return to the bedroom.

baddie

A wild heat leaps into his eyes, an expression not unlike fear.

YOOOOOOO

Now this is a game I don’t mind playing. “Come here,” he says, voice rough. I do, crossing the floor obediently.

OHHH MYY GODDDDDDD

I might be inexperienced in love, but I know a lot about provocation. I slide to my knees in front of him.

BRRROOOOOO IMNOTOKAYWTF doesnt help that or nah starting playing WHAT THE HELL

He looks absolutely mortified, but there’s no disguising the flush of his cheeks, the shine of his eyes. “Yes,” he says, sounding like the word was dragged out of him, his voice rough with desire.

you dirty dog

I reach out to press my hand against his thigh.

JUDE

“I imagined you telling me to do with you whatever I liked.”

😃

“Along with some begging on your part. A little light groveling.”

BEGGING??????

“My fantasies were rife with overweening ambition.”

horny bastard but go on

“You may do with me whatever you like,” I say. “Please oh please. All I want is you.”

😃😃😃

“Mock me all you like. Whatever I imagined then, now it is I who would beg and grovel for a kind word from your lips.” His eyes are black with desire. “By you, I am forever undone.”

OHHHHHH MYYYY LORRDDDDDDDDDD

It seems impossible that he’s saying those words and that they’re true. But when he leans down and kisses me again, that thought blurs into sensation. He arches against me, shuddering. I begin to undo the buttons of his doublet. He tosses his shirt after it.

i need to take a walk oh my dear

“I told you what I wanted,” I say in challenge. “For you to do with me whatever—” “No,” he interrupts. “What you want.”

THIS… I… OH MY GOD SNWNNWMSKSLWOSKSKSKWKSKJDMSWMW WHAT *SHE* WANTS