#the crown of elfhame | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bookish-phile · 2 months

Text

55 notes · View notes

archerons-arrow · 13 days

Text

art by frostbite.studios

#tfota #cardan greenbriar #jude duarte #Enemies and Lovers: The Crown of Elfhame #holly black #EXCUSE ME #holly HELP

905 notes · View notes

luridorangeandviolentviolet · 1 year

Text

my favorite thing about stolen heir is everyone referring to Jude (correctly) as this bloodthirsty murderess queen (affectionate) and Cardan as her cheerleader in the background laughing his ass off and being like, “you think emeralds or sapphires will go better with the crown you’re making out of his skull? Rubies? Ok, ur the boss.”

#Yes ik he said hat not crown but Jude is a queen #and a ruby like it’s their stone #the stolen heir #stolen heir #oak greenbriar #jurdan #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #the folk of the air #the cruel prince #elfhame #holly black

3K notes · View notes

readingjellyfish · 14 hours

Text

HOLLY PLEASE

I wish I had a million dollars

Seriously considering selling a few organs for this

#holly black #Enemies & Lovers: The Crown of Elfhame #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #judecardan #the folk of the air #tfota

13 notes · View notes

wolfie-1221 · 2 months

Text

Spoilers for prisoners throne

"My crown was secured with a lot of people's blood." - the high queen of elfhame herself

I love this woman top 10 female character fr

#jude duarte #the folk of the air #tfota #the prisoners throne #holly black #the cruel prince #high queen of elfhame #high queen jude #tpt

286 notes · View notes

evelyn376259 · 8 days

Text

Normal couples when they fight: *Gets kicked out of the house*

The High King and Queen of Elfhame when they fight: You are exiled from Elfhame to the mortal world until such time as you are pardoned by the crown

#the wicked king #tfota memes #tfota series #high queen of elfhame #high king of elfhame #jude and cardan #jude duarte #jude x cardan #jurdan #prince cardan #high king cardan #cardan greenbriar

141 notes · View notes

alwaysbeenasmartgirl · 1 year

Text

Jude and Cardan

Ok, can we talk about how Cardan tried to make Jude leave before she was crowned the queen of mirth?

He obviously knew what Locke was up to and wanted Jude to go without making it seem that he cared about her enough to make sure she left.

I wonder how bad he must have felt when Jude did not leave and was insulted and made fun of.

This is exactly why we NEED Cardan's pov of the entire storyline.

How the king of Elfhame learned to hate stories was not enough.

#we need cardan's pov #cardan greenbriar #jude duarte #jude greenbriar #jude x cardan #jurdan #the wicked king #the cruel prince #the queen of nothing #the folk of the air #holly black #GIVE ME CARDAN'S POV #cardan my love #cardan my beloved #i love cardan #high king cardan #high queen jude #seneschal jude #my love

671 notes · View notes

ezziefae · 3 months

Text

i wonder how madocs character will play out in the prisoner’s throne.

from reading the prologue it looks like jude still cares very much about madoc, and apparently jurdan planned to save madoc but wanted to wait it out?

madoc has a very bad reputation in elfhame and the undersea. he’s the cause for many of the political problems and deaths since the beginning of TFOTA series.

The Stolen Heir ended in Oak freeing Madoc from lady nore and ordering Tiernan to take him to Elfhame, or somewhere else that’s safe only if Jude and Cardan decided not to take him back in. Whether Jude decides to accept him back to elfhame or not, we don’t know. but i can surely belive that Madoc would want to work with Jude to get Oak back. We’ll see how that goes in 26 days!!!

So now i have MANYYY questions, is this the book where Madoc redeems himself to elfhame and his family? will he play the hero? or is he going to keep betraying jude and cardan?

will he die???… or will jude lift his exile and welcome him back to elfhame?

but wouldn’t that be a problem for elfhame and the undersea? if jude lifted his exile then i believe it would be a bad look for jude and cardan. to forgive a person who was responsible for weakening Orlagh, for breaking his oath to the blood crown, betraying elfhame, and helping Balekin set out his plan to kill the royal family. Now that has got me wondering if that’s Jude’s political problem by the end of the book?

thoughts?

the prisoners throne comes out less than a month from now !! WOOHOO! so i feel the neeed to talk about some things that we might see in this book. Also apparently the prisoners throne will have 25 chapters!!

79 notes · View notes

starrynightsxo · 1 month

Text

cardan when jude "betrayed" him (got oak to crown him king of elfhame)

75 notes · View notes

murasaki-cha · 2 months

Text

The Prisoner's Throne spoilers!!

.

“I don’t understand,” Oak says. “Where are you going?” “A diplomatic mission,” says Cardan, leaning back on the cushions. “After that last little rescue, Nicasia has demanded we honor our treaty, meet her suitors, and witness the contest for her hand and crown. And so Jude and I are headed to the Undersea, where we will go to a lot of parties and try very hard not to die.”

Oh yeah this is definitely a hint about that future Elfhame book Holly teased!!!!

#the prisoners throne spoilers #the prisoner's throne #the prisoners throne #tpt #oak greenbriar #cardan greenbriar #jude duarte #nicasia #the folk of the air #tfota #holly black #bookblr

71 notes · View notes

unhelpfulfemme · 2 months

Text

“Ah, Queen of Elfhame, you see how useless your weapons are. You’re married to the faithless child of a faithless line. Your crown was secured with my daughter’s blood.” “My crown was secured with a lot of people’s blood.” Jude turns to her archers. “Ready another volley.”

I love how Bogdana is trying to elicit some kind of reaction from Jude and Jude's like, *shrug* "Okay? People die over the crown, yes? What do you expect me to say?"

#the prisoner's throne #the prisoner's throne spoilers #jude duarte

77 notes · View notes

whothecrappadoodlecares · 2 months

Text

So it may just be me and my personal interpretation, but one thing that absolutely infuriates me is the "Cardan is a genius for his banishment plan and Jude did a dumb dumb by not returning" idea that some readers have.

Because that plan, as it was, would only work if, and only if, Jude was fae.

In fact, Jude even thinks about pardoning herself, and how that would not work (given the current situation as she knows it).

(I will illustrate my points with extracts of Queen of Nothing (QoN), and The Wicked King (TWK) of the Folk of the Air series by Holly Black)

recap: the plan was to exile Jude, and have her return via her pardoning herself a bit later when the coast was clear (lol unintentional sea pun) of the wrath of the Undersea disturbing negotiations.

"I exile Jude Duarte to the mortal world. Until and unless she is pardoned by the crown. (...) Meaning by the King of Faerie. Or it's queen. You could have returned anytime you wanted." (QoN chap 18)

Here is where the issue lies. Jude is High Queen of Elfhame, but has literally no way to prove it. She doesn't have the powers conferred to her as queen yet, she doesn't have the trust of the people, and she doesn't have the magical inability to lie that the fae have.

Now if Cardan had proclaimed her queen, she could, but he didn't. In fact, when he first exiles her, she proclaims that he can't do that on account of her being queen, which no one believes:

"But I am the Queen of Faerie," I shout, and for a moment, there is silence. Then everyone around me begins the laugh. (...) "Deny it, then," I yell. "Deny me!" He cannot, of course, so he does not. (TWK chap 30)

Which leads to Jude seeing through the plan and pushing it away because she could not trust Cardan to do what would be needed for it:

It occurs to me that maybe he made a mistake with that phrasing. Maybe I can pardon myself. But then I remember when I insisted I was the Queen of Faerie, and the guards laughed. Cardan didn't need to deny me. He only had to say nothing. And if I pardoned myself, he would only have to say nothing again. (QoN chap 6)

Meaning for her to actually pardon herself, she would have needed to illegally enter Faerie, not get caught, get into presence of Cadan so he could confirm the claim she is rightful queen, and then pardon herself publicly. Of course many of those steps are dangerous, and she has no reason trust Cardan.

If at any point she was caught in Faerie before being pardoned and confirmed queen by Cardan, well, it pretty much almost happens in the book.

"Clap her in chains," says Randalin. Never have I so wished there was a way for me to show I was telling the truth. But there isn't. No oath of mine carries any weight. (QoN chap 16)

The only thing that stops them from trying to arrest or kill her?

"Whatever do you mean?" Randalin says. "She's-" "She is my wife," Cardan says, his voice carrying over the crowd. "The rightful High Queen of Elfhame. And most definitely not in exile." (QoN chap 16)

Cardan even seems to be aware of it at one point (a couple hours before he names her queen in fact):

"Since you're mortal, Jude, I cannot hold you to your promises . 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." (QoN chap 13)

Okay, so the plan was flawed, but why make it then?

"Let me remind you that I didn't know you'd murdered my brother, the ambassador to the Undersea, until that very morning," he says. "My plans were made in haste. And perhaps I was a little annoyed. I thought it would pacify Queen Orlagh, at least until all promises were finalized in the treaty. By the time you guessed the answer, the negotiations would be over." (QoN chap 18)

So we get the entire picture: the entire thing was a hastily made plan with expected flaws (Cardan's lack of undertanding of the treatment of mortals and the consequences thereof on Jude's decisions), born from the miscommunication and lack of communication between them, that ultimately worked, only with a couple hiccups.

It makes sense to their characters, to where they are in their character growth, individually and as a couple, to their understanding of each other.

Jude, who has figured out, manipulated, and maneuvered entire coups to take the throne and subsequently took one of the highest political positions did not suddenly become an idiot ignorant of political maneuvering. And Cardan, who did not expect, want, or even took over the functions of the throne if he didn't absolutely have to, did not suddenly become a political genius.

Instead, Jude, who often works alone, trusts only herself, and consequently does not report everything to Cardan, accidentally put him in a difficult position, and Candan, who has yet to really work with Jude and take into account her limitations and differences, did not take them into consideration in the plan he had to come up with on the fly. And then the complete lack of communication (and trust) aggravated the problem.

Lo and behold, what happens after their reunion? They start working together, communicating better, and developing trust.

Character development stemming from an incident caused and aggravated from their flaws. Aka good storytelling.

I.e. when the political fantasy book with a sprinkle of romance in the background actually brings the romance to the foreground and starts working on the couple.

This is of course, my own interpretation at the end of the day.

#queen of nothing #the wicked king #the folk of the air #jude cardan #jude duarte #jude x cardan #cardan greenbriar #the exile #holly black

58 notes · View notes

cromulentreader · 4 months

Text

Jude: Who slept here before Cardan? The Roach: Many unimportant Fae. Guests of the Crown. Jude: Lovers of the High King? The ones he didn't care enough to wife them up? The Roach: Uhu. Jude: Why would Cardan sleep here then? The Roach:

The Roach: *How is she the best strategist in Elfhame?* Jude: The Roach: Anyway. You have a meeting to attend.

#jude duarte #the wicked king #tfota

82 notes · View notes

likecanyoujustnot · 3 months

Text

Cardan’s letters pov

Part 1: overcautious

A/n: because I can’t do much else here’s another alternate pov. thank you to @darlingod for helping me with the order of the letters. It’s quite short and the other parts will be up soon, shouldn’t take as long as my other one. Lmk if you wanna be tagged

Part 2

She still wasn’t back.

It has been a week and a half.

And I was beginning to panic.

Until pardoned by the crown. I’d made it as clear for her as I could think to without the Undersea knowing I wasn’t planning to leave her in exile forever.

But she’d killed my brother. After I explicitly told her not to.

However it was Jude, and it was what Jude did best- act now ask questions later. And she wouldn’t’ve done so without reason.

“Your majesty,” Randalin followed me as I walked through the halls, the bastard.

“What.”

Jude would probably laugh that I had to actually talk to one of my advisors.

“Princess Nicasia wishes to speak to you.”

“I do not wish to speak to her.”

“It might be good to at least sit down with her, remove some of the… uh… tensions that remain after Prince Balekin’s murder.” I was taller than the man so he had to hurry to keep up with me, it brought me a slight amount of petty satisfaction.

“Again, I do not wish to speak to her.” Didn’t this is guy ever shut up? This was exactly why I made Jude go to council meetings.

“Well then there is also the matter of finding a new seneschal since you exiled your last one-”

I cut him off before I punched him. I wasn’t a particularly violent person, but I would make an exception for him. “This can wait till the next meeting.”

“Of course your majesty.” He turned around and walked the other way.

I opened the door to my room. And slammed it behind me.

There was a hole in my chest. I’d never felt like this before, this longing and guilt. And fear that perhaps something had happened to her.

I sat at the desk for the first time since I’d moved in here, grabbed a quill and began writing on a blank piece of parchment.

Jude,

I stared at her name. What could I say? There was always the risk of the letters being intercepted, especially with Madoc unaccounted for, so I couldn’t say too much, would she want the folk to know she was their queen yet? Would she want to be there and say it instead of rumours festering as they always did?

Come back

That made me sound desperate. And I wasn’t desperate, not yet.

You are perhaps only being overcautious, but I am writing to inform you that all is settled between the Undersea and Elfhame. The treaties are signed in sea foam and blood.

Expectantly,

Cardan

I looked at it. Yes, it was straight to the point, much like she always was.

I grabbed an envelope and blew the dust off of it. Maybe I should do more work every now and then.

I wrote her name on the front of it and handed it to one of the guards outside my room.

“See to it that this is taken to a messenger.”

“Yes your majesty.” He replied and left.

All I could do was hope it made it to her, and she would want to come back.

#cardan greenbriar #cardans letters pov #jude duarte #jurdan #jude x cardan #the cruel prince #the wicked king #the queen of nothing #queen of nothing #folk of the air #fota

49 notes · View notes

visd3stele · 7 months

Text

Request (by @folkloregirljude ): Hello :) You could do a story of Jude and Cardan taking care of little Oak and jealous because Cardan steals his sister's attention.

TW: none, just cute, pure fluff

A/N: this is happening separate from the canon of the new book, a bit divergent from the canon of the trilogy as well. ALSO, i know it's been months, i'm SO SORRY...i got some medical issues on my hands that are solved now, so I hope this is worth the wait

also, I don't remember if Oak had hooves as well or just the little horns, but in this fic he has both.

Mine! No, mine!

The Fae Folk is not prone to change. And yet, multiple changes surveyed their world in the span of a few months. Their king died, the royal family butchered, the drunkard Cardan – out of all people! – became king and, after a brush with war against the Mer Folk, Jude Duarte became his queen.

Queen of Elfhame. Jude didn't know what to make of the title. She figured out how she feels about other titles in her life: Seneschal, she quite liked, having hidden her true influence at Court in the shadows, spy gave her a thrill for sure, but never without the dissapointment that came with it after failing to be a knight, wife, after a long time, she accepted with an embarrasing leap of her heart.

But queen, that she has yet to figure. It wasn't part of her plan. And, even though she learned to cheerish the gift of Elfhame as it accepted her in its heart without guilt or shame, even though she could see how much her husband thrived under the crown, Jude simply couldn't make peace with the title. It wasn't hers. Nor Cardan's. In her mind, it still belonged to Oak, hers and Cardan's both baby brother. Because that was the plan!

The more she looked at the little fae, playing with Cardan in the garden – jumping over his tail as if it was a skipping rope he used to love in the mortal land – the more Jude begin to doubt the plan.

"Hey, Jude," the young fae called out of breath, excitement overcoming the tiredness. "Look what I can do!"

Oak bounced from foot to foot over the lazy slash of Cardan's tail in the air, turning around and switching sides in a chaotic, funny dance. The Queen of Elfhame felt the corners of her mouth twitch despite herself. She approached the pair, coming to rest her arms on her husband's shoulders as he hug him from behind.

"That's impressive, Oak!" She said, ignoring the way Cardan's hair tickled her neck as he leaned his head back to look at her. His beautiful, deadly wife.

Cardan smiles up at her, reaching his fingers tentatively to brush over Jude's cheek. The movement spelled her, for Jude leaned into his touch, closing her eyes to enjoy the serene calmness of the moment for what seemed to be the first time in her life since arriving to Elfhame.

"Mmm," Cardan mused happily. Leaning even more to press a kiss to his right below his wife's chin. His focus shifted entirely on Jude, forgetting all about Oak and their game.

"Hey!" The young fae protested. "I wasn't done. Jude, you have to see this. Vi showed me humans dancing like this."

"Of course, Oak."

Jude pushed her husband's shoulder playfully, if only a little bit too harsh – force of habit, she supposed – pressuring him to humor their little brother.

With an amused roll of his eyes, Cardan obeyed. "Anything for you, my cunning queen."

Heat climbed all the way to Jude's ears, pushing her heart to beat faster than she could keep up with.

Oak resumed his little skipping dance. It looked more and more put together by the second, Jude noticed now that she was paying attention. Or trying to, at least. But Cardan could never miss an oportunity to touch his wife. He never quite believed that luck shone mercifully over his head in earning Jude's affection. And now that no threat loomed ovet their heads and the land claimed her as its queen and she didn't need him, Cardan needed the physical reassurence that Jude meant it when she confessed to loving him more than ever.

"You look esquiviste, as always." He pured, trailing his hand up and down the back of her neck.

Redder than a Redcape's bloodied cape, Jude snaped her glare down to Cardan. "Stop that," she snarled. "Oak..."

"... is taking a lot of your attention lately."

And it was true. The weeks following Jude's official coronation, she invited her family to stay at the palace. She couldn't bare the nauseting feeling of not knowing where they are, if they are safe. And having them so close under her nose was easier than sending the Roach or the Bomb to spy on them.

"Oh? Is that jealousy I hear, my king?"

And just like that, Cardan's semblance of control faded into nothing. He would never admit it, but being king has been something he cherrished, despite the dire circumstances that led to and conditioned his reign. He liked the mind games the Court required of him and all the ways he discovered he could help and protect Elfhame without shedding blood or lifting a sword. Hearing the title fall through his Jude's lips in earnest love and admiration – more than he could have ever hoped for – untied any thread of decorum he sewed.

Cardan stumbled over himself as he rose in one hurried jump to cup his wife's face in his hands. An indignat huff from Oak, however, put a stop to the kiss he meant to share with Jude.

"Cardan!" The kid complained. "You had Jude all day yesterday at the meeting. Let me show her my game!"

"Later, kid," Cardan grumbled.

"Now!" Oak countered, stomping his little hooved foot, crossing his arms and leveling Cardan with all the authoruty he could muster.

The High King was having none of it. He moved behind Jude, wraping his arms around her waist and his tail all the way up to her calf. He rest his head atop hers, fully taking advantage of his height. And stuck his toungue out at Oak.

"Jude's my wife."

"She was my sister first!" And with that crying battle, Oak marched towards the royal pair. He stomped onto the fluffy end of Cardan's tail that rested on the side of Jude's foot, trying to free his sister from her husband's grip when the latter yelped and retreated in pain.

Cardan recovered swiftly, though, and grabbed Jude's arm before Oak could pull her away. "Go play, kid."

"Isn't the time of your noon drink?"

"You little..."

"Alright, alright, that's enough!" Jude, who so far has been watching the scene with an awed amusement settled on her face, broke free from her boys. "How about I spend some time with Oak now and you," she waved dismissingly at Cardan, "put together one of those surprise dinner dates you're so fond of for when Oak falls asleep?"

The High Queen of Elfhame didn't let out any space for arguments, despite her tone being inquiring. The rest of the day would go exactly as she said it would. Because, truth be told, she wasn't Oak's or Cardan's, they were both hers.

#jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #oak greenbriar #jude x cardan #jude and cardan #jurdan #my writing #my fic #jude and oak #tfota fic #tfota fanfic #fluff #jurdan fluff

83 notes · View notes

cardudescrown · 7 months

Text

Theory: Why Jude broke the Blood Crowns Curse

"I want my work to endure just as Queen Mab wanted her line to endure." - Grimsen

Grimsen proclaimes that only in the serpents death can the curse end. But after finding this, the curse might not solely rely on Cardans death.

The curse is centered on Mabs legacy to endure.

The universe opens up new pathways if an important occurence breaks the movement of time. if Mabs legacy could or couldn't endure after what happens, that's what the stars were anticipating.

Jude's reluctance to put the bridle on the Serpent and her decision to end Cardans life rather, has errivocably proven that Mabs legacy would endure and live on.

Mabs legacy relied on two things, her families bloodline and elfhames wellbeing.

Since Cardan turned into a serpent after jude became the High Queen, she is now tied to elfhame and vice versa. She can literally carry on ruling elfhame since she cares more about it more than anything else. Thats what Mab hoped for, to have a devoted and dedicated ruler. Everything relies on Jude's decision. She is literally shaping a new future.

If Jude bridled Cardan selfishly, the reign would be more vulnerable to attacks, assassinations and weaker without somebody to lead who the people favors, a powerful Fae. She could not continue the legacy alone. Madoc, the court of teeth, and all power hungry rulers would have taken advantage of that. Oak might also be assassinated in the near future since she cannot protect him all the time. This could have been written in the stars, eventually leading to downfall.

So when she chooses to kill Cardan, it indirectly led to opening new pathways for a future of honor, love, and duty above all else. Above selfishness, hunger, and greed. Including hers.

And interepreting what occured during the event, Jude might also be carrying a child. If she did, they will fall victim to future plots against the throne. She can't shoulder her mortal and faerie childs fate.

There is also the fact that Oak is still alive. He could carry the legacy, but he is also a child. His life depended on his family and others. He will fall victim to exploitation and deception.

All of this, goes back to Jude and to the fact that the curse would be indirectly broken, as long as everything Mab worked hard for lives on.

#i think about this a lot #thanks for listening to my ted talk #tfota #jude duarte #the cruel prince #the wicked king #jurdan #jude x cardan #cardan greenbriar #holly black #the queen of nothing #cardude

60 notes · View notes