Opening
In the mortal world’s fluorescent calm, Jude Duarte shops at Target with her sister Vivienne Duarte, Vivi’s girlfriend Heather, and her little brother Oak. The cheerful aisles disguise the bloody fallout of the coronation (see previous chapters), even as Jude finalizes Oak’s exile for safety. She returns to Elfhame as seneschal to the new High King, where Prince Cardan Greenbriar greets her victory with a challenge she doesn’t expect.
What Happens
At Target, Oak—his fae features glamoured—marvels at the human store and gleefully loads candy into the cart. The trip seals their plan: Oak will live with Vivi and Heather in the mortal world for several years, far from Faerie’s dangers. Jude quietly takes stock of the aftermath: Prince Balekin Greenbriar sits imprisoned, and Madoc rages over his failed coup. Her private triumph tastes like ash. “I have lied and I have betrayed and I have triumphed. If only there was someone to congratulate me”—a line that lays bare the cost of Family, Loyalty, and Betrayal.
Later at Vivi’s apartment, sibling warmth briefly returns. Oak asks when he will know to go back to Faerie. Jude gives him a riddle-answer fit for a future king: come back when returning feels hard, not easy. They share a chocolate-and-marshmallow pizza; then Jude leaves them safe behind and steels herself to walk back into Elfhame alone.
In the palace, Jude finds lavish rooms set aside for her and seeks out Cardan. She discovers him lounging on the throne, regal in finery, commanding enough to make her almost kneel. He reminds her his oath—obedience for a year and a day—has an expiration date, and he hints he might grow to enjoy ruling. Then he unveils his strategy: malicious compliance. He will take the wine, the laughter, the spectacle—while Jude, as seneschal, shoulders the labor, politics, and peril. Rising, he offers her the seat itself: “This is what you wanted, isn’t it? ... Go on. It’s all yours.”
Key Events
- Oak relocates to the mortal world with Vivi, his safety secured for now.
- The new order settles: Cardan is crowned, Balekin is imprisoned, Madoc’s coup collapses.
- Jude ascends as seneschal—the hidden power running the court.
- Cardan vows to be an obedient yet useless puppet, forcing Jude to bear the burdens of rule.
Character Development
Power shifts, but its weight reveals character. Jude wins the game and discovers she must play it alone; Cardan accepts the crown and turns obedience into a weapon. Oak begins a gentler chapter that will harden him wisely; Vivi chooses family over Faerie.
- Jude: Moves from spy and knight to de facto ruler. Achieves her goal but faces isolation, risk, and relentless responsibility.
- Cardan: Resentful yet adaptable, he embraces a kingly image and weaponizes passivity to complicate Jude’s control.
- Oak: Innocent but thoughtful, he starts a mortal life that will prepare him for a complicated return.
- Vivienne: Commits to the human world, protecting Oak and prioritizing safety over Faerie’s allure.
Themes & Symbols
Power, Politics, and Ambition: The epilogue pivots from winning power to wielding it, foregrounding the lonely cost of rule and the cunning required to keep it. Cardan’s “useless puppet” gambit reframes Jude’s triumph: authority without cooperation becomes a trap of endless labor and public hazard. The crown is hers—in all the hardest ways. Power, Politics, and Ambition
Belonging and Otherness: Target’s bright aisles and the empty, echoing throne room stage Jude’s split identity. She commands Faerie but belongs fully to neither realm; victory deepens her exile. Her protection of Oak fractures what remains of family even as it saves him. Belonging and Otherness Family, Loyalty, and Betrayal
Symbol — The Throne: The throne embodies Faerie’s highest prize and heaviest burden. Seeing Cardan look every inch a king unsettles Jude, hinting that image can harden into power. When he offers her the seat, it becomes a dare: claim the danger your ambition demands.
Key Quotes
“I have lied and I have betrayed and I have triumphed. If only there was someone to congratulate me.”
Jude names her paradox: victory achieved through betrayal severs the very bonds she meant to protect. The line crystallizes the epilogue’s loneliness and the moral cost of ruling in secret.
“You made me your puppet. Very well, Jude, daughter of Madoc, I will be your puppet. You rule... You be my seneschal, do the work, and I will drink wine and make my subjects laugh.”
Cardan obeys in form while subverting in spirit. His malicious compliance forces Jude into exposure and toil, turning her secret triumph into an exhausting test of endurance and strategy.
Why This Matters and Section Significance
The epilogue closes one game and opens the next. Oak’s safety and Balekin’s imprisonment resolve the immediate crisis, but Jude’s arrangement with Cardan seeds the central conflict of The Wicked King: ruling is harder than seizing power, especially with a crown that won’t cooperate. Jude’s victory isolates her, and Cardan’s glittering defiance ensures that every success will exact a price—political, personal, and perilous.