The Queen of Nothing

The battle plan is to allow Madoc to come to Cardan’s court for his parlay. If Madoc asks for a duel, Cardan will refuse. They will then meet on the field of battle. As Jude, Cardan, Randalin, Fala, Yorn, the Bomb, and Grima Mog discuss their plan, they receive a message that Madoc’s boats have been spotted. He will be ashore in three hours. The various commanders ready their battalions for any eventuality. In the evening, Madoc appears before Cardan and Jude for his parlay. Before entering the court, Jude tells Vivienne to take Oak and the others away in case matters worsen. The siblings and Heather will be observing the court proceedings from a secret place. Cardan takes a moment to tell Jude he loves her.

Madoc is accompanied by Oriana, Grimsen, and members of the Court of Teeth. He is surprised to see Jude alive. Jude asks her father to surrender. Madoc refuses and challenges Cardan to a duel for the crown. Cardan dismisses Madoc’s claim for the Blood Crown because the crown can be worn only by Queen Mab Greenbriar’s descendants. Madoc says Grimsen, who forged Mab’s crown, will find a way around the condition once Madoc wins the duel. Madoc pulls out the sword Grimsen made for him and places it on the ground. Immediately, the floor splits, the crack extending to the stone throne and splitting it in two. The sword’s power established—it was built from the rocks of Queen Mab’s barrow, or mounded tomb—Madoc says Cardan can use it against him in the duel he proposes. Alternatively, he should let the courtiers vote whether they prefer Cardan or Madoc as High King. If Cardan rejects both proposals, the magicked arrowhead still lodged in Queen Orlagh’s chest will kill her. Cardan does something unexpected in response to Madoc’s parlay. He says Madoc cannot claim the throne even if he defeats Cardan because Jude is also the ruler of the land. Then Cardan breaks the Blood Crown to end the feud over the crown forever. The prophecy about him being the ruination of the crown was never literal but symbolic of Cardan changing the old ways. He then asks the gathered court if they accept him as their king, and the Folk bend their knee to Cardan.

Cardan doesn’t realize that Grimsen places a spell on every object he crafts. Breaking the crown releases Grimsen’s curse, and Cardan transforms into a monstrous black snake before the eyes of the court. Grimsen screams that the snake will “poison the land. No riddle will fix it. Only death” (216). Madoc declares that the king of Elfhame no longer exists and plans to slay the serpent and take the throne. Jude shouts that Elfhame still has a queen and asks the guards to arrest Madoc. To Jude’s surprise, Randalin supports Jude’s orders. The serpent slides towards Grimsen and kills him. Then it wraps itself around the broken throne. The guards take Madoc away and shut the brugh.

Jude asks Grima Mog to be her new Grand General; she accepts. Jude tasks her with keeping an eye on the serpent’s whereabouts at all times. Jude tells the Bomb to ascertain who is truly loyal to her and which courts have aligned with Madoc. If the Bomb’s spies learn of a plan to assassinate Jude, the Bomb can go ahead and have them killed without asking Jude. Jude tasks Taryn with dressing her impressively, since Jude needs more than ever to command the respect of her subjects. Jude now asks to meet Baphen to figure out a way to break Grimsen’s curse on Cardan. She wants Baphen to tell her the exact words of his prophecy at Cardan’s birth. Baphen reveals there are two parts to the prophecy: One is that Cardan will be the ruination of the throne, which has already come true. The other is that “only out of his spilled blood can a great ruler rise” (225). Jude’s heart sinks because this may mean that Cardan’s transformation is irreversible and he needs to be killed.

Jude gets news from Grima Mog that the serpent has escaped the throne room by slipping through the crack made by Madoc’s sword. Strangely, it is snowing inside the brugh. Jude must meet the council immediately. Taryn sets up a parlor for Jude to receive visitors. Jude tells the council she has no way yet to reverse Grimsen’s curse. Grima Mog has learned that Madoc intends to attack the kingdom at dawn on the day after next. Thankfully, the kingdom under Grima Mog has enough battle resources to offer Madoc resistance. The High King has roamed the land and returned to the brugh. Wherever he slithers, he scorches the earth, indicating that he, like Jude, is tied to the land. Some council members believe that the only way to heal the land may be to kill the king, but Jude dismisses the idea.

Jude goes to the brugh to see Cardan. He has grown in size, but the gold sheen on his black scales has dimmed. Jude tries to summon magic from the earth of the brugh to somehow restore Cardan, but it doesn’t work.

Jude regrets not telling Cardan she loves him too. Everything seemed to be finally working out, before things exploded. The Bomb brings Jude more news: a group plotting her assassination has been killed, and Madoc has requested a private audience with Jude and the rest of his family. He will be accompanied by the rulers of the Court of the Teeth. Jude allows Madoc to visit, but he cannot bring a weapon into Elfhame. Jude will meet Madoc’s party on the grounds rather than inside the palace.

Jude’s throne is set up outside; she tells Oak that he must not interrupt her no matter what she says to Madoc. Oak gives Jude his word. Madoc arrives with Lady Nore and Lord Jarel. Queen Suren’s bridle is gone, and her face is covered with scars. She is leashed with a chain stitched inside her wrist. Madoc and the Court of Teeth have a fresh offer for Jude. They will accept Jude as the High Queen since Oak, after her, is the true heir to the throne. In return, Jude must accept Oak’s betrothal to Queen Suren and Madoc as her chief advisor. The Court of Teeth will also give the magical gold bridle Suren once wore so she can restrain the serpent. The bridle will allow Jude to wield total control over Cardan, even if she manages to revert his transformation.

Jude is secretly appalled at the prospects of betrothing Oak to Suren and cruelly controlling Cardan, but she also wants to avoid bloodshed. To buy time, she asks Madoc why he didn’t use the bridle himself to control Cardan and the throne. Madoc grudgingly admits his soldiers tried binding Cardan but the serpent killed them. Jude may be the only one who can approach the serpent and put the bridle on him. Jude asks Madoc to first remove the magicked arrowhead from Queen Orlagh’s breast as a sign of his fair intentions. She will not commit Oak to anything for now, but she will fulfill all Madoc’s conditions if the bridle does control Cardan. Lord Jarel gives Jude the bridle and tells her she can command it by knotting three of her hairs around it. The hairs will bind Cardan to her. A temporary truce is established, but Jude is uneasy about the whole arrangement. She goes to the shore after the meeting and tosses a note in the ocean asking for help. The note is meant for Nicasia, who Jude knows once loved Cardan.