The Folk of the Air

Jude Duarte was seven when Madoc — a redcap general of Faerie — murdered her parents and carried her, her twin sister Taryn, and her older half-sister Vivienne off to live in Elfhame, raising them alongside his own son with his wife Oriana, a boy named Oak. Ten years later, Jude is obsessed with earning a permanent, respected place in Faerie despite being mortal, even as many of the fey, including Prince Cardan, the cruel youngest son of High King Eldred, torment her for it.

Prince Dain, next in line for the throne, recruits Jude as a spy, granting her immunity to all glamour but his own. Through this work she infiltrates Prince Balekin's household, uncovers evidence of court treachery, and joins Dain's secret network, the Court of Shadows, working alongside the Roach, the Ghost, and the Bomb. Along the way she kills Cardan's friend Valerian in self-defense after he tries to murder her, and begins secretly building immunity to poison. Her romantic life gets complicated too: Locke, a charming courtier, pursues her — and, unbeknownst to her at first, pursues Taryn at the same time.

Everything comes apart at Dain's coronation, where Balekin, aided by Madoc, stages a bloody coup that kills King Eldred, Dain, and most of the other heirs. Only Cardan survives, and Jude smuggles him away, holding him prisoner at the Court of Shadows' hideout. There she learns Dain's darkest secret: he fathered a child with Eldred's consort Liriope and had the baby killed to dodge a prophecy — except the child didn't die. Jude realizes that Oak, the boy she's called her foster-brother for years, is that child and the true heir to the throne, secretly protected by Madoc, who now hopes to rule through him.

Jude refuses Madoc's offer to trade Cardan for anything she wants, and instead manipulates Cardan — who she discovers is infatuated with her — into swearing a magically binding oath to obey her for a year and a day. At a banquet meant to crown a new ruler, she duels Madoc and defeats him by poisoning his wine, then has young Oak formally crown Cardan as the new High King rather than letting Madoc or Balekin take power. Balekin is arrested for his role in the massacre. The book ends with Cardan uneasily on the throne, magically bound to obey Jude, who now wields real power in Faerie from the shadows despite holding no title herself.

Going into the next book, key open threads include: Cardan's resentment and unpredictability as a king controlled by an oath he didn't choose; Madoc's survival and simmering ambition after his defeat and humiliation; the unresolved fallout between Jude and Taryn over Locke, who was involved with both twins; Vivi's continued unhappiness in Faerie and her attachment to her human girlfriend Heather; and the precariousness of Jude's position as a mortal girl secretly ruling through a resentful, bound king with only a year and a day guaranteed before his oath expires.

By the end of The Queen of Nothing, Jude Duarte has gone from exiled, powerless mortal back to the acknowledged Queen of Elfhame, standing openly beside Cardan, the High King. Their relationship, long built on schemes, coercion, and secrecy, has resolved into a genuine partnership — Cardan no longer hides behind tricks to protect her, and Jude no longer needs to manipulate him to have a place at his side.

Key standing of characters heading into the next book: Jude and Cardan rule together, their bond finally honest. Jude's twin sister Taryn is a widow — her husband Locke is dead, killed by Taryn herself, though the truth was concealed by Jude and never came out publicly; Taryn continues on in Faerie society without facing consequences for it. Jude's stepfather, Madoc, the former Grand General who raised Jude and Taryn as weapons, staged a coup attempt to put their younger half-brother Oak on the throne with himself as regent — Madoc was killed by Jude in the climactic battle, so that threat is gone. Oak himself is safe, still a child, not enthroned, and not yet come into any larger role — he remains a minor, protected figure rather than an active player. The Undersea's push against Cardan's rule, tied to Madoc's rebellion, was defeated alongside Madoc's forces.

One significant revelation from this book: Cardan is not fully what he's always presented himself as — he carries a hidden, inherited monstrous/serpent nature from his mother's side, which he used openly for the first time during the final battle to help save the throne. This is now known, at least to Jude and likely to those close to the crown.

Open threads going forward: Elfhame is stable under Jude and Cardan's joint rule, but the wider fae political landscape (relations with the Undersea, the long-term status of various courts and claimants) remains something a new reader should expect to still be settling. Oak, young and safe at the close of this book, is a character whose future role in Faerie politics is left open. Taryn's guilt over Locke's death is a private, unresolved emotional thread rather than a legal one. No later-book information (such as anything involving Oak's adulthood or new characters) is included here, since this recap covers only events through the end of The Queen of Nothing.