The Wicked King
Jude has been manipulating court politics since arriving in Faerie, but her position grows more precarious by the day. As she schemes to gain power in a treacherous world of fey, her carefully laid plans come apart. Survival requires becoming something far colder than she imagined.
Everything You Need to Know About The Wicked King
Jude Duarte is the seneschal of Elfhame, the secret power behind King Cardan's throne. For five months she has been running the kingdom from the shadows, manipulating politics, managing foreign threats, and making sure the cruel, capricious Fae boy she crowned does exactly what she tells him.
But Cardan is not as controllable as she thought. Something is shifting in him , he is growing into the crown, or the crown is growing into him, and the drunken prince she dismissed is becoming something more dangerous. His cruelty has edges now. His political instincts are sharper than she expected. And the way he looks at her has changed in ways she is not prepared to deal with.
Meanwhile, Madoc is plotting. Jude's Fae father has his own designs on the throne, and his military mind is several moves ahead of anyone's. A delegation from the Undersea arrives with demands that threaten war. Taryn's marriage to Locke is unravelling. And the mortal girl who seized power in a world of immortals is discovering that keeping it is harder than taking it.
The political machinations tighten around Jude from every direction. She is brilliant, ruthless, and running out of moves. Something has to give, and when it does, the fallout reshapes everything.
The Jude-Cardan dynamic reaches a fever pitch. Black handles the shift from enemies to something-else with precision, every interaction is loaded with subtext, hostility, and a tension that is almost unbearable by the midpoint. The kiss is one of the most anticipated moments in YA, and Black does not waste it.
Jude as a political operator is fascinating. She is mortal in a world of immortals, wielding power through intelligence, deception, and sheer force of will. The scenes where she outmanoeuvres Fae politicians who underestimate her are deeply satisfying.
The court intrigue is tighter and more dangerous than book one. Every alliance is provisional, every conversation has three layers, and Black's plotting keeps the reader off-balance in the best way.
The ending is one of the most devastating twists in the genre. Black commits fully to it, and the emotional impact is enormous.
Political violence and assassination attempts. Poisoning. A character is enchanted and compelled against their will. Betrayal by family members. A character is exiled under humiliating circumstances. Physical violence in court settings. A character kills someone close to them. Themes of control, manipulation, and power imbalances. Moderate sexual content. Emotional abuse within family dynamics.
Cardan exiles Jude to the mortal world. After she has spent the entire book fighting for his kingdom, after they have finally acknowledged what is between them, he uses the one power she cannot fight, royal decree , to banish her from Elfhame. The cruelty is stunning, and whether it is genuine betrayal or a play within a larger game is not resolved until The Queen of Nothing.
The marriage is real. Jude and Cardan are legally married by Fae law, a revelation that Cardan uses as part of his exile decree. He makes her his queen and then sends her away. The implications of this, that she is technically the Queen of Elfhame, exiled from her own kingdom, drive the final book.
Taryn kills Locke. Her marriage has been a disaster, and she ends it permanently. She then comes to Jude covered in blood, asking for help covering it up. The twin dynamic, always complicated, becomes genuinely dark here.
Madoc's coup attempt is thwarted, but barely. His ambition and military capability remain the biggest political threat in Elfhame. He is playing a long game that extends beyond this book.
The Wicked King is the second book in The Folk of the Air trilogy. Read The Cruel Prince first. The ending demands immediate continuation into The Queen of Nothing.
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