I DID NOT SEE THAT ENDING COMING HOLY SHIT!!!
That’s it. That’s the post.
OK, starting right with that curve-ball, I have trouble believing that Cardan isn’t banishing Jude in part because it will keep her safe. He saw what shape she was in when she returned from Queen Orlagh’s court. Jude is going to have a lot of trouble believing that, I’m sure. But I really think Cardan is starting to feel like he needs to move her out of harm’s way.
And I think Black did an amazing job of writing Cardan’s gradual progression from somebody who was just there for the party favours into an actual King. He watched all the shit Jude was doing, witnessed everything that was going wrong, realized all the machinations and plotting going on around him – and got invested. Now he is actively protecting his position AND his kingdom.
Now all that remains to be seen is whether or not he will want to give up the crown when Oak comes of age. Something tells me he might have other ideas when that time comes. Maybe the crown won’t want to give up him. The actual kingship seems to be it’s own entity in a way.
Other notes, I really like Madoc so much. He is the consummate soldier, and so proud of his daughter for outsmarting him. If they ever do go to war against each other, he’ll be in his command room wiping away a proud tear every time she massacres one of his battalions, right before making his own plans to wipe out her forces in turn.
I was not shocked to find out that Heather left Vivi. Honestly Heather was right to leave and I hope Vivi learns something from it and starts to take her obligations to a mortal partner a lot more seriously. Even in the mortal realm anybody she’s involved with is going to have a target on her back, especially if anybody from the fae realm manages to track down Oak’s location.
And finally the one person I have absolutely come to loathe is Locke. Many of the other characters are enemies for various reasons but he is the only one who is an awful person just for shits and giggles. And I’m not crazy about Taryn either, she’s knows exactly what he’s like and she’s just going along with it. My fondest hope is that their story line ends up with Taryn redeeming herself by skewering her husband right through his cheating manipulative eye.