Bound for Never

A Throne of Spikes

JUDE'S POV. (P.S. SORRY IF I CAN'T MAKE IT LIKE THE BOOKS):
Never to assume ruling is easy.
I sit now on my newly forged throne, feeling slightly out of place. Beside me, Cardan watches the revel with his inhumane jet-black eyes, boredly swishing wine in a goblet.
He seems like the princeling he was, even after he wrongly assumed the crown of Elfhame.

The High King has rings gleaming along every finger, and his crown tilted to rest on the large spike of his ear. Surely, he's had more than enough, most likely drunk. But he'll always be sober enough to mock someone.
"Viviene says we ought to visit,"
Cardan prods at the snake on the long stretching table. Snake. From him, the curse when he broke the blood crown- 'I always assumed I would taste delicious' - he laughed back then, but never really ate it.
"Does she? That'd be good. I found an old storybook she could read to Oak. The Fae's version of 'Alice in Wonderland' apparently." I say.
I always thought Vivi was the careless older sister, but now, with giving her the burden of raising a child of Faerie, Oak, I am beginning to think differently.

At least she's with Heather now. It took them a while to reach here, without Vivi telling her she wasn't human. How could she tell? Even as kids, Vivi despised using magic solely because of Madoc. Which wasn't fair, I thought when I was little, since between her, me and Taryn, she was the only one who could wield it.

In fact, it took a while for me to reach here. As queen. Mortal child, kidnapped to Faerie land, general's daughter. Spy, King's right hand. In exile. Queen.
Those are only a few words to say what happened to me over the years.
Maybe it is getting better if it weren't for the lower Unseelie courts trying for the crown.
Since when did wild fey desire power? Now, with the threat of losing the crown, I am dreaded with a sorrow that feels old as life itself.
"Jude?" Cardan's voice snaps me back to reality. "Yes?"
"What's going on in that head of yours?" He asks
"You first." I prompt, and he sinks back in his chair, hiding a grin.
"I am not here to be interrogated by you," he says
"And I am?"

Just then, the large wooden doors fly open, and Fand rushes in. I anointed her as a knight in my first year of ruling, the only Gentry fey at lessons that didn't laugh at me when Cardan made every effort to be cruel.
Even now, remembering the night of being drugged on Faerie fruit, on my hands and knees without antidote in that ragged dream.
But never have I seen her such as this, frantic and worried.
Or maybe that's just me.

"The lower courts -" She gasps, leaning against the doorframe making a rushed bow. "They've made their move."
At that, I am not sure if it's just me or the whole world. But it freezes.

(MY FIRST EVER FANFIC- DON'T JUDGE TOO MUCH. I REALLY TRIED LOL. READ THE BOOKS IF YOU WANT TO GET IT BETTER)