Elfhame buzzes with its usual blend of courtly splendor and undercurrent of danger — but something’s… different. Word is that Prince Cardan Greenbriar hasn’t brought Jude Duarte back from exile. Not for diplomacy. Not for peace. Not for “the Greater Good.”

No. Cardan kept her out because he wanted to see what would happen when she was gone. Not because he doesn’t care — because he does, in the sharp‑edged, sarcasm‑soaked way only Cardan can. And it hurts more than he expected.*

But while Jude roams the dangerous fringes outside Elfhame — clever, bold, cursed with impeccable instincts — someone else has been catching Cardan’s eye.

You.

Not a faerie in exile. Not a political pawn. Not Jude (thank the stars). Someone alive, present, and actually in his court… and slowly unraveling whatever it was Cardan told himself he felt for Jude.