The Cruel Prince

To retaliate against Jude for her salting prank, Cardan and his friends throw her and Taryn, along with their school supplies, into a river. Afraid of such an outcome, Jude had tried to get Taryn to stay home from school that day. The sisters are afraid of nixies—monsters that hide in the rivers and drown swimmers—and they eventually see the creatures swim up to them. After taunting the sisters and making Taryn kiss his cheeks, Cardan makes Taryn promise not to side with Jude at their lessons, to which Jude’s sister agrees. In return, Cardan and his friends promise to leave Taryn alone from then on, and again tell Jude not to appear in the tournament. 

Vivi takes Jude and Taryn into the mortal world by using magic and introduces them to the girl they saw in the photos, her girlfriend Heather. Heather has asked Vivi to move in with her, and Vivi tells her sisters not to tell Heather about Faerie. She wants the three of them to move to the mortal world permanently, but the sisters tried that in the past and Jude and Taryn were unhappy in the human world. The sisters meet Heather and tell her that their “father” (Madoc) is conservative and would be upset if he knew that Vivi was bisexual. (In fact, this sexual orientation seems to be acceptable in Faerie and wouldn’t have bothered Madoc at all, but he would be furious at Vivi’s return to the human world.) The four spend the day together at a shopping mall before the sisters depart for Faerie. On their way back, a boy Jude previously noticed approaches them. Without thinking, Jude punches him, making his friends chase the girls. When she gets back to Faerie, Jude revels in the calmness she felt as she was punching the boy and tells her trainer that she’ll be participating in the tournament. Cardan pulls Taryn aside and tells her something that makes her cry, so Jude shoves and threatens him. Undeterred, Cardan tells Jude that she’ll regret opposing him.

At the tournament, Jude puts forth an intense effort, and Cardan again taunts her, humiliating her. He also makes sexual remarks about Taryn, which bothers Jude because she knows the faeries can’t deliberately tell lies. Jude has a quiet, friendly moment with Locke, who helps her after the tournament. Jude finds herself attracted to him.

After the tournament, Prince Dain makes a surprise visit to the family’s house, where Jude converses with him alone. He asks her what she wants, and Jude says that she wants to be his knight. What Dain really wants, however, is to use Jude’s ability to lie to his advantage, and he asks her to be his spy. If she agrees, he promises to put a spell on her that will let her resist magic that could be used against her. Jude agrees, and Dain gives her the ability to resist any enchantment—except ones that he places on her. Madoc isn’t home at the time, and Jude decides to keep her commission a secret from her guardian.

Jude goes to her lessons without Taryn. Although Dain has given her power to resist enchantment, eating faerie food without salt will still stupefy her—and during a break in their lessons, Valerian (one of Cardan’s friends) shoves a rotten apple in Jude’s mouth, and Jude starts to choke. Cardan stops Valerian, saying that the prank will be ruined if Jude dies. The faeries humiliate the enchanted Jude. Cardan throws away Jude’s salt—the antidote to the apple—but pricks her finger, making her suck on it and ingest some of the salts in her blood. Locke walks Jude home, is tender toward her, and says he wants to see her again.

Madoc is furious about Jude’s treatment, but she refuses to tell him who has been tormenting her, knowing that Madoc’s idea of revenge will probably involve violence. She feels it is hopeless for him to try and retaliate against such powerful faeries.

Jude receives her first assignment from Dain, who instructs her to pose as a servant and go to Hollow Hall, home of his elder brother (and firstborn son of the King) Balekin Greenbriar, and spy for him.