Black, Holly
First published in Great Britain in 2021 by HOT KEY BOOKS
80–81 Wimpole Street, London W1G 9RE
Owned by Bonnier Books
Sveavägen 56, Stockholm, Sweden
Copyright © Holly Black, 2020
Illustrations © Rovina Cai, 2020
Endpaper art by Kathryn Landis. Copyright © 2019 by Holly Black Map illustration by Kathleen Jennings. Copyright (c) 2018 by Holly Black.
Drop cap letters copyright © Mednyanszky Zsolt/Shutterstock.com Running head ornament copyright © Gizele/Shutterstock.com All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
The right of Holly Black and Rovina Cai to be identified as author and illustrator of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-4714-0999-8
Also available in audio
Hot Key Books is an imprint of Bonnier Books UK
For Brian and Drake,
but mostly for Theo
Aprince of Faerie, nourished on cat milk and contempt, born into a family overburdened with heirs, with a nasty little prophecy hanging over his head—since the hour of Cardan’s birth, he has been alternately adored and despised. Perhaps it’s no surprise that he turned out the way he did; the only surprise is that he managed to become the High King of Elfhame anyway.
Some might think of him as a strong draught, burning the back of one’s throat, but invigorating all the same.
You might beg to differ.
So long as you’re begging, he doesn’t mind a bit.
This?” he demands, looking down at the waves far beneath them. “This is how you traveled? What if the enchantment ended while Vivi wasn’t with you?”