read the prologue first or this will probably NOT make sense<3
the bird perched on my desk, pitifully staring back at me with feathers as white as snow. as if mocking my cowardice. I scowled back at its beady black eyes, the bird cocking its head back in confusion.
I glanced around the classroom at the other students chanting out half-hearted spells and flicking their wands like animals. we were supposed to be doing a transfiguration spell of turning a white dove into a feather, but only one student had seemed to manage it so far. I eyed hermione granger’s perfect feather, neat at the tips and crisp throughout. of course, it was an easy spell. I could easily be the second student to perform it, but I had a plan. a plan that I was already hesitating to take the first steps of.
I see Cardan’s furious, arrogant handwriting scrawled over the page, taking up all available space. In some places he pressed the nib so angrily that the paper tore. Jude, it reads, each hateful rendering of my name like a punch to the gut.
I’ve always found Cardan’s copy of Alice in Wonderland fascinating. It’s the only book from the mortal world Jude sees in Cardan’s collection. And when combined with the note inside (JudeJudeJude…), it suggests early in The Cruel Prince that Cardan has some kind of understanding of what Jude is going through as a human in Faerieland. It’s the first sense we have that Cardan might have empathy or at least sympathy for Jude.
But how did Cardan get the same copy of Alice and Wonderland that Jude had a kid in the mortal world? And how would he even have knowledge of the book Alice in Wonderland? A strange coincidence… unless it’s not a coincidence.Who else would have had the same copy of Alice and Wonderland as Jude and is a friend of Cardan? Vivi.
When I first read The Cruel Prince, I found the mention of Vivi and Cardan’s friendship a little odd. Why would Vivi be friends with someone who clearly despised her sisters? But what if their friendship is based on their mutual interest in the mortal world? We know Cardan is knowledgeable about human wedding traditions (the exchanging of the rings). I wouldn’t be surprised if he had more knowledge of the human world than he lets on.
I don’t know if Vivi gave Cardan the book. Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t. Maybe she mentioned off hand that she and her sisters used to read Alice and Wonderland back in the human world. Either way, I think Vivi is involved in Cardan acquiring his copy.
I wouldn’t be surprised his Cardan and Vivi’s friendship played a larger role in Queen of Nothing. Also, I still want to know what Vivi gave Cardan as a coronation present! I bet it’s something from the mortal world. Maybe another book?
