The Stolen Heir

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2023

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 3

Chapters 4-9

Chapters 10-13

Chapters 14-18

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Chapters 10-13Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 10 Summary

As the group journeys to the Thistlewitch, Tiernan obtains a few strands of Wren’s hair for safekeeping; they can be woven around the golden bridle to control Wren. When Oak introduces Wren, the Thistlewitch calls her “Nix Naught Nothing” (175). He asks about Mab’s bones and Mellith’s heart, and the Thistlewitch tells the tale of Mab: Mab was the first queen of the fae who lifted the Elfhame isles from the sea, who sought out hags to bestow her with the power to create. One hag gifted her the ability, but in exchange, she was given the hag’s child to raise as her heir. Mab named the child Mellith, meaning “mother’s curse,” and sought a way to escape the bargain. She tricked the hag into murdering Mellith, thinking she was Mab’s child. In Mellith’s last moments, the hag enchanted her heart, imbuing it “with the power of annihilation, of destruction, of unmaking” (177), giving it the power to unmake Mab’s creations; she also cursed Mab so she could only use her power of creation while in possession of Mellith’s heart. In turn, the hag was cursed with the inability to harm Mab or her descendants, the Greenbriar line (Oak and current High King Cardan). The Thistlewitch reveals that Lady Nore is grinding up Mab’s bones to use for creation, but without Mellith’s heart, her creations will unravel.

Oak carelessly bargains with the Thistlewitch for the location of Mellith’s heart, promising to grant her a request once he becomes king; he believes the bargain is safe, as he never intends to become king. He and the Thistlewitch seek privacy away from Tiernan and Wren. The Thistlewitch tells Oak that Wren is the carrier of Mellith’s heart. When Oak and the Thistewitch return, he claims the heart is not likely to be found by Lady Nore and they should not bother looking for it further. After leaving, Oak urges Wren to go home. However, she is desperate to face Lady Nore once and for all. When Oak and Wren are temporarily separated from Tiernan during a storm, Wren confesses to Oak about Hyacinthe’s warnings about his potential gancanagh powers. Oak claims whatever powers he has from his mother, he doesn’t use.

Tiernan eventually finds Oak and Wren, and Oak leaves to gather supplies from a human town nearby. Wren walks into the woods in search of more firewood, where Bogdana finds her. Bogdana claims to be an ally and says Lady Nore bargained with Oak to reclaim Wren. She also reveals Lady Nore and Lord Jarel struggled to conceive and sought her for help, promising her whatever she wished. The storm hag created Wren from snow and drops of the couple’s blood, but they were horrified by her. She beseeches Wren to abandon Oak and Tiernan, come with her, and seize power for themselves. Wondering if Bogdana is the ancient hag from the Thistlewitch’s story, Wren finds it too dangerous to ally with her.

Chapter 11 Summary

Oak returns to camp with provisions from the human town, and Wren is disturbed at the thought of him influencing the humans for so much food and supplies. She’s more reserved around him now that she believes he intends to trade her to Lady Nore for Madoc. When Oak and Tiernan fall asleep, she steals the golden bridle from Oak’s bag. As Wren is about to slip away, he wakes and pulls her into conversation. Before going back to sleep, he shows her a magic trick, where he pulls a coin from behind her ear.

Wren flees to the nearest bus stop, and is pleased to find grateful texts from Gwen. She calls her unfamily, to warn them of Bogdana and Lady Nore. Bex admits she saw Wren six months ago and has wondered about her ever since. She finally realizes Wren is one of the Folk. After the call, Wren discovers the bridle is missing.

Chapter 12 Summary

Wren returns to camp, and the next morning, Oak treats her normally, as if she hadn’t tried to escape. They play a game, and when he loses and owes her a truth, she asks if what Bogdana said was true. He says Lady Nore asked for Mellith’s heart, not Wren, and that Bogdana sought to “trick [Wren] with the way she put together [her] words” (226). Oak claims he’s not willing to hand over Mellith’s heart, or Wren, and Wren is relieved.

When the group arrives at Undry Market, Wren admires a beautiful gold-and-silver hairpin, which Oak purchases for her. Oak purchases an enchanted reliquary from a local blacksmith, in which he plans to store a deer heart and claim it as Mellith’s heart. Tiernan barters for a boat they can take north. The journey reminds Wren of her first voyage to Elfhame, where Lady Nore outlined her plan to marry Wren to Oak, and then have her murder him. Oak gives Wren the golden bridle as a gesture of good faith.

Chapter 13 Summary

The group reaches land and approach The Stone Forest, where troll heads are mounted on stakes. When they prepare to sleep, covering themselves in bearskins, Oak invites Wren to lay beside him. Though she never gets cold, because she’s made of snow, she accepts his offer anyway. The next day, their journey is interrupted by an attack by more of Lady Nore’s creatures. Wren watches Oak fight with “the frenzy of battle” in his eyes and “[wonders] if he has ever dipped a cap in someone’s blood” like his redcap father (254).

After the battle, three trolls approach and bring the group to their camp to speak with Gorga, the leader of their village. While Gorga leaves to prepare tea, an old troll tells the group three versions of a tale about two troll kings trapped in stone by a curse. In the first, the two kings, brothers, fought over a human boy’s affection until they were both turned to stone. In the second, the two kings are not brothers but enemies stuck in eternal war; to end the bloodbath, they wagered the war on a duel, but were evenly matched and eventually became stone, “locked in the embrace of battle” (262). In the third, the two kings are lovers who learned to hate each other and yearned to defeat each other.

Gorga brings tea and departs once Oak drinks the contents of all three glasses. Oak falls ill from the blusher mushroom poison in the cups, but isn’t worried about his fate, as he was born with blusher mushroom in his veins. The group escapes the troll camp while the sun is out, knowing the trolls cannot risk exposing themselves to sunlight lest they turn to stone because of the forest’s curse. Eventually, they see the Ice Needle Citadel in the distance.

Chapters 10-13 Analysis

Wren wrestles with conflicting information and low self-esteem in this section, as Bogdana reveals the circumstances of her creation. She wonders if she is just “a soul given a body” or “a creature […] made like a doll, from snow and sticks” (198). When Bogdana weaves a Manipulation of Truth, informing Wren that Oak will steal her heart to bargain with Lady Nore, she realizes “[she] cannot wait for fate to come to [her]” (206). However, rather than face her mother, she attempts to steal the golden bridle and escape. Her attempt fails, but Oak gives her the bridle as a show of good faith.

The Power of Words is weaponized by both Bogdana and Oak, as they manipulate the truth to deceive Wren. Oak’s careless bargain with the Thistlewitch, where he promises to grant a request once he becomes king, secures her power over him should a coronation come to pass; however, he makes the bargain because he doesn’t desire the throne. Tales from the Thistlewitch and trolls impart valuable information and lessons. The trolls’ curse, a story with three variations, is particularly powerful. The third variation speaks of two troll kings, “lovers whose passion for each other had turned to hatred, until their desire to best and possess the other was all-consuming” (262). The story reminds Tiernan of Hyacinthe, as “he cannot help thinking of his own lover, now his enemy” (262). The narrative has already established the pair as a parallel to Oak and Wren, and thus, the story becomes relevant to Oak and Wren’s tentative love. Even as Wren develops feelings for Oak, and suspects he reciprocates, the story foreshadows the turning point to come, where his betrayal will turn her love to hatred, and she will place the golden bridle on him to “best and possess” him (262).

As the Ice Needle Citadel looms close, Wren remembers the horrors of her childhood with Lady Nore and Lord Jarel—as well as her own resemblance to them. In Chapter 9, she notes it “gives [her] satisfaction to cause pain,” which makes her “more akin to Lady Nore […] than [she] [likes]” (157). Lady Nore desires Mellith’s power of destruction and “would unmake everyone who had ever wronged her, including the High Court. Including [Wren]” (178). Likewise, Wren eventually unmakes Lady Nore, who wronged her. In Chapter 11, she mentions how Lady Nore revels in tricking people to betray themselves, which is what she does to Oak later on, calling on his owed favor to save her from the Ice Needle Citadel. Oak stays with her because of the promise, and his loyalty betrays him when she takes the opportunity to bridle him, a move learned from Lady Nore. By admitting to and perpetuating her and her mother’s similarities, Wren foreshadows what is to come as she grapples with her newfound power in the sequel—The Prisoner’s Throne (2024).

Speaking of power, the Ice Needle Citadel itself sports broken towers, and when Oak and Wren eventually investigate Lady Nore’s belongings, Wren expects to find her items perfectly arranged “as it was in the memory of [her] childhood” (283). Instead, they are strewn in a haphazard mess, her gowns ripped and stained: “There is a desperation in all this that seems at odds with her sitting at the cusp of vast power” (283). The Citadel embodies the corruption that comes with power. Lady Nore doesn’t notice her own disrepair and isolates herself from her servants, hinting at the paranoia that comes with having power worth stealing.

The layers of Oak’s character are further explored in this section, often prompting others to underestimate him. His propensity for games allows him to “play the entire Court of Moths false,” to “convince them he was a vain, useless courtier” to hide his swordsmanship (220). This allows him to win a duel for Wren’s life. Oak uses his demeanor and words to fool others, while he “never let his guard down […] [seeming] entirely open when he is unknowable” (221). Despite being a charmer with an uncanny ability to escape consequences, he is like Madoc in the heat of battle—brutal and efficient. Throughout their journey, Wren witnesses Oak endanger himself to protect her and Tiernan, foolishly leaning on luck to emerge unscathed. Tiernan claims “Oak wanted to be a ship that rocks broke against” (256), and this habit becomes Oak’s weakness when he finally loses his game with Wren.