The Stolen Heir

The Stolen Heir (2023) is a young adult, high fantasy spin-off of Holly Black’s The Folk of the Air series. The novel is the first installment in The Stolen Heir duology, and it follows Jude’s fae brother, Prince Oak, and his romance with Suren (Wren), the changeling queen of the Court of Teeth, as they seek to rescue Madoc from imprisonment at Lady Nore’s Ice Needle Citadel. The Stolen Heir explores themes of autonomy and truth.

Holly Black is a New York Times bestselling author of over 30 middle-grade and young adult fantasy novels, whose books have been translated into 32 languages. She’s received the Mythopoeic Award, a Nebula, and a Newbery Honor.

This guide is based on the e-book edition published by Little, Brown and Company in 2023.

Content Warning: The Stolen Heir mentions death by suicide and depicts violence, including physical abuse.

Plot Summary

Suren, or Wren, is the 18-year-old changeling queen of the Court of Teeth. Eight years ago, she escaped to the mortal realm after the Battle of the Serpent, where her parents—Lady Nore and Lord Jarel—allied with a redcap faerie named Madoc to overthrow the High King, Cardan, and High Queen, Jude. Jude forced Lady Nore to make a vow to obey all of Wren’s commands, but she was unable to give any before Lady Nore fled and sent her storm hag, Bogdana, to hunt Wren. Having been tortured by Lady Nore and controlled by the golden bridle, a magical item that allows its owner to control whoever wears it, Wren now spends her days freeing humans from doomed bargains made with a local faerie. She also frequently visits the human family—the “unfamily”—she lived with as a child, and cherishes the memories of a peaceful, loving life she’ll never have again.

Oak Greenbriar is the 17-year-old Prince of Elfhame, and heir to the throne. He is a trickster and a charmer, more concerned with entertaining himself with games than worrying about the consequences of charging headfirst into dangerous situations. He journeys with his guard, Tiernan, and their prisoner Hyacinthe—Tiernan’s former lover and currently part-falcon due to a curse Jude placed on all former guards of Madoc’s failed rebellion—to seek Mellith’s heart for Lady Nore, who has taken Madoc captive until the heart is delivered to her.

Despite having forged a quick friendship based on childhood games, Wren and Oak’s friendship has since ended. Wren harbors slight hatred toward Oak since he and his sisters refused Lady Nore’s request for a marriage alliance between them. She believes he was given the opportunity to save her from her torture at the Court of Teeth, and blames him for failing to do so.

When Oak appears after years of estrangement and saves Wren from an encounter with Bogdana, he requests her help on a quest against Lady Nore, where her command over Lady Nore will prove useful. He does not reveal that Lady Nore holds Madoc, his foster father, captive, instead claiming she’s acquired the ancient bones of the first queen of Faerie, Mab, imbued with the power of creation, and used them to create an army of monsters. Lady Nore has reclaimed the Ice Needle Citadel and is recruiting Folk to her cause, becoming a growing threat to the throne.

Wren joins Oak, Tiernan, and Hyacinthe’s mission, sensing she does not have much choice in the matter, and learns that Oak plans to locate an ancient hag called the Thistlewitch, who possesses a dowsing rod that can locate anything, including Mellith’s heart. Though he continues to hide Madoc’s captivity from Wren, she does not inquire further. On their journey to the Court of Moths, where Oak intends to appeal to Queen Annet for safe passage through the swamps to the Thistlewitch, Hyacinthe attempts to warn Wren about trusting Oak. He believes Oak is a gancanagh, a love-talker or honey-mouth, with the ability to compel others with his words—a trait that belonged to his deceased mother, Liriope. Hyacinthe wears the same golden bridle Wren wore for years, and she feels pity for him and disgust at Oak and Tiernan for controlling him.

A kelpie named Jack of the Lakes takes the form of a steed and escorts the group to Queen Annet. Upon arrival, Hyacinthe is unbridled and sent to the dungeons; Wren worries about him. The rest of the group prepare for the upcoming revel. Wren visits the royal seamstress, Habetrot, who makes dresses using the dreams of her clients. Habetrot sees a desire for destruction in Wren, and makes a dress befitting these desires. At the revel, Oak’s appeal to Queen Annet reveals that Madoc is being held captive by Lady Nore, exposing his true motive to Wren, who becomes angry at his deception. While Oak is drunk, Wren sneaks off to visit Hyacinthe, but is followed by Jack, who offers his help. Wren frees Hyacinthe and the other two prisoners in Queen Annet’s dungeons, a merrow (merman) and a human girl named Gwen. When she helps Hyacinthe further by removing his curse, he pledges his loyalty to her, despite her protests. She returns to the revel, only to find that Jack has betrayed her to Queen Annet’s guards. Oak is angry at Wren’s betrayal, but when Queen Annet attempts to imprison Wren, he duels her largest ogre, Noglan, to death in exchange for keeping both Wren and Jack. When Oak wins, he releases Jack but remains angry at Wren.

On their way to the Thistlewitch, Tiernan obtains a few strands of Wren’s hair as a failsafe, which can be woven around the golden bridle to control her. The Thistlewitch tells the group the tale of Mab, who was given the power to create by an ancient hag, and in exchange, she was tasked with raising the hag’s child, Mellith, as her heir. However, when Mab had a child of her own, she tricked the hag into killing her own daughter. The hag cursed Mab so her power of creation would only remain permanent as long as she possesses Mellith’s heart. The story reveals that Lady Nore is grinding up Mab’s bones to create monsters, but without Mellith’s heart, her creations will eventually unravel. Oak carelessly bargains away a favor to the Thistlewitch—to be claimed if he ever becomes High King—in exchange for the location of Mellith’s heart. In private, she reveals Wren carries Mellith’s heart in her own chest. When Oak returns to Tiernan and Wren with the weight of this secret, he discourages Wren from continuing the journey. However, she is determined to continue north and defeat Lady Nore once and for all.

Oak tells Tiernan and Wren that Mellith’s heart is where Lady Nore will never find it. They plan to break Madoc out of the Ice Needle Citadel and steal Mab’s bones, but as a failsafe, they obtain a reliquary where they stash a decoy deer heart that can pass as Mellith’s heart. They cross the sea to the isles of Elfhame, where they make a treacherous journey through The Stone Forest, filled with trolls cursed to turn to stone in sunlight. There, Oak is poisoned by the village speaker, Gorga. Eventually, the group arrives at the Citadel, where they witness Lady Nore use Mab’s power to create more monsters.

Oak and Wren are captured and brought to Lady Nore, who has allied with the troll king, Hurclaw, after promising to break the stone curse once she obtains Mellith’s heart. She asks for Mellith’s heart, and Oak surprises Wren by claiming to have brought it. Wren’s tongue is cut out to prevent her from giving Lady Nore orders, and she is placed in the dungeon beside Madoc. Oak plans for Tiernan to bring Mellith’s heart the following day in exchange for Lady Nore freeing Madoc, Wren, and himself. Later, while she pretends to sleep, Wren overhears Oak and Madoc speak of Oak’s deception.

Hyacinthe arrives to free Wren from prison, giving her the opportunity to use a discarded shard of Mab’s bones to regrow her tongue. She seeks Lady Nore’s room and makes commands in preparation for Tiernan’s exchange. However, Lady Nore alerts Hurclaw, prompting a battle. During the battle, Wren realizes she is Mellith, or at least the carrier of Mellith’s heart, made by Bogdana for Lady Nore and Lord Jarel when they could not conceive—but given Mellith’s heart to be reborn. She unmakes Lady Nore and takes the Ice Needle Citadel as her own, freeing Madoc, Tiernan, and Hurclaw. Angry, Wren places the golden bridle on Oak and forces him to stay with her.