If you are open to questions: in your opinion, what's the reason cardan didn't sleep in the room while jude was recovering? do you think he was with other people, as jude believed?
oh, absolutely not. i briefly skimmed the chapters between where Jude wakes up after her fall from the ceiling and Cardan is not there, and the end of chapter 21.
i think it's made fairly clear through the scene after she wakes up, and over the course of the following chapters that, since Jude had to be drugged (for the pain) and she was also wounded, Cardan wouldn't spend the night there even if they were already romantically involved. she was delirious and "bleeding all over his spidersilk sheets" and probably would not have made a good bedfellow.
but there is one night, after Jude has healed, where she goes to bed after a revel and there is mention of her waiting for Cardan to come back to the Royal Chambers. but he never does. first, Jude imagines he stays at the revel all night, drinking to avoid having to sleep in the same bed as her. which is a little sad but not a totally unreasonable assumption, given their history at odds.
then, in chapter 21, we have this lovely quote:
“ 'You didn’t come to bed last night,' I whisper. It occurs to me abruptly that while I was unconscious, he would have spent his nights elsewhere. Perhaps not alone. It has been a long time since I was last at Court. I have no idea who is in his favour.” (QON, ch.21)
so it only occurs to Jude right before there is a high likelihood of them actually spending the night together (as he has come back to their rooms), that he could've been with someone else the night before.
i think here, there is a small part of Jude that wants to feel wanted. and not in the "i hate that i want you" kind of way they've previously dabbled in. but she wants to be the one he chooses to go to bed with. not just because she's there, either. she wants him to want her.
i'm not sure there's a whole lot of hard evidence for where he actually was the night before. but we do have this line, Cardan's response:
“ 'I’m here now,' he says, as though he thinks it’s possible he misunderstands me.” (QON, ch.21)
now i've highlighted the important part because it's the only part of this response that vaguely alludes to his confusion. the confusion being this: Cardan did not know Jude wanted to sleep in the same bed with him.
at this point, he's only aware that she did not receive his letters, she did not solve his riddle, she was very very angry with him for exiling her, and he hurt her. and she admitted that he hurt her. explicitly! to his face! that's not something Jude would do lightly, and Cardan knows this. he thinks he's still in the doghouse, and he wants to respect Jude's privacy at this time.
and even then, after he's explained himself to her, would what he did damage their relationship irreparably? would Jude begrudgingly forgive him, but decide she wants nothing to do with him save for her title as Queen? fuck if Cardan knows! she has given him so very little indication of her true feelings at this point.
he knows Jude wants power. but he doesn't know Jude wants him. they are mirrors in this way.
and here Jude is, in chapter 21, being all, "where the fuck were you last night?" as if she was expecting him to come to bed in the Royal Chambers, a place where he was entirely sure he was unwanted. all i know is, boy has whiplash and he's got it bad. but he gets what he deserves. in the end.
plus, what would it say to the court about the legitimacy of their marriage if Cardan were messing about with random courtiers? Cardan is smart, he knows Jude is a queen not likely to be well-favoured (at least initially) by the people. they need to remain unified in all respects, at least until they are both solidly in their thrones.
basically, Cardan was neck deep in love with Jude during QON. his only concern was for her and her feelings. and of course, we should always presume that Jude and Cardan are both blind idiots when it comes to their feelings for one another.
p.s. all bets on Cardan passing out in the Court of Shadows. or possibly the Council Room, since Randalin knew Cardan wouldn't be in the Royal Chambers when he burst in on Jude the morning after.
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