Meat suit with anxiety

Like, in TCP, he has no fucking idea about the whole spy thing. Last time he saw Jude, she was dreaming of being a knight and getting bullied by the fairy kids at school. That is where he left her.

Then suddenly she has the crown?? And is able to choose who gets it? Oh, and she's immune to poison somehow???

Like I cannot emphasise how fucking left field this must have been. Madoc didn't even know Jude wanted to be a knight until like two weeks ago. He was able to confidently say that she wasn't a killer.

If he thought that either Jude or Taryn were gonna screw with his plans, he assumed that it would be through high school politics or getting into fights over which boy they like. They're like seventeen and, surprisingly for a blood-soaked monster who is several centuries old, Madoc actually does have fairly reasonable expectations of what teenagers are interested in.

He just was not expecting 'mithridatism', 'assassination' and 'political machinations' to be so prominent among Jude's interests.

So TWK happens and now she's the High King's Seneschal. Okay. And not only that, but he seems to be giving her more responsibility than you'd expect even from someone in such a prominent role. Alright.

And you can kind of see him trying to rationalise it. Like is this a crush? Did she strike a bargain at him during stargazing lessons when they were at school together? Are they fucking? Does he need to get Oriana to give Jude another 'safe sex with members of Elvish royalty' talk?

Nope. Turns out she's the actual power behind the throne. Again, somehow.

And then, within like a year, she's the fucking Queen. Madoc cannot rest. None of the books on raising the teenaged daughters of your murdered ex wife covered this eventuality. He is simultaneously proud and enraged.

Wasn't she playing board games and begging him to read to her like yesterday? Didn't he have to replace her pen because the bullies at school stole it? Her bedroom was full of stuffed animals.