SPOILER WARNING May contain plot details |
Eldred Greenbriar, also known as High King Eldred or King Eldred, was a faerie and the former High King of Elfhame. He was the grandson of Mab Greenbriar as well as the father to Balekin, Elowyn, Dain, Rhyia, Caelia and Cardan Greenbriar, grandfather to Oak and father-in-law to Jude Greenbriar née Duarte.
Physical Description[]
Eldred had hair like spun-gold. He had knobby hands with multiple rings on them. His eyes were bronze and alert, like an owl. His face was deeply lined.
Personality[]
Very little is known of his personality, although he would rather have had the entire Greenbriar line and his consort, Taniot, dead than crown Prince Balekin High King of Elfhame.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
To be added.
The Coronation Ceremony[]
After many years of ruling Elfhame, High King Eldred decided to abdicate his throne due to the fact that he had lost his taste for bloodshed and was seeking the Land of Promise. He allowed those under his banners to rebel in small and large ways, even as other Courts refused to submit to the High Court.
During the ceremony to crown Prince Dain as the new High King, Eldred's eldest son, Balekin Greenbriar, staged a coup for the throne with the support of the Grand General, Madoc. When Eldred refused to change his choice in successor, Prince Balekin killed his sister, Princess Elowyn, out of spite while Madoc killed Prince Dain. Despite being powerless to stop his son, as he had given his magic away when he abdicated and having been betrayed by General Madoc, the former High King refused to crown Prince Balekin, stating that Balekin would never rule Elfhame.
He was then held down by traitorous knights and stabbed by Prince Balekin, bleeding red moths that rushed out of him until his body no longer remained. The moths flew in the air for a moment before dying and falling to the ground.
The Queen of Nothing[]
King Eldred only appears in "Queen of Nothing in the prologue, in which Baphen is reading Cardan's star chart. Once the prophecy is read, King Eldred leaves Lady Asha to raise Cardan as she wants, not wanting any part with the boy. King Eldred never called upon Lady Asha or visited her. When Prince Dain claimed Cardan killed a mortal for which Prince Dain himself has killed, King Eldred sent Lady Asha to Tower of Forgetting for Cardan's punishment-seeming a bit relieved in doing so.
How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories[]
To be added.
Relationships[]
Cardan Greenbriar[]
Cardan is Eldred's sixth-born and youngest child. Eldred did not care much for his children and found Cardan useless. Eldred allowed Prince Dain to remove Cardan from the Palace of Elfhame.
Balekin Greenbriar[]
Balekin is Eldred's firstborn. Eldred despised Balekin and never accepted his becoming High King. Even as he died at his son's hands, he laughed and vowed that Balekin would never reign over Faerie.
Val Moren[]
TBA
Asha[]
Asha was his lover and had his child, though was never made his official consort.
Trivia[]
Eldred’s symbol from The Cruel Prince US undercover
- Eldred’s symbol was cream colored with a tree that is half white flowers and half thorns, with roots dangling beneath it and a crown atop.