The Twisted Throne summary - Full recap with spoilers, book five

Read a The Twisted Throne summary with spoilers, book #5 in Danielle L. Jensen’s The Bridge Kingdom Series. If you are wondering what happened in The Twisted Throne by Danielle L. Jensen, then you are in the right place! Get ready for the next book by reading up on exactly what happened in book three.

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Author
Danielle L. Jensen

Ratings
4.5 stars on Amazon
4.3 stars on Goodreads
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The Bridge Kingdom Series
#1 The Bridge Kingdom (synopsis)
#2 The Traitor Queen (synopsis)
#3 The Inadequate Heir (recap)
#4 The Endless War (recap)
#5 The Twisted Throne (this page)
#6 The Tempest Blade (synopsis)

***** Everything below is a SPOILER *****

What happened in The Twisted Throne?

Your The Twisted Throne summary:

Begins with Princess Ahnna of Ithicana alongside Aren Kertell and Lara Kertell at Northwatch. Ahnna is the former Commander of Southwatch and held Ithicana together during the Maridrinian invasion and Aren’s absence. Now she is at Northwatch preparing to sail to Harendell to complete her part of the Fifteen-Year Treaty.

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Aren tries to convince Ahnna to stay since she is used to being a fighter, not a prim-and-proper princess of Harendell. Aren says he can offer Harendell money or better trade rates for the bridge to avoid sending Ahnna and keep her happy. Ahnna refuses because she needs to convince Harendell to direct trade through the Bridge and pay Bridge taxes to refill Ithicana’s coffers after the Maridrina/Ithicana war. Ahnna also still holds a grudge against Lara for helping Maridrina attack Ithicana.

Bronwyn, Lara’s sister, and Taryn, Ahnna’s cousin, also come with Ahnna to Harendell. Ahnna brought Taryn because she hates Lara and would have assassinated Lara if Ahnna hadn’t brought her.

While waiting, they see the Harendellian ship docking. The Harendellians are fighting people who appear to be dressed as Ithicanians. Ahnna sees their fighting style is Amaridian.

Ahnna saves a man whom she believes to be her betrothed, Prince William Ashford. It turns out he is Prince James, the illegitimate part-Cardiffian son of King Edward of Harendell.

Ahnna struggles to fit in; she must wear dresses instead of Ithicanian fighting clothes.

The Harendellians theorize the Amaridian attack happened because Queen Katarina of Amarid might be trying to avenge her son, Prince Carlo Serrano “The Beast” after one of his testicles was cut off.

Ahnna tries to figure out why Harendell is reluctant to ship through the Bridge. There are no northern markets open to Harendell. Cardiff and Amarid are both at odds with Harendell and other smaller nations can’t match the goods shipped through the Bridge.

Ahnna and James’ escort stops in a noble’s mansion for the night.

James goes into town and meets his uncle Cormac. It’s revealed James is a liaison between the Cardiff king, King Ronan, and King Edward. Cormac wants James to get rid of Ahnna. If Ahnna marries William, it will spell the end of a Cardiff/Harendell alliance.

Meanwhile, Ahnna sneaks out to try to gather information. James catches her. They talk and return to the mansion. They end up kissing by the hedges.

They arrive by carriage at Verwyrd, the capital of Harendell and climb a path up to the Sky Palace.

Ahnna meets King Edward who is very pleased with her as a future bride for William. He sees her as a strong heir, whereas he verbally abuses and puts down his son, Prince William. Prince William is a drunkard and playboy. He spends all his money on wine and horses. Princess Virginia is somewhat blind and uses a cane to ambulate. Queen Alexandra expresses disdain for Edward and James because he dislikes Prince William but praises his bastard, Prince James, for his military acumen and strength.

James tries to reason with Ahnna on the rooftop and convince her to leave. He sees fear in her eyes when he suggests it. He believes Aren might have forced her to come against her own will. Assassins then appear and try to kill James. Ahnna sustains a mild cut, but the blade is poisoned with a special Amaridian poison.

James meets with his uncle, who wants to know why Ahnna is still here. He suggests killing her. James learns his uncle sent the assassins, not Amarid. James says they can’t send her back or Aren might marry Ahnna to Carlos of Amarid.

Ahnna joins Virginia and the young ladies of the court for tea. There, she sees Lestara. The other Harendell ladies bully her. Ahnna leaves.

It turns out that Bronwyn came to Harendell because she wants to find out what happened to Lestara, the Cardiffian princess who was sentenced to the Harendellian court as a favor to Keris Veliant.

Ahnna is invited to private tea with Queen Alexandra. She remembers Keris warned her that Alexandra has a lot of power. She’s seen no evidence of this; Edward bashes her any chance he gets. Alexandra tells Ahnna she dislikes her, but if she wanted Ahnna gone, she would be. Ahnna realizes Alexandra spiked her tea with a laxative and runs to the privy.

Ahnna sends Taryn away to a music university. Taryn loved to sing but couldn’t leave Ithicana before. Bronwyn goes with her.

William decides he wants to marry Ahnna after all. He gives her a racehorse named Midnight Eclipse (Dippy for short) and claims the horse is too old for the races. It turns out the horse lost at the races. Ahnna wants to ride him but he is a poor saddle horse. Ahnna has never ridden because the Bridge has no need for horses.

James takes up secretly training the horse for Ahnna. Meanwhile, Ahnna thinks he dislikes her because he is never around.

Ahnna defends Lestara from one of the noble ladies.

Virginia wants to protect William’s heart. She thinks Ahnna might be using William. Virginia also starts avoiding Ahnna because she defended Lestara.

James goes out to protect Cardiffians in Harendell accused of astromancy/witchcraft. They are traditionally burned at the stake by the commonfolk.

Ahnna goes to the bank and asks for a very large loan. She digs in their records while they arrange it and discovers that Queen Alexandra receives money from jewelers and deposits it in William’s account. William, in turn, pays the exact amount to someone named C.F. She does not find out what market might be competition for the Bridge.

Ahnna goes into town and finds Aren at a bar. Aren tries to convince her to return. She starts crying. James sees and nearly fights Aren. He sends spies after Aren.

Ahnna learns Amarid wants an alliance between them and Ithicana. Georgie puts a 24/7 guard on her and forbids her from seeing James. He thinks like Lara, she is posed to attack Harendell from inside.

Ahnna pretends to apologize to Virginia. She invites Virginia to go jewelry-shopping with her. Virginia agrees with ulterior motives. Virginia tells James she thinks Ahnna is poor because she asked for a large loan. Either Ahnna has been cut off by her brother’s riches since she hates Lara, or Ithicana itself is poor. Either way, William’s marrying her would bring Harendell no power. At the store, Virginia suggests Ahnna buy the most expensive necklace there. Ahnna empties her coffers for it, but successfully buys a ruby necklace and Maridrinian wine and sends it to Lara, knowing they will take it as a warning.

On the way, they thought some riders might be after them. James goes to investigate but is ambushed by Amaridians on horses.

When Virginia and Ahnna leave the store, Ahnna goes after James. A giant tornado comes, and Ahnna and James end up in a basement together while the Amaridians are blown away. Ahnna and James confess their love for each other. Ahnna tells him she blames herself for letting her guard down when Lara’s soldiers attacked.

Back in Verwyd, Edward tells Ahnna he intends to crown her. He tells her the queen is dead. Ahnna realizes Edward blames Alexandra for the death of James’ Cardiffian mother, and he will make peace with Cardiff. Harendell will then keep Ahnna as leverage, and Ithicana will still be broke if trade flows north to Cardiff. Edward will announce it at a ball.

How did The Twisted Throne end? The Twisted Throne summary

Ahnna is imprisoned in her room by Georgie and told she can’t attend the ball, per the king. Alexandra is actually alive. She arrives and tells Ahnna she must thwart Edward and save Alexandra and Ithicana. She sneaks Ahnna out of the room and into the ball.

There, Edward announces William and Lestara are now married and Cardiff is their ally. Cardiff and Harendell now are going to exterminate Amarid for attacking them.

James confronts Edward. Edward says Lestara is a distraction for Edward and he wants James to be his true heir. Ahnna is to be James’ bride. Edward reveals he was married to a princess of Cardiff, the sister of King Ronan of Cardiff. James is a legitimate son. Edward also “married” Alexandra to appease the Harendell nobility.

Ahnna decides to leave since her plan to help Ithicana via trade failed.

Alexandra takes Ahnna’s knife and stabs herself. She blames Ahnna. The guards discover Edward murdered in his bed.

Ahnna flees as a criminal on Dippy towards Ithicana. At the harbor, she finds shipping crates by Cartwright Foundries, a weapons company. Alexandra was paid in rubies by Maridrina and then paid C.F. with silver to ship sharpened weapons through the Bridge, allowing Keris Veliant’s escort to take over Ithicana. Ahnna realizes Alexandra, Silas, and Katarina were all together on a plot to have Maridrina take the Bridge. She feels betrayed by James since he didn’t tell her about the Cardiffian alliance even though he fabricated it. The book ends on a cliffhanger.

There you go! That’s a recap of what happened in The Twisted Throne by Danielle L. Jensen. We hope you enjoyed this The Twisted Throne summary with spoilers.

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