Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2
The Ballad of Never After
by Stephanie Garber
Contents
Words of Warning
Overview
Evangeline, reeling from Jacks poisoning her new husband Apollo, writes a warning letter to herself to never trust the Prince of Hearts again. She vows not to help him open the Valory Arch, whose nature is dangerously unclear. Though Jacks leaves without protest, she anticipates his return and prepares herself.
Summary
Evangeline completes a letter to her future self, sealing it with wax and inscribing a warning not to trust the Prince of Hearts. The act is driven by fresh betrayal: Jacks poisoned her husband Apollo on their wedding night, shattering her hope that he might change.
Despite her nature to believe in redemption and unwritten endings, Evangeline decides she cannot forgive Jacks. She draws a firm boundary: she will never help him open the Valory Arch.
Evangeline reflects on the Arch’s peril. Conflicting Northern tales, warped by a story curse, claim the Valory either holds the Valors’ greatest gifts or imprisons dangerous beings, possibly an abomination. Unwilling to risk either outcome in Jacks’s hands, she resolves to oppose him.
After she suspected his crime, guards removed Jacks from Wolf Hall. His quiet departure—without fight or words—unsettles her, confirming he is not finished with her. Evangeline sets the warning letter on her mantel where she will see it, bracing for his inevitable return.
Who Appears
- EvangelineNarrator and princess; writes a warning to herself, rejects Jacks, and vows to oppose opening the Valory Arch.
- Jacks (Prince of Hearts)Antagonist; poisoned Apollo and was expelled from Wolf Hall, likely to return.
- ApolloEvangeline’s new husband; victim of Jacks’s poisoning on their wedding night.