What happened in The Traitor Queen by Danielle L Jensen - Recaptains

The basics

Title: The Traitor Queen

Author: Danielle L Jensen

Series: The Bridge Kingdom #2

1. The Bridge Kingdom (2019)
2. The Traitor Queen (2020)
3. The Inadequate Heir (2022)
4. The Endless War (2023)
5. The Twisted Throne (2024)
6. Book 6 (2026)

Add it: Goodreads

Goodreads Summary:

A queen now in exile as a traitor, Lara has watched Ithicana be conquered by her own father, helpless to do anything to stop the destruction. But when she learns her husband, Aren, has been captured in battle, Lara knows there is only one reason her father is keeping him alive: as bait for his traitorous daughter.

And it is bait she fully intends to take.

Risking her life to the Tempest Seas, Lara returns to Ithicana with a plan not only to free its king, but for liberating the Bridge Kingdom from her father's clutches using his own weapons: the sisters whose lives she spared. But not only is the palace inescapable, there are more players in the game than Lara ever realized, enemies and allies switching sides in the fight for crowns, kingdoms, and bridges. But her greatest adversary of all might be the very man she's trying to free—the husband she betrayed.

With everything she loves in jeopardy, Lara must decide who—and what—she is fighting for: her kingdom, her husband, or herself.

Here is a spoiler summary of what happened in The Traitor Queen by Danielle L Jensen to help refresh your memory before you read the sequel. If you need help remembering what happened in The Traitor Queen then you’re in the right place.

What happened in The Traitor Queen?

• Aren has been captured by King Silas and taken to the royal palace in Vencia. He has been held for two weeks so far.
• King Silas talks to Aren about Lara, and says Lara betrayed them both.
• Silas wants to know how to get into Erandahl but Aren won’t tell him.
• Lara is imprisoned in Erandahl. She tells Ahnna her plan to find her sisters and work with them to rescue Aren.
• Jor and some of the other Ithicanians set off with Lara to Vencia.
• Kara heads off into the mountains. She finds her sister, Sarhina, heavily pregnant, and a few more sisters there too. They send word to all the others to ask them to meet at The Songbird, Marisol’s inn in Vencia.
• At the palace, the Magpie brings along a woman with a bag over her head, claiming it’s Lara. The guards start hurting her and the Magpie demands information on Eranahl from Aren. Aren doesn’t give much away. He realises that the girl is Emra from Kestark. He ends her life after she pleads for him to do so.
• Keris arrives at the palace with General Zarrah.
• Keris and Aren talk briefly. Keris seems to hate the war.
• Lara meets with Jor at the tavern. Jor says Gorriel got tired of waiting and tried to get into the palace by himself, but was killed.
• Lara’s other sisters arrive.
• Aren attends dinner with the King. He meets Carolyn, one of Silas’ wives. Carolyn used to be married to the previous king.
• Aren and Carolyn talk and Aren tells her to visit a florist in the city.
• Carolyn does so and finds Lara and her crew hiding in the back. Nana also arrived just before. Nana used to be a spy in the palace and she and Carolyn knew each other.
• Aren and Karis talk. Keris convinces Aren to stay alive and be ready to escape. Once the time comes, Keris wants Aren to take Zarrah with him.
• There’s another dinner. Some dancers arrive. It’s Silas’ daughters led by Lara. Lara reveals herself and causes chaos. She, her sisters, Aren, and Zarrah escape the room. Carolyn confronts Silas.
• They reach Keris and Keris takes Zarrah to get her out. The others zipline to the guard tower to escape.
• Lara creates a distraction and leads the soldiers in the other direction. Bronwyn gets shot and Aren helps her. Eventually Lara reaches the meeting point at the cave.
• Nana finds Aren alive and bursts into tears.
• Nana helps heal Bronwyn.
• Lara’s next plan is for her and Aren to meet with the Empress of Valcotta and try to mend that broken relationship.
• Lara and Aren head off. Lara tells Aren when exactly she wrote the damning letter, and why.
• Then they get chased into the desert. Tehy lose the people who were after them – the Magpie’s men – and take one of their camels. Aren passes out. They reach the compound where Lara was raised. Lara goes out into the sandstorm to get Aren water.
• Aren wakes up and looks around the building. He gets super sentimental. He finds the Magpie’s torture devices.
• Lara calls out for Aren. She can’t see anything because she has been blinded by the sand.
• Lara and Aren set off again and come across a camel. They decide to continue trying to cross the desert.
• Lara knows of a tradepost called Jerin which is close by. She goes on ahead while Aren is asleep and she is caught stealing.
• Aren and the camel, Jack, reach the outskirts of Jerin. Lara still isn’t back so Aren has to go looking for her.
• Lara has been put in a pillory in the square to burn in the sun.
• Aren pretends to befriend the locals and drinks with them. They lead him off into the desert intending to rob and kill him, but he kills them instead.
• Lara is in the middle of breaking out of the pillory when Aren helps her out.
• They hide in a watering hole before heading back to the camels.
• Eventually they reach a river and take a boat to Pyrinat.
• They get to a pub where Jor is waiting. He fills Aren in on what has been going on. Ahnna is back in Eranahl and King Edward of Harendell is willing to take refugees. Sahrina has had a baby girl.
• Aren and Lara head to see the Empress. Zarrah is there and is keeping Keris’ involvement in her escape a secret.
• The Empress wishes to speak to Aren alone. Lara is about to argue but the Empress’s guard subdues her. Or she steals his knife and holds it against his balls. Hard to tell.
• the Empress agrees to the alliance if Aren kills Lara. He refuses.
• Aren and Lara make an alliance with Zarrah instead. They plan to free Southwatch from Maridrina.
• They head to Nerastis to grab a boat to head home to Ithicana. Zarrah and Keris are able to divert the soldiers. Lara is about to swim back to shore once she knows Aren is safe but he grabs her to take her with him.
• Aren and the crew meet with Aster, who is very unhappy to see Lara. His daughter was killed in the initially bridge attack. Aster asks if Lara will be gone after this is all through and Aren confirms that she will be.
• They plan to take back Gamire island, which is where the Ithicanian prisoners are being held. Then they’ll go for Midwatch.
• To get onto the pier they have to cross Snake Island. Lara volunteers to be the one to run. She makes it but cuts her leg.
• They get into the prison and fight off the Maridrinian soldiers. Taryn is actually alive.
• Afterwards, Aren finds Lara trying to stitch up her own wound. He helps her. They have sec. He leaves afterwards and says it was a mistake.
• Aren and his soldiers take Midwatch. It’s not much of a fight as most people seem to have left. Aren learns there wasn’t a battle at Southwatch because the Maridrinians had abandoned it. He realises something is wrong.
• Eranahl calls for aid.
• Aren reaches Eranahl and reunites with his sister. The Maridrinians outnumber the Ithicanians, and the latter are running out of arrows.
• Lara arrives and climbs the cliffs. She nearly falls but Ahnna catches her. Ahnna tries to get Lara to leave but she insisters she will fight.
• The Maridrinians start pulling out the portcullis. The Amaridians retreat due to the storm, but the Maridrinians remain because King Silas is on one of the ships.
• Lara gets onto the ship and challenges her father. It’s looking a bit hairy for a while but she eventually kills him and the Maridrinians start to retreat to try to beat the storm. They try to come after Lara at first but she jumps into the shark infested water.
• The Ithicanians shout at Lara to swim. She heads to the tunnel but the portcullis is now blocking it.
• Aren is asking the remaining Maridrinian soldiers to surrender. Lia comes running to tell him Lara is trapped.
• Aren goes to Lara. She can’t get through he gate. Aren dives down and finds a gap and helps her through. Lara gets trapped by her belt. Aren frees her but she drowns.
• Lara wakes up three days later. Aren tells Lara none of the sharks ate her so this is a sign that she’s Ithicanian. Ithicana will accept her and he wants her to stay. So she does.

That’s what happened in The Traitor Queen. Check out our recap list for more recaps. If you can’t find what you need, you can request a recap from us!

Other recaps for this series:

• The Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom #1)