The Runaway King is the highly anticipated sequel to Jennifer A. Nielsen's The False Prince, and the second book in the The Ascendance Series. The novel's events take place in the countries of Carthya and Avenia, and focus around Jaron trying to stop the Avenian pirates from bringing war to his country.
Cover Inscription[]
Flee the throne...to keep the crown.
Book Synopsis[]
Just weeks after Jaron has taken the throne, an assassination attempt forces him into a deadly situation. Rumors of a coming war are winding their way between the castle walls, and Jaron feels the pressure quietly mounting within Carthya. Soon, it becomes clear that deserting the kingdom may be his only hope of saving it. But the further Jaron is forced to run from his identity, the more he wonders if it is possible to go too far. Will he ever be able to return home again? Or will he have to sacrifice his own life in order to save his kingdom?
The stunning second installment of The Ascendance Trilogy takes readers on a roller coaster ride of treason and murder, thrills and peril, as they journey with the Runaway King.
Book Summary[]
Several weeks after the events of the first book, Roden attacks Jaron in his private garden, and reveals that he has joined with the Avenian pirates, who still wish to kill Jaron after having failed four years ago. Before he leaves, Roden tells Jaron that he has ten days to surrender to the pirates, or the pirates will invade Carthya to get Jaron. Roden also threatens Jaron by saying that if Jaron tries to hide, his loved ones will be punished for his cowardice.
Roden's attack comes as a great disappointment to Jaron, as Jaron had believed that they could be friends had they not been turned against each other, and he had even attempted to find him again. Jaron finds it hard to believe that Roden can hate him so much.
Jaron realizes that Roden is referring to Imogen, as he loves her and cannot imagine life without her. He decides that she must go into hiding to stay safe, however, because he does not trust her with the truth, he lies to her, claiming that they are not friends and he has used her to return to the throne. Offended and deeply hurt, Imogen leaves the castle.
Jaron deduces that the pirates are in alliance with Avenia and that if both attack Carthya, the kingdom will fall. In the meantime, his regents reject his plans for war and express that they believe it would be better for Jaron to go into hiding while a steward rules Carthya. Because all are against him, Jaron agrees to leave the castle, and asks that they give him nine days before they vote on a steward. He leaves for the abandoned estate of Farthenwood with his friends Mott and Tobias, where he reveals that he intends to join the Avenian pirates and attempt to convince them to change their loyalty to Carthya. Despite objections from all sides, Jaron is steadfast in his decision, because as dangerous as his plan is, he has no other choice. Jaron instructs Mott and Tobias to return to the castle and arranges for Tobias to impersonate him at the castle, then leave in the night to prevent the loyal Mott from following him.
On his way, Jaron meets a band of Avenian thieves who have captured a Carthyan woman and a young girl. Jaron fights the thieves and they scatter. With her dying breath, the woman asks Jaron to take the girl, her daughter, Nila, to her grandfather's home in another town. Jaron takes Nila to the town of Libeth, where her grandfather Rulon Harlowe lives. Harlowe takes to Jaron and treats him kindly, giving him food and a room to rest in, and sends a servant to treat the wound Jaron received in the skirmish with the thieves. Jaron also avoids all attempts to discuss his identity or his family. Harlowe attempts to persuade Jaron to stay with them, but Jaron refuses, and requests that Harlowe keep him a secret.
Jaron manages to get accepted into the same band of Avenian thieves who killed Nila's mother. When the thieves' leader, Erick, discovers he has a bag of new Carthyan coins on him, he asks where they come from. Jaron tells him that there is a hidden cave in Carthya full of such coins, that he knows how to get there, and that he is hoping to use this information to become an Avenian pirate. Erick, who knows the pirates and their merciless ways, insists to see Jaron in action before he brings him before the pirates. To avoid attacking his own people, and for lack of a better plan, Jaron suggests that they rob Harlowe's house.
Jaron and Erick enter Harlowe's office by a tree outside the window and meet Harlowe and Mott. Both are surprised to see him, but with prompting from Mott, Harlowe gives Jaron everything for which he asks, to Erick's surprise and delight. Mott makes a sudden dash from the room, and Jaron runs after him. Outside, Mott begs Jaron one last time to abandon his plan, and Jaron refuses. Sadly, Mott tells him that he will follow Jaron only as far as a church for Jaron's safety, and they bid each other goodbye. Before Jaron leaves Harlowe's estate, Harlowe gives him a gold watch that had belonged to his late son, and when Jaron tries to refuse it under the pretense that it is imitator's gold, Erick takes the watch.
Crossing the border back into Avenia, they meet King Vargan, the Avenian king, and an enemy of Jaron's. Vargan gives orders to steal all their loot and draft the thieves into his army. Jaron, who has disguised himself to look sick and injured, tells Vargan that he is suffering from plague wounds, and Vargan hastily releases them, returns their loot, and departs.
When one of the thieves Jaron fought when he rescued Nila recognizes Jaron, Jaron tells Erick that the thieves killed an innocent woman and nearly killed her young daughter. Shocked, Erick reprimands the thief and suggests that, just as the pirates have a code not to harm innocent women and children, the thieves should too.
Erick, Jaron, and a young boy named Fink ride to the pirates. On the road, Jaron learns that whoever challenges the current pirate king, Devlin, to a swordfight and wins will become the next pirate king.
At the pirate camp, Jaron is shocked to see Imogen working there as a kitchen servant. When the pirates ask him to steal something to prove his prowess, Jaron goes to the kitchen under the pretense of stealing a kitchen knife to talk with Imogen. Imogen reveals that, after Jaron insulted her, she discussed the event with Jaron's fiancé, Princess Amarinda, and they worked out the real reason Jaron insulted her and that Jaron would be heading to the pirates. They arranged for Imogen to work there as a last-ditch effort to dissuade him his plan, and to help him if he insisted on following through with his plan.
After being branded with the mark of the pirates on his arm, Jaron becomes an Avenian pirate. That day, the pirates capture a ship delivering cargo and bring one crewman back alive to Devlin. When Devlin is about to kill him, Jaron intervenes and says that they can make more profit if they send the man with pirates disguised as his crew to the ship's original destination, sell the cargo, then take the man's payment and refuse to hand over the cargo. Devlin agrees and orders the man to be tied up against a tree for the night.
That night, Jaron sneaks out and frees the man. The following morning, he awakes to find the pirate who tied up the man last night punished for apparently not tying the knots correctly. Jaron stops the punishment by suggesting that the crewman was good with knots. To test Jaron's claim, Devlin orders Jaron's hands tied behind him and his face thrown into a drinking trough so that he is deprived of air. Jaron nearly drowns but manages to undo the knots tying his hands.
Devlin, who does not believe Jaron's feigned incompetence with a sword, test him and forces him to reveal his knowledge of a sword by throwing a knife at him, causing Jaron to instinctively block the knife with his sword. Imogen warns Jaron that she overheard that Roden is returning to the pirates the following day, which means that his true identity will be recognized, and he will have to fight the pirates and almost certainly lose and die. As they talk, Jaron suddenly realizes that Gregor, the captain of his guard, is actually a traitor, having deliberately allowed Connor, the murderer of Jaron's family, to enter the castle with a vial of poison and to permit the entry of Roden on the night Roden attacked Jaron. Gregor, being a strong supporter of having Jaron replaced by a steward, obviously intends to be Jaron's steward. With the support of the regents behind him, Tobias, who is back at the castle pretending to be Jaron, is in grave danger. Jaron tells Imogen to meet him at the stables that night. When Fink confides to Jaron that he wants to leave the pirates, Jaron instructs him to be at the stables as well.
That night, Jaron and Imogen are caught sneaking out by a vigil, the same pirate that Jaron saved from a severe beating after Jaron helped the captured ship crewman escape days earlier. When vigil confronts them, they pretend that they are sneaking out for romantic purposes and the vigil lets them go after Jaron reminds him of the debt he owes Jaron. After meeting Fink in the stables, Fink and Imogen leave the camp on Jaron's horse, to Imogen's great disappointment, as she thought Jaron would leave camp for safety with her.
The following morning, Fink and Imogen return to camp, held captive by Gregor. As Jaron watches from behind a tree, Gregor exposes Imogen as Jaron's closest friend. Gregor also reveals that Imogen is in possession of Harlowe's gold watch, which Jaron had stolen from Erick, intending to have Imogen return it to Harlowe. As the pirates are about to whip her for robbery, Jaron shows himself and says he stole the watch. Recognizing Jaron, Gregor enlightens Devlin with Jaron's true identity. Devlin gives orders for Fink and Gregor to be locked up, and threatens to kill Imogen unless Jaron gives up his throne and reveals the location of the treasure cave. Jaron challenges Devlin to a duel, and Devlin accepts. Jaron injures Devlin and wins the duel, but knowing that the pirates would never accept Jaron as a leader and would challenge him until his strength fails, begs Jaron to spare his life in return for never troubling him again. Jaron agrees but trades his life for Imogen's. As the pirates bind him and Imogen weeps, Jaron requests her to go, expose Gregor's treachery, and never return.
As Devlin prepares to whip Jaron into revealing the location of the treasure cave, Roden arrives and demands to deal with Jaron himself. When Devlin denies the request, Roden gets angry and kills Devlin on the spot, becoming the new pirate king. He orders Jaron to be locked in a secure room with Fink midway up a cliff.
Jaron is chained to the wall, and Roden comes to see him, bringing Erick to be imprisoned in the room as well. Roden tells him that he is having a feast to celebrate his acquisition of the Carthyan throne. To prevent any possibility of Jaron escaping, Roden breaks Jaron's leg and Jaron passes out from the pain. He wakes several hours later, and with the help of Fink and a reluctant Erick, they pick the lock on Jaron's chains, punch out the glass in the window, and break a wooden chair to fashion a leg brace for Jaron. With great difficulty and pain due to his broken leg, Jaron climbs out the window and up the cliff. After a brief respite, he takes a wooden sword used for training and one of the kitchen knives that Imogen had hidden for him all over the camp. He then walks into the pirate's dinner party and challenges Roden. He also tells Roden that he would like him to return to Carthya as Jaron's captain of the guard.
As they fight, Jaron comments on Roden's strengths, pointing out why Jaron would want him as captain of the guard. He generally manages to hold his own against Roden, despite the disadvantages of fighting with a wooden sword and a broken leg. At one point, Jaron falls to the ground and Roden helps him up. When Roden asks why Jaron would trust him, Jaron mentions that Roden just had the opportunity to kill him, but did not do it, and emphasizes that Roden is his friend. Roden begins to falter, then requests a pirate to give him a real sword, because he cannot defeat Jaron honorably unless Jaron is properly armed.
When Roden is briefly distracted, Jaron uses his sword to cut Roden's hand, and Roden, unable to hold his sword due to his injury, drops his sword. With his sword blade against Roden's neck, Jaron beckons Roden to drop his anger and become more than an honorless king of pirates, saying that Roden is his choice as a friend and protector. Something flickers in Roden's eyes, but before Roden can speak, a pirate kicks Jaron in his wounded leg.
The pain is so great that Jaron can no longer even stand, and he crumples to the ground. He expects Roden to finish him, but Roden angrily rebukes the pirate for interfering with the fight, saying that if Jaron had killed him, then it would be a fair win, especially considering that he only had one good leg. He then surrenders his loyalty and kingship of the pirates to Jaron, agreeing to go with Jaron as his captain of the guard.
Jaron demands that all the pirates swear loyalty to him and to Carthya, which they all do, albeit with great reluctance. He appoints Erick to take lead the pirates after he returns home. Gregor attempts to beg mercy from Jaron and permission to return to the capital of Drylliad. Jaron states that he would bring Gregor, but he is feeling sick enough without having to look at Gregor and leaves him to the pirate's mercy. Roden prepares a wagon, and he, Jaron, and Fink leave the pirate camp together for Harlowe's home.
Jaron asks Harlowe to be his prime regent, and Harlowe consents. Jaron talks to Mott and apologizes not for what he has done, but for how his actions have taken a heavy toll emotional on Mott, although he adds that if he could redo his actions, he still would have made the same choice. When Mott questions why Jaron wouldn't let him come along to protect Jaron, Jaron replies that his attempt at protection would put both of the in danger. Additionally, he wanted to be the one to face Roden, as he had always hoped to get Roden back on his side and Roden would not have returned with anyone other than Jaron. Imogen tells Jaron that she will not be returning to Drylliad with him, but will stay with Libeth and take care of Nila. Despite Jaron's pleas, she says that she will be in the way of his relationship with Amarinda and that it hurts her to be close to him.
They journey to Farthenwood, where they meet Tobias and Amarinda. Still one regent short of the required twenty, Jaron offers Tobias a position as a regent, and Tobias accepts. In Jaron's absence, Tobias wrote a long paper detailing to the regents why the vote on the steward would be null with only eighteen regents, so Jaron will remain the sole ruler of Carthya. Jaron and Amarinda, who have been on uncomfortable terms in their relationship, finally reconcile as they find out that this uncomfortableness was due to a misunderstanding. Amarinda had been harboring suspicions about Gregor for a while and took a special effort to form a close friendship with Gregor, hoping to find evidence against him. However, she did not tell Jaron this, partly because she didn't have any evidence to convict him of anything, but more importantly because Jaron would not make time to talk with her. On the other hand, Jaron had assumed that her relationship with Gregor was because she had turned against him, and he thought this was as good as confirmed when she brought a meal to Connor in his dungeon, which, as it turned out, she had done on Gregor's suggestion to gain his trust. Although their arranged marriage is awkward as they do not feel romantic love for each other, and Amarinda is still in love with her original fiancé, Jaron's late brother, while Jaron loves Imogen, they resolve to put their loves behind them and build up their relationship with each other.
Jaron returns to his castle to a warm welcome from his people as they all gather to bow before him and cheer for him. His leg slowly heals, and after two months, the physician begins to encourage him to use the leg as much as possible. While running outside one day, he receives news that Avenia has invaded and razed the town of Libeth, capturing Imogen, to use her to get at Jaron. Simultaneously, the neighboring countries of Gelyn and Mendenwal have invaded from the north and east, surrounding Carthya with enemies and starting the war.