Book Summary of King’s Cage-Red Queen Series Book 3
Continue with Mare’s story as she tries to overthrow the king, Maven Calore, with the help of her friends, the exiled prince, and some very unlikely allies in King’s Cage by Victoria Aveyard. This is the third book in the Red Queen series.
“Mare Barrow is a prisoner, powerless without her lightning, tormented by her lethal mistakes. She lives at the mercy of a boy she once loved, a boy made of lies and betrayal. Now a king, Maven Calore continues weaving his dead mother’s web in an attempt to maintain control over his country—and his prisoner.
As Mare bears the weight of Silent Stone in the palace, her once-ragtag band of newbloods and Reds continue organizing, training, and expanding. They prepare for war, no longer able to linger in the shadows. And Cal, the exiled prince with his own claim on Mare’s heart, will stop at nothing to bring her back.
When blood turns on blood, and ability on ability, there may be no one left to put out the fire—leaving Norta as Mare knows it to burn all the way down.”
Here’s a brief summary of the main points of the book for your understanding and to jog your memory before you read the book review. If you haven’t read the whole book yet, I highly recommend it as this summary does not include the many details, character development, and subtleties that’s a high point of the author’s writing style.
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Chapter 1 Mare
Maven has fitted Mare with a chained collar and two Silencer guards as he parades her in front of the Silvers giving a speech about defeating the Scarlet Guard. Mare noticed Jon in the crowd and assumes he’s the one who told Maven about the mission and where to find her. Evangeline Samos asks Maven to kill Mare and another Silver asks to interrogate her, but Maven refuses both of them.
Chapter 2 Mare
Mare is confined to a bedroom with two Silencer guards at all times as Maven’s prisoner, and she doesn’t see or speak to anyone in over a month. One day, Evangeline shows up and says she’s to bring Mare downstairs on Maven’s orders. Mare is brought into an extravagant party with loud music and drunk Silvers over watched by Maven.
Chapter 3 Mare
Maven is outraged to see Mare, and he gets into a fight with Evangeline about bringing her down and what to do with her. Eventually, Maven agrees to have her interrogated by Queen Elara’s cousin who can read her mind. Samson Merandus, the mind reader, sees her electrocute Elara at the prison and makes her relive the moment of Shade dying before finding everything he can about the Scarlet Guard.
Chapter 4 Cameron
At a new hidden base in Lakeland after evacuating all the old bases, Cameron Cole goes looking for the Colonel to implore they restart the mission for the young soldiers going to the Choke, but she finds a pregnant Farley instead. Continuing on, Cameron finds Cal, Bree, Tramy, and the Colonel in the command room receiving a message from Maven’s palace that Mare is being tortured by Samson.
Then, based a report from Farley, the Colonel and Cal start making plans to storm the military city of Corvuim. After leaving the room, Cameron follows Cal to see him go into a hidden room down unused hallways.
Chapter 5 Mare
Mare awakes from her torture to find Maven watching over her with new silent stone manacles around her wrists and ankles. He tells her that she has to play the part of his plan of telling the country she willingly came to him because the Scarlet Guard is trying to get rid of newbloods because they have Silver abilities. He has a special gown sent, and, the next time she see him, Mare is sure that he still cares for her deep down.
Chapter 6 Mare
Mare escapes from her room by flooding her bathroom with water and dropping the chandelier into it when the guards arrive, giving them an electric shock. With their keys, she makes it down the hall out of her manacles but is quickly caught because her abilities haven’t come back. She ends up having to go to Maven’s side in the dress in front of the cameras.
Chapter 7 Cameron
Cameron and most of the group is summoned to watch the broadcast of Mare with Maven saying she willingly came to him because she was a prisoner of the Scarlet Guard. Maven also says all newbloods will be given safety and training with his guards. After the broadcast, Farley suggests that they start a full assault on Corvium even though Cal says it will be suicide.
Chapter 8 Mare
After the broadcast, Mare is brought to Maven’s study where he gives her the cloth Gisa made for her that was on her when she was captured as a birthday present. Mare asks him how much was him or his mother, but Maven tries to convince her that it’s all him now. Evangeline interrupts, but Maven dismisses both of them which upsets Evangeline a lot more than Mare.
Chapter 9 Mare
Newbloods start coming to Maven looking for safety, and he revels in their new abilities. One of them can look at someone and know their ability, and she points to someone in the back of court to say their ability is changing their face. When the person comes forward, they shift back into Nanny, a newblood that Mare recruited and spy for the Scarlet Guard, who swallows a suicide pill before anyone can get to her.
Chapter 10 Mare
Mare is dressed up and brought down to meet the visiting princes of Piedmont who ask her questions about the Scarlet Guard operating in their country though they’re not much help. After the meeting, they all move to the feast Maven has put together for them which suddenly turns into chaos as Maven and others are shot.
In the aftermath, Mare learns that a few of the Noble Houses put together this assassination attempt to rebel, although Maven was healed of his wound while a Piedmont prince died. It comes to light that Jon also fled and may have been part of this plan.
Chapter 11 Cameron
Back at a new base close to Corvium, the Colonel and Cal are arguing over attacking Corvium because Cal thinks if they wait longer then Maven will make more mistakes on his own. Cameron tries to tell Farley she’s going to go to the Choke alone to get her brother, but Farley convinces her out of it. Then, while Cameron is training with Sara, Julian comes to help, but Cameron doesn’t want any help from him.
Chapter 12 Mare
Maven has dismissed over half of his court because of their loyalty to his father and brother before, so he’s taken to eating in private with Mare. Mare tries to subtly convince him that she’s going to die either by Evangeline or a civil war in the country. Maven assures her that he will not let her die.
Chapter 13 Mare
Mare and everyone are taken out of the palace, and she gets on an underground train with Maven. They travel north first by train then truck near where Mare is from to the mansion of House Welle, plant growers. The rest of Maven’s court shows up there as well.
Chapter 14 Mare
Maven starts a ‘coronation tour’ to give speeches to Silvers and Reds alike for support, and he even ends The Measures from his father. Mare learns from him their ultimate destination is Lakeland where they’ll make a treaty to end the long war, a war both sides have secretly been using to keep the Red population down. They arrive at the city of Rocosta, near Corvium, to find dozens of dead and injured Silvers that were attacked at Corvium by the Scarlet Guard.
Chapter 15 Cameron
The Scarlet Guard has taken the city of Corvium except about fifty Silvers barricaded in the central tower waiting for Maven’s army to show up. Through an interrogation, Julian tells them the Silvers have taken some of the young Red soldiers, including Cameron’s brother, as hostages in the tower, so Farley secretly helps Cameron and Harrick, a newblood who can make illusions, sneak into the tower. They get the hostages out when Harrick creates the illusion that the tower is getting bombed, but outside the hostages are all scared of them because they believe what Maven has said about newbloods.
Chapter 16 Mare
Their caravan skirts around Corvium to the Choke to a pavilion in the middle where the King of the Lakelands and his courts wait for them. They agree to a truce of the war in order to both fight the Scarlet Guard in exchange for Maven marrying the King’s daughter, Iris. Evangeline and the Samos family storm off.
Chapter 17 Mare
Once they make it back to the palace, Iris asks Mare some questions, and Mare finds her strong and cunning but doesn’t hate her like the other Silvers. Months pass being in her room the whole time, Evangeline shows up to take her to see Maven and change his mind about the wedding. Maven admits to Mare that he’d rather have Mare be queen, but this is the way it has to be.
Chapter 18 Mare
Mare is forced to be part of Iris’ wedding precession, but after the ceremony an unnatural lightning storm breaks out while someone tries to shoot Maven. She thinks it’s the Scarlet Guard, and in the chaos Evangeline lets her out of manacles with the agreement that Mare won’t kill her brother.
Mare joins the fight and quickly finds Cal, but he tries to kill her under the power of Samson who’s in his head. Together they kill Samson, and someone jumps them out of the fight.
Chapter 19 Evangeline
Evangeline waits for her brother who’s badly injured, but together they make it to boats where all of House Samos have planned their escape. Evangeline asks her mother how uniting the High Houses to theirs has gone, and her mother tells her that some have but some refused. Her father tells her that he is now king over the Houses that have joined them.
Chapter 20 Mare
Mare wakes up inside a jet where she clings to Cal who she can’t believe is real. The jet lands in a large military base in Piedmont, even though Cal and Cameron didn’t know where they were going. The first thing she does is go see her family and Kilorn who are all in a nice house on the base, and Sara has even healed her father’s legs and sister’s hand.
Chapter 21 Mare
The next morning Cal brings Mare to her debriefing meeting where she meets Dane Davidson, the elected leader of Montfort and real leader of the Scarlet Guard. After telling everything she knows, Dane tells them that Montfort has conquered Piedmont first, the weakest government, and controls the strongest prince here by holding his two child humanely captive. Dane also says their ultimate goal is to spread their republic until all blood types are equal and have officially allied with the Scarlet Guard to do it.
Chapter 22 Mare
Mare hasn’t made a decision about fighting yet but has started training again including running every morning with Cal. One morning they get caught in a rainstorm in the forest, and they sleep together for the first time. Stopping by the hospital as the closest place to clean up, they find Farley in labor, and soon she has a little baby girl named Clara, named after Farley’s mother.
Chapter 23 Evangeline
Evangeline and her brother come to their new throne room to hear the delegates of the other High Houses come to negotiate. Cal’s grandmother, Queen Anabel, shows up to tell Evangeline’s father Volo, that he can be King of the Rift, but the rest of the Houses are backing Cal as the King of Norta again. Anabel admits to being in contact with Cal and Montfort to organize the rescue mission.
They agree to help overthrow Maven while still keeping Silvers in absolute control, and that Evangeline can still be queen after marrying Cal which she secretly dreads.
Chapter 24 Cameron
At the base, Cameron’s brother is still scared of newbloods and tries to convince Cameron they should leave instead of fight. Cameron is torn, so she asks Mare about it. They agree that Cameron can stay to defend but not fight and kill anyone.
Chapter 25 Mare
Mare starts training again both with Cal and with the other lightning wielders from Montfort and Piedmont. One day, Cal tells her that his grandmother helped with the rescue mission, and Mare tells him that she learned Elara took away Maven’s love for his brother and father. After telling Mare that he loves her and only wants her in life, Cal promises not to take back the throne and keep Reds in the same place.
Chapter 26 Mare
Mare spars with Cal in the training ring as the others take bets, but their fight is broken up by Davidson, who uses his shielding powers. He calls them to a meeting about reports they’re getting that Maven will soon attack Corvium with the Lakelanders. Mare agrees to go fight once they know it’s a real threat and not a trap.
Chapter 27 Mare
The threat was real, so a group of newbloods and soldiers take jets to Corvium where they hit a large storm made by Maven’s soldiers. Newbloods who manipulate gravity have to drop the troops into the city because the planes can’t land. The storms and wind get worse as Maven’s forces approaches, impairing their vision, as Nymphs also manipulate the rain to push soldiers off the wall.
Chapter 28 Mare
As the rain turns to snow, the attack begins in earnest with Lakelanders making ice bridges up the wall as the Scarlet Guard and Montfort soldiers fight back. Cal and Mare get split up as Mare joins Davidson and the other lightning welders to protect a breach in the wall, but during the fight Mare ends up thrown on the outside of the wall. She thinks they’re going to lose until their Silver allies show up, and Evangeline fights along side her.
Chapter 29 Evangeline
After they win the battle for Corvium, the Samos family meets with Davidson and members of the Scarlet Guard including Cal and Mare as well as Queen Anabel as the representative of the other Silvers. It comes out that during the battle, Samos forces killed the King of the Lakelands, but Maven got away. Then, everyone agrees to help overthrow Maven if Cal becomes the King of Norta, again, and the Samos keep their kingdom of the Rift.
Epilogue
After both Cal and Mare storm out of the room, Cal promises Mare that he had no idea about the plan to make him king again. While Mare believes him, she implores him to turn down being king, but Cal wants to accept in order to make change in the kingdom. Feeling betrayed, Mare runs from him because he promised never to take the throne back, and she believes there should be no king.
Read the Full Book Review
Now, read my full book review here. This is the third book in the series, so if you haven’t read the second book, Glass Sword, go back to that one first. Then, move on to the last book in the series, War Storm, with this summary and review.
And you can find the book here if you need it.
If you need a refresher on the first two books of the series, I have a review and summary of Red Queen as well as a review and summary of Glass Sword.
