Jennifer A. Nielsen’s The Runaway King, published in 2013, is the second installment in her middle grade Ascendance series. It follows The False Prince (2012) and sets up The Shadow Throne (2014), which were part of the original trilogy before Nielsen published The Captive Kingdom (2020) and The Shattered Castle (2021).

The Runaway King tells the story of Jaron, the 15-year-old king of Carthya, who was recently crowned after being assumed dead for four years. He faces threats from the neighboring kingdom, Avenia, whose king has allied himself with pirates to wage war on Carthya. A tale of adventure and fantasy, The Runaway King delves into the themes of trust and loyalty, dual identity, and the struggles of leadership.

This guide is based on the 2013 Kindle edition of the novel.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide include descriptions of violence typical of fantasy warfare and elements of danger.

Plot Summary

The story begins a few months after the events of the previous book in the series. Jaron, newly ascended to the throne of Carthya, is trying to avoid an upcoming war with the neighboring Avenia and the pirates. As he attends his family’s funeral, he is ambushed by Roden, his former friend-turned-assassin for the pirates, who gives him an ultimatum: Jaron must give up the throne within 10 days, or the pirates will attack Carthya and kill him. However, none of Jaron’s regents, who are led by his captain of the guard Gregor Breslan, believe the young king’s claims about a coming war. They decide to remove him from the throne for his own safety and elect a regent in his stead. Jaron, trapped and powerless, pretends to agree to their terms.

Instead of going into hiding, however, Jaron uses the opportunity to disguise himself as an orphan named Sage, an identity that he used in the first book of the series. He makes a plan to go find the pirates, intending to either sway them to his side or defeat their king, Devlin. Devlin is the man who murdered Jaron’s parents and brother four years earlier and has since ascended to the pirate throne. Significantly, Jaron refuses to let his friends Mott and Tobias help him; he does this to protect them, and he sends his love interest Imogen away to keep her from harm as well.

On his way to the pirates, Jaron saves a young girl from a raid led by Avenian thieves. He takes the girl, Nila, to her grandfather, an honest and compassionate noble named Harlowe who offers him shelter. After leaving, Jaron goes to Dichell, a nearby Avenian town where he was once rescued by a priest. He learns that Devlin murdered that priest, which further motivates him to kill the pirate king. There, he also meets Fink, a witty young boy who tricks him into being kidnapped by a group of thieves. The thieves are led by Erick, who takes Jaron to the pirates once he has tested his loyalty. Together, they rob Harlowe’s home, where Jaron finds Mott looking for him. Mott reluctantly goes along with Jaron’s plan.

After Jaron, Erick, and Fink arrive at Tarblade Bay, the pirates’ camp, the young king promises to tell Devlin the location of a secret Carthyan cave full of treasure. In turn, Devlin officially makes Jaron, whom he believes to be a talented thief, a pirate. Additionally, Jaron finds Imogen at the pirates’ camp, because she guessed that he would go there and wanted to help him. During one of their conversations, Jaron realizes that Gregor, his captain of the guard, has been working with the pirates and conspiring to kill him. Jaron then pretends to go along with Imogen’s escape plan, but he tricks her into taking Fink with her instead. However, they are brought back the next day by Gregor himself, who was on his way to visit the pirates.

Gregor reveals Jaron’s true identity to Devlin, who takes both of them prisoner. Before he can kill Jaron, however, Devlin is interrupted by Roden, who claims Jaron’s identity as his own. He challenges Devlin and kills him, proclaiming himself king of the pirates. Roden then breaks Jaron’s leg and has him locked up. He plans to take his revenge after a feast to celebrate his ascension to the throne, but Jaron escapes his cell and challenges him to a duel. While they fight, Jaron offers Roden a place at his side in Carthya, and Roden eventually accepts.

Roden then takes a critically injured Jaron back to Harlowe’s, where they find Imogen and Mott. Jaron makes Harlowe his prime regent and apologizes to his friends. Imogen, who realizes that her feelings toward Jaron have changed, decides to stay behind and help take care of Nila while the young king goes home. Jaron is heartbroken, but he is greeted warmly by his people when he returns after saving them from the pirates. At the end of the novel, Jaron learns that Avenia has officially declared war on Carthya and has taken Imogen hostage.