White Witch, Black Magic

Jake’s face is the first thing I see when I open my eyes. His are closed, his hair falling in his face and fluttering with his breath. Just as he was the last time I saw him. Only this time, when I reach out to brush his hair away, he wakes at my touch.

“Emma!” the concern and relief in his voice bring a smile to my lips. “Good to see you’re eyes open again.”

“You too.”

His blue irises flash and sparkle. He’s mad at me, but he’s also relieved that I’m okay. He sits up, and my perspective on the world spins as I realize that I’m lying down, curled on my left side. Jake was mostly in a chair by my bed, but he must have fallen asleep with his head on the mattress.

I roll onto my back and try to sit up. Jake puts a hand on my shoulder.

“Don’t move so much yet,” he cautions.

“I feel fine,” I tell him, pushing against his hand.

I’m too weak to force myself up. He holds me down easily. Despite the fear and worry in his face, he smiles at my efforts.

“Well, you don’t look fine. Better than when I found you, though.”

“Yeah, how did I get here?”

“I found you in the river. Neverard woke me just after dawn. We took off after you.”

“He made that much noise from the yard?”

“No. He found a way into the castle. He knocked my chair over and whinnied in my face.”

I laugh. “That must have been the weirdest morning of your life.”

Jake grins. “That it was. It was also the scariest. The first thing I noticed was your empty bed. Then the boots you abandoned.”

“I forgot them. They weren’t abandoned.”

“Then I saw the letter,” he continues.

“Which you disobeyed.”

“It was intelligent disobedience.”

“That was my final request!”

“I wasn’t going to let you die, Emma.” He curls his fingers through mine and holds tightly to my hand, his head bowed. Then he looks up; smiles. “Besides, it all turned out well. I expect you’ll be making more requests before long.”

I open my mouth to protest, but find that I can’t argue with him. I settle for a scowl instead.

“I read the letter and immediately went after you.”

“How did you find me?”

“I didn’t. Neverard did. I jumped on his back and he practically flew.”

“So you rode Neverard through the castle?”

Jake nods. “I did. We startled a couple of maids. By the time we’d made it outside, the sun was disappearing behind clouds. A thunderstorm started to roll in. Neverard was dashing through the trees when the rain began to fall. I guess he couldn’t track your scent through the rain.”

“And my thoughts were way too jumbled for me to understand, let alone Neverard. So you started calling my name?”

“You heard that?”

“Yes. But I wasn’t sure if it was real. I didn’t know what was my imagination and what wasn’t.”

“So Neverard got me close then. He’s a great horse.”

“That’s because he’s half unicorn.”

Jake smiles. “That’s right. I’d forgotten.”

“So how’d you find me before I drowned in the stream?”

“Pure luck. I stumbled through the rain, calling for you. When I fell into the stream, I thought you were a log. Then I realized it was you. You were sprawled on your back, the water tugging on your hair…” he sighs and squeezes my hand. “So what happened to you?”

I begin to explain what happened with the witches. Halfway through the tale, Bella comes in and throws herself at me. Trailing behind her are Wren and Avaysia.

“I thought you were dead!” Bella cries.

“Clearly, I’m not.”

“Thank goodness,” Wren says.

Avaysia’s face is red and puffy. It looks like she’s been crying. Jake pulls Bella off of me, fearing that she’ll injure me. He pushes her into a chair. Wren drags over two more for himself and Avaysia.

“Vay, have you been crying?” I ask.

She bursts into tears. “I thought you were dead! I was so worried! Jake left a note next to yours, saying he’d find you. Both notes said not for us to come. I thought he might have died, too.”

Jake pats her shoulder. “I brought us both back alive, Vay. Relax.”

“But if you hadn’t—”

“But I did.”

Avaysia takes several deep breaths and regains her composure. “So tell us what happened,” she demands.

I start my story over, beginning with the ball. It takes a while to tell it to them all. By the time I finish, Bella has chewed off all her nails, Avaysia’s face is covered in red marks where her fingers dug into the flesh, and both Wren and Jake look terrified.

“Then I woke up here,” I conclude.

“So can you turn into a bird?” Wren says.

“A wren.”

He smiles. “Seriously?”

I shrug. “I was only joking. I have no idea what type of bird it was. I could try—”

“Oh no. No more magic for you,” Jake scolds. “You should go back to sleep. You need your rest.”

“But I’m not tired!” I protest, sounding just like Hattie.

“Too bad.”

“Can I have breakfast first?”

Jake considers my request, then nods. “Fine. But then you have to go straight to sleep.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jake smiles. “I bring something up for you.”

He shoos everyone out of my room and shuts the door behind himself. It’s quiet for less then a minute before the door creaks open again. A mass of curly red hair bobs into the room. Vicky leads the rest of her sisters in, even little Pansy.

“I thought he’d never leave,” Vicky says. “He’s very protective of you.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“Vicky, Jake said no one is to bother Emma,” Natalie cautions.

“He doesn’t have to know we’re here, Nat. I want to hear the story. You can leave if you want to.”

“You are going to get us all in so much trouble,” Natalie warns, but she sits down all the same.

All six princesses squeeze into my room. Natalie and Maria take two of the chairs. The other four girls climb onto the bed with me. I sit up to make more room. Pansy crawls right into my lap.

“We wanted to hear—” begins Lyra.

“Tell us about the witches!” Maria says, cutting Lyra off.

“Was it scar-y?” Rose wants to know.

Pansy claps my hands together. “Witchies!”

“Jake will have a fit if he sees you guys.”

“We’re girls,” Rose tells me.

“If he see you girls,” I amend.

“He doesn’t have to know,” Vicky says. “Now tell the story!”

I repeat my tale. I edit out how much I loathe King Dominic, but I tell them about how Jardaine wanted to topple the Royals and take over everything. I’m almost done when Jake comes in with my breakfast on a tray.

“Emma!” he complains. “You’re supposed to be resting!”

“I am resting,” I reply. “Look, I’m sitting in bed and everything. They just wanted to hear the story.”

Jake sighs and puts the tray on the bedside table. “Hurry up and finish.”

The girls make an even better audience then my four friends did. When I end the story, all their eyes are huge. Two of them have their mouths open. They begin to pester me with questions, but Jake puts his foot down. Literally. He stomps his foot and says, “No more! Out!”

“Bye, Emma!” Maria says as Jake herds them away.

“Sleep well!”

“I hope you feel better soon!”

“Just wait until you see your dress for the wedding!” Vicky says. “It’s sooo pretty!”

The wedding! I’d forgotten all about it.

“How’s Avaysia holding up?” I ask as soon as Jake shuts the door.

“Not well. Between the stress any wedding would cause and the worry about marrying a person she doesn’t love, Vay is wreck. And you running off in the middle of the night didn’t help.”

“It wasn’t the middle of the night! And I had to. Besides, I wasn’t gone that long. I left early morning, and it’s only afternoon.”

“You left yesterday morning. You were asleep for a full day.”

“Oh.”

“Now eat up. You need your strength.”

I devour the food Jake brought without really paying attention to what I’m eating. Once I’m full, I realize that—despite my earlier protests—I’m exhausted. I lie back down, letting Jake tuck me. Then I close my eyes and drift off to sleep.

l l l

When I open my eyes, it’s the middle of the night. My stomach rumbles. The hunger must have woken me.

I throw off my blankets and roll out of bed. I pull a cloak around my shoulders for warmth and tiptoe into the hall. By now I know how to find the kitchen. It’s cold and dark, but I light a fire to warm the place up. I find some cold bread and a bit of fish that must have been part of last night’s supper.

When I’ve eaten my fill, I curl up in a corner. I think it’s the same one as before. I nestle down in my cloak and go back to sleep.

“I thought I’d find you here,” someone says.

It seems only moments since I closed my eyes, but the sun is shining through the window and people are bustling about the kitchen. I stretch out and disentangle myself from the cloak.

“It’s the place that’s most like home,” I say with a yawn.

Jake sighs and holds out a hand. I take it and he pulls me to my feet. “Why can’t you ever do what I ask?”

“You didn’t do as I asked. Besides, you aren’t in charge of me.”

“Well someone needs to be. You keep running off and—”

“I do not!”

“You do so.”

“Let’s just go to breakfast, Mr. Overprotective. I’m starving.”

“I am not overprotective!”

“Please! But it’s okay. I just want breakfast.”

Jake crosses his arms, but he lets the conversation drop. He allows me to take our share of breakfast directly from the cooks and maids. I don’t feel like facing a room filled with curious royalty.

We sit together at a table designed for two. I found it hidden away in the corner of a small, dusty room. You just never know what you’ll stumble upon in these palaces. Jake barely touches his food, but I’m famished. I devour my breakfast in a minute flat. The meal is quiet: Jake sits, lost in his thoughts. I’m too busy stuffing my face to bother with small talk.

“Are you going to eat that?” I ask him, eyeing his plate of food.

He pushes it towards me with a half smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. I’ve just started on his food when he shoves back his chair and stands up. I look up at him.

“I’m going to breakfast,” he says. “The one we were supposed to show up at.”

“Okay.” My mouth is so full it sounds more like “Ooh-kah.”

By the time I finally fill my stomach a new craving is beckoning me. I want to get outside in the fresh air. I could always go out the front doors, but I want to be up high for some reason.

I remember seeing towers with catwalks when we first came. I start exploring, climbing stairs to reach higher ground. After several normal flights, I find myself at the foot of a spiral staircase.

I start up it, spinning round and round until I’m so dizzy I think I’ll fall. The stairs end in semi-circle platform surrounded by stone walls. The only way out is back down the steps.

No, I realize. There’s a trap door here.

It’s barely noticeable: just a square of wood that’s slightly lighter than the rest, cut out of the ceiling. I reach up and push it open. Sunlight streams in. A cool wind kisses my face. I grab the edges and haul myself up.

Standing, I see that I’m at the highest point of the castle. This little area is atop the tallest tower. The wooden platform I’m standing on is awfully small; I can cross it in three strides. The railing comes up just past my knees. It can’t be very safe, but I don’t care. I love feeling so high, like I could just fly away. I guess that’s why I enjoy being up in trees.

A wind whips at my face. Below me, the tops of the trees in the Sylvian Forest wave. Everyday sounds rise up to me: horses nickering, wheels clattering, people shouting. I close my eyes and lift my face to the sun, letting the wind pull at my clothes and hair.

Eyes still closed, I walk until my shins hit the rail. I carefully step up onto it, arms spread wide. I open my eyes. I feel like on top of the whole world. This must be what flying feels like.

I want to jump. Some instinct tells me that I won’t fall; I’ll fly away. Maybe it’s dead foolishness, or maybe it is something more. But the feeling is so compelling, that I can’t resist. I leap into thin air.

I fall, the ground rushing up at me. As I plummet past the castle, I hear someone shout my name.

“Emma? Emma! What are you doing?!”

I don’t bother trying to answer. Something is happening to me. My whole body shrinks and my bones become lighter. My clothes melt away, exchanged with feathers. A sharp beak and talons replace my nose and feet. I am a bird.

I spread my wings as wide as I can. Immediately, the wind snaps me up. I angle my wings up and flap once, twice, thrice. I soar up, spiral around, and dive back down. I skim the water in the moat, loop around the drawbridge, and frighten a woman hanging her wash on a line stretched between her house and a tree. She nearly falls out of the window.

“Emma?”

The person who shouted at me when I fell is now calling my name, sounding confused. I turn on a wingtip and glide back the way I came. Jake is watching me, dumbfound, from the drawbridge. As I approach, he holds up his left arm. I land neatly on his wrist, careful not to cut him with my talons.

“Emma?”

I nod.

“What happened? You were falling, then you…became…a bird.”

I transform back into a human girl. Jake stumbles as my light little body becomes heavy and much larger, pushing his arm down. I stand right next to him, grinning giddily.

“A peregrine falcon.”

“A what?”

“It’s a type of falcon. I’m no bird nerd, but I think it’s the fastest animal ever recorded. At least, that’s when it’s diving.”

“Emma, why did you jump from that tower?”

“I had a feeling it was the right thing to do.”

“You had a feeling? That feeling could have led you to be a grease spot on the streets!”

“But it didn’t. Relax, Jake, I’m fine. Really.”

“You can’t just do things like that. You have to think stuff through. That’s how you get yourself killed.”

“I know. I’m sorry I scared you, alright?”

“You—”

“I didn’t scare you?” I ask.

It’s so obviously a lie that he doesn’t refute it. “Just promise me you won’t do it again?”

“I can turn into a bird. I’m not worried about falling to my death. Actually, the only time I’ve ever been afraid of falling was when Jardaine picked me up when she was in dragon form. I’ve climbed to crazy heights before, but I’m never scared.”

“What about when we were racing to that arrow? You seemed frightened then.”

“Not of the height. And I only worried about the fall for an instant. Then I was flying with my cloak.”

“Emma, what made you go up there?”

“Just a feeling.”

“What if that wasn’t your feeling?”

“That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.”

“Just listen. You don’t know if Jardaine died, right? She might still be out there, coming after you.”

“So?”

“So what if she made you feel like climbing to the tallest tower and jumping off? What if she’s trying to kill you?”

“It wasn’t her.”

“But what if it was?”

“But it wasn’t.”

Jake grabs my shoulders and gives me a little shake. “BUT WHAT IF IT WAS? Emma, I’ve lost too much. I’m not loosing you, too. You have to promise me you won’t do anything like that again. She could have killed you.”

“Okay, Jake. I promise. I’m not going anywhere. Sheesh!”

I find myself wondering if he would react this way to Bella, Avaysia, or Wren. Is he this protective of all his friends and family? Or is it just me?

I mean more to him than the others. I try to think if this true, but I just don’t know. I open my mouth, intending to ask him, but I hesitate. Then a door slams and I turn, distracted.

BAM!

The second slam is much louder. Jake looks at me, then glances in the direction the noise came from. I hear sobbing, but Jake doesn’t seem to notice it.

“Emma, what—”

“Shh.”

“What are you—”

“Shush! I’m trying to listen.”

I can tell Jake wants to ask to what, but he doesn’t. The crying sounds like it might be Avaysia. Her wedding is tomorrow. She’s barely 16, and her life is practically over.

I grab Jake’s hand. “C’mon.”

“What is—”

“Someone is crying. I think it’s Avaysia.”

Jake and I run as fast as we can. We sprint towards the castle, dash up steps, and through the doors. Jake pauses for a moment.

“Emma, I don’t hear anything. Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

I listen for the sound. Once I’ve located it again, I pull Jake after it. We run through the castle, up another flight of stairs, and straight into Wren and Bella. Jake tries to ask what’s going on, but Bella puts a finger to her lips.

“It’s Avaysia. The wedding dress is finished.”

“She’s out on the balcony over the gardens,” Wren tells us.

“Emma, we were outside the castle walls. How did you hear her from so far away?”

“I don’t know. It’s funny, but I seem to be able to hear a lot more. For example, there’s a bird in the tree behind Avaysia and a rabbit in the bushes.”

“Since when could you do all that?” Bella asks.

“Since two seconds ago.”

We all smile. That has almost become an old joke with us. The sound of Avaysia’s tears sober us up, though. I hear her sniffle and take a deep breath. It sounds as though she’s getting better control of herself.

“Wren, you have to go comfort her,” I say.

“What? Why me?”

“You mean more to her than the rest of us. She loves you. You can’t just marry her off and walk out of her life forever with—”

“You think I want this? There’s nothing I can do!”

“Let me finish. You can’t walk off without saying goodbye. You owe her that much. And she owes it to you.”

Bella gives him an encouraging smile. “Go on! We’ll wait right here.”

Wren takes a deep breath and reaches into his pocket. Whatever he has in there seems to give him the courage to push open the heavy wooden door Avaysia slammed.

“We aren’t really going to wait here, are we?” Jake asks.

“And miss this? No way!” Bella replies. “This is even better when we caught the cheerleader and football player together beneath the bleachers and—oh, never mind. I think there’s another door that leads to the ground. If they stay on the balcony we can listen from beneath them. They’ll never even know.”

“Let’s go,” Jake says.

They start down the hall. I don’t follow them. Instead, I pull open a nearby window. Bella turns back.

“Aren’t you coming?” she asks.

“You guys go.” I climb up onto the window ledge. The wind is blowing. I see Wren walking towards Avaysia. “You’d better hurry.”

Then I spread my arms and jump. Instantly, my arms become wings, my feet talons, my clothes feathers. I soar up above Wren and Avaysia and begin to circle. My eyesight is incredibly sharp, as is my hearing.

I hear Bella gasp and say, “Since when could she do that?”

Jake sighs. “When do you think?”

“Two seconds ago?”

Jake shakes his head and sighs heavily. “C’mon.”

I turn my attention to the balcony scene unfolding beneath me. The terrace is large with a white railing and a beautiful view of the gardens. In the distance I can see the mountains and ocean. Leading off the right side of the balcony is a staircase. Six feet above the ground is a landing. The stairs leading to the ground make a right angle with the stairs to the balcony.

A door on the other side of the garden opens. Jake and Bella slip out of it. They dart under the landing, where Avaysia stands. As they go, they startle the rabbit out of the bush. It sprints off just as Wren reaches Avaysia.

She isn’t dressed in her usual clothes. The lacey dresses and jeweled slippers are absent. In their place is a simple white gown that might pass for pajamas. Someone, probably Avaysia, has mutilated the dress. The bottom half has been hacked away, leaving a garment that barely reaches her hips. She’s wearing pants and her feet are bare. Those beautiful golden curls are pulled into a messy ponytail. Her face is streaked from the tears, but she’s stopped crying.

“Vay,” Wren says, touching her shoulder.

She jumps. “Oh. Wren. Hello.”

Her hands rub across her face, as if they can erase the damage done by the tears. Wren gives her a smile. I can’t help but think that the two them are an unlikely match, but somehow the princess falling in love with someone forbidden to her seems predictable. She returns his charming grin with small sad one.

“What are you doing out here?” Wren asks.

Surely she must realize he knows that she was crying?

“I—I was admiring the…the land that is to become my…my k—kingdom. It’s very beautiful, is it not?”

Wren stares at the beautiful scenery without really seeing it. “Lovely.”

They’re both quiet for a moment. Avaysia is chewing her bottom lip and watching the sky just as intently as Wren is watching her.

“So why are you really out here?”

“I told you!”

“Vay, I know your upset.”

“I am not! I’m perfectly happy to be wedding Alex on the morrow!”

“Avaysia.” The way he says her name makes her take her eyes off the horizon and look at him. “I saw you crying,” he tells her.

She sighs and puts her head in her hands. Her elbows rest on the railing.

“I came out here for some privacy. No one uses these gardens much. And there’s such a lovely view…” she trails away. “I’m scared, Wren. What if Alexander goes back to the way he was before? What if he hates me? What if the necklace’s power can’t be transferred? And what if it can?”

“I don’t know.”

“And that’s the problem. There’s so much I don’t know. So much I want to know. There are so many things I want to do and see, but I’m getting married. It won’t be long until I’m a mother, Wren.”

“Avaysia, I know this isn’t fair of me, but I have to say it. I just have to. I can’t stand it if I watch you walk away in a white dress without ever letting you know. Avaysia Rosalind Christina Regalda, eldest princess of Regnum, betrothed of Prince Alexander Corona, heir to Flumen, I love you. I have loved you since the first time we met. I have always known that it would never work, that I could never have you, but I fell head over heels all the same. And I love you.”

Avaysia is speechless. I wobble dangerously in the air, shocked that Wren would dare admit this. All of us—except maybe Avaysia—already had guessed, but none of us expected him to say so. Beneath them I see Bella, wide-eyed and grinning, trying to shush Jake. He’s doubled up with silent laughter that’s verging on not-so-silent giggles.

“Wren, I don’t know what to say.”

“I know, it was wrong and unfair of—”

“Let me finish! I don’t know what to say, except…well…I love you, too.”

Jake stuffs his fist in his mouth and bites down, trying to muffle the laugh.

Wren takes something from his pocket. It’s the lock of hair the veela cut from his head. He’s twisted it into a circle with a hole in the middle. That must be what he was twirling through his fingers.

“Will you wear this?” he holds the ring out to Avaysia. “To remember me by once I’m gone?”

Avaysia nods. She doesn’t seem able to speak. Wren takes her right hand and slides the ring onto her second-to-last finger. It fits perfectly. Avaysia looks at it, then at the diamond sparkling on her left ring finger. Alex put it there the night we arrived in Flumen.

Avaysia yanks out her ponytail and separates a lock of hair from the rest. She braids it, ties the end into a knot, and hold out her hand. I don’t know what she’s doing. That knot isn’t going to want to come out. Wren seems just as confused.

“Knife, please,” Avaysia says.

Then I get it. Bella and Jake, who lack a visual, are craning their necks, trying to see. What must they be thinking, hearing Avaysia ask for Wren’s knife? Bella sneaks out from under the balcony to get a good look, then ducks back under and whispers to Jake.

Wren still hasn’t cottoned on to what Avaysia is up to. He gives her his knife and watches as she cut the hair as close to her head as she can. She knots the other end of the braid, then hands back the blade.

“Will you wear this?” she asks. “In memory of me and what we could have had?”

Finally, Wren gets it. She’s made him a necklace of her hair. He nods. She secures the braid around his neck with gentle fingers. I wasn’t watching too closely, but I think she may have kissed his cheek.

The two lovebirds stand there, staring at each other. Avaysia is stroking the ring made from Wren’s hair. He’s sliding her necklace through his fingers. I watch them waiting there, wondering what they’ll do next. Then Wren leans forward and very softly kisses her cheek.

I flap my wings, circling higher. When I get directly above the balcony, I tuck my wings and dive. I shoot towards the ground. I’d read somewhere that peregrine falcons could reach over 100 miles per hour in their hunting dive. I’d always questioned that before. How could people have recorded the speed? But it had been in one of my father’s French books, so maybe it was from Bella’s world. It certainly feels like I’m going more than 100 mph.

A few feet above Wren and Avaysia’s heads I pull out of the dive, hover in midair for a moment, then perch on the railing. As I land, I transform back into a girl. My dark cloak swirls around me, along with my hair. I’ve lost the tie that held it in a ponytail.

“Nice show,” I say to Wren and Avaysia. Both of them stare at me with open mouths.

I hear Bella let out a shriek. “Wow, Emma!” she yells. “That was so cool!”

“How?” Is all Avaysia gets out.

“You were a bird!” Wren exclaims.

“Yep,” I say. “But not a wren. A falcon.”

Then I spread my arms and lean back. I kick my feet over my head as I fall from the rail. This is an old trick. Flipping backwards off of things is something I’ve done for years. I land on the balls of my feet and the tips of my right hand’s fingers. My left arm is stretched up behind me.

“That was so amazing!” Bella tells me as I stand.

She’s right next to Jake. Wren and Avaysia suddenly seem to realize that we all saw their performance. Both their faces are bright red as Jake and Bella step out from under the platform.

Wren offers his arm to Avaysia and escorts her down the steps to the yard. Their faces are still red, but they seem to be trying to remain composed and calm.

“You said you would wait inside,” Wren reminds us.

I shrug, wondering how mad he will be and for how long. “Sorry. I wanted to go flying.”

“Since when could you do that, anyways?” Avaysia asks.

“Well, it’s been longer than two seconds. I think I obtained the power when I defeated the witches.”

“Oh.”

“You still should have kept your promise!” Wren is still angry.

“Technically, that was Bella’s promise.”

“I’m sorry! It was just so…Shakespearian.”

“Shaking-whaty-in?”

“Shakespearian. He was a playwright in England in the 1500s. Or maybe it was the 1400s. Anyways, he wrote a lot of plays. There was one, Romeo and Juliet, with a balcony scene and declarations of love.”

Jake starts to laugh again. “Did they act it out line for line, too?”

“Oh, far from it. They weren’t even in the right spots. Juliet is supposed to be on the balcony and Romeo is hiding in the shrubbery below her.”

The door opens and Victoria comes dashing out, her hair flying out behind her in a fiery red trail. She opens her mouth and calls out for Avaysia.

“VAY! Where are you? Carly wants your head!”

“My head?” Avaysia asks.

Vicky reaches the stairs and hangs over the railing. “She wants to measure it for the veil,” she shouts down.

Avaysia smiles. I can tell that I’m not the only one who jumped to an unpleasant conclusion. “Alright. Tell her I’m coming.”

“I’m to bring you. Carly told me to return with you or not to return at all.”

“What did you do to upset her?” I ask.

“I forgot where I put her pin cushion.”

“Did you find it?”

“Yes, but only after she’d sat on it.”

I wince. “Ouch.”

Vicky leads Avaysia away. They aren’t gone long before the door opens again. I leap into the air, transforming back into a falcon. When I see who’s coming, I fly back to my friends a become human long enough to hiss, “Hide!”

King Louis comes storming out. Scampering behind him is Queen Margaret. He looks ready to kill someone, but it’s the expression on her face that bothers me. Margaret, the calm one, looks ready to kill someone, too. And the feeling seems to be directed at her husband.