Tragedy strikes in 'The Serpent Queen's "Death of a Prince"

This week’s The Serpent Queen begins with Catherine leaving her family and courtiers for a business trip to Italy. On her long journey, Catherine has time to reflect on the situation she left behind in France. Her dearly loved but annoying children and the Guise and Bourbon families are untrustworthy, with the country on the brink of civil war. Things are not quite going to plan, with the survival of lay preacher Edith hailed as a miracle, leading to destructive raids on churches where statues are smashed and clerics attacked. Having arrived in Florence to raise money for her new palace, Catherine is unhappy about returning to her hometown. She tells Rahima It’s here that she lost everything, and she wants to return to France.

Catherine: When Edith rose from the dead everything I had tried to subvert threatened to come to pass. Ironic, isn't it, that a miracle would prove the greatest obstacle to peace.

For once, Catherine and the Guise family are on the same wavelength. Edith has been promoted to Protestant sainthood, and the only advantage for the Guises is that Catherine is out of the country. But her children ... they’re up to their usual tricks.