The Beatryce Prophecy

Jack leads Beatryce and Answelica to the dark woods, where he tells Beatryce he needs her and places her hand on Answelica’s head. These things bring Beatryce out of her daze, and the children climb a tree while Answelica guards them from below. When Jack asks Beatryce to hold the soldier’s sword so they can climb higher, Beatryce refuses, saying, “I will not hold that sword” […] do not ask me again” (106). Footsteps approach, and a male voice sings to Answelica, asking her to come with them. The next thing Jack and Beatryce hear is Answelica headbutting the man and the man laughing.

The man knows Jack and Beatryce are in the tree because they smell like fear. Jack makes up a story about them having a message for the king, which the man doesn’t believe. Answelica doesn’t attack the man again, which Beatryce recognizes as a sign of trust. She climbs down from the tree, and though Jack doesn’t trust the man, he follows because somehow “where Beatryce went, he must go” (114).