Greetings to you, Norman! My name's Soldier_Mike. I promise that I am the true, the original, the one and only Soldier_Mike, and not some imposter appearing by virtue of Polyjuice Potion (may I be thrown into the deepest dungeon of Azkaban, if I am lying). This review is part of my participation as a member of Slytherin House in Round Three at Harry Potter and the Writers' Spell {item:2228853}. This review is only intended to let you know I read your poem and to give you an idea of what I liked, what I thought needed improvement, and my overall view of your poem. The comments are just my opinion, so you are free to accept, modify or discard them as you deem fit. My review is intended to be encouraging and helpful; nothing is intended to be hurtful in any way.

Visual setup. I like the way you centered the text; the line-by-line ebb and flow kind of guides the eye along. The font size makes it easy to read, and the double-spacing clearly separates the stanzas.

Clarity. The tale was easy to follow, and you did a great job following the rhyme scheme. You did a good job with the meter, too, which can sometimes be a real challenge.

What caught my eye / attention? It seems the love the king and queen had for each other helped them stay alive. The king was grievously wounded, and the queen could easily have given in to despair.

What did I like best? I always like it, when "the bad guy" gets his, so I enjoyed it when the queen's sharp eye pierced the earl's disguise!

What would I change? Just for meter and repetition's sake--and remember, this is just me--I would change the 5th & 6th stanzas to "...The queen was locked inside a room / confined against her will / A trusted earl imprisoned her...". There are a couple of other spots that could be tweaked, maybe; I'd be more than glad to discuss them off-line, if you wish. I'm neither a world-class poet or reviewer, so it's all up to you.

Summing up. I enjoyed your tale of intrigue at court, especially as justice triumphed in the end!

Enjoy the rest of your day and...WRITE ON!