KINGDOM WITH 3 QUEENS
Fictionalised by Hedda Tady
23 June 2024
In a kingdom far, far away, there once were three queens. The first was married to the king. The other was sibling to the king. And the third was made queen by the people. The people in that kingdom chose the third queen as their champion. At first, she did not want the job. She just wanted an ordinary life helping those among her neighbors. But the kingdom needed someone who knew what the people needed and she knew the problems. Finally, she gave in to their clamor that she be made queen.
But the other two queens had other plans. The wife-queen wasn’t interested in helping the people. She longed for their quiet, luxurious life, away from the stench of poor dwellings in the kingdom, muddy streets and cheap food. But she had “duties”, she was told. So she went about them, albeit begrudgingly. She counted the days when she can retire to her old life in the city and she did not have to kiss babies, hug ugly men and women at court and most especially, putting up with the third queen who always seems to smile, like why does she always seem happy? Pfftt!, she thought! There has to be a way to be rid of her in the palace, the first queen thought and thought some more.
The second queen, she’s all smart and ever watchful. She too, has grand plans. They got nothing to do with helping the people (although it has to look like she gives a crap about that) nor does she want this city life the first queen wants. None of that! This one wants it all! Why be one of the three when you can rule it all? Right? Wrong.
On to the third queen. Nothing much to be said here except that she has a firm but quiet countenance. She does her job. She goes and stays with the people because that is where the work is and there, they have her back. They appreciate her and her work. Unlike the people at court who only has eyes on the throne - whether to get favored by whoever sits there or to sit there themselves - she only has eyes on the work at hand. She longs to go back to the quiet of her old life where she can be valuable yet fulfilled. And there’s none of the crap she has to deal with in the palace.
And so it all came to pass… the king, let’s not talk about him at all. For if he had the skills to “man” the fort, there would not even be a case of the three queens. There ought to be him, managing the kingdom, his court, and the palace, his home.
As all stories go, the plotting, the conniving, the movements… all interplayed until there is a hole in the bubble. The third queen, simply, has had enough. She let go of one of her jobs. To help her people, she realized, there are other ways. And in her movements lie the quiet message to her people : when $#!t hits the fan, walk away! Do not die in one battlefield when the war has not even begun. Go to where you are most yourself.
So the third queen went back to her old home. For in that home, we did not tell you so - there live her father, who once was king. And there too, are her two brothers who’s always had her back, and she theirs. They are a family. And when you have done all things you can and you look at your work and there is no rock left unturned, you’ve given it all you’ve got, then it’s time to get back up after all that mudslinging, the attacks on your person, your family, your home.
The third queen - her kingdom is not the shine of the palace nor the politics at the royal court - it is with her people. And for that, she did not need any crowns, any titles, and enough of the facades and the other beatches queens’ shenanigans. The kingdom that is nothing but pluff, fizzles out like champagne in a glass after a while… once it loses its glam and glitter, there is nothing there but the fart of a unicorn, the dream of a son who’s forever thing is to be seen as worthy of a father’s approval (which he can never have as long as the second queen is alive) and the sulks, the tantrums and the meltdowns of the first one because she does not understand that her role is NOT that of ruler of the land.
‘Two hands in the air…
If you don’t really care…
It’s like that sometimes…
Man, ridiculous…
I’m so appalled…’
*Work of fiction. There is nothing here.
