Rise of the last Queen

Unwavering confidence

" What is happening?" she was sitting on the throne. It was merely her second day in the royal court. Her son was sitting on her lap as she began the day as a typical king would, asking about the Kingdom's situation.

Most of the ministers didn't wish to tell her anything but they didn't have any choice in the matter since she was now the only ruler they had.

Hence why, they had begun discussing about the issues faced by the common people and she surely was giving very good solutions to the questions at hand. Everyone seemed to be at least a little impressed at how she confidently gave perfect answers to all the questions that were thrown at her.

That was until they all heard a huge commotion coming from outside the courtroom doors.

She was in the middle of a conversation with one of the younger ministers when she heard loud cries and screams from the doors and that caught her attention. But before she could say anything, the screaming worsened and a loud, banging voice began echoing through the entire courtroom, disturbing everyone and everything in there.

Soon, the only sound that one could hear were the screams and banging that came from the door and that is when the queen had enough.
She had assumed that her guards would be able to take care of whatever was going on outside those doors but clearly, they had proven themselves incompetent. So, she herself called for a guard

" The farmers are protesting outside, your majesty... It seems that the seeds they were saving for their next harvest have rotten... They're blaming it on... You, your majesty... They're saying that. Your majesty is bad luck for the Kingdom," one of the guards spoke in fear with his legs shivering in front of the majestic woman who was known for ruthlessly killing men who offended her. He had fully accepted that after saying those vile things to her, he would surely be hanged to death. Or worse, his entire family would be exiled from the capital and would be demoted from their ranks.

But all the queen did was turn her stern gaze at the door and motioned for the guards to open the doors to let the angry mob inside her courtroom.

Was just her second day in that room as ruler and there was already an angry mob ready to attack, hurt, and dethrone her.

Was it just her bad luck?
Or was it someone's evil plot?

Her brother didn't know what to think of it. Nothing was clear in his head, except for the determination of keeping her and her son safe. A son who was so scared as he saw the angry mob scream, shout and cuss out his mother in front of him. All he could do was hold onto his mother tightly as she kept a hand over his back and pulled him closer to her embrace.

" SILENCE!!!" the mob only quietened after she screamed.

Still, they were struggling against the guards who were holding them away from the queen and her son

" YOU ARE A WITCH!!!"
" AN ABOMINATION!!!"
" YOU CURSED OUR KINGDOM!!!!!"
" YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE ON THE THRONE!!!!!"

A loud, screeching voice interrupted all the farmers' pleas and curses.

It was the golden sword that was in the queen's hands. The screeching sound came when she unsheathed that sword from its case and as she banged the sword's tip onto the ground next to her feet, she could see the voices of the angry people die down.

Their anger began dissipating and fear began settling in the minds of those common people as her gaze turned serious.

" I ASSUME YOU ALL ARE HERE TO PROTEST BECAUSE THE SEEDS YOU WERE ABOUT TO USE FOR THE NEXT HARVEST HAVE ALL ROTTEN!?" her voice boomed through the courtroom and now, her little son slowly pulled his head out of her embrace and looked at her serious face as she questioned the farmers
" Yes! And it's all because of you-"
" DID THE SEEDS GET WET IN THE RAIN?" she asked again, without letting her authoritative voice falter
" How... How did you know!?" one of the many farmers asked in disbelief and soon enough, murmurs began spreading throughout the entire mob but the queen only stoically turned to look at one of the old ministers.

That old man had smirked when he first heard the mob's screams through the doors.
That's when she knew, that it was all his plan.

But she knew her way out of this situation.
So, she asked him, " Mr. Sethi. My husband had, before leaving, asked you to make safe houses for the seeds to be stored in. As a response to the deteriorating climate... Had he not?"

And everyone shut up after she asked him that.
Now, instead of glaring at her, they all stared at that old man who was having trouble finding words to form sentences. He was put on a pedestal by her and never in his wildest dreams had he ever thought that she could do that.

Was she that sharp and smart?

" Sethi ji? I want answers!"
" Th-the f-f-f-f-funds w-wh-wh-wh-w-w-w-w-weren't s-s-s-sufficient... A-and... And..."
" What do you mean!? You couldn't build a shelter for seeds and harvest to be stored in with the 50 golden coins the king offered you with!?" she squinted her eyes as she glared him down and motioned for two of the guards around her to handcuff him.
" N-no. Your... Your majesty! The shelter was already ready-"
" HE'S LYING! WE HAVE NEVER HEARD ABOUT ANY SHELTER BEING MADE FOR OUR SEEDS OR HARVEST!!!!" one of the farmers immediately shouted and soon enough, the crowd began roaring at the minister in anger.

" SILENCE!" they could only be silenced when the queen slammed her hand on the golden throne that she was sitting on.

And once the crowd was silenced, she turned her attention back on the corrupt minister shivering in fear in front of her
" What did you do with those 50 gold coins!?!" she asked him yet again and he just shivered in fear as he shook his head
" No. Your majesty. I... I was right about to start the construction of the shelters..."
" So. You have not yet started the construction of any of those shelters?!" she asked, now in an angry state as she looked at the old man plead for mercy in front of her.

" You have defied the emperor!!! There is only one punishment for that! You and your entire family will be stripped off of your noble legacy. All of you are to be commoners from this day forth! You are to compensate all of the farmers by giving each family 10 gold coins each," she punished the old man and then, looked back at her subjects, " as for the seed shortage... The farmers are to receive seeds of wheat, rice, and vegetables from the royal garden. Minister Verma is assigned the job of building at least 10 food shelters around each village... He is to report all of his progress to me on a weekly basis. I hope this solves the issue at hand,"

She was a wise queen, to say the least...