SHORT STORIES{collection]

QUEEN ANTHEA

The little Princess Stephanie dropped the red ant into the vibrant nest of black ants. The mass of black ants turned on the solitary red ant and within seconds had torn it to pieces. Her eyes lit up and she smiled to herself.

She walked around the large expanse of garden, before she came to a beautiful butterfly perched on a leaf. She crept slowly to it and cupped her hands around the insect. She returned to the nest and dropped the butterfly into the swarming mass of ants. The ants overwhelmed the butterfly and devoured the poor thing with their strong jaws.

This went on for a few days before the little Princess became bored of this, so she decided to follow the ants, so she laid down on the grass and observed the ants. She was fascinated at how industriousness the ants were – rushing around collecting food and materials for the nest.

Any approaching invader, like another insect, would bring an organised army out from the nest to confront it. The massed ranks of ants, were like pictures she had seen of Roman armies, they were all in file and marched on the invading insect, united in one solid defensive wall. They did not stop marching and attacked with the ferocity of Genghis Khan's Mongol army or Barbarian Visigoths ransacking Rome. She had to study all this history of preceding Empires by her over-bearing mother in direct competition and defiance of the King who was grooming his only son to be future King.

"You will be Queen one day daughter, I have seen a prophesy in my sleep," Queen Alessandra said.

"But I am a girl, and girls don't become Queens," the little Princess said.

"You have to be strong, our people need uniting, otherwise we will be crushed by the many different peoples that live over our borders. Your father is happy to invite them into his palace and spoil them with food and wine, but he does not realise that they are planning for the day when they all come together and invade us."

The little Princess thought of the ants and how any intruders, who were not like them, were destroyed, and how they formed together in a strong army to repel any invaders.

"Stop thinking Stephanie, you are always staring vacantly into emptiness, get out of my sight!" and the little girl ran up the marble staircase to her room.

In her room, she took hold of a glass vessel and peered inside it. There were dozens of ants running around, trying to get out. The glass magnified them and she would stare at them for hours and was fascinated by their appearance. They looked like some ancient Greek warriors with their hard shell-like covering that was like a shield and their long antennae which were like javelins, and their lean bodies that were perfect for fighting and chasing down the enemy.

As Princess Stephanie grew older, she never lost her obsession with ants, observing their working habits, their society, mating habits and survival techniques.

One day, her father the King and her brother, returned home after another one of their feasts where they paid homage to the peoples that were not like them. This time they both smelt of scent that she had never detected before. She waited until they were both asleep and crept into their bedrooms where she slit their throats.