The King's Servants

Chapter 8

Armana quickly made her way down to the kitchen, with a death grip on the letter. According to the new duty rota she had made for them, the human children would be there helping to tidy up the place. She strode eagerly into the kitchen, much to the surprise of everyone there, who immediately stopped to greet their ruler.

"Where are the human brats?!" asked the giant queen. The little humans had heard her and made their presence known to her immediately. The queen's choice of words and tone of voice already told them that this would probably not end well. They mentally prepared themselves for the worst. Queen Armana never had anything good to say to them.

"Well, hello there brats. His highness King Baritorin left this little letter for you. He said that it was of utmost importance that it gets to you. So now, to make this a bit easier for you, I'm going to read it out to you. That way you don't have to leave the kitchen and you can get back to work as soon as I'm done reading", said the queen in an unnervingly cool voice.

The children's faces brightened up at the mention of King Baritorin. As much as they had avoided speaking with him out of fear, the fact that he had personally written to them gave them a bit of hope. Maybe he wanted to tell them sorry for what happened. The children, however, found it strange that he would give the letter to Queen Armana to deliver it to them. Perhaps he had been in a hurry to get somewhere, so he gave it to the closest possible person.

The queen put on an evil smirk and showed the children the back of the paper in her hand. "This is going to be so much fun", thought the giant queen, malicious intent pulsing through her veins. She unfolded the letter in her hand and prepared to read it. The other staff in the kitchen all paused to listen as well, since the queen was going to read it out loud for everyone to hear.

"Dear Children", read Armana, "I just wanted to let you know that I am never going to forgive you for what you did to me. God only knows what was going on in my head when I chose you to be my servants, because I am now regretting the decision more than ever. I wish I had just listened to Armana's wise words, and chosen someone older with more experience because I now know that the six of you were the worst of the worst. Not only are you incompetent and useless, but you are also a bunch of conniving and mischievous little insects, that I wish I had stepped on. If only I hadn't missed when I had thrown that cup, then this letter wouldn't be necessary. I hate you and I want nothing to do with you. King Baritorin".

The children all stood there with pools of water pouring down from their eyes. It had happened. The kindest man that they had ever known since King Merobim had been transformed into the male Armana by a simple action. In fact it wasn't a simple action. It had been what had kept him alive and he now hated them for it. The children's hope and morale shattered as queen Armana read each sentence and were no more after the whole letter had been read.

Meanwhile, Queen Armana was rejoicing on the inside. She was delighted that her little plan had worked and the children reacted the exact way she was hoping for. "Maybe now, they'll know their place in this castle", she thought.

"Look how much you've upset our distinguished guest. I will be merciful and not extend your punishment further. However, I officially dismiss you from your duty as his servants. I will not have you make his experience here any worse. I will tell Wellsworth to find the king a new set of ABLE servants for Baritorin", said Armana with poison in her tone. With that she left the kitchen, giggling from her little trick. On reaching her large room, she shut the door and quickly chucked the letter into her fireplace, so that no one would ever see what the actual note said.

The Queen laughed in the most maniacal way and slumped onto her bed. "That was absolutely delicious! Those children fell for it hook, line and sinker! The looks on their faces were absolute gold and this little scheme was completely worth it", thought the queen who was so pleased with herself for hurting six children who had done nothing to her.