Marie Edward was the Queen of the great kingdom of Victory Land. The kingdom had been ruled by the Edward house for almost five centuries. They had vastly been unchallenged for the last hundred years or so. Marie's husband was King George Edward. He was a noble, brave and a kind King. He was a just ruler and was loved by all his subjects. It seemed to the subjects that Marie and George were made for each other. They thought that they were an exemplary couple who had been married happily for ten years. But, things were not quite as good between the two of them as it seemed to others.
Marie and George had been in deep love at one time. But, as their marriage became older, George started to misbehave with his wife. He began to take her for granted and started neglecting her. Marie had been the only daughter of her parents and she was used to a lot of pampering. Even after her marriage, George had made her feel very special for the first few years. But, somehow after Marie gave birth to two beautiful twin children - John and Rosie, her husband started losing interest in her. Marie was also occupied in taking care of her children and somehow the distance between her and George started increasing.
George now started to take more interest in the Kingdom's affairs. He was keen on expanding his Kingdom's territories to the new world beyond the great seas. He commissioned great craftsman from across the world to help him build a powerful Navy so that he could send out his armies to fight and conquer the new world. He also commissioned scientists to build new and powerful weapons. George became so engrossed in all these activities that he completely neglected his wife and his children. Poor Marie had to cope up with the upbringing of her children all alone. She felt sad and lonely all the time. Sometimes, when no one was looking, she used to cry her heart out and remember the beautiful days from her Past when her husband still loved her.
One evening, when Marie was taking a stroll in the garden, she saw someone which made her heart skip a beat. It was her childhood friend Shaun Brave. Shaun's father was consular in her father's court. They used to play together as children. They used to pretend to be husband and wife and hoped to get married one day. But, when they grew up, Marie was married to George and she never again heard about Shaun. Marie was curious and she approached Shaun. Shaun bowed to Marie and greeted her with all the respect which a Queen commanded. The Queen reciprocated and greeted him likewise. Marie asked Shaun what work had brought him to such a faraway land. Shaun said that he had come to the Victory Land to discuss the battle plans with the King. Marie was completely unaware that George had even dragged her father's kingdom into his battle plans. Shaun said that he had an appointment with the King and took leave from her.
Marie could not help thinking about Shaun the whole night. She wondered as to how her life might have been if she had married Shaun instead of George. She thought that she would have lived comfortably in her father's land and Shaun would have kept her happy for the love of his life. She cursed George for marrying her and neglecting her. She wanted to teach her husband a lesson. She came up with an idea to take her revenge.
The next morning she invited Shaun for tea. She talked with him about their childhood days. She learned that Shaun had become a Minister in her father's court. He had married a beautiful Lady and had three children with her. Shaun said that his wife was very loyal to him and that he loved her deeply. Marie said that she felt very happy for him. She gave him some presents for his wife and children. She also gave him a sealed letter and asked him to hand it over only to her father and no one else. The seal on the letter was of her father's kingdom. Shaun promised her that he would protect the letter at the cost of his own life. Marie smiled and wished him farewell for his return journey.
After Shaun departed, Queen Marie hurried to King George and told him that Shaun had betrayed them and was fleeing the kingdom with a state secret. She said that he must stop Shaun at any cost. She told him that he carried a letter of utmost importance with him and it must be recovered at any cost. King George immediately sent out a unit of his cavalry to apprehend Shaun.
As Shaun was on his way back, King George's horsemen stopped his cavalcade and asked him to hand over the letter. Shaun told them that the letter was meant only for his King and he was sworn to protect it. The King's soldiers forced themselves on him and Shaun was forced to draw out his sword. A small battle took place between Shaun's men and King George's men. King George's men were larger in number and were also very well trained. Soon, they killed most of Shaun's men and imprisoned him along with few of his remaining men.
Shaun was dragged to the King's court. King George asked him why he had betrayed him. Shaun said that he was just following his duty as he had sworn to protect the letter. The letter was handed over to the King. The King ordered the seal to be broken and demanded the letter to be handed over to him. As the King read the letter, he wiped the sweat from his brow. He fell on his throne. After some time he regained his composure and ordered Shaun and his remaining men to be released immediately. He also handed over some Gold and some expensive gifts to Shaun and asked to him to forget about what had happened. Shaun was a bit confused but bowed to the King and swore that no one would come to know of what had happened. He took his leave and left for his kingdom.
After Shaun had left, King George hurried to his Queen's chambers. He got upset with his Queen and threw the letter at her in anger and demanded to know the meaning of all this drama. Marie picked up the blank letter and said that she wanted to seek his attention. She said that the King had become so busy with his Kingdom's affairs that he was no longer paying any attention to her. So, she had handed over a blank letter to Shaun and had asked him to hand it over to her father. Next, she tricked her husband by saying that Shaun had betrayed him and was fleeing with an important secret. She knew that if her father had come to know that George had killed his men then he would not support him in his battle. She also told him that if ever she was harmed in any way her father would never forgive George. So, she asked George to mend his ways and give her more attention. George was left flabbergasted with his wife's trickery. He also realized that he had no other option. So, he sought forgiveness from his wife and promised to love her once again. As for Marie, she knew that her husband would have to keep his promise at the peril of his own kingdom. She smiled once again and hugged her husband.
The End
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