{"id":1965,"date":"2020-04-20T00:15:41","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T04:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/?p=1965"},"modified":"2020-04-01T12:27:38","modified_gmt":"2020-04-01T16:27:38","slug":"a-to-z-challenge-2020-q-is-for-queen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/?p=1965","title":{"rendered":"A to Z Challenge 2020: Q is for Queen"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a continuation of B is for Birthday<\/a><\/span>. It was followed by F is for Follow<\/a>, H is for Hunted<\/a>, K is for King<\/a>, and M is for Mistake<\/a>. You may want to read them first if you haven\u2019t already.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The guard left to find the magician. Barry wanted to run away but was too scared to move. The queen, however, moved quickly. She moved close to Barry and said, \u201cQuickly, we don\u2019t have much time. What news from the king?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Barry didn\u2019t know what to think. Was this some ruse she was using to get information for Hyde or was she really concerned about the king?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy should I answer you?\u201d was his reply, \u201cYou\u2019re about to make me a slave.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The queen\u2019s demeanor changed. Her face showed more concern now than conceit and power. \u201cI did what I did to give us time to talk in isolation and see if there is a way out of this mess.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut you were bossing the guard around. You\u2019re one of them. You\u2019re working with Hyde. I thought you were supposed to be captured and a slave.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat good would that have been, if I had been captured? The king wouldn\u2019t listen to me about the Hyde. I knew the only way to get him to take me seriously was for me to disappear and let him think that Hyde had captured me. I knew that if I were indeed captured by Hyde, I would have no way to help those enslaved. So I decided to make it known to the proper individuals that I had had it with the king and was looking to partner up with the magician in his plans to take over the kingdom.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut how did you ever find Hyde to make that offer?\u201d Barry asked.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs I said,\u201d the queen continued, \u201cI knew who I could trust and who would get my intent to Hyde. Now tell me, time is running out, what are the king\u2019s plans?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Barry took a deep breath, decided to believe the queen, at least for the moment, and in a wavering voice said, \u201cHe has none. He has sent me here to save everyone.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe WHAT!\u201d remembering then to lower her voice. \u201cYou\u2019re just a boy… Well, it\u2019s too late to send you back for help, so we\u2019ll have to come up with another plan.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI could run away and you could say I escaped.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The queen thought about it, but then said, \u201cNo. That would just warn him that his hideout is known. What you have to do is become a slave. When Hyde comes, tell him that you just got lost in the woods, that\u2019s how he captures most of the others. And give me your flashlight. The king\u2019s insignia is on it, which would give away who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Barry handed over the flashlight, which the queen quickly disposed of. \u201cThen what?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is one guarding the captives, named Rory,\u00a0 that I trust. He works for me and keeps me informed. You will identify yourself to him. Give him this.\u201d The queen handed Barry a silken handkerchief that she had pulled from her dress and described who he supposed was to look for. \u201cHe will know that you speak the truth and will be able to keep the lines of communication open between us. Tell him that I will let him know when the time is right to execute our plan. We better hope that it works.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut what is the plan?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Barry never got a chance to find out, for in walked a tall, lanky man. He had long dark hair, dark eyes and an evil sneer on his face. \u201cWHO IS THIS CHILD?\u201d he demanded.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe appears to be a lost child, who wandered here from the forest,\u201d the queen replied.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy don\u2019t I recognize him,\u201d questioned the mage, \u201cWhere are you from boy?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Too much was happening at once; Barry was really frightened now. He stammered, \u201cI..I…I come from a..a… foreign land, sir. I\u2019m just trying to find my way back home.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hyde stared deeply into Barry\u2019s eyes. He could read the fear that was coursing through the boy. It pleased him. \u201cGood. I\u2019ve got news for you, boy. You\u2019ve found your new home. It\u2019s right here with us.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hyde turned to the guard and ordered, \u201cYou know what to do with him. Put him down with the others, it\u2019s time for him to earn his keep.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hyde turned and left with the queen following. The guard grabbed Barry roughly by the shoulder and dragged him back up the cave path to the fork and down the other path into a damp, musty cavern covered with stalagmites and stalactites. Around him were men, women, children, and animals of all sorts. They all stared at him with saddened faces. Just another poor soul to be added to their group.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Barry was handed over to another guard, who quickly put him to work. Barry was surprised that in all the time he had been there in the cave, no one ever checked him over to see if had a weapon. The knife the king had given him, was still sheathed beneath his pant leg.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

to be continued in <\/span><\/i>R is for Rescue<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a continuation of B is for Birthday. It was followed by F is for Follow, H is for Hunted, K is for King, and M is for Mistake. You may want to read them first if you haven\u2019t … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,4,7],"tags":[70,67],"class_list":["post-1965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-to-z-blog-challenge-2020","category-original-stories","category-story-writing","tag-a-to-z-blog-challenge","tag-harvey-heilbrun"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1965"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1972,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1965\/revisions\/1972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}