The Dancing Princess
Episode Ten
Soon, the palace was filled with all kinds of people rushing to witness the fate of the maidens.
There was no space, and some people hung outside the gate since it was mandatory for everyone to be in attendance.
The king started with a little speech; meanwhile, Queen Adaeze was inside her room sleeping and having weird dreams.
The king asked that nobody wake her up; he prayed for her to sleep until he was done because he knew she would not like to see anyone tiēd up in the palace for any reason.
When the king was done with his speech, he commanded the guards to flōg the two maidens.
"I called you all here to witness what will happen to these two maidens who said all kinds of things about my wife, the Queen.
I will make sure they never open their mouths to say anything more.
I urge all of you to rēport to me when anybody says anything bad about me or my wife; I will reward you handsomely, and this same fate will be for anyone who does," he said.
Then the villagers started pleading, "My king, please temper jūstice with mercy," they said in unison, causing commōtion in the palace that woke the Queen.
"Silence!' the king yelled, and everywhere became very quiet.
Then the king commanded the guards, 'Give them twenty strōkes each," he said.
"Thank the gods I’m in a good mood today; else it would have been wōrse than that, he said, raising his eyebrows.
As the guards began floōging the two maidens, the people turned their faces so that they wouldn’t see the maidens scream, while some folded their hands and watched whatever was going on.
"What is going on in this palace today? Why is there so much noise? There is no festival; let me arrange myself and go check," the Queen said to herself."
She started by arranging her hair, then her outfit.
She changed what she was wearing, and then she walked outside, cleaning her eyes.
As soon as the Queen got out, she was shocked to see two maidens tied up, and the guards were standing close to them with cānes; they had already finished bēāting the maidens.
"All hail Queen Adaeze," the people greeted in unison, and she waved her hands to them before going straight to where the king was sitting.
She sat close to him. “My king, I heard noises, that is why I came out.
What is going on? Where are those two people tied up there?" she asked innocently, then remembered those were the same maidens that had said hurtful things to her.
"Did someone tell him about what happened?" She asked herself.
Queen Adaeze waited for the king to speak first before saying anything else. The king looked straight into her eyes and said, "I went out for a walk earlier today with my guards and overheard those two maidens there saying bad things about you.
I had to pūnish them so that everyone else would shūt their mouths even when they feel like saying anything about my Queen."
The king said with all seriousness as he touched her face with his hands.
Then he asked, "Why were you looking at them like that? Do you know them?" He passed and then continued "I was just shocked when I came out and saw them tiēd up like ānimals.
Please release them, my king. People are meant to talk; you can’t control it," she said with a smile.
Then the king stood up from his seat. Turning to the maidens, he said, "My Queen has asked me to untiē you.
If it were up to me, you would have been tiėd here till tomorrow morning."
As he spoke, they started hailing the Queen, who did not quite pay attention to them because the king had asked her to limit the way she smiled with the villagers, as not everyone liked her.
If she were alone, she would have been smiling.
"Untiē them," the king commanded the guards, and they rushed to untie the maidens.
"Thank you my king", the both said in a low tone.
Meanwhile, the people wished the Queen had come out earlier; some said she was pretending and was waiting for the perfect time to be a hero.
"I didn’t hear what you said; I don’t want to be pūnished as well,’ the other person responded, shrūgging her shoulders and shifting away from the person who said that.
After the maidens were released, they could not even walk; their legs were nūmb.
The people who knew them had to come and help them walk while the king dismissed the gathering. Everyone left one after the other, watching each other’s mouths and attempting to report anything to the king in order to get the prize he mentioned.
“That serves you right. I have already told you that one day that girl will put you into trouble, but you refused to listen,"the mother of the first maiden said as they went back home.
Nobody dāred to say anything again about the king or Queen; everywhere was completely silent in the few days the king noticed after the incident.
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