A Queen Retires
The old queen retired. It wasn't the done thing. But it was long past time. She had paid her dues. Except, had she? She had eaten well, slept well (at least, she had had a bed to sleep in), been clothed... She had worked. Oh, yes, she had worked. And now she was tired. She was retired for three months before she had begun to think again. Perhaps she had not paid any dues, not really. Perhaps no one ever did. There was, of course, no going back. But there had to be something. She set out from her smaller quarters, down to the witch's cottage just where the outskirts of the city met the forest. There, she met the witch, rolled up her sleeves, and got to work. In the end, the work felt the same. But she slept much better.