Protect the Queen

Once upon a time there was a queen of a small kingdom. The Queen’s name was Willow and she ruled the Kingdom named GrassLand. GrassLand was one of the safest Kingdoms around. It was like if you bubble wrapped something a million times that's how safe it was. Until one day there was a break-in in the Kingdom. Someone got into the kingdom without any alarms setting off or any guards trying to chase. The only reason they know someone broke into the kingdom is because they tried to steal the crown jewels from the castle while wearing the enemy kingdom’s crest. You see how I said, “tried” yeah because he failed. The security cams caught him and guards got to him before he could leave the castle. They locked the thief up. There was still a big question: who let the guy into the kingdom? Was it one of the guards? There were 3 guards on duty the day of the break-in. The 3 guards swear that they didn’t let the criminal in. So the Queen had to do a loyalty test. 3 rounds to make sure these guards were loyal. If any were lying and were the one who let the enemy in then they would be banned from the land for ever. The queen is very sage and she would figure out who let him in. The first test all the guards passed. The second test all the guards passed again. The queen thought to herself, “Maybe the guy just slipped past them and none of the guards are guilty.”  But there was still one test left and still a chance of one or more guards being a traitor. The test was a lie detector. They started with the first guard. They asked him name, age, and where he lives. The normal stuff but then they got to the hard question. They asked, “Did you let the enemy into the kingdom?” The guard replied, “No.” He was telling the truth. The second guy went. They asked him all the same questions and then they asked the last question. The guard was acting a little suspicious. He was sweating and looked very nervous but in a shaky voice he answered, “No.” The second guard was telling the truth. It was now the third guard's turn and he walked into the room so confident that there was no way he could have been the traitor. They asked the first couple of questions and they were all the truth. At this point the queen believed that none of her guards let the man in and that he had just slipped passed. The last question for the third guy was asked and all he said was, “Sorry.” Then they asked the question to him again, “Did you let the enemy into our kingdom?” He said, “No, no I did not.” It was a lie. Guard three left in handcuffs with his head hung. The last words he mumbled to the queen were, “I’m sorry. I’m not a loyal guard. I am sorry you ever trusted me.” That guard was dubbed a traitor from then on and the kingdom was safe. For now.

Written by Avery Antonioli

Grade 8