The Great Little Queen _ Stories for Teenagers _ @EnglishFairyTales

English Aqsa's Stories

Transcript

00:00Once upon a time, in a great kingdom called Caspia, darkness fell upon the royal family

00:15as the king and the queen passed away, leaving behind their ten-year-old daughter, Sophia,

00:23as the only heir to the throne.

00:28Caspia was now in a state of gloom, unsure as to what its fate would be, and the evil

00:35Prime Minister Zahran, Zafar, knew it very well.

00:41We will crown the little girl, and when the people of the kingdom will see what a pathetic

00:47ruler she is, I will convince them that for the greater good of Caspia, I take control.

00:59And so, on the night of the full moon, Sophia was crowned as the Queen of Caspia.

01:07Horns were blown and drums were played as the little queen sat on the throne, scared

01:12and anxious, along with the sadness of the fresh wounds of her parents' death.

01:20Zahran saw fear in her eyes and grinned with satisfaction.

01:26My queen, I bow down to you and pledge my support and loyalty to you until my last breath.

01:35Can... can I go to my chamber now, if that is all right?

01:40Oh, absolutely, your highness.

01:42Nurse, please usher the queen to her chamber and make sure she has everything that she needs.

01:51Zahran's plan was coming through quite well, and as he had expected, Sophia, being a little

01:57child that she was, stayed away from the matters of the kingdom.

02:02She would spend most of her time with the nurse as she found comfort in her company.

02:11Triples the taxes!

02:12Tell them it's the queen's order, and failure to obey her command will lead to capital punishment!

02:19And that was done.

02:23A fog of devilry sheathed upon Caspia.

02:27People were tortured and punished for the smallest of crimes, and freedom of speech

02:33was a thing of the past, all in the name of the queen.

02:38But the queen, unbeknownst to all of this, lived in oblivion, as her people suffered

02:46outside the walls of her palace.

02:49But one day, something happened.

02:53While chasing after her little kitten, she reached the courtroom where she saw a man

02:58in chains knelt down in front of Zahran.

03:02Oh, what is going on?

03:05Ah, your highness, nothing important to stress your nerves.

03:10This man has committed blasphemy, spoken ill of you, and we are taking care of it.

03:17Yes, my queen, he is to be hanged till death.

03:22I see.

03:24What is your name, sir?

03:28Philip.

03:29Philip?

03:30What have I done to deserve you speaking ill of me?

03:35Don't you see we are not happy under your rule?

03:38My wife and daughter are starving because I cannot bring food to the table.

03:43And how could we?

03:45Whatever we earn, you take it away as taxes.

03:48Enough!

03:49I will have your head.

03:51Zahran!

03:53You are free to go, Philip.

03:55Zahran, please see to it that he is given ample amount of stock of food for his family.

04:00But...

04:01I want it to be done.

04:03Yes.

04:04Yes, my queen.

04:07Astounded, Philip was set free.

04:10Zahran watched him walk out of the courtroom and clutched his teeth.

04:15What taxes was he talking about?

04:18Oh, nothing, your highness.

04:20Taxes as usual that every citizen has to pay.

04:24Sophia nodded and standing up, left from the courtroom.

04:29This was close.

04:31I must do something immediately.

04:35That evening, he left the kingdom on his horse without informing anyone.

04:41Meanwhile, Sophia could only think about the troubled face of Philip

04:46and the chains in which he was tied up.

04:49She felt distraught.

04:52What is it, my queen?

04:54You look troubled.

04:57Sophia told her everything and the nurse looked down.

05:02Do you think, as a queen, I should not get emotional?

05:07As a queen, your highness, your first and foremost duty is to keep your subjects happy.

05:14I say, you did a great job today, but that is the tip of the iceberg.

05:20What do you mean?

05:23And so, the nurse told Sophia all that was going on in the kingdom after her parents' death.

05:31The little queen was shocked as tears rolled out of her eyes.

05:36I know it's tough for someone your age to take up all the responsibility,

05:41but only you can save the kingdom now.

05:46The following morning, Sophia and her nurse, disguised as common people,

05:52stepped outside the kingdom and went to the marketplace.

05:57Fifty whips if you do not produce the tax right now.

06:02But I don't have the money. My crops were damaged.

06:07I don't care.

06:10Wait, you cannot punish him like that. You have to take him to the queen.

06:15Go away, you little girl, else I will not think twice before...

06:20Before?

06:22Queen?

06:25Not only are you collecting taxes in my name, you also have the audacity to punish my people. Soldier!

06:44Do to him what he said he was going to do to you.

06:47But...

06:48Do it!

06:50No, we are not heartless like these men. We are common people.

06:55We only want a simple and happy life. Violence is not our thing.

07:02Do you see the difference? Are you ashamed now?

07:06The same people you torture refuse to be unkind towards you.

07:12I'm sorry, your highness.

07:16All new tax reforms are hereby declared to be null and void.

07:23Taxes will be collected from those who can pay, for those whose income are bare minimum.

07:30They will be exempted from all taxes.

07:34And what about us who paid the triple tax? We have nothing left.

07:41The whole ministry is... corrupted. But justice will be done.

07:47Philip, you are hereby appointed as my advisor and finance minister.

07:54If you shall be willing to take up the positions.

07:58I... I will be honored, queen.

08:01Sophia and Philip went back to the palace where she called for the king.

08:07Sophia and Philip went back to the palace where she called for the treasurer

08:11and discussed with him at length about the collection of the taxes.

08:16She found out that most of the taxes collected did not make it to the royal treasury

08:23but instead were kept by the ministers.

08:27Philip, find out who these ministers are and bring them to me.

08:33It didn't take Philip much time as some of his soldier friends told him everything.

08:40All the corrupted ministers were called to the town square

08:44where they were humiliated in public and banished from the kingdom.

08:51Next, Sophia summoned for Zafar.

08:56But the latter was nowhere to be found.

09:00Without waiting for him, the little queen ordered all the prisoners who were jailed unjustly to be released.

09:10In the next few days to come, Sophia brought multiple reforms into the kingdom

09:16and was hailed as the great little queen.

09:22But just as things began to come back to normal,

09:26in Caspia, the neighboring kingdom, twice the size of Caspia, marched towards it to attack.

09:35And the person who assisted their king was Zafar.

09:40He had gone there to pursue the king to attack Caspia,

09:44convincing him that the time was right since the queen was small and inexperienced.

09:53My queen, Stopia has attacked us and it's Zafar who is assisting them.

09:59That's why he wasn't there all these days?

10:02Yes, and with him there are these other corrupt ministers whom you had banished.

10:08Hmm, what should we do, Philip?

10:11Leave it to me.

10:13Philip had gathered all the people of the kingdom at the town square.

10:19Our kingdom is under threat. Our queen is under threat.

10:23Their army is twice the size of ours, but we can still win.

10:29How?

10:31By all of us participating. Will you take the battlefield for the queen?

10:37Yes!

10:39Will you fight for the glory of her crown?

10:43She has fought for our lives. We will fight for her till the last breath.

10:48I say yes!

10:50Yes! Yes! Yes!

10:54All hail the queen!

10:56All hail the queen!

11:01As the army of Stopia approached Caspia,

11:04they were suddenly taken back by men and women with spears and swords,

11:09coming out from behind the trees and charging towards them from the sides.

11:14And as they did, they shouted,

11:17Thank you, Zafar, for helping us trap the Stopian king!

11:22Thank you, Zafar, for trapping him!

11:25Huh? What?

11:28And at that moment, from the front came the army of Caspia,

11:33marching forward with elephants and horses.

11:38Zafar, you tricked us!

11:41No, no, no, your highness!

11:45You will pay for it, Zafar! Army, fall back! Retreat!

11:51The Stopian army fled, leaving behind Zafar,

11:55who now neither belonged to Caspia nor Stopia, ran for his life too.

12:02But as he ran a little, he saw Sophia on her horse, waiting for him.

12:09One can only run so much!

12:13I am sorry, your majesty. Please forgive me.

12:19And for the first time since her parents' death,

12:23Sophia spoke like an authoritative queen.

12:29Not everyone deserves forgiveness, Zafar.

12:33Some deserve karma. Guards, take him and lock him in the dungeons!

12:40No, no, no!

12:45And thus, Sophia came to be known as the great little queen,

12:52and under her, the kingdom flourished even more than before,

12:57teaching us that one should never underestimate someone

13:01because of their inexperience and age.

Category

Transcript

Recommended