No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Once upon a time, there was a king who appeared benevolent, who ruled a great land. However, passiveness was his overriding trait, and when his subjects mistreated each other, the king did nothing to protect them. In fact, the bigger, richer subjects often stole from the younger, poorer subjects, and the king stood by and did nothing.


One day, one of his poor subjects fled to a neighboring kingdom to seek help. She ran straight to the castle and asked to see the queen, the ruler of this bordering nation. The queen came at once to hear her grievance. A rich subject was coming to the girl's farm daily, stealing her chickens and cows, and her family was starving. He had even killed the family's beloved sheepdog. The girl had repeatedly asked the king to help, and though he vowed to do something, he never acted to stop the rich criminal. The queen's heart was so broken by the story, she vowed to take over the weak king's land so she herself could protect the subjects.

The queen called the ruling judge of the land and explained the situation. He told her to send for her best captain and have him to ready his troops for this honorable battle. They would go to the king's castle and demand he step down and hand over his kingdom.  With her amazing army, the queen made quick work of the opposition and brought the king to his knees. The judge declared the king could no longer rule there. At last, the queen would be able to help the abused subjects of the kingdom.  She felt that good and truth had won. 
However, the king did not give up so easily. Though everyone knew the stories about the king's inaction were true, he called the people of his kingdom together. He told them a new story. He said the queen was greedy and selfish, and she only wanted his kingdom so she could get richer and bring ruin to the people there. He claimed the girl in the queen's story never came to him for help. He said he would always be the only one to help them. He lied, and lied, and lied. 


Some of the people believed the king's lies.
They rose up against the queen and met her troops on the battlefield. The king's troops were able to push the queen's army back to their borders. With the upper hand at this point, the king ordered that they continue to try to push on and take the queen's land. During this time, the kind and fair judge fell ill and died, so there was no one to help or protect the queen. 
The queen had done nothing wrong, and was a just and loving ruler. There was no falseness to be found in her. She practiced kindness, honesty, and service. She truly wanted to help all people. But now she was on the defensive to save her own land, and to convince others that the king had lied. 
A great, lengthy battle ensued. It lasted at the border for years. Much of the land was destroyed, and many people died. 

Finally, a new judge came to say it was enough. The new judge did not know about the lies and the history leading to this great battle, he just knew he didn't want the fighting. He commanded the troops to all stand down, agree to peace, and to make a pact to each stay in their own lands.
The queen dragged her weary and defeated body back to her castle.  Her advisors cheered for her- "You stopped the attack and we still have all of our land!" The queen did not feel the victory that they celebrated.
But as she walked to her throne room, beaten, poor, and dejected, she saw the little girl, who had stayed at the castle for protection all this time.
"Did you win?" she asked hopefully.
"No, child. I didn't. I'm so sorry. But I fought with everything I had."
The little girl looked her right in the eye.  She walked over and took the queen's hand. "That is enough for me. I will never return to be a member of the king's land. I have seen how much you care for me. But what about the others, who suffer as I have?"
"We will find a way to help them. We will fight a new battle if we have to. But we will find a way to help as many as we can."
And together, they will.

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