"There is a rebellion growing on the planets of the stardust system," advises the queen's Guard.
"Assign a battalion to fly there and quell the leaders of the rebellion quickly," the queen replies.
"Send me the sergeant. Maybe he'll return with more excuses again," states the goblin King in a mocking tone.
"Goblin! This is no laughing matter," states the queen, "rebellions mean that our citizens are not happy. The stardust system is a valuable resource for mining spice. We can't afford a rebellion by the citizens now with the celebration coming up."
"So what?" Answers the king, "this is hell, they're not supposed to be happy. I dare anyone of them to interfere with our mining efforts of their precious spice. Half the citizens of those planets are so high off the spice their supposed to be mining, it might be good to reduce the population and send them a message of goblin's tolerance."
"My king," the queen responds in a calming tone, "we want the planets under our rule to obey us without resistance."
"You're right," the Goblin King concedes.
"Still, you have a point," she agrees with the king, "this is hell. Let their star burn dark for a few days. See if the rebellion continues without any firelight to keep them warm."
"Isn't that a bit harsh?" Asks the guard. The goblin king rises from his throne.
"Harsh? Mind your place, guard!" Threatens the king, "how dare a planet allow even a fraction of their citizens to rebel when the queen has been so gracious to allow them to rule themselves under goblin law and mine our spice without interference."
"Darken their star my love," orders the queen with a smirk.
The goblin king jumps down from his throne to the floor below. His hands raise in the air as flashes of light circle his palms. The lights grow brighter and brighter until they blind those around the king, then disappear in a flash.
"It is done," states the king. The guard humbly lowers his head and steps back three paces away from the king from fear.
"Your majesty," interrupts the guard, "I'm afraid it's not that simple."
"Why the hell not?" Asks the queen.
"Well, two planets will be affected by the darkness for sure, but the citizens of the system also have a dark planet. It gets little if any light from the star as it is and that planet is where the rebellion is," the guard explains.
"Well what exactly is the nature of their complaints?" Asks the queen.
"They are calling for religious rights your majesty," the guard answers, "they want to abolish witchcraft and worship heaven and our creator directly, without interference by goblin law."
"Idiots!" Proclaims the king, "where do they think they are? This is hell! We don't worship our enemies here!"
"Goblin," offers the queen, "perhaps we should..."
"Perhaps nothing," interrupts the king with a roar, "send the battalion! Let all who turn against the empire feel our wrath!"
"Hold on!" Yells the queen. The king sits back down in his seat awaiting the queen's advisement. "Let's see what happens with the darkening. If they truly want to worship heaven, then they will feel the suffering of their fellow citizens on the other planets."
"Three days, I'll delay the attack three days for the queen," orders the king.
"Yes your majesty," states the guard, "let the darkness prevail."
This post first appeared on Prelude To The Distraction Fiction Collections, please read the originial post: here
