Rerhud’s Lesson

Early the next Morning Queen Astra is awake. The sun is only just rising. She has her breakfast then she waits for the Gistlidians to arrive and start work.

As she walks towards the main gate she can’t see anyone. At that moment she second-guesses herself thinking she’d made the wrong decision in releasing them. Then as she reaches the gate she can see that they were at least 100 men if not more waiting with their work tools.

The Queen steps out through the gate and welcomes them. ” Good Morning my fellow Gistlidians, it’s so nice to see you all this morning. Please do come in and register your name so I can make sure you and your families are paid well for all your hard work. I’ll be arranging meetings with you all one by one over the next week. Please don’t be afraid I just want to hear your thoughts and help where I can.” As the people registered with the palace guards the Queen made sure she supervised and personally greeted each person. She wanted them to feel comfortable and confident in her rule.

The men were set to work straight away removing all the fortified barriers Rerhud had put up in place. By noon that day, the Queen was pleased with their progress and started her meetings with them. She started at the top of her list and worked her way down. All in all, she managed to see only ten of them that first day. They came into the meeting feeling angry and deflated and left feeling much happier. The main issue was about how they had not been listened to and how Rerhud was treating them. As the men rejoined their workmates a calmer and more pleasant atmosphere filled the castle. There was singing and laughter as they worked. By early evening the main yard had been unfortified and all the wood had been piled up outside the castle walls. The Queen gave the signal for the men to go home and rest. Once every man had left the castle the gates were locked.

She then called for Rehud to meet with her. He was amazed at how she had won over the people and how much work they had accomplished. They shared the evening meal and she talked with him and shared many pearls of wisdom and pointed out where he’d gone wrong.

She explained that the following morning she wanted him to come out and greet the men with her. He would then sit with her in all her meetings and he would have to apologise to the people for how he’d made them feel. She explained to him she was staying at Gistlidia and she would teach him how to rule the island properly.

Rerhud felt very silly that he’d made such a mess of it all. The Queen simply looked at him and said “If you don’t make mistakes you’ll never learn how not to do something.” This had been a hard lesson. Thankfully it wasn’t such a bad one. “You can make things right again. Just watch and learn.” said Queen Astra. With that they finished their foodand arranged to meet again the next morning before sunrise.

Rerhud was pleased and felt humble that the Queen knew what she was doing and was willing to forgive his mistakes and help him learn

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