Thread by @Joannechocolat

There is a story the bees used to tell, which makes it hard to disbelieve. #Storytime

There once was a beautiful Queen, who was married to an old and cruel King. #Storytime

She lived in a tower of gold and glass, and slept between sheets of satin and silk, and rarely opened the windows, for fear of hearing the cries of her people. #Storytime

She seldom ventured from her tower, except on State occasions, and when she did, she never spoke, but maintained a modest silence. #Storytime

This did her no harm with the people, who knew the cruelty of the King, and imagined her weeping in sympathy under her silken veil. #Storytime

One day a man came to petition the Queen, claiming to be a tailor from a distant land. #Storytime

"The fatherless children, the suffering poor, the orphans and widows need your voice," said the mysterious tailor.

And he gave to the Queen a marvellous coat made from a silk that she had never seen before. It caught the light like a butterfly's wing: it shone in many colours.#Storytime

The Queen, who was vain, accepted the coat, and promised at last to lend her voice to the voices of her people. #Storytime

But the next time she appeared in public, she stayed silent, as always. #Storytime

Little did the cruel Queen know that the coat had been spun from magical silk, in the court of the Lacewing King himself. #Storytime

And as she followed the cruel King through the streets of the city, her true thoughts appeared in the weave of the coat, written in magical letters large enough for all to read. #Storytime

And the letters on the magical coat read: OH HOW TIRESOME AND UGLY AND BORING ARE THE POOR. HOW MUCH MORE CAN I TAKE? I DON'T CARE. #Storytime

And then it read: OH WHEN WILL THE KING DIE AT LAST? HE IS SO OLD AND UGLY AND VAIN. WHEN WILL I HAVE MY CHANCE TO RULE THE KINGDOM?

And then it read: WHY ARE MY PEOPLE ALL STARING AT ME IN THIS WAY? IT CAN'T BE SOMETHING THAT I SAID. WHY DO YOU STARE? WHY ARE YOUR FACES SO ANGRY?
#Storytime

And then, at last, as the people rose to overthrow the Queen and the King, the coat read nothing more, because it was all in rags and tatters. #Storytime
The end