Star City Herald: A Night with the Queens

[adrini]

A Night with the Queens

By Bernell Jones

Star City is largely a working class town that never makes time for alot of the frivolities of more colorful locals. We have no over active gangsters, our largest events are renn faires and football games, and our weaponry of choice is from the twelveth century. It has only been in the last hundred years the city has even grown large enough to really earn that title itself.

The reason, as we all know for that magical growth, is the mysterious Queen family. A fixture in our fair city they are present at archery contests, fairs, games and an ever growing slew of charity events. Yet for all this they do not take part in the local high society, nor do they exploit themselves on TV like many other notable lines in the present day. We see their smiling faces, and their words are always kind, but we never get to know them.

I had the honor of getting to meet the family recently when my daughter started archery lessons at the school they favor. It was surreal to say the least. The first people I met were the family protector Mr. John Diggle and the two wards, Thea Queen and Mia Daerden Queen. They were present for the lesson like my daughter. Thea and Mia hurried off to class but Mr. Diggle, called simply "Digs", and I talked. He is a very protective man, and while he might once have been a hired guard he is now just another member of the family. When we talked he joked that even if he gave an interview I would find it dull. "It's all chore charts, take out italian and game nights." He said. "Your mystery will sell much better."

Soon after, at another lesson, It was Mr. Queen himself who took his sister to the class. To say he holds much of the city in his hands is an understatement. However on meeting him I found he didn't give off a great iconic air. He is a young man, but kind. He spoke to me openly and in a very friendly manner. We had a real conversation, mostly involving the raising of teenagers. We forget but after the loss of his parents he took custody not only of the company but also of his sister. He would play with the new white gold band on his hand every so often and smile, then look to make sure Thea didn't need to take a break. He worries about how hard she pushes herself.

In this time Cissie was befriending the young teens of the house, often talking about them at home. I shouldn't have been surprised then when Mr. Queen arrived at my office one day and invited my family and I over for dinner, but I was. We came up with a date and I was informed that on that day it was his turn to cook, and we shouldn't get our culinary hopes up. My wife had a last minute appointment but my daughter and I were glad to attend.

I didn't know what to think as I drove to Queen Manor. The house itself is truly grand and very nice from the outside, but like so many that was as much as I had seen. We were welcomed at the door by Mia, Thea and a friend of theirs, Rose. Cissie hurried to her friends and the four ran off to the game room post haste. Mr. Queen, called "Oliver", waited until the teen storm had past to welcome me to the house.

The house has been gutted of the older decorations, something the previous Mr. Queen did after the death of his parents. Currently it is modern, clean and very green. Oliver guided me to the family dining room where his wife was finishing some work.

Mrs. Dinah Queen has been the item of some speculation, being called a gold digger and being accused of trapping the heir with a planned offspring. In meeting her I found both of these to be unlikely. She was rather poor growing up, and has put the family on a fairly strict budget. The reason for her husband cooking was largely due to the take out budget getting "out of control". She is also a very thin woman, and there is no baby in evidence. A woman of her frame could not hide such a thing well.

I got to know the both of them when they gave me a tour of the house, which is large but also largely unused. Mrs. Queen is a very calm woman who has an open devotion to her husband and a great deal of compassion for her work at the outreach. She dresses simply and modestly, and was wearing only a locket containing her parents pictures and her wedding ring for jewelry. Her husband returns her devotion and at first glance takes the lead, though he always glances at his wife for verification before making any binding statements. He has learned quickly. They joked about how they didn't know how past generations had pulled off the parties and high society events. Once the work of the business, the outreach, the kids, archery classes, school and general housework is done they have to fight to make it to their own bed before crashing somedays. As a parent of a teenager myself I understood what they meant, most parents would.

Oliver had prepared the typical meal of tacos for dinner, with the expected sides. The girls made their plates then left and we were joined shortly by Diggle, Roy Harper and Jade Grant. Roy has been staying with the Queens since he was a kid and is basically the brother Oliver never had. Jade was a dear friend and near sister of Mrs. Queen who came for the wedding. Once here she and Roy hit it off and she transferred to Star City to continue the relationship. The six of us finished off the tacos before we got to coffee cake and conversation. Sitting there was not unlike watching a group of old friends.

Roy Harper is the only child of Ambassador Harper who was assassinated just over a year ago. He had been staying with the Queens for sometime when he got the news, and says he heavily regrets not making up with his father when he had the chance. There is alot of death in the house that way. Oliver and Thea lost their parents, of course. Mrs. Queen lost her father at the Queen Bank attack as a child and her mother to breast cancer two years ago. Mia, the newest ward, lost her father in the line of duty and her mother was murdered. They don't take each other for granted.


At the end of the evening the Queens and I went to the game room to inform the girls that it was time Cissie and I went home. They weren't happy to hear the news and made us promise to come over again, very soon. Even as I write this my daughter is tapping away on her phone, giggling over some joke or game with the friends she left just yesterday. I chuckle myself over what I used to believe about the regional first family. Despite the moaning of high society matrons and the conspiracies of paranoid individuals, they are a family. A family facing down a history of loss and morning and simply trying to make the days to come brighter then those they hope to leave behind. I think anyone could support them in that.