The Messenger's Fury

A long time ago, there was a powerful Kingdom in the ancient world.

The Kingdom was ruled by a wise royal family. They realize that in order to administer the Kingdom effectively, they must have control over the judges, the soldiers and the messengers.

Their most influential messenger was a grand old lady called Gwen Forsynth.

As the chief messenger, her duty to the Kingdom was to convey accurate information to the peasants and workers. She was also the official spokesperson of the royal family.

Despite her cool and impartial appearance, Madam Forsynth was a very tortured soul.

On one hand she lived among the peasants and workers, and talked often with them, so she identified with them.

On the other hand she had frequent audiences with the royal family, and understood the importance of their decisions, so she respected them greatly.

The problem is - whenever the royal family and the workers disagree, they both tend to blame Mdm Forsynth.

The royal family reminds Gwen to exercise restraint over her words, because miscommunications can be devastating to the Kingdom. The workers accuse Gwen of withholding too many words, because that is a form of miscommunication.

Caught in the middle and shot by both sides, Gwen was plagued with inner conflict. It was a pent-up frustration that was waiting for a chance to explode.

Then one day, that opportunity came.

A friend of the royal family made a glaring mistake.

He was the head officer of T&T Welfare Services, which obtains funds from the workers and redirects them to needy people. He had become greedy over the years and was diverting much of this money into his own pocket.

Gwen was suspicious of T&T because of the officer's extravagant ways and his arrogance. She hinted to the workers as diplomatically as she always did, that T&T had controversial practices.

This "hint" immediately drew the ire of T&T, which read the insinuation as a direct accusation. T&T wanted blood. The head officer challenged Gwen to a public duel to defend his honour.

Gwen tried to settle this disagreement privately, but the T&T head was unmoved. He was an expert marksman who had shot dead some of his opponents before. He looked down on Gwen, a mere old lady.

He was sure that he would win.

On the fateful day of the duel, Gwen and the head officer were each handed a flintlock pistol. They paced outwards, back to back.

3...2...1... FIRE!!!

POP! POP!

The head officer was shocked. His shot went completely wide. Gwen's shot however, stuck him right at his chest.

To add insult to injury, the head officer's formal dress was damaged by the blast, causing all of his ill-gotten gold coins to drop all over the ground.

T&T was finished. But Gwen was not done yet.

Shrieking like a crazy woman, she repacked the black powder, reloaded her flintlock and shot the officer again and again, with child-like pleasure in her eyes.

POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP!

It was relentless. She knew that the royal family would not protest because he was a "mere friend". She used this opportunity to release all of her inner frustrations.

POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP!

This went on for days and days. Although the head officer's body was already shot through like swiss cheese, Gwen refused to stop.

The royal family could only smile weakly and pretended not to notice.