The Queen’s Enemies

By Lord Dunsany

I have poured out dark wine to them, I have offered them fat, indeed, I have often offered them savoury things. I have said: The Queen should not have enemies; she is too delicate, too fair. But they will not understand.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wilder Publications, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781633847927

Lord Dunsany

Lord Dunsany (1878-1957) was a British writer. Born in London, Dunsany—whose name was Edward Plunkett—was raised in a prominent Anglo-Irish family alongside a younger brother. When his father died in 1899, he received the title of Lord Dunsany and moved to Dunsany Castle in 1901. He met Lady Beatrice Child Villiers two years later, and they married in 1904. They were central figures in the social spheres of Dublin and London, donating generously to the Abbey Theatre while forging friendships with W. B. Yeats, Lady Gregory, and George William Russell. In 1905, he published The Gods of Pegāna, a collection of fantasy stories, launching his career as a leading figure in the Irish Literary Revival. Subsequent collections, such as A Dreamer’s Tales (1910) and The Book of Wonder (1912), would influence generations of writers, including J. R. R. Tolkein, Ursula K. Le Guin, and H. P. Lovecraft. In addition to his pioneering work in the fantasy and science fiction genres, Dunsany was a successful dramatist and poet. His works have been staged and adapted for theatre, radio, television, and cinema, and he was unsuccessfully nominated for the 1950 Nobel Prize in Literature.

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Fantastic Stories Presents

The Queen’s Enemies

by Lord Dunsany

© Positronic Publishing Books

Cover image © Can Stock Photo Inc. / stelian

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ISBN 13: 978-1-63384-792-7

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The Queen’s Enemies

Dramatis Personæ

The Queen

Ackazárpses (her handmaid)

Prince Rhádamandáspes

Prince Zophérnes

The Priest of Horus

The King of the Four Countries

The Twin Dukes of Ethiopia

Tharni, Tharrabas, Harlee (Slaves)

Slaves.

Scene: An underground temple in Egypt. Time: The Sixth Dynasty.

[The Curtain rises on darkness in both parts of the stage. Two Slaves appear with tapers on the steps. As they go down the steps, they light the torches that are clamped against the wall, with their tapers. Afterwards when they come to the temple they light the torches there till they are all lit. The two Slaves are Tharni and Tharrabas.]

Tharrabas: Is it much further, Tharni?

Tharni: I think not, Tharrabas.

Tharrabas: A dank and terrible place.

Tharni: It is not much further.

Tharrabas: Why does the Queen banquet in so fearful a place?

Tharni: I know not. She banquets with