I strode across the floor, my skirts rustling with each step. As a door opened and my name was announced, a room full of men stood up and bowed with a look of servitude on their face. I had to hold back a laugh. All of these men would pounce at a chance to get me off the throne. Every time all of my advisors “helped” me, they usually had a motive to try and get me off the throne. Now, I never accept the help of anyone except a few trusted people. “You may sit my trusted advisors,” I say, lying through my teeth. The things I have to do and put up with just so I can keep my throne. I should be able to hire my own advisors, ones that accept me as their Queen. My name is Elizabeth Tudor, and I am the Queen of England.

   As a child, I never knew my mother, Anne Boleyn. She was executed what I was a little over two years old by my father, Henry Tudor. I was declared illegitimate when my mother and father’s marriage was annulled, which meant I could not become Queen. My half-brother, Edward VI, became King. He was the son of my father and one of his six wives, Jane Seymour. His reign lasted only six years before his death and Lady Jane Grey was pointed his successor. Her reign lasted nine days before she was overthrown and executed by my other half-sister, Mary, daughter of my father and his first wife, Catharine of Aragon. Mary, who was Roman Catholic, imprisoned me for almost a year during her reign, accusing me of helping the Protestants who she was famous for prosecuting. I was not guilty, but being a Protestant in those times was very dangerous. In 1558, after Mary’s five-year reign, she died and I was pointed at her successor for I was the last in the line of Tudor. A year later, I plan to be a great Queen who helped England keep peace and prosperity for many years. My path to Queen was rough and bloody, but I got here and I plan to stay.

  “Good morning advisors. Today we are here to discuss the attack on a Protestant family that took place yesterday,” I paused for just a moment, giving the family a moment of silence before continuing on. “We have captured the guilty party and they are waiting for a sentence in the prison. The only reason we have not sentenced them to die is that they are Catholic and I am a Protestant Queen. The Catholic people will try to use me killing their own as a hate crime against their entire religion. In my time as Queen, I want to bring peace to this country and be tolerant of all religions. Some of these people seem against peace. In order for me to keep the peace, we are going to need a confession that was said in front of witnesses in order for the guilty to be sentenced,” I paused and I took a breath. My advisors looked at me with a blank stare, like they had not listened to a word I said. “Any thoughts gentlemen?” I asked, trying to see if they had heard a word of what I was saying. Every time I try and speak to them, it is like their attention immediately focused on something else. I can’t help but think that is part of their plan. Not listen to me and not get anything done so I get removed from the throne. I would never let that happen.

“My Queen, if I may?” one of the advisors on my left said.

“Of course Lord Edgerton, continue,” I said, maybe a little to eagerly, excited to get an opinion on the matter.

“ All of us here believe that it is time for you to get a husband.” I stood there, for once speechless. Although I have known that they think that, no one has had the disrespect to actually say such a thing to my face. I would not let anyone in this room talk to me like this.

“Excuse me. How dare you? Since when have you had the ability to decide when I marry? I do not care that you think a woman could not rule a kingdom by herself. I am strong and I could handle anything,” I burst out, still not believing what was just said.

“Your Majesty, nothing has been done since you took the throne. You need a strong man to help you. A woman cannot do this job for they are too weak. A man is strong and can handle it, ” Lord Edgerton replied, clearly trying to hurt me as much as he could.

“ I cannot believe that those words have come out of your mouth,” I shot back. “Maybe if you all had the decency to listen to what I have to say, then we could have gotten things done. All you have done is sit there, pretending to pay attention when really you have no intention of getting anything done. Everyone in this room who agreed to this Ludacris idea are quite content on just sitting around all day and letting this grand country sink into chaos. You are all dismissed!” I finished with a burst of anger. I felt like screaming at all of them. I knew that they did not like the idea of a woman having the throne, I had no idea how deep that hatred went. It seemed to fuel their every moment, sink into every nerve. To show them that I can rule and not affected by their words, I had to act as calm and collected as I could. I could not let them think that I would run off and cry like they think a woman would. As they all strode out of the room, one by one, I looked at each and every one of the men with a piercing gaze, hoping they would feel some sort of guilt. Only after did every one of them leave did I exit, keeping my head high and keeping my composure.

   When I got back to my room, I dismissed all of my maids and sait on my lounge chair, letting my skirts billow out on all sides of me. Next to my chair, there is a diamond table with a cup of water on it in a crystal glass. With all of the talking I did in the meeting, I could really use a sip of water. I pick up the glass, sip it at first, then down it in one gulp, knowing that nobody will see me in this state of annoyance. How dare the advisors say such things to their own leader. I am the Queen of England! As I put the glass down, the world starts spinning. I pick up the glass and bring it to my nose.

“Oh no,” I say, the world spinning more. That smell is familiar. As I try to get up from the chair for help, the world tilts sideways and I fall back. The crystal glass slips from my hand and onto the floor, shattering into a million pieces that will never find their way back to their original form. With a final breath, I give in to the darkness and the world fades to black.

   The color starts to return to the world as I awaken. As I try to get up, a shooting pain goes through my head and the ringing in my ears worsen. I try to remember what happened. All I remember was drinking that glass of water that was full of the sedative. As a child, I studied herbs in the garden and knew that the sedative that they had given me was quite strong. I have probably been unconscious for at least two days. Everyone must already know that I am missing and their must be major search parties going on because their Queen has been kidnapped.

   As the pain in my head lessens, I open my eyes and slowly rise to a sitting position. I look around, taking a survey of my surroundings. I was sitting on a dirt floor in a room with no lights. I raised my hand in front of my face and could not see even the outline of my fingers in the pitch blackness. The room had stone walls and ceilings and no windows and no door.

   After a few minutes, my eyes finally started to adjust and I could start to see the outlines of the small room. The room was completely bare, save for a small wooden table to my right. I stood up and walked over to the table and saw that there was a wooden cup with water in it and a loaf of bread next to it. As I was unconscious for approximately two days, my throat was dry and my stomach was growling. I picked up the wooden cup and sniffed the water before I drank it, not wanting to drink another sedative. When I smelled nothing unusual, I took a cautious sip and waited a full minute before I took another, just to see if the water had any affect on me. Once I was sure that the water was safe to drink, I drank the entire cup, not one drop to spare. After, I picked up the bread and tried to rip a piece of, a task that neared the area of impossibility. After a few minutes, I slammed the bread down and walked back and forth in the small room. I needed a plan to escape. I was not staying in this place any more than I had to. I was escaping within the day.

“Hello? Is anyone there? I demand to speak with my kidnapper. I am Queen Elizabeth of England! I demand to be set free,” I called out, my voice echoing against the walls. No one answered. I looked in every nook and cranny of the room, trying to find a weak spot in the stone,  or trying to find something I could use as a weapon to attack my kidnapper. After searching for what seemed like hours, I slipped to the floor in defeat. I added the fourth dash in the dirt, which meant forty minutes. I was counting the seconds as I was searching the room just so I could keep track of time. A thought formed in my mind, one that I had not into my brain before, not wanting to think it or believe it. I had no plan to escape, no way to get out. Would I die here?

   As I was sitting on the floor, I started to think about who did this to me. I was trying to piece the entire plot together. Many countries could want me to disappear so they could take over England. But how could they have gotten so close to slip something inside my drink? Everything that comes to me has to go through many people who try everything that I eat and drink. It had to be someone close to me and someone that wouldn’t set off any alarms if they walked inside my chambers. There was only one problem with that. I specifically told my guard to tell me first before they let anyone into my room. There was so secret passages in my room, I personally made sure of that. “Oh my God,” I said, the realization hitting me.  At that exact moment, something caught my eye. What must be the world's tiniest handle was on the floor next to me.

I carefully crawled over to the handle and lifted the handle up and it revealed a trap door. I realized I could not fit through, not with my skirts. Using my hands, I ripped them until a pile of fabric was around me. I slid through the strap door and dropped to the ground. The tunnel was dark and I had to rely on the walls to lead my through. Thankfully, there was only one path and I didn’t get lost. After twenty minutes of getting even more dirty then I already was and scratching my hands on the sharp edges of rocks, I started to see the natural light of nighttime. I practically ran towards it and once I was out, I fell to the ground laughing. I was finally gone.

“She escaped! The Queen is gone!” I heard a voice yell. I started to run away as fast as I could. I was in open land and every moment I stayed I risked getting caught. When I thought I got away, a hand grabbed my elbow and forced me to stop.

“You,” I said, my voice dripping with disgust.

“Well hello, Your Majesty. Fancy it is to see you out here. However did you find your way out here?” said Lord Edgerton with a sly smile.

“  Ha! I know you are the one who kidnapped me. Over the past few weeks, I have seen you talking with my guards. I brushed it off, thinking that you knew them personally. What I didn't realize was that you were slowly getting them on your side, the first step in your plot. After you gained their loyalty, you had them slip a sedative into my water once you realized I would never listen to you and marry. You wanted to get rid of me, so you can put a King on the throne that you control. How was that for a stupid, weak woman who could never figure out what a big bad man was doing,” I said, figuring it out as I went along. In the room, I figured out that it was him, but only now did his entire plot make sense. Lord Edgerton seemed momentarily stunned and I took that moment to make my escape. I made my hand into a fist and I punched him as hard as I could. At impact, he yelled and stumbled backwards

“Ow!” I yelled in frustration, knowing that I would have some major bruised later. I knew that my punch would not be enough so I ran behind him in his momentary stupor and put my hands over his eyes. I had learned that pressure on the eyes could make someone faint a long time ago. Lord Edgerton struggled but I help my ground.

“Who is the weak one now!” I yelled as he slipped away into unconsciousness. I started to run away and stayed along the path until I realized where I was. Lord Edgerton took me to his estate, about a mile from the castle. I ran all the way back to the castle.

“Open these gates! I am the Queen!” I yelled at the guards. They looked at me in astonishment. I could only imagine what I looked like. I was dirty, my hair was a mess, and I was in a ripped dress so my undergarments were showing. After the shock receded, the ran to open the gates and I walked inside, regaining my composure. I walked into the throne room with my head high. My maids were there and they rushed me back to my room before I was questioned.

After I was cleaned up and questioned, most of my guards were arrested along with Lord Edgerton. My advisors started to respect me more and they never questioned my authority as a woman every again. Although that was the most scary moment of my reign, I am sometimes glad it happened. I was a respected Queen who could get a lot done in her long reign. I am Queen Elizabeth, one of the most powerful woman in the world.