King of Swords

The King of Swords sits on his throne facing straight out, holding his sword upright and a little to one side. His throne is carved with butterflies. He's the judge, the lawmaker, the voice of reason and authority: fair, precise, and not to be argued with.

The spider wasps have one law, and the King enforces it. One spider for one child. The mother stings a spider into stillness, drags it to a burrow, lays one egg on it, and seals it in. The tarantula hawks of the Ten keep it. The Anoplius of the Ace keeps it. And the exception proves the rule: the cuckoo wasps of the Eight don't hunt at all, but slip their eggs onto spiders other wasps have caught. The realm has five subfamilies, and the genus Pepsis rules from Utah to Argentina.

The crown is real. In 1989, after a classroom of students in Edgewood, New Mexico, organized a statewide vote of schoolchildren, the New Mexico legislature made the tarantula hawk wasp, Pepsis formosa, the official state insect. The children picked the king.

Here's the riddle. Look at the King's throne: butterflies. The suit's one guest, the blue butterfly of the Six, is carved behind him, the creature that broke the rules of the nest by sounding like the queen. Every law has someone who slips through it. And the king of the spider wasps was crowned by children, not by the court.

When the King appears, you're being asked for judgment, either to give it or to accept it. Be fair, be clear, and know the law well enough to recognize its exceptions. The best rulers remember who put the crown on their head, and why.