I'm stumped. I have really tried to figure it out and cannot. I thought perhaps the queen told them the king was about to die, so they better hurry back Or perhaps she told them the King changed his mind and it would be the first to cross the finish line Or maybe, as they had eaten for sometime, she told them that she had a nice hot meal waiting

Totally silly I know and not really an answer to a puzzle. But this is what happens when you rack your brains and find nothing coming out of it.