Breakfast at Natalie's

Malfoy didn't know how much time had passed since they'd been locked in this room, but he was beginning to get hungry. His stomach growled and moaned. He looked over at Natalie, who was still asleep. Then he remembered that the queen had told him he could have whatever he needed, and right now, that was food. He walked over to the table where there was a small bell on a string. He picked it up and it jingled; he wondered how on earth anyone was going to hear it.

Amazingly, about a minute later, there was a quiet knock at the door. Malfoy opened it, and found a young girl in a light blue dress standing there.

"Hello, sir," she said politely, "my name is Adriana. I am one of the queen's servants. How may I help you?"

"I'd like some food, please," said Malfoy.

"Of course, sir," said the girl. "What would you like to eat?"

"Erm, what have you got?" he asked, though at this point he would eat pretty much anything.

The girl gave him an incredulous look. "Sir, we have every type of food you could ever imagine. If I were to list them all for you, we would be here forever." She paused, and then corrected herself. "I mean, then you would never get your dinner. We're going to be here forever no matter what."

"I'm not," he said. "I'm going to find a way out of this place."

The girl's eyes widened. "But sir, that isn't possible. Not unless the queen herself gives you permission...or..." Realizing that she had said too much, she quickly stopped talking.

"Or what?" demanded Malfoy. "Tell me."

"I'm not allowed to, sir."

"You won't get in trouble if the queen doesn't know you told me," said Malfoy.

"There is no one else that could tell you, sir," she said. "I am the only one that will be serving you."

Malfoy frowned. "Come inside, please," he said, holding open the door. Cautiously, the girl stepped inside and stood there nervously. "Don't be afraid."

Malfoy closed the door behind her and then pulled two chairs from the corner. "Please, sit down," he said, and she did, still staring at him. "Look, Adriana, I need all the help I can get. See that woman on the bed over there? That's my sister. She's lost her memory. She doesn't even know I'm her brother anymore. Well, the thing is, we're not dead. We came here to find people, and now we're stuck in this palace. There are people at home that are waiting for us. We have to get back."

The girl looked at him curiously. "So you really haven't lost your memory? The queen said something about that, but I wanted to see for myself. We haven't had this happen in a long time."

"I need the antidote," he said, feeling like a broken record.

She gasped. "Who told you about that?"

"Um...no one," he said, cursing himself.

"Someone had to have told you," she said, crossing her arms. "Nobody knows that."

"Alright, alright. Sebastian told me, okay? But don't get him in trouble. He's a nice bloke."

"He is," agreed the girl. "What else did he tell you?"

"Just that there was only one way to get this antidote, but he didn't say what it was."

"It's a good thing he didn't, since that might've caused you to attempt to escape, and the queen would have decided to keep your soul for eternity," she said darkly.

"What?" said Malfoy. "She keeps people's souls?"

"Not everyone's soul," said the girl. "But yes, that's how she became so powerful. She feeds off the energy she takes from the souls." She looked around the room, scared that someone would hear her. "I'm not supposed to be telling you this."

"I appreciate that, but I'd really like to know how to get the antidote," he persisted.

The girl hesitated for a moment, looking over at Natalie on the bed. "Well, I suppose I should. You have a family to return to." She looked down at the carpet, thinking of what to say. Malfoy waited patiently. "I suppose Sebastian told you about the flowers?"

"Yes," said Malfoy.

"Well, in addition to them making you lose your memory, you also lose your sight, in a way. What do you see in this room?"

Malfoy was bewildered. "There's...a bed...chairs..." Was this a trick question?

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Describe them."

"Well, everything is really ornate and fancy," he said. "The bed sheets are silk..."

"That's it," she said. "They're not. Nothing in this place is really what you see it as. The scent of the flowers somehow makes you see things differently...it's part of the queen's magic. This is all an illusion."

She took a small bottle of pills from her pocket. "These are pills that the queen gave to me. I am her most trusted servant. Take one."

Malfoy wavered, his Auror training prompting him to stop and consider the situation. What if it was poison? Or a sleeping pill so that they could take Natalie away?

The girl seemed to be able to sense his fear, and she reassured him: "It's not poison. Just take it and put it in your mouth. It will melt."

He did as she said, and a few seconds later, he began to feel dizzy. He panicked, thinking that he had fallen for a trap. However, his vision cleared and he no longer recognized where he was. The room was completely changed: the bed was really only a mattress with a few tattered blankets, the curtains full of rips. There were cobwebs in the corners of the ceiling, and the chair he was sitting on had a chunk taken out of it. It had a general aura of decay.

"This is what it really looks like," said the girl.

"So you mean, this palace...isn't really a palace?"

"No. It's more like...an old, abandoned warehouse. But do you see how strong the queen's magic is? She has everyone here deluded. There are only two people, and now three, that know this secret."

"Thank you," said Malfoy quietly.

"Are you sure you want to know how to get the antidote?"

"Definitely," he said firmly.

"The antidote is impossible to steal," said the girl. "The queen has it well guarded. To try and steal it would be suicide. The only way to get it is to make...a sacrifice."

"Like what? Do I have to offer my dinner up or something?" joked Malfoy. He immediately sobered up when he saw the look on the girl's face.

"This is not a joking matter," she said sternly. "To get the antidote, you must make a human sacrifice."

"I have to kill someone?" said Malfoy, horrified.

"No," said the girl. "You have to sacrifice yourself. You must pledge your soul to the queen, and then she will give the antidote to your sister. She will be free to leave, but you will be bound to serve her for eternity. It's very clever of her."

"If that's what you call clever," muttered Malfoy. "I need a way to get us both out of here with our memories and souls intact."

"That would be impossible," said Adriana. "No one has ever done it."

"I will find a way," he said. "I must."

They both jumped when there was a knock on the door.

"May I come in?" said the queen.

"Yes, Your Majesty," said Adriana, practically leaping to the door. She curtsied.

"Ah, Adriana," said the queen, "what are you doing in here with our guest?"

"Oh," she said calmly, "he wanted to know what we have to eat here. I was just explaining."

"I see," said the queen. "Well, you may bring him his selection then. I would like to have a word with him."

After Adriana left the room, the queen sat down in the vacated seat. "I would like to make a request," said the queen. "An unusual one, at that."

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"I have been the sole ruler of this realm for countless years," she said, her voice tinged with sadness. "All this time I have been searching for the right one to rule beside me, but I have found none. However, today you came to me. As soon as I could, I consulted my oracle, and it has told me that you have been brought here by Fate. You are the one."

"I am...the one?" said Malfoy, flabbergasted. He vaguely wondered how much of his memory he'd lost by now. He still seemed to remember his name and where he came from.

"I am certain of it," said the queen solemnly. "And I have decided to make you an offer. If you will consent to be my king, then I shall give you the antidote you seek, and your sister will be free to return to her realm."

"But what about me?" he said.

"You," she said, looking at him with her violet eyes, "shall remain will me. I think this is rather generous of me, as under normal circumstances, you would not be allowed to live freely if I kept you here."

At this point, Malfoy realized that everything Adriana had told him was indeed true. But that did not help him. He still faced the same difficult decision: stay here with Natalie and both die, or sacrifice himself and let Natalie go. He looked up at the queen.

"And if I refuse?" he said quietly.

"Then you will not receive another offer, or the antidote," she said, her mouth drawn into a thin line of displeasure.

"I will consider your offer," said Malfoy, making a wise choice.

"Very well," she said, standing up. "I shall be expecting your answer by noon tomorrow." Without another word, she strode out of the room. Malfoy couldn't help but stare at her ragged clothing, which he imagined would be seen as silk and chiffon if he hadn't taken the pill.

--------------------

Not long after she left, Adriana returned with a platter of food, which Malfoy ate ravenously. He wanted to save some for Natalie, who was still asleep, but Adriana said that she would bring more later.

"What did the queen want to talk to you about?" she asked, as he wiped his mouth on a napkin.

"She...wanted me to become the king," he said, shaking his head at how bizarre that sounded.

"She what?" said Adriana, nearly falling off her chair.

"She offered to give my sister the antidote and set her free if I became king," he said.

"She has only made that offer to one other person," said Adriana, truly shocked.

"Did he take it?"

"No," she said. "He refused, poor fool."

"What happened to him?" He wasn't really sure he wanted to know.

"She took pity on him and turned him into a flower. He's somewhere in that field out there, nobody knows where exactly. Nobody has ever asked."

Malfoy shuddered. He didn't know which was worse, death or an eternity serving this evil, sadistic woman. "Please, Adriana," he begged, "you have to help me."

"The only thing I can think of would be to assassinate her," said Adriana in a whisper. "But I don't know how you would do it...you wouldn't be able to get past her guards, and she never sleeps, so that's out of the question."

"I'll think of a plan," he said. "But will you help me?"

"I will," she said. "I will do whatever I can."

Natalie stirred from her sleep, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Is there any food?" she said.

"Yes," replied Adriana. "I will bring you some."

She gave Malfoy a meaningful look and left the room with the empty tray.