The Epicurean Daughter of Evil

"Where is my food?"

"Coming, your majesty!"

A panicked girl scurried along the empty hallways of the castle, footsteps echoing against the walls and pigtails bouncing against her back. She skidded to a stop in front of a pair of large doors and knocked on them after regaining her breath.

"Enter."

Doing as ordered while being sure to close the door behind her, she hurried over to the table and placed the tray down in front of the turned throne. Backing a way a step or two, she cleared her throat nervously. "Y-Your food is ready, your majesty."

The chair whirled around and the girl had to close her eyes a moment to keep herself from visibly wincing. When she peeled her eyes open once more, the cover of the tray had been roughly tossed away in the Queen's eagerness to dig into the meal. Chuckling to herself, the royalty licked her lips appreciatively. "Delicious." She commented, picking at the food with her fork. "Who did we get the meat from today?"

The servant girl's face twitched at the question as she grabbed tense fistfuls of her dress. "M-my brother, your majesty." She answered, struggling to keep her tone even.

"Ah, that's right!" The Queen replied absentmindedly. "Not the best worker, but certainly a good entertainer. Superb fiddle playing." It was silent for a time as the Queen ate her meal. Finally, she glanced upwards at the tense girl. "And what of the ingredients for today's dessert?"

The servant girl swallowed nervously. "F-from the sire of prairies, to the east. The sires in between you two as well."

The Queen nodded her head approvingly. "Good. I look forward to seeing what my chef can come up with. More of those proper French cuisines sound delicious."

Finally, the subject had been reached. Swallowing nervously, the short girl released and smoothed out the creases of her dress.  "W-well, your majesty, th-that's the thing…It seems that the chef…he would like to request some…time off…"

Had she not worked at the castle for as long as she did, she'd have squeaked in fear at the look she received form the fearsome royal. An anxious tensing was all she showed as the Queen began to breath heavily from her nose. "And why does he dare ask that?"

"It…it seems that there is a sort of uprising in his town of birth to the far east…trying to become a realm all of its own. He wishes to go help and-" Her mouth abruptly snapped shut as the Queen stabbed the table with her knife.

"Damn fools." She grumbled. "They never learn…" Her glare landed upon the small servant. "I want a new chef by tomorrow. Someone who's capable of keeping their intelligence while doing their job." She snarled.

Nodding her head stiffly, she hesitated a moment, eyes quivering on her Queen as she hesitated to ask. Finally, she managed to spit it out. "And of the current chef, your majesty? What would you like done with him?"

An irritated sigh was the quick respond. Picking her fork back up, she dug into her food once more. "Is it not obvious? Due the same to him as we did to the others. However you see fit."

With a quick and swift bow, the servant girl scurried from the room, not daring to glance back at the royalty over her shoulder. She'd feel pity for her French speaking co-worker, remorse even. That is, if her head wasn't on the line if she failed her task.

Shovelling the food into her mouth as she contemplated the fate of the now ex-worker of her home, a distorted expression ruined the Queen's face. Sighing with irritation, she placed her fork down and picked out the offending object. The timing of the cook's request seem to fit, at the very least. He was beginning to lose his nerve with her meals. Dismissively, the royal figure returned to her meal, tossing the human bone over her shoulder without a care.