A/N: So, my boyfriend read my last chapter, and was very upset that Danica had not taken the tea. He felt that, had she taken the tea offered to her, everything would have ended up swell. So he decided to write ~this, (having never read the book, just my fanfic), saying what would happen if Danica took the tea. Enjoy =]

I took the offered tea with a shaky hand. Examining the top, all I saw was a dark, swirling liquid, steaming fragrantly. I raised it to my mouth and took a tentative sip, tasting nothing out of the ordinary, no type of poision.

"There's a good girl!" A voice cried out from the other side of the room, and the woman turned to Zane Cobriana, who had stopped pacing around the room. "Clearly she trusts us just as we should trust her!" Zane stooped to Danica's level and grasped one of her wrists in a friendly way. "Come, mother!" The austere air vanished from the room as both members of the Serpentine Court linked arms and began to sing gaily. I stared in bewilderment at the scene before me, but the tune was so cheerful and the joy so obvious that I was hard-pressed to maintain my silence!

"How did you find the tea, dear?" asked the woman cheerily as the last notes of the song died away. "Oh, quite delicious!" I lied, thinking it best not to insult the foodstuffs of my hostess so soon after gaining her favor. "What sort of tea leaves do you use?"

"I believe I can answer that one, milady," Zane responded. "Our tea leaves come from only the finest Rattlevines, handplucked from the gardens outside the royal palace. The flavor is mild to our palates, but I daresay it is nigh overpowering to an avian like yourself?"

"Oh no, milord! It is quite delectable!" I put on a brave face and sipped some more of the tea; it was nothing extraordinary, but keeping them on the subject seemed the best course of action. Sky above! Maybe there was an escape plan in there somewhere!

"Well, my dear, I'm glad you approve!" crowed the woman. She hurriedly grabbed the cup from my hands and bustled away through a door that was previously hidden in the shadows. Upon its opening, I detected a subtle waft of cinnamon and berries, the unmistakable scent of RoReB Pie! Although how the enemy came to know of Robin Red Breast pie, I knew would be a challenge. "Is that pie I detect?" I asked innocently. At once, Zane fell to his knees with such a look of sweet helplessness that I nearly forgot he had kidnapped me.

"Oh yes, milady! We scoured the lands looking for only the finest ingredients to go with your tea. Once we knew that our brother was in your care, which I now know to be good and true!, we began a smorgasbord of avian delights to tickle your tastebuds with!" The boy looked positively mad with worship, begging for my acknowledgment and my praise.

I stood up from my chair and wandered over to the door. "Might I perhaps take a peek at the pie?" I asked coyly. "Or is that only for the Court?" Zane nearly fell over himself trying to get to the door and open it for me.

"Of course, milady! Ground below! To think that you would be unwelcome in a single room of our Court!" As Zane proposed to open the door, it burst open from the other side, knocking him quite senseless on his bottom. The woman returned into the room, carrying a fresh cup of tea with her.

"Danica! I may call you Danica, mayn't I? Your second cup of tea is ready, my dear. Now, be a good girl and drink up and tell us all about dear Gregory. How's he doing? He's such a delicate lad, you know?" The woman seated herself by the door, and, with a disappointed look from Zane, I knew that my shot at getting out through the kitchens had momentarily vanished.

I knew that the best course of action would be to tell the truth without revealing too much that I was still the enemy. The woman seemed to be in a good enough mood, and Zane was already in my pocket, so all I had to do was get her distracted enough to make my escape. "Gregory is safe," I intoned softly, trying to make it seem as though I was choked with emotion. "But only barely." I cradled the teacup in my hands and made the spoon rattle noticeably. The woman noticed this too and instantly grabbed the cup away from me.

"A fresh cup of tea! By all the pebbles and rocks on the cold hard ground! Lukewarm tea is not to be served to those who are grieving!"

The woman left the room again, and Zane instantly rushed over to me. "Milday, we must away before she returns, or I swear by all that is sedimentary and holy I shall be dead by noon tomorrow!" Zane's passion came as somewhat of a surprise to me, but it was my best bet at escaping.

"Oh, milord! However shall we make our escape? Your mother is in the kitchen and the smell of Robin Red Breast Pie cannot possibly mask my scent!"

Zane smiled proudly and tapped his foot against a rock in the wall. At once, a callous shifting noise could be heard, and I detected a change in the wall at the far end of the room. "I have installed a secret passage to this room for precisely such an occasion! If I ever need to secretly enter or leave the interrogation room, I use that passage."

With that, Zane gripped my hand lightly and drew me to my feet. "Mother!" he called through the open kitchen door. "Mother, the prisoner requires extra sugar cubes in her tea this time. The story of Gregory is much too tragic for bitter and black."

The woman's answer was lost to our gleeful shrieks as we disappeared down the passage, frolicking beneath the corridors of the Serpentine royal palace.

Once again, this was for fun =] He has never read the books; he just likes being silly.