Hope you guys enjoy! This chapter is a setup for next chapter, which will have some sweet romantic moments. :)
As Ludwig had said, the slaves woke me up right at six a.m. I was awoken to a steady set of loud knocks on my door and sleepily stumbled to the door. A small, pathetic, scared toad stood in front of me and greeted me.
"Miss Bria…Lord Bowser wants you to his throne in ten minutes."
I nodded, shut the door and yawned loudly. I rubbed sleep out of my eyes and my gaze went to the window. The moon was still up but there was a slight golden tint in the sky, indicating that the sun could come out at any minute. Looking at the sky was torture; I enviously watched the birds perched on tree branches, jealous of their ability to fly- their freedom to live however they wished!
I turned around and walked to my mirror, straightening my wrinkled clothes and fixing my hair, trying to look as presentable as possible. When I had finally decided that I looked halfway presentable I stepped out of my room, shut the door, and accompanied the Toad that was waiting outside my door to wherever Lord Bowser was.
The throne room was massive. Lord Bowser was obviously a man of immense wealth, judging by his extravagant castle and the throne room was no exception. The room was decorated with all kinds of gaudy decorations as well as draperies over the windows showing Bowser's logo. Multiple candelabra's lined each side of the room, allowing for visibility of the imposing figure in the front of the room.
The imposing figure-Bowser-had his arms crossed and was glaring at me and the toad. A koopa troopa was standing on each side of his throne, looking stern. They were nowhere near as intimidating as Lord Bowser himself but I had the distinct impression that I did not want to cross them, they looked like they took their job of guarding the king very seriously!
Bowser raised an eyebrow at me before speaking. "Well…?"
I felt tiny under his gaze. "You called for me, Lord Bowser…?"
Bowser raised his eyebrow even higher. "You will kneel to me each time when you are in front of me while I'm on my throne."
I got down on one knee and kneeled, feeling any pride I had left get crushed.
"Very good! Yes, much better. Now…"
He reached over for something and threw it at me, it landed at my feet and I got out of kneeling position to grab it.
"That's your new uniform to wear as our servant. Don't let me catch you walking around without it." Bowser flicked his wrist. "That is all I have summoned you for. LUDWIG, COME HERE!"
As he called Ludwig's name my heart stopped. Was he here? Would he be coming in the room?
A minute or so later Ludwig casually strolled in the room, preening his hair with his head held high.
"You called, father?"
Bowser frowned. "You're late! I called for you a minute or so ago!"
"Ah, well. I was doing something. What do you need?" Ludwig glanced at me and then back to his father.
"Accompany this servant to somewhere where she change in to her uniform and give her the daily duties you want her to do. After all, you are in charge of her."
"Of course, king dad." Ludwig grabbed my wrist and led me out of the throne room, away from Bowser's watchful eye. After we had exited the room the massive doors of the throne room shut with a loud bang, causing me to jump.
Ludwig extended his hand towards me and smiled. "Shall we?"
I withdrew my hand away from him. "And why should I? You've taken everything away from me! I'm a servant now!"
Ludwig lowered his hand slightly, his smile fading a little. "Actually, it was my father that did that, not me. I know you don't want to be here but I may as well make your time here a little more tolerable…" He regained his smile and extended his hand again. "Now, as I was saying…shall we?"
I begrudgingly accepted his offer and took his hand. He intertwined his fingers with mine and I felt my face feel hot with an emotion that I couldn't recognize. He then led the way to who knows where and I ambled behind him.
"Bree, my room is close by. I'll take you there to make a quick stop so you can change and then you can help me shear the flowers in the garden."
I frowned but said nothing.
"I truly am so sorry about my dad… about him hitting you yesterday." He turned to look at me and pursed his lips. "Do you have a bruise from where he hit you?"
"Um, I don't think so."
"Oh, that's good…do forgive me. In this lighting it looks like you do." He chuckled, suddenly stopped walking and gestured to a room. "Here is my room. Go in and change in your uniform. I'll be out here waiting for you when you're done."
I walked in the room and held my breath. Ludwig was obviously a musician- there was a piano in the room as well as a violin and a few other instruments that I did not recognize. The entire room was very regal and high class, had I not known that Ludwig resided here I'd have guessed that this room belonged to a stuffy, rich old woman.
I began to change and took off my red dress, looking at myself in the mirror. I actually looked pretty, which was amazing considering the circumstances that I was currently in. I moved closer to the mirror and saw that I did in fact have a bruise on my face- how I managed to overlook that not so small detail half an hour earlier, I don't know. Feeling anger rise up in me at the sight of the bruise, I roughly put my uniform on. After I had put it on I walked over to the piano and picked up some sheet music that was lying on top of it. I had no idea what the sheets said- I couldn't read sheet music. The door slowly creaked opened and I froze in place, staring at the door.
"Snooping in my stuff, are we…?"
I relaxed slightly seeing that it was just Ludwig.
"I'm sorry. I was just looking."
"It's fine. You know, I wrote that particular song that you're holding." He strode over to me slowly. "The songs that I compose are some of the finest in existence; I must let you listen to them sometime."
I suppressed a small smile. He was a pompous and prideful man.
"No wonder it took you so long to get ready, I was beginning to wonder. That's why I came in…and to find out that you were snooping through my personal things!" He scolded, but there was a playful tone in his words. He reached over and adjusted the frumpy white uniform dress in a spot where it was clinging to my side.
"Don't touch me." I quickly said.
"There's no need to be so angry…come with me." He extended his hand again. "Let me lead you to the garden where we will be working." He glanced at the red dress that was lying on the floor. "And don't worry about your clothes; I'll bring them back to your room once we are finished with our mundane work."
I grabbed his hand and we walked the short walk to the garden. Ludwig's room was conveniently located fairly close to Bowser's throne room- so as the eldest son he could attend to Bowser's orders-and a castle exit.
The garden was the brightest and most happy part of the castle. I was surprised that something so calm and beautiful could exist within the confines of the gloomy castle! Piranha plants munched on grass while small butterflies fluttered around, jumping from flower to flower, pollinating them. The sun had rose while Ludwig and I were inside the castle and now a beautiful, soft, dewy glow was being radiated throughout the early morning sky.
Ludwig pointed at an overgrown rose bush.
"See those? We have to trim them."
I nodded. "Seems like fairly easy work."
"It is. I'm going to head to the garden shed and get the tools needed…we're going to need some shears and gloves. Wait for me until I get back." He began to walk away until I stopped him.
"Wait!"
He turned around and gave me an inquisitive look.
"…Why pick me?" I said quietly. "Why am I your servant?"
Ludwig smirked and shook his head. "I admire your tenacity. You're the only one I've seen who hasn't cowered in fear and accepted their fate…You still look like you have some life in you." He laughed and went off to go get the shears.
I plopped down in the grass and reached out for one of the roses and smiled as I thought about what Ludwig had just said. It was confusing but it did make a little sense.
I guess I did still have a little life in me.