Chapter 16

No, perhaps she wouldn't run away. She turned toward Leo as he left. "I will accompany you."

He sneered at her. "You can't, you little troublemaker. I don't know what your plan is, but you're going to stay here like a good girl."

"I'm not a girl, I am your queen, and I have every right to be present when you do business." She replied, holding her head up high and standing toe-to-toe with him.

"You aren't my queen, I'm taking another girl as queen, and I actually love her. You are for other purposes." He snapped. "So you will stay here and keep your mouth fastened." Upon seeing the look of horror on her face, he put his hands on her shoulders. "You did this to yourself, you're a curse to your kingdom, and everyone you come in contact with. If you would have just accepted my proposal, maybe you would still have some say in what happens to your people, right?"

She wiped her eyes, and turned away, heading back to the chaise to sit and wait in silence. Leo's boots touched the floor gently as he exited. The door slammed and there was silence.

She lay there and thought of everything… if she weren't such a brat, maybe she wouldn't have put her kingdom in such peril. The kingdom she worked so hard to make the most prosperous and safe in the land.

"Ever heard of split personalities?" The door opened; a dark blue yoshi with red hair, and decked in spiked apparel waddled out. "Leo is cruel, unfeeling, and in love with his queen to be. He wants to make you miserable… Bowser loves you; he wants you to marry him because he thinks it will make you happy… He wants you to be happy."

"Are you one of the…. Creeps who brought me here?" She asked.

"How? I have no wings." He snapped. "I was just going to help you, but forget it, if you're going to be such a bitch then…"

Avalon stood up. "How dare you call me that!"

The yoshi backed up a bit. "Whoa, simmer down…! I wasn't calling you one. I was saying you were acting like one. See ya later."

He turned to leave, and she stood, following him. "Okay, I'm sorry I was so abrupt, but why would you want to help me?"

The yoshi nodded sadly. "Because Bowser is my best friend. By the way, my name is Boshi." He paused. "Well when the star rod was stolen by Bowser a few months back, he made a silly wish… to be human. Of course the King Koopa is more dominant, so it wasn't completely abolished. Instead, he's half king koopa and half human… when he's King Koopa, he slacks off as king and doesn't care about much other than looking at pictures of you and sobbing. When he's human he's a good king to the peasants but treats his underlings terrible. He fired me because I wasn't… mean enough."

Avalon was silent. "So, I should avoid him when he's human?"

Boshi gave her the thumbs up. "That's for a start. Remember, Bowser by day, and Leo by night. His new queen doesn't even know he and Bowser are the same… Leo said that Bowser was his older, very depressed brother…"

She felt somewhat sad for the big beast. Perhaps that's why he hadn't been attacking? He had lost the desire to. "But I can't let him keep my kingdom… He'll do awful things!"

"No he won't. His queen won't let him. She loves you."

Avalon seemed confused. "She loves me?"

"He's marrying your sister… Cherry."

The princess went silent and hung her head. "Ah, I see…"

The yoshi looked out the window. "You need to get rid of Leo. You have to."

Avalon sat down and started to cry softly.

"You need to stop being such a wuss. We need someone brave to do this; someone efficient too. The Leo side is starting to appear before sunset… it quite possibly could be taking over the Bowser side…"

She dried her eyes. "I'm just so sad… I left my fiancée at the altar."

"I can… see that." He paced about the room for a moment. "He must have figured out you were kidnapped by now… But forget him for now, okay? You need to get back to your palace and get the star relics before he does. You need to go to star haven and plead with the spirits to revoke his wish."

She fell silent. "I'll try my best."