Chapter Eight

The Koopalings were unwillingly pulled back into their private lessons and Magikoopa Kammy dragged Bowser to his meeting with the council. This left Peach to roam the castle as she pleased. Initially, Peach tried to make her way back to her room but ended up getting lost in the process.

"I'll never fully memorize all of these hallways. At least not like Mario, he runs through Bowser's Castle like it's…" Peach stopped herself. "He ran through Bowser's Castle like it was second nature," she corrected herself sadly. Being in these halls somehow made it harder to believe that her plumber wasn't around to come and save her anymore.

As the princess attempted to push her sad thoughts away, she heard music coming from down the hall. "Noise means people and people love to help others," Peach thought, pushing herself forward with optimism. She followed the sound of the music until she came to a very heavy looking wooden door.

*knock knock knock*

The music stopped the door swung open to reveal a mess of deep blue hair. "I swear upon my clavichord if any of you miscreants intrude on my practicing one more time…!" Ludwig stopped short and quickly traded his angry frown with a genuine single toothed smile. "Mother Peach! Come in. You, unlike the malefactors of the castle, are always welcome," bowing as he motioned her into his room.

"Maybe Ludwig can tell me something about the League of Investors Kamella is apart of." Peach thought as she accepted his invitation with a slight bow.

Ludwig devotedly brought her a folding chair and set it next to his piano bench. This way, Peach wouldn't feel obligated to observe the normal formality of silence as he played. Once she had taken a seat, he allowed himself to sit at his piano and play a happy but relaxing piece. The grand piano was nine feet long and hand carved with intricate embellishments. Though it had no paint, the wood was naturally lighter the deeper it was carved making it look marbled until closer inspection proved otherwise.

"If I play anything that is an injury to your taste, please do not hesitate to express it. My unparalleled skill in music allows me to please the ears of even the most refined individuals that society can produce," Ludwig stated proudly.

"I will inform you if something is disagreeable, though it is highly unlikely that I would find fault in any of your music," the princess answered kindly.

"What brought you to my personal chambers, Mother Peach?" Ludwig asked, playing with little to no effort at all.

"I got lost in the castle so I followed the sound of your music... This is your bedroom?" Peach asked with astonishment. "Where do you sleep?" Now that she thought about it, she could see a large walk-in closet, master bathroom, desks, lamps, and dressers but there was no bed or comfortable furniture to even sit on.

"Since I primarily compose at the piano, I typically find myself asleep on the bench or beneath the soundboard. Occasionally, I will put my bench in a corner and rest my feet against the wall as I lay on my back," Ludwig explained casually. "Sleep deprivation is a sign of healthy practice methods."

Peach could feel herself becoming tired just thinking about it. "Your drive is certainly admirable, but I cannot say that I envy you. Also, I don't mean to pry, but I have a more personal question to ask you."

Ludwig brought his eyes to hers and nodded as he continued to play flawlessly.

"Has Bowser changed since he started kidnapping me?" Peach asked tentatively.

"Unequivocally."

Peach bit her lip. She probably should have asked a more open-ended question.

The absent-minded look on Peach's face made Ludwig's focused frown creep into a smile. Peach wanted to know more about Bowser and it gave the Koopaling a secret hope for his father.

"King Father kept to himself when I was a youth. Clawdia, his former wife, was a woman of immense strength and brashness. Though they had this in common, their obstinate personalities did not produce a wholesome relationship. My mother would only happen on the castle to bear her offspring, stay for a few weeks, and leave, only coming back to repeat the process. I, being the oldest, barely knew her and the younger siblings knew her even less. She died young and no one wept.

"At the time, if our father had expired, the other Koopalings and I would not have wept for him either. Though we knew him better, King Father would only make his presence known to us on the weekends when there were no meetings to evade and nothing to entertain him in his personal chambers." As he spoke, Ludwig inadvertently modulated his piece from major to minor. Realizing this, he stopped playing and silently began to inspect his hands. It took everything in Peach's power not to wrap him in a hug and curse Bowser's bad parenting skills.

Ludwig paused for a few moments to collect his thoughts and continued. "Following your first kidnapping, Father remained a recluse but, if my recollection serves me well, he became more invested in future preparations. Given time, he became happier and his improved temperaments gave us a heightened sense of confidence in his presence. My siblings were born with a knack for mischief but, at the time, it was only wrought on the servants and those who had rather terrible fortune. Soon, his adoration for you became our own and we became apart of the impish escapades our father started."

Peach shook her head with a small smile. "You know, I probably would have visited of my own free will had I been asked politely."

"Your kind-hearted disposition testifies in your favor; however, the prejudice that surrounded you then and now would never have allowed it," Ludwig stated dryly.

Peach wanted to protest, but she knew he was right. Almost all of the kingdoms surrounding Bowser's kingdom feared the Dark Land royal bloodline. The Koopa royalty had proven themselves fearsome warriors that lived on the pride of their unconquerable nation. Many wars over land and politics had taken place before Bowser's reign, but the fear other nations harbored against the Dark Lands would not be pacified merely because Bowser had not yet started a war of his own.

Many believed that the Koopa King was waiting for the perfect moment to strike. However, the only wars he had ever started were over Princess Peach or to bother Mario. Otherwise, Bowser had proven much more driven to build within his own kingdom rather than conquer surrounding nations, but no matter where he went, Bowser's pride and ferocious confidence preceded him no matter how far he traveled.

The servants of Peach's castle weren't the only ones who gossiped about his evil intentions and the rumors of blood on Bowser's claws. Each of her royal counselors, including Toadsworth, still worried over Bowser's every move, swearing that he would someday come to ruin their beloved Mushroom Kingdom.

Peach conceded, "Though I would like to say otherwise, you are most likely right. Regardless, it would be nice to get a friendly invitation first before getting stuffed in a clown car," she chuckled to herself.

"I'm glad I came and invited you, then," Bowser said as he opened Ludwig's door to let himself in.

Peach jumped a little at the King's unexpected appearance. "How much did he hear?"

Upon seeing his Mother Peach's apprehensive expression, Ludwig turned on his bench to look at his father with a serious expression, "King Father, it is to my personal preference that you not walk into my private practice without being invited or properly announcing your presence. I fear Mother Peach won't lend her confidence to me if she gains any suspicion that we are in collusion with each other. Having said this, I think it is best that you temporarily extricate yourself from my practice."

"Yeah. Makes sense," Bowser lied. He looked at Peach and gave a confused shrug, which she responded to by putting her finger up to her mouth and then motioning for him to leave.

"Ah... she is so cute when she mimes," Bowser thought, moving his tongue against the back of his teeth longingly as he nodded his head distractedly. Seeing that he wasn't getting her message, Peach made more exaggerated motions for, 'Shhh' and 'Leave.' She did it once more but stopped when she noticed Ludwig was staring at her from his bench.

"If primitive intelligence cannot comprehend a simple entreaty then we shall have to revert to something more rudimentary," Ludwig stated as he moved off of his bench and walked towards Bowser. "King Father?" Ludwig asked politely. "Would you like to listen to my piano arrangement of Handel's Water Music? Mother Peach was gracious enough to agree to listen to the whole of it. I promise it will only be an hour long."

"Uh, no! I just wanted to stop in and inform my... our guest that dinner is at 5 pm," Bowser explained hastily as he made his way back to the door. "And Ludwig…" Bowser turned his head to glare at the blue-haired Koopaling, "If you make Peach late, I will be sure to have Vaughan Williams Koopa tune every instrument in the castle a half-step flat."

Ludwig shuttered as Bowser closed the door. "Mother Peach, I may have been mistaken when I conveyed to you that King Father's temperaments had improved."

Peach giggled a little as she watched Ludwig situate himself on his bench and resume playing. "Your father is still short-tempered, but I have heard some say he has grown soft and isn't as feared as he used to be," she mused.

Ludwig snorted, "Fear… Utter nonsense. My father told me that a ruler who mercilessly takes glory, power, and wealth is worthy of being feared and respected, but that fear dies with them. Instead, King Father wants to build a strong indomitable Kingdom that retains its supremacy long after his life is spent."

Peach smiled, slightly surprised, "Is that really what he said?"

"King Father's exact words were much less refined, but the sentiments are the same," Ludwig answered with a smirk.

She laughed lightly and continued to listen to Ludwig's music as she thought over what the young Koopa had told her.

Ludwig, contemplating their conversation, wasn't completely satisfied with her silence. He was still quite young, but he considered himself to be rather perceptive. "Mother Peach, if I may be so bold, might you be worried about your influence on King Father?"

Peach smiled sheepishly, averting her eyes from the searching look on the Koopaling's face, "I'm not worried… I just happened to hear about a group of people that think Bowser and the Dark Lands would be better off without my influence. I wondered what your opinion was since you have a better perspective. You must admit my disposition doesn't exactly inspire the unbridled courage your father's does." Ludwig shook his head with a frown on his face.

"Firstly, it seems as though this group would prefer my father to be unhappy so their political views might be met. I have heard rumors of such opinions, but it would be fair to say that a great majority of the Kingdom is nearly as infatuated with you as my father - nearly. In my personal opinion, I would much rather my father to be happy. It has improved our family's relationship immensely. More importantly, King Father makes very irrational decisions when unhappy, thus, producing instability for the kingdom as a whole," Ludwig explained. "Secondly, you are a kind and benevolent ruler. This by no means implies that you are fragile or lacking in courage. Do you ascertain that my father was bewitched by your weak will? The thought alone makes reason blush. He adores you for the way you wield your heart and I suspect that your affable spirit can only embolden his own," Ludwig stated decisively, leaving Peach speechless.

Satisfied with this result, Ludwig closed his piano and led Peach to the dining room a healthy 30 minutes early.