Chapter Ten

Dinner was always the part of the day that Peach secretly looked forward to whenever she was in Bowser's Castle. Though she had to sit next to Bowser at the head of the table, interacting with the Koopalings kept her mind off of her troubles. Somehow, no matter how overwhelmed the princess felt, the Koopalings always found a way to distract her. Each one of the royal Koopa children was filled with so many things they wanted to tell or ask her.

This time, Peach was rather impressed that the Koopalings willingly sat in their assigned chairs at the dinner table. Since the first time Peach had eaten dinner with the Royal Koopa family, Ludwig, Wendy, and occasionally Iggy would sit in their assigned seats without complaint, while the rest of the siblings fought over who should sit next to Peach. However, none of them fought over how got the honorary seat next to her, which happened to be Lemmy.

"Morton! Shaddup! I am tryyying to ask Mama Peach a question!" Lemmy yelled across the table. He had spent most of his time trying to keep as much of her attention to himself as possible. Morton stopped rambling about his new missile launcher and stuck his tongue out at Lemmy.

"What's the problem, Lemmy? Your boring stupid question isn't as cool as my conversation with Mama Peach. I don't make her answer boring stupid questions like the boring stupidly stupid questions you ask…" Morton rambled.

"Pardon the interruption Morton, but your efforts at conversing with your peers are just as debilitating as being poisoned by a Shroom. Might I suggest the 'Mcguffey's Reader' series? They are most effective for improving unintelligent speech," Ludwig stated, dabbing his mouth with an expensive looking napkin.

"Yeah, what he said Morton!" Iggy chimed in with a goofy smile. He had no idea what Ludwig had said, but it sounded like an insult.

"I need a translator for both of you weird little tiny weirdos who don't know how to talk any other language except the weird language of weird Weirdo Land. Stupid weird land of weirdo Koopas…" Morton growled, balling his fists around his eating utensils.

"Bro, dey sayin' you ain't right in da head an' you need sum kinda professional assistance, you know?" Roy explained with a cool hand sign and a nod of his head.

Peach shook her head and smiled a little as they argued until she felt a small tug on her shirt. Lemmy smiled at her shyly.

"Mama Peach, how long are you gonna be here this time?" Lemmy asked. "King Dad said you will be here longer than normal, but he didn't tell us how long."

Peach stiffened a little. Did Bowser know Mario wasn't coming? She looked at the Koopa King who quickly averted his eyes from her face when he saw her glance his way. Looking back at Lemmy, Peach smiled and said, "I don't know. I guess we will just have to see, huh?"

"Okay," Lemmy answered with a little disappointment, but soon another question dawned on him. "Mamma Peach? Do you love King Dad?" Lemmy asked with a hopeful little smile.

Peach coughed a little as the liquid from her drink got caught in her throat. "I uhh…" she started. All of the Koopalings became silent. Some of them made signs for Lemmy to be quiet while the rest listened intently. Peach was now very aware of all the eyes in the room that were now focused solely on her. She was especially conscious of the big red ones that she didn't dare meet.

"What should I say? Is there a nice way to say no without making Bowser or his children feel bad?... Why do I care about how he feels anyway? He puts himself into this situation repeatedly despite how many times I turn him down," Peach thought to herself. Making up her mind, she opened her mouth to answer when she heard Bowser sigh and stand up from his place at the table.

"Lemmy, it's not polite to ask probing questions without permission. Especially at the dinner table," Bowser stated disapprovingly. Lemmy huffed but didn't give any other response as he looked gloomily at his feet. Peach gave a small sigh of relief as the rest of the Koopalings turned their attention away from her to their father.

Taking a step to stand beside the princess's chair, Bowser continued, "Okay, brats! You will get dessert after your homework is finished." All except Ludwig grumbled and complained. Once the Koopalings began to leave the table, Bowser looked down at the shocked princess. In a gentle voice he asked, "Peach, would you do me the honor of walking with me?" He bent down slightly and offered his arm to Peach, which she hesitantly took, standing from her spot at the table. The Koopalings continued to groan as she and Bowser made their way out of the dining room.

Peach walked beside him with her right arm hooked around his left. She noted that his skin wasn't as rough and dry as it used to be. Bowser's hair was also much less greasy.

"I wonder if he going to try to propose again? If he knows Mario isn't coming then there really isn't anything stopping him," Peach mused with a tinge of worry. But mostly, she was just tired of the whole kidnapping charade. This was, after all, the thirty-first time Bowser had abducted her. Any moment now, he would make a snide comment about Mario and laugh evilly. She just knew it…

But as time passed, the only sound that filled the halls was the rhythm of their footsteps.

Bowser remained quiet as they walked through the hallways and his facial expression remained blank. Time seemed to slow and Peach felt the air grow thicker and thicker with awkward silence, but Bowser made no move to break it. Instead, he quietly led her to a door with a look of graveness on his face but also a spark of eagerness in his eyes. He opened the door and stepped aside, allowing her to fully take in what was on the other side, never taking his eyes off of her.

A soft, warm wind, embraced the princess and her eyes opened wide as she smiled at the King's gift to her. Her reaction both satisfied and saddened him.

"Only for you, my Princess."