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Chapter 14 - The Invitation

"My dear, you seem distracted today."

Cinder blinked quickly at Koopa Cook sudden speech. Planted in the middle of the work plan with two slices of tomatoes in the arms, she had looked for a long time at the dish facing her. Motionless and thoughtful. She hadn't even realized she was daydreaming until the winged Koopa with a white chef's hat on his head intervened. Muttering a quick apology for the momentary distraction, she went back to her work of placing the cut vegetables on the pie crust in a large dish on the counter. She had to be careful where she stepped because she could slip at any moment with the thin film of flour on the gigantic surface! Koopa had asked her opinion about the evening meal and she had suggested that she make the vegetable pie she had once tasted. A dish she had loved.

"What's got you so worried?" Questioned the chef in his little accent while squinting at the seemingly tormented human. Grabbing a wooden spoon, he stirred the eggs with the cream while Cinder sighed with a frown.

"I became the King's advisor. He graciously gave me a room and a new dress. I admit I don't know what to make of it. What if my advice is wrong? What if I don't measure up? I really don't know how to handle it... He's so unpredictable." She admitted in a small, worried voice, her fingers twitching against the tomato slices. All the vegetables they used were larger than normal, as was everything else around her. But she was so confused by Bowser's gesture that she didn't even notice it anymore. She wasn't used to receiving gifts, so she didn't know how to interpret it... Or if it was a good thing. And Koopa Cook was the only one here who she dared to confide in.

"Yes, that's what I understood from the rumors that the King had shown generosity. It's rare, but not impossible." Acquiesced the chef followed by a nod that shifted his toque. On the edge of the counter with the bowl in his arms, he continued serenely; "and then it's not surprising."

"What do you mean?" Cinder looked up at the red-shelled Koopa, intrigued. The latter shrugged, then set the mixture for the filling aside.

"Since you have been here, there have been many changes. Your presence brings something extra to this castle that we haven't had in years. Junior is a different child, it's been a long time since I've seen him like this. So happy and fulfilled. And you made a big impression in the ranks. We're talking about the human with the big heart... So, it's not surprising that the King is interested in the one who caused all the commotion." Explained Koopa Cook, who spread his white wings to fly away to look for a pot hanging on the anvil above their heads.

"I do what I think is right." Naturally replied Cinder as she finally placed the tomato slices in the four corners of the pie.

"That's why you're making a strong impression. And you'll be up to the task, I don't doubt it for a second!" Immediately affirmed the pragmatic turtle with a nod to the human who needed reassurance. Putting his pan on the fire to brown small onions, he resumed.

"We haven't had many opportunities to cross paths with humans, but the few we have seen have never shown any consideration for our species. We are always seen as the bad guys in the story." Koopa Cook raised his arms with a small, pained sigh.

"It's not surprising if you imprison them or sacrifice them." Corrected the girl, who smiled cheerfully when his interlocutor made an outraged "humpf".

"Not all humans are treated the same. It depends on how useful they can be and how much Bowser cares for them. Princess Peach was never mistreated within these walls. She has always been allowed her own room with a full meal and the freedom to roam the castle as she pleases." Clarified the turtle as he flew to the counter to retrieve some fresh aromatics. So yes, she was being held against her will, but the King had never done her any harm! Which was quite amazing when you knew what he was capable of. At the lack of response from the human getting on with her task, he continued with an arched eyebrow.

"Bowser doesn't know what kindness or compassion is, he never has. But no human before has reached out to him like you have. And this despite the abuse. That's why I think your presence is beneficial to him, far more than he'll ever dare admit." He unveiled with a laugh, which challenged Cinder who retorted as if it were the obvious.

"I'm still convinced that he doesn't have a bad background. But he's just so angry... All the time. He is desperate to achieve happiness without worrying about the consequences of his actions! It saddens me. But he also shows great determination to get what he wants. He never gives up, which is admirable. Something about him fascinates me. I think he's a good person, only..." She hesitated to finish her sentence, so Koopa Cook took care of it for her.

"That he doesn't know how to do it." Finished the latter with a small nod as he thought for a long time with a finger curved under his muzzle. She was right and he was surprised that she would talk about his superior like that after what he had done to her ... Not trying to put him down once! What she had never done anyway. This strange realization took him out of his seasoning as Cinder spoke again after tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, her face saddened.

"I wish I could help him." She affirmed with an inaudible sigh.

"His title of Evil King is not always justified. He's selfish for sure, but Bowser also knows how to be fair and put aside his pride when the situation calls for it. He cares about us, he cares about his species. He is not just a cruel and hateful being! Just look at how he treats his only son. Which neither the princess nor the others are able to see, since they don't give him a chance. Even if..." The winged Koopa paused for a moment as he tapped the corner of his muzzle in reflection. Looking up at the ceiling of his kitchen, he finished; "he prefers to hide behind that devastating fury. After all, doing evil has always been easier than doing good."

"He's making a lot of effort to change. And even if it's not enough yet, I think he deserves to find happiness and peace." Slowly nodded the human on the counter. Running her hands over her maid's dress to pick up ingredients in hand, including bell pepper strips, she walked around the pie to toss them into the center.

"I think he can achieve happiness more easily than he imagines …" Evasive, Koopa Cook studied the girl who was giving him help. She was amazing in her way of thinking. Always looking for the good in others! What he admired about her. Since Bowser had gone to the mainland and Bowser Junior had decided to take an extended nap, she had no work to keep her busy. So she had volunteered to help him out with dinner, which he gladly accepted.

"What was he like as a child? Where did that rage come from?" Cinder asked curiously as she looked up at the turtle in the air. He and Kamek were the few in this castle who had known Bowser as a child. But at this innocent question, Koopa blew loudly at the memories.

"He was a very capricious child. Much worse than his son Junior! He was always raiding my kitchen. A real glutton! Selfish and tyrannical from an early age, he never knew stability in a home. He was raised by the Magikoopas, especially their leader Kamek who saw Bowser as the savior of our species. According to a premonition that would have announced the disappearance of our race ... I'm not too sure, it goes back a long way. That's what's partly behind his motivations to conquer a larger territory." He explained while swinging his spoon from side to side as he shared his memories to the listening girl. Flying to the other side of the kitchen to get some salt and pepper, he returned over the counter.

"They always indulged his whims, made him a child king long before his time. Bowser always got everything he wanted. But in return, he underwent experiments with dark magic. The Magikoopas wanted to make him stronger, bigger and especially more violent so that he could take on the role of protector. They taught him to use this magic as soon as he was able to stand. What a waste ..." Koopa Cook salted and peppered his filling before scattering it all over the surface of the dough, having spoken very calmly despite the sadness of his tale.

"This is terrible..." Was the only thing Cinder managed to say as she sat on the handle of the spoon placed behind her. Horrified by this revelation.

"It's part of his life. Now it remains to be seen how it will all end, or if it's all doomed to begin again forever." Answered the turtle putting his hands to his hips, thinking mostly about this desire to conquer the heart of Peach and her kingdom. To dominate the world ... A foolish dream according to him that will never have a good ending.

Unless something happened to disrupt his plans.

Glancing discreetly at Cinder, the Koopa put his vegetable pie in the oven after putting his fried onions as a final touch to his dish. Mama mia, how good it smelled in the kitchen! He served a small glass of fruit juice to the human and then started a conversation that mainly revolved around the kitchen. The two liked each other, they liked to discuss together from time to time. When they had the opportunity. Because with their busy schedules, it was sometimes difficult to find themselves alone around a good glass of juice to decompress. Without this permanent pressure on their shoulders, they had to be sure of everything. Koopa, lost in his conversation about fried fish, mechanically grabbed a leek from the basket to start slicing it but Cinder intervened.

"No leeks." She told him with a shake of her head. It was instinctive, she hadn't thought it through. The Koopa blinked in confusion and then looked at the leek in his hand before laughing.

"Oh yes, where was I thinking!" He exclaimed, quickly putting it back in its place. Never leeks in royal dishes! How could he have forgotten that? However he was surprised of the reactivity of the human who had certainly avoided him a violent remonstrance. For him there was no longer any doubt, she was the future troublemaker.

After half an hour of talking and laughing, Cinder finally left the kitchen and went back to her new room to take a little nap while waiting for the new instructions. She was sleepy suddenly... And Junior still hadn't shown up, so she didn't know what else to do anyway. With no distractions in her room, she went to bed with her maid's dress on the sheets without taking off her shoes. Her eyelids drooping, she clutched her pocket watch until she succumbed to a light sleep. But her eyes snapped open again when she thought she heard a rustling at her door...

Cinder sat up to see that indeed, someone was behind her door. There was the shadow of his feet under it as something was slid across the stone floor. It looked like an envelope. Intrigued, she got off the bed to retrieve the strange white letter with her name written on it in black ink. Behind the door, the person disappeared into the corridor as soon as she was sure that the envelope had been received. This was rather strange... Who would write something to her? Curiosity soon got the better of her. Her eyebrows slowly furrowing, she turned the envelope to open it and reveal its contents, which was a small note with a sentence written on it in the same style of writing. In elegant curves, it said the following.

To the attention of the advisor, you are invited to the royal meal that will take place at twenty o'clock sharp in the dining room.

PS: Don't be late.

A royal meal? Cinder was baffled. She didn't even know where the dining room was! There were far too many rooms in this castle. Rereading the message several times as if it would magically change, she quickly returned to her bed to check the time on her pocket watch. She had no window to naturally locate herself in time, so it was impossible for her to know what time it was without her watch. Nineteen twenty-six, leaving her barely enough time to change and make herself presentable! With a stressed grimace, Cinder threw the letter then abandoned her watch on the bed to jump on the seat of her dressing table with an aim of pomping herself a bit. Which was to brush her long hair to try to tame it a little with a little touch of powder to her cheeks.

She put on her other dress because since the message was addressed to her as an advisor and not a servant, she preferred to take this detail very seriously. It was better not to risk attracting the wrath of the King... Besides, now that she had made herself a little place at the side of the King she didn't want to lose this title for such a stupid mistake. Making sure one last time that she looked presentable in the mirror, Cinder walked to the door to open it and realized that she had no idea which way to go. She looked confusedly from left to right in the empty hallway, until she heard footsteps coming in her direction. It was a turtle different from the Koopas she was used to. The latter was green from head to toe, wearing a helmet and carrying a small hammer in his right hand.

"Excuse me, could you show me the way to the dining room?" Cinder asked politely, clasping her hands together in front of her when the creature looked at her in surprise.

"Of course! Follow me, Miss." With an elegant bow, Hammer Bro presented his other arm to the human who looked like a princess in that dress. He had never seen her around here, but he thought she was very charming.

The two of them went to the first floor, then turned toward the kitchens, and finally came to a large wooden archway with carved piranha plants devouring other creatures. Not very reassuring all that... Swallowing nervously her saliva, Cinder thanked the very courteous turtle before advancing inside the immense dining room. In front of her stood a long table with a dozen seats mostly unoccupied, three large hanging candlesticks illuminating all the food exposed on a red table runner. Other, smaller statuettes of Bowser as well as pictures and trophies decorated the walls. To her right, a row of windows displayed the scorched earth while to the left was a double door leading to the kitchens.

"Oh you put on the new dress! Now you look like a real princess!" Exclaimed the small, amazed voice of Bowser Jr who was currently sitting next to his father at the end of the table.

The giant Koopa had his eyes fixed boredly on the human who remained awkwardly under the arch. Behind him burned a large fire in a gray stone fireplace that was as impressive as the rest of the decorations, but it gave the room a warm touch. At Junior's comment, Cinder nervously played with the hem of her dress as she looked down at the floor. She could feel her cheeks heating up and it wasn't because of the fireplace! Releasing her now tight throat, she shyly walked over to the young prince to see that Kamek was also present. Sitting across from Junior, to the left of Bowser, the Magikoopa had his cheek resting against his fist waiting for her to come. She hadn't seen he right away because she was too small to see over the table.

"Look, I saved a seat just for you!" Junior announced as he patted his little hand on the empty seat next to him, specifically to his right. It wasn't as if all the other seats were empty. However, she didn't have access to the seat of her chair because it wasn't human-friendly.

Bowser glanced at Kamek who instantly understood the message. Then with an irritated sigh, the Magikoopa grabbed his wand and twirled his hand in the air to levitate plates so that Cinder could reach her seat. She thanked him with an embarrassed smile once she was seated, keeping her hands crossed in her lap. She was not at all comfortable and she could feel the King's insistent gaze on her... Barely daring to look in his direction, she felt her heart race in her chest when he crossed his forearms over his chest with a little grunt. Had she done something to upset him? Worried, she looked up as Junior began to help himself to the various dishes set out on the dark wood table.

She had never seen so much food in one place before! There was enough for at least ten people. Plates of sliced fruit, all sorts of cakes on silver displays, mixed salads, a big central dish with a roasted Cheep Cheep, lots of caramelized vegetables, all sorts of sauces... The smell of the dishes was delicious. Koopa Cook was really exceptional! Cinder's amazed look suddenly stopped on a pie that was strangely familiar to her. No, she wasn't dreaming, it was the vegetable pie she had made a few hours earlier. Did he know she was going to be at this table? Probably.

"What are you waiting for? Eat! You're just skin deep." Junior commented next to her with his mouth full. He grabbed a spoon to roughly serve cooked vegetables to his servant who still hadn't moved a muscle. She noticed that he was the only one at the table without a knife.

Lingering for a moment on her clasped hands, Cinder raised her head to look at Bowser sitting at the end of the table. The towering turtle remained motionless in his large velvet seat, arms still crossed as his son and Kamek enjoyed the delicious meal. He hadn't said a word since her arrival. His red eyes darted lazily over the table, but he didn't seem to have an appetite. Finally, after some encouragement from Junior, he served himself some fish and some steamed vegetables which he arranged in a precise order on his white plate. With great manners, the King began to eat his meal with cutlery like Kamek. Junior didn't seem to know this because he was literally putting them everywhere.

"Romnomnomnomnom!" He gorged himself on whatever he could find at that table, mixing sweet and salty. Cinder felt her stomach twist. How could he not make himself sick? But before she started eating, she decided that this was the right time to express her gratitude.

"I wanted to thank you for your generosity. I am infinitely grateful for the room and the dress, they are both beautiful." With a hand to her chest, she sketched a smile at Bowser when he arched an eyebrow.

"Yes, I am an extremely generous guy." He said solemnly, which caused Kamek to react sharply.

"Oh, your Highness! You are so generous! There is no one more generous than you. No one comes close to you!" He assured with a huge smile. He didn't want his Majesty to doubt it for a moment! However Bowser had not finished his sentence and while he was patting his muzzle with his red towel, he glanced at Cinder.

"But I can also take my gifts back if I'm not satisfied." He warned in a threatening voice after drumming his claws against the silverware.

"Of course." Kamek agreed with a nervous laugh.

"If you don't want to lose those benefits, make sure my next proposal comes through and I finally get the crown." Bowser raised his hand to rub two of his fingers together, looking to put pressure on the human. He didn't need to add a list of threats because technically, she already knew the risk. Smiling mischievously at his manipulation, his eyes suddenly widened as a broccoli flew in front of him to bounce off the other side of the table. Kamek's fork fell to the trail of slime that the chewed broccoli left as Junior choked on his food.

"And you stop eating like a bum!" Bowser angrily rumbled and slammed his fist on the table at his son clowning around for attention. He was embarrassing him in front of the human!

Cinder immediately grabbed a glass of water to hand to Junior after he tapped his chest several times to clear his clogged airway. She looked around frantically for a place to tap to help him, but she couldn't because of his spiny shell! Helpless and worried, she leaned toward him as he huffed and puffed, then held up his thumb with a teasing smile. They had come close to disaster... But fortunately, Junior was fine. And apparently it was common because the young Koopa put a lot of food in his mouth without really chewing it.

"It's disgusting..." Kamek muttered from across the table after pushing the broccoli with his knife with a disgusted grimace. Beside him, Bowser rubbed his eyes in weariness before grunting in exasperation at Junior's ridiculous retort.

"You're the one who disgusts with your big glasses! And you drool all over the place like an old slug! And I'm not a bum! I didn't choke on purpose." Grumbled this last one by sinking further in his chair of a small pout.

"Don't start pissing me off!" Bowser shouted with a finger pointed in the direction of his cheeky son.

"I'm tired of hearing about weddings and princesses... It sucks." Bowser Jr said this in a low voice as the scolding look on his father's face had a great effect on him. Feeling persecuted, he cowered when he raised his voice again.

"And stop your gibberish if you don't want me to send you straight to bed!" Bowser said impatiently as he took out his own cutlery to cut up pieces of fish for Junior so he wouldn't choke. One by one, he cut them up, along with some other greens to the dismay of his son, who stuck out his tongue in disgust.

"No, not the beans..." He lamented with an arm across his forehead. But when he glanced at his plate to see that something greenish and mushy had been added, he took offense; "not the spinach! Ewwwwww!"

"You eat your spinach!" His father pointed to his plate with his finger and then once he was sure he was obeying him, he sat down properly to cross his arms again.

Cinder was stunned. Not because of Bowser's severity, but because of the way he cared for Junior. Even though he yelled a lot at his son and was sometimes a tad too strict, he was still a caring father who looked after his offspring. This image warmed her heart as an admiring smile appeared on her face, a smile that did not go unnoticed by the King. Bowser felt that strange pressure in his chest again, which he tried to relieve with a small cough. Why did he feel strange things every time he looked at her? It was inexplicable, and that began to annoy him. Immediately looking away from her beautiful green eyes, the big Koopa spoke again in a low but firm voice.

"If the next proposal works out, then I will set you free. You have my word." He promised as he stood up abruptly to leave the dining room without a backward glance.

"What?!" Junior shouted in horror beside the human, while Kamek shouted in victory. The latter was jealous that he was no longer the sole advisor to his beloved monarch. Now he saw Cinder as his rival! And he was ready to fight tooth and nail for first place.

Giggling vilely while rubbing his hands together, the Magikoopa watched as the girl's expression fell. Her face was darkening. She looked almost... Melancholy as she watched King Koopa disappear behind the arch. Strangely enough, she was not as thrilled with this news as she should be. For several reasons, one of them being that she didn't want to give up on Junior now that they had a solid friendship. And the devastated look he gave her was the most painful thing for Cinder, torn between two feelings.

Fear and confusion.

To be continued ...

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