Chapter 4- The First Clash (Part 2)

~N~

The rest of dinner on the night of her arrival went by silently, well, as silently as the koopalings as a group could be, especially when gorging themselves on food. However, neither Ludwig nor Tiana spoke for the rest of that meal. Afterwards, Tiana was escorted back to the room that she will be staying in, a guest room that is decently designed. Once inside, Kat and Jitt set to help her remove the gown they put her in, and remove her make-up and simplify her hair, and helping her prepare for bed. They finished quickly and quietly. However, Kat couldn't take the silence, and decided to speak.

"Get some sleep, honey, you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow." Kat said to Tiana sweetly, "The King wants to speak with you about the scenario you're currently in. And Princess Wendy has begged for you to be brought to her, since she wants to befriend her brother's future wife, and wants a girl to spend time with. You also will be eating with the royal family at all meals from now on. And you will be given a tour of the castle, since you'll be living here for the next 3 months."

"T-three months…?" Tiana whispered.

"Or less, if Ludwig decides to kill you before then." Jitt said apathetically.

"Ludwig won't kill her, Jitt!" Kat replies sternly, her smile starting to seem much creepier than it always has been, since it's stuck there on her face, no matter what is happening around her.

"Yeah, and I'm the long-lost King of the Mushroom Kingdom." Jitt spat sarcastically.

"You don't need to so rude to her Jitt! She's probably terrified! Besides, I think you're more likely to kill her than Ludwig…"

"True, very true… the only reason I'm even allowing this bitch to live is if Ludwig has her, the public will be happy, and I can pursue my romance with him from outside the public eye, and won't have to be worried about being killed for preventing my dearest Ludwig from producing heirs."

"You're a twisted fucker* Jitt."

"And you're a creepy bitch, Kat."

"Whatever, we need to leave Tiana to sleep now. Besides, this isn't the best location for this conversation anyways. You know Ludwig's room is right across the hall!"

"You're right. Let's head to the servants' quarters. Goodnight, you ugly, useless thing."

"Good night Tiana, have wonderful dreams!"

"Good night, you two."

And with that Kat and Jitt left the room. Tiana stood in the center of the room as Kat and Jitt closed and locked the door behind them. Intently searching her surroundings, she finds her room has a window, a barred window that gave her a beautiful view of the moat of magma that surrounded the castle. She knew there was no way out. She was stuck here. Either until she was killed by Ludwig, or until she was dead from natural causes. She would never see her family again. Her fragile heart began to splinter under the pressure, exploding into thousands of shards of glass as that realization sunk in. She threw herself onto the bed, and sobs began racking her body. She cried and trembled with fear. This went on for hours. Tiana never fell asleep that night.

Ludwig paced his music room, grumbling under his breath. Grumbling about tradition, about loveless marriage, about broken hearts, about loves that never came to be, about how he doesn't want this pressure, about how he found composing music far more important than matters of state and government. Ludwig paced and grumbled for half an hour, before he sat down and began composing a new song, one inspired by the events of the last few months, ending dramatically with tonight. The title it gained was 'Odyssey of Love', and he left his composition on his desk to dry, before he headed to his bedroom. He heard sobs coming from Tiana's rom as he walked to the door of his room.

He felt a pang of sadness at the sound, but shrugged it off. He wasn't going to allow himself to become close to anyone again. Especially not some girl that was grabbed off the streets to be his wife and bear his children. Not after what happened with her. Not after watching his beloved Fleur die before his eyes.

*Kat has no ill intent when stating this, she sees as a nickname for Jitt, similar to the /ahem/ friendly nicknames he gives her. She has a curse set upon her where she cannot just go around and say those things to anyone, but she can get away with this since it is a "friendly, matching nickname" to the nicknames Jitt gives her.

AN: Starting with the next chapter, each chapter will focus on one or more days in the countdown. Next chapter is "Day One/Part One", the chapter after is "Day One/Part Two", and the chapter after is "Days Three Through Five/Part One". Those chapters should begin appearing before September 15th. I should have either: both of the Day One parts, OR all three of those chapter completed and posted by then. However, there will be a period of time of no updates from September 16th to about the end of September, since that is when I'm moving into my dorm and my first week of classes starts on the 21st. I have a job interview on the 20th. I'll try to get a barebones version of some chapters done during this time frame, but no guarantees, since I will be extremely busy. Thank you for reading! And I love getting reviews!