Pudding looked surprised when Brook offered her a choice as they wound their way down the stairs to meet up with Sabine - his elbow or a musical entrance. She tapped her index against the corner of her mouth in contemplation and then made a quick decision.
"I do like music. In all honesty, I should walk in with trumpets and a red carpet, but I agree with you Mr. Brook, I need some fanfare when I enter. Perhaps, though, you could play a little waltz until we get there?"
Brook gave a low bow and complimented Pudding's choices, making the young girl smile. "Yonji, perhaps you should escort the princess into the chamber?"
Though his eyes opened wide at the request, Yonji said nothing in protest but complied.
And so they went down the stairway, Brook in lead, followed by Niji and then Yonji with Pudding. And finally, came Sanji and Zoro bringing up the rear.
Along the steps, Sanji noticed some of the ghost rats pause and stand up on their hind legs as they passed, lifting up their heads towards the front of the line. And upon closer inspection, he realized they were listening to Brook's violin.
"Zoro," he whispered. "The rats."
Zoro looked over at him, one hand at the ready on his sword. "You don't have to be scared of them now. They're not upset with us, just your father and his guards."
"Oh, I wasn't thinking of that. They're listening to the music," Sanji explained, pointing to one of the ghost rats whose whiskers appeared to be twitching in three-quarters time.
"He plays well," Zoro responded, shrugging.
Sanji muttered "idiot" and received a kick to his ankle. Zoro's earlier comment raised some questions though.
"Why are the rats upset with my father and his guards, but not you?"
"If you kill something, you should do it quickly and cleanly. It's the only honorable way to do it." Zoro looked away from Sanji. "Your father had his men use a cheap poison against the rats to keep them out of their areas. It wasn't quick and it wasn't clean. His guards - "
Here Zoro stopped talking.
"What?" asked Sanji, though he was afraid to hear the answer.
"Not all of them, but many of his guards laughed and made bets on the deaths of the rats, how long it would take them to die. At least when I killed them, it was over and done with quickly. They were starving anyway."
Before he could help himself, Sanji reached down to scratch the top of the head of the rat with the whiskers moving in time with the waltz.
The rat stilled and then made a chattering noise that, to Sanji's ears, sounded happy, before scrambling off to the front of the line.
"You're so weird," Zoro told him, but without any malice and perhaps even a bit of fondness.
Brook reached the bottom of the stairs and now switched to playing a version of the royal fanfare on his violin. Sanji thought his scaled down interpretation well matched their scaled down procession.
And as they entered the larger chamber, Sabine stood with her back turned, which Sanji knew was an intentional choice. She would give them an audience at her pleasure.
Yonji released Pudding's arm, but remained standing next to her. Brook went over near Sabine, but waited patiently. Niji, after some hesitation, decided to stand on the other side of Pudding, feeling most comfortable to be paired in some fashion with his brother.
Sanji and Zoro kept their place in the back, Sanji glancing around the room, noticing a few brave souls peeking past the open archways at their ghostly rendezvous.
After making Pudding squirm for a few moments, Sabine slowly turned around.
"Lady Pudding, thank you for coming. The two of us are under no illusion as to what kind of man Judge Vinsmoke is and I want to offer a proposition that would be mutually beneficial, perhaps even saving your young life."
Pudding's hands held the sides of her gown and Sanji could, from his vantage point behind her, tell she was gripping her dress material tightly. But when she spoke, she did not reveal her evident fear.
"I hope you have a good plan, Queen Sabine. While Judge has lost the faith of a good number of his people, the ones who remain are the most vicious."
"I have no doubt on that matter," answered Sabine, touching the bullet hole in her chest as a point of fact. "But I need to find out how much you understand about what is going on. Do you know about the incense Judge is burning in his room?"
The young girl tilted her head in puzzlement for a moment and then a dawning realization spread across her face.
"Oh, you mean the frankincense. He must be quite scared to be burning that. It costs a fortune. I heard the tree it comes from can only be watered by morning dew and it only grows on the sides of the steepest cliffs. Some sellers called it the widowmaker incense because it is so dangerous to collect."
"Yes, the frankincense - " began Sabine.
"The young lady is quite right. Judge must be desperate to be burning his stores of it," murmured Brook, but not nearly as quietly as he thought. "Once my crew had a lead on a ship carrying several chests of the stuff, a truly once in a lifetime opportunity, but alas, we got sidetracked by an unexpected sojourn in a hostile installation. We could have lived well for - "
"Are you saying you and your pirate crew were in jail?" called out Zoro. "And you missed out on your heist?"
Yonji and Niji both tried to not laugh, though Yonji was less successful.
"If we could get back on track," Sabine raised her voice. "I was going to say that frankincense has another name, the sanctuary plant. I had never given it much thought until Zoro was forced out of Judge's room, but now I must believe its abilities are true. Burning the resin can provide refuge from that which hunts you."
The archways surrounding the chamber suddenly became alive with hushed conversations.
Sabine continued, ignoring the living and their frantic discussions.
"Pudding, if I know court intrigue, then I feel safe in assuming you have at least one servant or guard you trust inside with Judge?"
"Of course, I do. The people of this castle heard the truth of my words and they believe in me, despite their fear of Judge's swords and dungeons," answered Pudding.
"I hope they do and I pray they are both competent and brave. Can you get word to them that we need them to dilute the frankincense by mixing another material to it?" asked Sabine. "It will be a dangerous task and if it is not possible, you must say so now."
Pudding looked to the side and Sanji was able to see her swallow before answering in a quiet voice. "If we want to make certain it is done, there are two we could ask. We know they are brave and skilled."
Realization of whom she meant rippled throughout the chamber.
Niji stepped forward, his face contorted and his voice full of anger. "No! Is it not enough that Sanji will never grow up, or lie under the sun again? You'd risk Ichiji or Reiju too?"
And out of all those standing there in the chamber, it was Yonji who intervened first. He took hold of his brother by his arm and pulled him close.
"Niji, we know our father, just as we know Reiju and we know Ichiji. Whatever plans he has in store for them are in no doubt vile and wicked. He needs money and he has a daughter that is beautiful and royal enough and will soon be of age."
"I'll kill him first," seethed Niji.
"He has Ichiji as a hostage to keep all of us in line. You must know how that weighs on our brother, and how he may consider drastic action to prevent Judge from using him that way if it comes down to it," continued Yonji.
Niji didn't appear to understand at first, but when he did, his face went pale. "No. He wouldn't."
Sanji hadn't considered the possibility until just now, but once Yonji had laid it out in the open, it now seemed very probable.
"Actually, he very well might," Sanji told his brother. "If it was the only way to protect the rest of us, if his hand was forced, Ichiji would do it."
A firm voice spoke next to Sanji, almost in his ear.
"Let's make sure it doesn't come to that." It was Zoro. "If you're going to mess with the frankincense, what do you need?"
Everyone, it seemed looked from Zoro and then to Sabine, as if the two of them were now in charge, the captain of the guard and the queen of the castle.
"Candles, pale ones. And we will be needing other supplies as well. Pudding, I'm trusting you to organize those loyal to you while I explain to Brook, Sanji,and Zoro how this attack is going to happen. We need to be quick now."
All around him, Sanji heard the sound of several people hurrying off.
"I've been training for this day my entire life," answered Pudding. "I am a true monarch, born, bred and bled, as my mother always said. Of course, you can trust me to handle this."
"I will take your fourteen years under advisement," replied Sabine. "Gather close, all of you for each and every one of you is necessary for our success."
Sanji reached for Zoro's hand and pulled him towards Sabine as they circled around her to hear her plan.