Princess

Part 5: The Crown

"Ma'am, your fiance has invited you to a..." Kamek said as he glanced down at the scroll, "a formal meeting? This can't be correct...Anyways, you are expected to be escorted to the ballroom at 2:30 AM."

"I will not be attending, Kamek." Peach replied, running a pink hairbrush through her soft blonde locks and gazing forlornly out of the window as she often did. Watching had become her hobby. There was nothing else to do, being cooped up in a small room all day had resorted her to such desperation for entertainment.

"But, ma'am, you are required to attend. I am not of rank to object directly to you, but I would not think that defying the Boss would be a smart idea. He is known to be rather...violent." Kamek said, choosing his words as carefully as he could. Peach swung round to face the elderly sorcerer. He was avoiding eye contact and studying the scroll carefully, looking for nothing except excuses.

"And who is to say you cannot object to whatever Bowser says? You're head sorcerer, have been for decades. You must have some say in these important discussions. You have more power than me." Peach said. Despite the man in front of her being a sly villain, she couldn't help but feel sympathy. Kamek wasn't like the rest of them when he was around her. 

"Ma'am, I do not think you understand how this works, yet. Most things will be cleared up in this event. Bows- I mean Boss has information to give out. You have to attend, he won't accept no for an answer." Kamek pleaded, his bony hands shaking as he clutched the scroll tightly. He was terrified of Bowser. 

Peach let out a long and thoughtful sigh, she didn't want to be anywhere near the torturous monster known as her fiance, but she also didn't want to ruin the life of some poor soul who'd been forced to commit evil acts under his chain of command.

"Fine, I'll go." she finally caved in, the shred of goodwill left in her heart getting the best of her. 

"Thank you, ma'am." Kamek smiled a toothy grin of pure relief before spinning on his heel and leaving the room. The lock clicked and Peach leaned back against the chair, the hairbrush slipping out of her hand onto the polished white vanity with a thud. This endless cycle of 5-minute visits and 10-hour abandonment. 

"No problem." she murmured to the closed door. 

Despite all her protesting, the 'event' intrigued her. All of Bowser's plans that involved her always ended in failure or a certain level of evil that only true monsters could pull off. She hoped this scheme wouldn't end in the latter. She wasn't ready to go through that again.

The loud knock sounded on Peach's door and she abruptly woke up. She checked the time, it was exactly 2:30 AM. The door swung open and Mona stalked in, hands on her hips. Peach pulled the covers up to cover her rather indecent figure and glanced at Mona who stood at the foot of her bed.

"Hurry up, Boss doesn't have all day." the ginger growled, yanking the covers off and pulling the princess to a standing position. Peach shivered, only wearing underwear to bed now seemed like a bad idea. She felt awkward and vulnerable, yet Mona appeared to be the opposite.

"Christ almighty, stop being coy. Put some clothes on and then I gotta take ya to the meetin'. Sharpish." Mona drawled, tossing a pair of leggings and an oversized t-shirt at Peach. She hurriedly got changed, keeping her back to Mona just to feel some sort of privacy. Mona wasn't shy. A few seconds later, they were ready to head to this 'meeting'.

"Alright, you ain't to speak 'bout this thing to your princess friends, got that, blondie?" Mona instructed her as they walked down an almost pitch-black corridor, Mona lightly held onto Peach's wrist so she wouldn't do a runner even though she knew Peach would just get lost in the maze of endless, identical, dim corridors.