Hot To the Touch

The Ash In The Hay

       It was a rather cloudy day in the Mushroom Kingdom, making for a mellow mood as Princess Peach made her daily walk in her kingdom to visit her subjects and hear their concerns or complaints, no matter how small. Whilst she was admiring the local florists most recent display bouquet, a small toadette with lavender colored braids tugged on the Princess' usual pink ballgown, Peach turned to her small subject and squatted down in front of her.

    "Yes, my dear?" Peach asked with a smile, her toad shifting so the royals' parasol was still protecting her from any possible rainfall.

    The small toadette shifted on the sides of her feet nervously, holding her tiny hands behind her back, "Um, my mom is the florist and I um," she paused, not meeting the princess' calming gaze.

   "Do you have something to show me?" Peach asked patiently.

  Nodding quickly, the small toad pulled her hands from behind her back to show the skimpy bouquet she had very obviously pulled from the ground, judging by the dirt clumps falling from the exposed roots, "I want to be just like my mommy and and and" she stuttered, her nervousness showing itself once more. Peach's eyes lit up with amazement, she gingerly held the manhandled bouquet in her gloved hands.

   "Oh my," The young royal admired the flowers, she inquired, "These are just lovely, what is your name, dear?"

  "My name is Lilly, your Majesty," She curtsied deeply to show her respect for the princess, who curtsied just as deeply.

  "Well, young Lilly," She shifted the flowers into the free hand of her foot toad that stood close by, parasol still in hand, so that she may hold Lilly's small hands in her own, "I look forward to seeing your own bouquet designs displayed in the castle," She gave the young toadettes hands a squeeze before letting go and standing back up, waving to Lilly as she walked away. She could hear the girl run back into the shop and yell to her mother the, more than likely, life changing event. Peach raised a thin, gloved hand to her lips and giggled hearing the excited chattering from the shop.

  "You're so kind to us Princess Peach!" Her foot toad exclaimed, struggling to hold the frail flowers and the parasol, its lace trim swaying in the slight breeze.

  "I'm not kind, Toad," The princess leaned down and delicately removed the flowers, being sure to shield the petals from the wind before continuing, "I simply treat you the way you deserve to be treated, you aren't my subjects, you are my family," She smiled genuinely, her eyes like warm pools, even on such a gloomy day she remains a pillar of joy. 

   After making her daily rounds of the Mushroom Kingdom, she made her way back to her father's castle, the Toadstool family's place of residency since the dawn of millennia. Peach makes her daily walk of the kingdom to be the happy face of the Royal Family as no one has seen her father since her mother had tragically passed during a failed assassination attempt that was aimed at the Princess. They blamed the koopa's for her passing and have since been banned from the Mushroom Kingdom.

    His royal highness has since made sure nothing  will hurt his last reminder of his fallen love, he's heard time and time again how she looks so much like her mother, and time and time again he's reminded of how he couldn't save his wife. The constant reminder has turned him into someone else entirely, someone obsessive and overprotective.  The young princess didn't even get to meet anyone her own age until her father held his last in person war meeting with King Koopa who had brought his young heir, Prince Bowser.

    She had met him only once, they didn't even say hello to each other, she peeked in from between the two ginormous doors, saw the small dinosaur boy staring back at her from his father's side. However, as quickly as she came, she disappeared deeper into the castle to avoid a scolding from her house toad, or even worse, her father.