Dmitri stiffened at her words. “There's a diplomatic answer for everything, and I'm only...”
“Trying to make things worse with your prattle?” Janelle knew she shouldn't speak to a prince that way, especially the Crown Prince, but once the words started, she couldn't stop them. Besides, she felt she had to speak to keep herself from bursting into tears. “Do you understand nothing? This was our entire life, and now it's gone. And it's all your fault! You and that horrible balloon!”
“It's not my fault!” Dmitri was visibly restraining himself. “I had nothing to do with that balloon!”
“Dmitri, don't argue with the nice girl.” Crazy Maeva scurried out from the onlookers and touched his elbow. “I like her.”
Dmitri huffed and pulled his arm away. “Mother, not now.”
“Yes, now,” she argued. “Why don't you invite her to dinner?”
“Not dinner, no. I'm trying to fix their problem right now.”
“What problem?” The queen looked Janelle over. “She looks fine to me. What's your name, deary?”
The question was so unexpected that it took a moment to register. “Janelle Roux, Your Majesty.”
Crazy Maeva beamed. “Pretty name. And you're pretty, too. Oh,” she turned back to her son, “does she not have a suitor, poor thing? Dmitri, you should court her. She'd make a lovely bride for you.”
Dmitri ground his teeth. Of all the things she could have said, why did she have to say that? He was well aware of the swarm of servants, nobles, and other people surrounding them, and he did not doubt that many of them had not heard his mother's senseless words.
Janelle stumbled backward, her face growing red. “What?”
“Mother, no. That's not going to happen.”
“Why not? She's pretty.”
He set himself in front of her, hoping to distract her. “Mother, we have a big problem right now. This girl's house is gone...”
“Then she must come and live with us!” she crowed, clapping her hands. “She can share a room with me, and play dolls with us, and then she can marry you!”
“Marry him?” Behind him, Janelle had recovered from the shock. “Why would I want to marry a stuck-up snob?”
“It'll take more than a marriage to remedy this!” Janelle's father roared, throwing off the servant who tried to detain him. Lord Roux marched back into the circle and leveled his finger at Dmitri's chest. “I hope you're prepared to offer a lot more!”
Queen Maeva innocently shook his outstretched finger as gentlemen would shake hands amongst each other. “What do you want, lord-man?”
Lord Roux drew himself up. “I owned the best roses in all of Rohesia, Your Majesty, and now, due to the incompetence of the crown, every last one of them is gone!”
Dmitri bristled, but his mother missed the insult. “Then you can come take care of my roses,” she said calmly. “I have lots of pretty ones, and I don't like their thorns very much, so I don't pick them. There are so many, and I don't mind sharing.”
Lord Roux's mouth gaped at the bizarre offer. But the queen was not finished.
“You can have the roses and win prizes with them every year, and then Janelle can marry my son and become a princess. Won't that be nice?”
“I'm not marrying him!” Janelle shouted, and for the first time since their conversation started, Dmitri agreed with her.
“Mother, this is madness. You can't expect me to...”
“Pish tosh,” she waved him away, for once unfortunately acting the title she bore. “It's all settled. They can come to live in the castle, and then after the wedding, we'll all be one happy family!”
Her mind was made up, and Dmitri knew that there was nothing he could say to discourage her from her new idea. Past experience told him that preliminary objections would only make the matter worse; it was best to leave her to her own thoughts and let her forget the foolish scheme in the formation of new ones.
He nodded once. “So be it.” He gave a few, brisk orders to the servants gathered behind Lord Roux, and the crowd, seeing the excitement waning, drew away. Janelle looked ready to spit on him, so Dmitri wisely avoided her. He felt ready to spit himself, but felt it hardly the way to begin a proper – albeit fake – courtship. Instead, he forced his energy into venting on the one person upon whom it was appropriate to vent. With the hullabaloo of the impromptu courtship, his younger brother had faded from public attention and was trying to make his escape, but Dmitri grabbed him forcefully by the collar.
“Don't think that I've forgotten about you,” he snarled.
Three
Nicolas was not pleased to be sent to bed without supper. Nicoline, however, thought it a suitable punishment for him having left her behind on the adventure after he’d promised he wouldn't. The fact that the balloon had blown up with the gas burner and destroyed someone's property did little to faze her enthusiastic betrayal and annoyance. She began at once to make plans for the next flight, in which she would tactfully leave behind her twin. Dmitri, for one, was actively wishing he'd never heard of a hot air balloon before.
He was still wishing the same when it came time for dinner. In her condition, his mother rarely dined in the evenings with the family. With Nicolas banished to his room and Nicoline pouting in hers and refusing food, Dmitri was the sole royal to attend the dinner table. He was not looking forward to eating his first meal with the Lord Roux and his stubborn daughter.
And it became worse when Janelle entered the dining room alone. The gown she had been wearing earlier covered in the filth of the blast was gone and replaced by a simple maroon dress that Dmitri thought looked very nice on her – although he never would have said so out loud. When he hesitantly inquired after her father, she responded shortly that the shock of the afternoon had left him unable to leave his room.
Dmitri sat heavily in his chair. Now what? Any conversation they had was sure to include some kind of heated argument, leading to the Crown Prince being humiliated yet again. The weather – he needed to stick to the weather. She couldn't argue about that, right? He looked back to Janelle, only to be confused when he saw she was still standing by her own chair.
“You are hardly the gentleman,” she said stiffly, sitting herself in a manner to match her tone.
“In what way?”
“It is proper for the gentleman to hold the lady's chair.”
Dmitri clenched his jaw. “I apologize. I am not accustomed to socializing with such a fine lady as you.”
Her gaze smoldered as it landed on him, but she said nothing. The servants brought around the first course, a thick vegetable soup, and they ate in silence. Dmitri thought about slurping on purpose to appall her, but he seemed to be doing that well enough already without terrible table manners. Talking wasn't worth it, he decided, not even just to speak about the weather.
It wasn't until the third course – which happened to be a tender roast that Dmitri normally loved – that Janelle finally broke the awkward silence between them. “May I ask what your intentions are?”
“My intentions?”
She raised her eyebrow. “About this courtship. You know that I will never marry you.”
“I should not want you to,” he replied evenly, inwardly gloating at the expression on her face as he said it.
“Then why agree to it?”
“Because it was the wish of my mother. When she gets something into her head, it is best to let her have her way and play along with it until she tires of it.”
Janelle gave a harsh laugh. “And you expect me to play along with this supposed courtship?”
“I do, and I know that you will.”
“I will?”
“Indeed, and once my mother tires of the scheme and forgets it in the pursuit of something crazier, you and your father will be free to go.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Go where?”
“Wherever you choose.” Dmitri sat back in his chair and surveyed her, enjoying the upper hand he now held. “I don't care where that might
be, as long as it's as far away as you can manage.”
Her jaw dropped. “Do you care for nothing other than your own pleasures and status? My father and I have nothing, and you stoop to mock us in our ruin. Have you no heart at all?” Her chair screeched against the stone floor as she stood.
Dmitri frowned. “You dare to insult the Crown Prince?”
“No, I dare to insult my intended,” she spat back. “I pity his arrogance, loathe his disdain, and wish him all the misery in the world as he relishes in the ruined dreams of others.”
He stood as she marched to the door. “Where are you going?”
“I don't know, and I don't care where that might be, so long as it's as far away as I can manage.” She threw his words back at him.
“You are supposed to have dinner with me.”
She stopped at the door with a look that could freeze water. “How astonishing. I seem to have lost my appetite.”
Dmitri had to keep himself from yelling something at her back and making himself look like a greater idiot. She'd won the argument, and he was insulted again, just as he'd predicted.
It's only for three weeks. After that, you won't have to worry about it any longer.
~*~
Janelle congratulated herself for holding back her tears at dinner, but once she was alone in her room, she threw herself across her bed and vented to the anguish of the day. How could she be expected to court, or even pretend to court, someone that horrible? She'd called him a stuck-up snob earlier, yet now even that derogatory title seemed trivial.
She cried herself to sleep that night and woke late the next morning, still exhausted. A servant came in soon after, bearing a tray of breakfast foods. Janelle ate a little at the woman's insistence, but the food tasted bland in her mouth, nothing like what the food at home used to taste like. Nothing could be the same now, but the difference in something as insignificant as food only made it worse. The gown she'd borrowed from the queen and wore to the unfortunate dinner last evening hung on the back of a chair, and it didn't take long to slip back into it.
She looked at the servant. “Is my father...?”
“He's not awake yet, miss.”
Janelle turned away with a sad nod.
“The queen requested a fitting for your new gowns this afternoon.”
“New gowns?”
The woman's gray eyes were uninterested. “To replace the ones you lost, miss. Her Majesty insisted on it.”
“Oh.” Janelle wasn't sure what else to say.
“And the Princess Nicoline requested that you meet her in the library, at your earliest convenience. I can show you the way when you're ready.”
Janelle gave a low shrug of her shoulders. What else did she have to do? “I'm ready.”
If the servant had not been there to guide her, Janelle was certain she'd never find her way around. The woman was quiet, but even her monotonous presence was a comfort in this strange place. She'd been to the castle before, once or twice, for a grand party, but always in the evenings and never for a long amount of time. The staff had always made certain the guests did not wander anywhere they were not supposed to, so Janelle had never seen much more than the grand ballroom and the few chambers surrounding it. She had never once imagined that she might have to live among it all.
She gritted her teeth. But if I have anything to do with it, I won't have to.
The servant left her at the open library door and Janelle entered the room cautiously. “Hello? Princess Nicoline?”
“Whoops!”
Janelle jumped at the sudden yell, and something behind her splatted. She whirled to find a smashed cream pie on the floor – right where she’d been standing.
“Sorry, sorry. It slipped. I didn't mean to get you.”
Janelle peeked behind the broad door to see a young boy descending a ladder leaning against the floor-to-wall shelves. His light hair was mussed and he was missing both shoes, although his clothes spoke of his obvious wealth. When he reached the floor and turned, Janelle instantly knew him.
“Prince Nicolas.”
He waved away her curtsy. “Don't bother with that. Did I get you?”
“No, I remain unscathed, Your Highness.”
“That's a relief, but now I have to go back to the kitchen for another pie. I was going to drop it on my sister,” he explained. “I really didn't mean to aim for you. I just thought that Nicoline was early.”
Janelle felt her eyebrows go up. “Do you usually play jokes like that on your sister?”
Nicolas grinned and nodded. “All the time. We have a competition to see who can kill each other first; it's all in fun, you know, because we're twins. I've dropped a cream pie on her before, but I don't think that's going to work for today.”
“What's today?”
He sighed. “I have to catch up. Nicoline said that after I left her behind yesterday on the balloon, and then because the balloon exploded and almost killed me, she was on top, so now I have to catch up. The cream pie was the first thing I thought of this morning, but I'm afraid it won't be good enough.”
Janelle bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud. “I used to set bowls of water on top of doors so that they'd spill all over whoever moved the door.”
“Really?” Nicolas looked impressed. “I wouldn't have taken you to be that kind of person.”
“What kind?”
“The kind to pull jokes on people.”
Janelle felt her face flush. “Well, my father banned me from the water stunt after I properly soaked the minister of the flora show during an important visit.”
Nicolas slapped his knee and guffawed. “Say, since the cream pie's gone, what do you think I should do to my sister? I mean, do you have any ideas for me to get back at her?”
“You want advice from me?”
He quickly sized her up. “Well, you don't look like the normal girls who come here after Dmitri, so you must have something other than diamonds and silk fluff in your head like they do. You'll help me think of something, won't you? I'm not allowed to hurt her, but we like to think we can kill each other.”
His innocent joy in the pranks made Janelle smile. “I don't know what I might do, but if I can be of any service, Your Highness, I should be delighted.”
“Call me Nicolas, and we're agreed.” The young prince stuck out his hand.
A plot was quickly hatched between them, and Janelle and Nicolas scurried off to do their appointed tasks. All things were set in order, and then Janelle seated herself in the center of the room to await the princess. It must have been an hour later when Nicoline finally wandered in.
“Your Highness.” Janelle rose and curtsied, but received the same treatment she'd gotten from the brother.
“Don't do that. If you're going to marry Dmitri, that makes us sisters. And call me Nicoline, for cat's sake.” Nicoline took a seat opposite Janelle and smiled. “Well, what do you think?”
“Of?”
“The library, the castle, my brother,” Nicoline explained, gesturing with her hand. “Everything.”
Janelle decided to be blunt. Why not? The princess wasn't wasting time beating about the bush. “I've never seen so many books in all of my life, and it's wonderful. The castle is big, and I'm certain I’m going to get lost. And I think your older brother is just awful.”
Nicoline clapped. “Well done! He is horrid, isn't he? He used to be lots of fun, but after Father died and Mother... well, got sick, he became so serious.”
“Prince Dmitri? Fun?”
The princess nodded earnestly. “Oh, yes. He'd take Nicolas and I on the most wonderful adventures around the castle. They'd all be made-up, but we used to explore every inch of every room. Why, I remember once he pretended he was a hungry wolf and chased Nicolas and I through the dining room, howling all the while.”
Janelle could hardly imagine stiff, cold-hearted Dmitri howling and chasing children in jest. The very idea was an oxymoron. She heard a slight motion behind her and knew it was ti
me to set the plan into action. Folding her hands delicately over her lap, she gave a quick sigh. “Well, no matter how horrid Prince Dmitri may be, I am glad at least to be out of the countryside.”
Nicoline cocked her head. “Really? Why?”
“Well, it's a blessing to be able to sleep soundly at night.”
“And you didn't in your old home?”
Janelle feigned surprise. “You mean you haven't heard?”
“Heard what?”
“About the savage monster who roams about at night? It's been known to break through solid oak doors more than once.”
A small scratching noise came from one of the library balconies. Nicoline glanced at it, but Janelle ignored the sound.
“It's horrifying, really,” she continued, pretending a terrified shiver, “everyone double locks their doors at night, and no one can go outside until the sun is fully up.”
Nicoline cleared her throat. “Is the monster really that dangerous?”
“Farm animals go missing almost every night.” Another scratch, this time louder. Janelle brought her hand to her cheek in sorrow. “One of my friends went to bed with her window open once. When her parents went to wake her in the morning, they couldn’t find her. The glass was broken, and there was blood all over the floor and great prints in the dirt outside.”
“Blood?” Nicoline gave a little jump when something hit the floor – a book possibly, but there was no sign of anything having fallen.
Janelle looked at her and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “My father saw it once. It was just after midnight, and he was up getting a drink from the kitchen when he spotted an enormous black shadow blocking the moonlight. He said it was gruesome, and unlike anything he'd ever seen before. Mounds of shaggy fur, sharp claws, long teeth lit at home in the dark, and the most horrible, gleaming, blood-red eyes you can possibly imagine.”
Nicoline was properly terrified then, so Janelle finished off her role, speaking slowly to embellish the tale.
“Rumors state that its favorite meal is the flesh of a pretty, young maiden.”
The Rose and the Balloon: A Beauty and the Beast Story (Once Upon a Twist Tales Book 1) Page 2