His stomach heaved as he moved his arms to sit up. A groan forced its way up his throat, and every motion sent a spasm through his head. Should he just give in to the unconsciousness that threatened even now? Somehow, that seemed the easiest thing to do.
“Dmitri!”
No, he could get up. It took some effort, but eventually he got himself into a sitting position.
“Are you all right?”
“More or less,” he pushed the words over his swollen tongue. Forcing his eyes open, he looked at Janelle. “What about you?”
“Unharmed, only bound.” She twisted around to show him her tied wrists. Her ankles, too, had been secured in thick ropes. “Can you untie them?”
Dmitri tried to move again, only to fall back in a wince as his head spun again. He shut his eyes against the pain.
“Adam must have given you a bigger dose of the sleeping drug than he gave me, that rogue.” Janelle sounded disgusted. “It'll pass soon, but I felt pretty sick, too, when I woke up. Just sit for a minute.”
Dmitri massaged his temples and then leaned forward to untie her. Thankfully, he hadn’t been trussed up as well, although he couldn’t fathom why. “It wasn't Adam. Duke Caron...”
“He probably partnered with his son.” She took a deep breath, watching as the last of the ropes fell away under Dmitri’s fingers. She massaged her ankles. “Why did they get rid of us like this?”
His mind, still foggy, went back to the encounter in his room. “He wanted my rose. I think he intends to win the flora show with it.”
Janelle’s jaw dropped. “He steals your invention, sends us off, and then presents your work as his own to claim the title he's always envied? I knew he enjoyed his rivalry with my father, but I had no idea he'd take it to this extreme. He’s got to be crazier than your mother.” She paused. “Then why did I get messed up in this? I can understand why he'd send you off, but me?”
“Because he heard... what happened yesterday.” Dmitri wasn't sure he was ready to bring the subject up. “He knew you knew about the rose, and that if he presented it as his, you might object.”
“Of course I would object. He would never come up with anything that clever.”
The pain in his head was slowly subsiding, and he looked up at her. “You think it was clever?”
Janelle nodded. “How did you get it to glow like that? Is it magic?”
“Science,” Dmitri corrected. “The rose is solar powered. The glass petals are wide enough to catch the sun's rays and then convert them to energy. That energy makes the rose glow.” He laughed at her confused face. “It's actually a lot more complicated than that. My father knew of a scientist, Sir Henri Gaubert, who worked with gaining power from the sun, and he wanted to tinker with it himself. It was my idea to create a rose, since everyone in this kingdom is crazy about them. My father and I worked on it together until he... he died.”
He took a deep breath and forced himself to continue. If he didn't tell Janelle the truth now, he feared he never would. “It took me a while to get the petals just right to garner the right amount of energy. Sir Gaubert is going to be passing through the next kingdom today, and I was going to meet him to show him the rose. If it proved as successful as I hoped, I was going to...” his words faded off. He'd been planning this for months, yet he had never shared it with anyone. Now, thinking on it, his plan seemed selfish – just as Janelle accused him of being.
“Going to what?”
Dmitri couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze. “I was going to convince him to take me with him.”
“You were going to leave Rohesia?”
He shrugged. “It's all different now.”
“How so?”
“Because you changed everything.”
“Me?” Her voice squeaked.
“I was all set to step out of this kingdom, throw away my crown and all ties to my family, and claim a new life, but you made me see how important the life is that I already have. The life that the Lord gave me.” He hurried on. “I was so busy envisioning the future and working on the rose that I never saw the beauty in the things around me. You were right – I was awful to my siblings and I didn't respect my mother. And for that I am truly sorry.”
“No, Dmitri, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things to you.” Janelle hung her head. “I just wanted to humiliate you. I shouldn't have snooped... I'm sorry.”
“Then I guess we're even.” Dmitri smiled. There were a million other things he wanted to ask her, but before he could get them out, the floor beneath him shifted violently. His stomach plummeted, realizing that with his attention on Janelle, he’d completely forgotten about all else. Including their present whereabouts.
Which just happened to be in the basket below Crazy Maeva's pink hot air balloon.
NINE
Janelle rubbed her wrists. The skin was raw where the rope had bit into it, but other than that, she didn't think she was too badly off. No, the thing that was taking up most of her mind was the alarming fact that she and Dmitri were who knew how many thousands of feet in the air. She hadn't looked over the side yet to determine the distance, and she didn't plan on looking anytime soon. Just the swaying motion of the basket was enough to make her feel sick. How long could some fire and a piece of fabric keep them aloft? She didn't want to think about it.
Dmitri, however, seemed completely unperturbed that they could be living their last moments on earth. He took several moments, moments that seemed everlastingly agonizing in Janelle's opinion, leaning over the side to watch the landscape slip beneath them. Then he turned his attention to the balloon.
She swallowed. “Do you know how it works?”
He didn't look at her when he answered. “Can't be too hard to figure out. I've worked with a bit of this sort of thing before. The burner here provides the heat which fills up the balloon.”
Janelle closed her eyes, her fists clenching up so tightly her knuckles turned white. “Can you get us down?”
“We can get down one way or another, but I think the most probable – are you all right?” Dmitri left his analysis of the balloon to kneel by her side.
“We're up really high, aren't we?”
“Ahh.” Dmitri understood. “You're afraid of heights.”
Janelle refused to look at him. “Just get us down. Please.”
He was quiet for a moment. “Did you mean what you said?”
“Said what?”
“That you love me.”
“Dmitri, this is hardly the time...”
“On the contrary, this is the perfect time.” He was enjoying this far too much. “But if it's any relief to you, the feeling's mutual.”
This time, Janelle glared at him. “That's hardly romantic.”
Dmitri sat back on his heels, rubbing his chin in pretend severity. “You want me to be romantic when we're flying away from everything we know and heading towards almost certain death? And all at an indescribable height...”
She covered her face and turned away with a moan.
“Sorry. I suppose this would also be the wrong time to propose?”
“Dmitri, if you get us down, I'll marry you the moment my foot touches solid ground.”
“Good enough.” He stood.
Janelle wasn't sure what he was about, but she could hear him muttering to himself. She gave a little shriek as the balloon suddenly dropped a few feet with a rush. “Dmitri!”
“Sorry, sorry. I didn't know it was going to drop quickly. Should let the gas out a little slower next time.”
Janelle kept her eyes closed. The basket bounced, and she thought it went up a little. She fought to keep her voice calm. “You're not taking us higher, are you?”
“I have to if I want to turn around,” Dmitri explained. “I have to catch the opposite cross wind to change courses. I read about this in a pamphlet once. Lifting or lowering the balloon into a different current will make it change direction.”
Janelle resolved not to say anything else as the g
entle bouncing of the basket was making her queasy. Dmitri was smart; he could save them. All she wanted to do was think of anything except how high they were.
She wasn't sure how long she'd sat silently by herself when she heard Dmitri cough. “Uh, Janelle? I'm going to need your help for this part.”
“What?”
“To land.”
“We're landing?” A surge of relief swallowed her.
“Soon, but it's going to take two people to get this balloon down. I can't reach the burner and the rudder at the same time. Can you stand?”
Comforted by the fact that they'd be at the ground soon, she forced herself to her feet, keeping her eyes fixed on Dmitri's face. “What do you need me to do?”
He grimaced. “You won't be able to navigate, so I'll need you to lower us.”
Janelle's stomach clenched. “Meaning?”
“You get the burner.” He showed her how to work the level and knob to increase or decrease the amount of flame. “But don't move anything until I say.”
She positioned herself in the center of the basket while he carefully moved to the side. “We're coming up on the city,” he called, clasping the handle of the rudder firmly in both hands.
“Finally!” Janelle breathed. She knew they weren't safe yet, but the knowledge that they were that closer to their goal calmed her.
“Turn it down some.”
She did as she was told, but her fingers trembled and went faster than she anticipated.
“No, no! Go up!” Dmitri yelped, hanging desperately onto the side as the balloon suddenly descended. “We're going to hit the trees! Go back up!”
Heart racing, Janelle increased the heat. The balloon lifted – and just in time. Eerie scratches filled her ears as tree branches rubbed against the bottom of the basket, jerking enough to make Janelle feel sick again.
Dmitri caught her gaze with his own, his eyes steady. “Just take it slowly. This is a big balloon, and she's going to take her time coming down. Don't rush her, and it'll be fine.”
She nodded and took a deep breath.
“There's the castle! Almost there!”
“We're landing on the castle?” Janelle could still see the horror of the unfortunate balloon tangled on the high turret.
“In the courtyard. It's the only place flat and wide enough to land the balloon. Besides,” he shot her a grin, “it looks like the judging is taking place right now. Can you imagine Duke Caron's face when the real inventor shows up to claim his prize?”
“But won't the courtyard be full of people and roses?”
“We'll just have to take that risk.”
Janelle swallowed hard. “And if we expl-”
Dmitri was suddenly at her side, silencing her words with his hand against her mouth. “That's not going to happen. As long as we keep the burner level, it'll be fine. Don't worry about it. Ready?”
Janelle was never certain how she did it, but soon they were passing over the courtyard, and the balloon was slowly descending. She could hear the buzz of people, some shouting angrily, as the shadow of Crazy Maeva's contraption fell over them. Dmitri waved at them. “Move back! Stand aside!”
“How close?”
“Almost there,” he called out. “About another hundred feet or so. Keep taking her down.”
A hundred feet, Janelle told herself. We can survive another hundred feet. She went to decrease the heat again, but the knob refused to turn. “Um, Dmitri?” She tried it again – nothing.
The balloon dropped quicker than before. “Slow it down!”
Janelle desperately worked at the burner. She could see the pink balloon above them slowly collapsing as all the hot air escaped through the vents. “I can't! It won't turn!”
“Too fast! She's going down!” he yelled, backing away from the edge. Then with a burst of speed, he grabbed Janelle around the waist and hunkered down in the corner, both arms around her. There was a sudden jolt as the basket hit the ground, and she heard glass shatter and something crack. Then the whole world tipped sideways, and they were rolling.
Dmitri grabbed onto the basket and stopped their headlong tumble. “I think we landed on someone's display.”
Yards of pink lowered around them, covering them completely. For a moment, Janelle thought the sky had buried them until she recalled the balloon. Despite herself, she began laughing. Dmitri just stared at her. “What's so funny?”
“We didn't explode.”
He turned to examine the burner, but the mechanism was lost in pink. “The gas is probably gone. That would explain why you couldn't turn the knob anymore.”
“Janelle? My daughter!” Lord Roux's voice came through the folds of the balloon, and soon the material was lifted. Several people helped Dmitri and Janelle to their feet. As soon as she escaped the confines of pink fabric, Janelle was at once crushed in her father's tight embrace.
“I was so worried! Whatever were you doing in the balloon?”
Dmitri immediately took charge. “Duke Caron abducted us and then sent the balloon off with us in it.”
“Caron?” Lord Roux was amazed. “Why?”
“Because of that.” The prince pointed to the glass rose that stood proudly on a pedestal only a few feet away. He explained the situation in as few sentences as possible, feeling the growing anger of the people as they learned of the duke's treachery.
Lord Roux's face grew red. “The villain! Where is he?”
“I saw him,” Queen Maeva offered, pushing through the gathering crowd. “He ran into the castle with Adam when we spotted the balloon.”
Dmitri immediately ordered a search party. There were a few frenzied minutes of running about and finding nothing before Dmitri, Janelle, and a few others came upon a rather sheepish set of twins standing outside the library doors. Their faces suggested some guilty mischief was afoot, but Dmitri would have to discover their shenanigans later.
“Nicoline, Nicolas! Have you seen Duke Caron or his son?”
Nicoline blushed up to her hairline, and Nicolas gulped. “Uh, sure, we've s-seen them,” he managed to stammer out.
“Where are they?” Dmitri asked. “It's very important that we find them.”
Nicoline jabbed her thumb behind her. “They're in the library. Now, Dmitri, before you say anything, you should know...”
Dmitri didn't wait to find out what he should know. He thrust open the doors and the party entered the library. A squirming mess of fur rugs, rope, and legs on the floor met their eyes. The prince and the others stood, dumbfounded, until Nicolas coughed to break the silence.
“That's what you needed to know.”
“Gracious flora, what is this?” Lord Roux cried.
“We were going to play a trick on you and Janelle,” Nicoline burst out, looking at her older brother. “We set it up so that the furs looked like a giant bear, and then we were going to make it move with the ropes – just like Janelle did with the feather duster. But it was too heavy, and everything got a little... well, messed up. We didn't mean to drop it on the duke and his son, honestly! We're so sorry, Dmitri!”
“We would have untied them,” Nicolas added, “but Nicoline wouldn't let me at them with my knife. She said I'd cut off something important.” He studied Dmitri's face. “You're not mad at us, are you?”
“Mad?” Dmitri grabbed them both in a hug, a tight and rather physical embrace that both twins immediately tried to wiggle out of. “Of course not! This is marvelous!”
Six guards entered the library and stepped forward to take the two Carons into custody. It took them a while to find a way through the mess of fur and ropes, but at length, the duke stood looking at the onlookers rather sheepishly, and Adam made himself even more ugly by covering his buck teeth with an undignified pout.
“It was only a joke, Your Highness,” the younger Caron grumbled. “We didn’t even tie you up.”
Dmitri frowned at the duke. “I would hardly consider endangering people's lives a joke.”
Adam scoffed.
“Well, it would have worked if you weren't so smart in figuring out how to fly those wretched balloons.”
The Crown Prince nodded to the guards. “Take them away.”
Adam was still pouting as he was dragged out.
~*~
“Dmitri, what about the flora show?” Queen Maeva slipped her hand into her son's after the library had quieted down once more.
Janelle looked to her father. “Did the minister state the winners yet?”
Lord Roux shook his head. “No, but he was about to name Caron first. I'm afraid I'm completely out of the running as you crushed my display when the balloon landed.”
“Oh, Father!”
“No, no, don't feel bad about it.” He gave her an extra squeeze. “I'd rather have my daughter safe and sound than any amount of first prizes. No, I think that title should go to Prince Dmitri now, seeing as the glass rose is actually his.”
But Dmitri waved the minister away. “No, I cannot accept that. I buried myself into working on that rose in the hopes of using it to find a better life. And now,” he smiled down at his mother, “all I can see is the perfection of the life I already have.”
“Then who won?” Nicolas looked ready to take the honor himself.
“If I may,” Janelle said, sharing a glance with Dmitri, “I think first prize of this year's flora show should go to our beloved Queen Maeva.”
The queen gasped. “Me?”
“For creating the most glorious and exquisite rose Rohesia has even seen. One that is more than beautiful – one that can fly.”
“Although,” Dmitri cut in, “we shall look into trained pilots and other safety precautions before we allow any more balloons to be loosened to flight. One wild adventure is more than enough for me.”
Nicoline coughed. “Two adventures,” she said, shooting a dark glance at her twin.
The minister of the show approached Crazy Maeva. “Indeed, I can think of no better winner.” He draped the winner's ribbon around her neck, and she blushed politely in the following applause. Catching hold of the ribbon, the queen brought it swiftly to her mouth and implanted an affectionate kiss on it.
The Rose and the Balloon: A Beauty and the Beast Story (Once Upon a Twist Tales Book 1) Page 6