Twisted Rose

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Lyrics: I'd rather waste my life pretending than have to forget you for one whole minute

Chapter Eight

I took it as a very good sign that we managed to reach it to the dock all in one piece. Surely that had to be an accomplishment. Or maybe my mother just hadn't even noticed that I was gone yet and still hadn't bothered to send help for me.

Either way, it didn't matter. I was still getting out of this place. Somewhere deep inside of me, I almost wished that she had cared enough to send someone for me. Perhaps she loved me as her daughter. Goodness no. That could never be true.

As we walked to the dock, Dimitri kept a tight grip on my hand at all times and I kept my head down just in case anybody recognised me. The last thing any of us needed was for someone to see me boarding a boat with a Russian servant.

On the off chance that my mother actually cared enough to try and find me, I didn't want her to know that I had been anywhere near the dock. It didn't take a genius to work out that we would go to Russia.

The dock was colder than I thought it would have been, but Dimitri kept me warm by wrapping his large coat over my shoulders like a true gentleman. For some reason, I kept thinking about how I didn't think it would have been likely for Adrian to do something like that. If only my mother could have seen that he wouldn't have been like that…maybe she wouldn't have slapped me so damn hard.

"When are we going to leave?" I asked as I tapped my hands against my dress impatiently. I kept expecting an army of guards to swarm around us like wasps. The sooner we were on that boat, the better. Boarding time couldn't come quick enough for me.

"Very soon" Dimitri answered, wrapping an arm protectively around me. "Ah, see they're boarding now." We joined the queue of people that were piling onto the boat. The boat looked rather small for us all to fit in and for a moment I caught myself worrying about my safety on this boat. It soon diminished as soon as Dimitri took my hand in his once more. Nothing could harm me when he was around.

"Ticket, please" The guard said once we reached the front of the queue. What ticket? Surely Dimitri must have gotten a ticket. He's smart and he was willing to do anything to get us out of this.

"Oh, I'm sure you can forget about the fact that we don't have tickets" Dimitri chuckled, passing the man a lot more money than a ticket would have cost. The guard's eyes went wide before he pushed the money roughly into his pocket with greed etched upon his face.

"Thank you, Sir" He said with a new-born element of excitement dripping from his words. "I hope you have a good journey." If my mother was here, she would be going insane with the bad thing that we had just done. Goodness, it was excellent being free like this. Hmm, it seems I have spread my wings.

"So, what now?" I asked, unable to keep the excitement out of my voice. This was the most adventurous thing I had ever done in my life. For once in my life, I was being daring. Exciting was an understatement.

"Now we find an empty store cupboard that we can sleep in until we get to Finland" Dimitri announced as he led me through corridors and corridors until we reached a small store cupboard in the heart of it all. It was filled with boxes, but there was a spot behind them that Dimitri and I would be able to curl up in if we really tried. Gosh, this boat was a lot bigger than I thought.

"Why are we going to Finland?" I asked, unsure of where Finland even was. My mother neglected to teach me things of importance. All I knew was how to act like a good royal. In the situation, that meant absolutely nothing any more. Dimitri and I were equals now.

"Well, this isn't going all the way to Russia" Dimitri explained as he attempted to make himself comfortable on the wooden flooring of the store cupboard. "This one only goes as far as Finland. After we dock there, we'll find another boat that will take us to Russia."

"Oh, so how long will it take us to get to Finland?" I asked, feeling even more stupid as the minutes went on and I asked silly questions that held no importance. Why couldn't my dastardly mother have taught me geography to save me from all this awkwardness!?

"Two nights" He answered. How could he be so knowledgeable on this subject? He's probably travelled the world whereas I hadn't even stepped out the gates until this morning. "We'll dock in other places before we get to Finland, but we'll be in Russia before you know it."

"What's Russia like?" I asked as I lay back one the floor, using the material of my dress as a makeshift pillow. I guess these royal dresses weren't so bad.

"It's beautiful" He sighed dreamily as he turned over to face me. "Words can't possibly describe how fantastic it is."

"It sounds amazing" I whispered as I tried to picture Dimitri as a child in such a beautiful country. If I was him, I would have never left. It sounded too good to give up. "Why did you leave?" I found myself asking. For a moment, he looked uncomfortable and faced away from me again.

Something bad must have happened to him to make him take off without warning and then to not want to talk about it. Oh, how I wish that I could help him get over it.

"Russia's great and everything, but it's just hard" He explained. He always had such a way with words, but that ability seemed to be escaping him at the minute. "It's stressful there. So many people relied upon me there. I had to get out. So, I moved to England and I met you. For that, I'm glad I left Russia."

His hand left the back of his head and travelled to my face to caress my skin. Instictively, I held onto it with all I had in me. He was warm and his hands were calloused, yet so gentle as they swept across my skin with ease.

"Thank you" I whispered, closing my eyes and letting myself lose myself in the touch.

"For what?" Dimitri asked. Oh, how could he not realise what I was thankful for. After all, there had been so much that he had done for me.

"For everything" I sighed gently, leaning into him. "You've done so much for me. You're taking me to Russia to get away from my mother and you've just revealed something about your life that you were uncomfortable with."

"It's all for you, Roza" He whispered, edging closer to me before he pressed his lips up against mine with a gentleness that was unbelievable. I moved my hand to his neck and kissed back, attempting to be just as gentle as he was, but I knew it was impossible. His hands glided from my waist to hold onto either side of my face as though he was scared that I was going to try and retreat. Who in their right mind would move away from a kiss as beautiful as this? "Mm, Rose" Dimitri finally chuckled.

"What?" I questioned, a hint of annoyance lurking within me. Kissing me couldn't be that funny, could it? And why were we stopping?

"You're just so perfect" He explained with a wistful sigh, wrapping an arm around me as he pressed my back against his stomach. "And you're a hell of a good kisser."

"Well, I do try my best" I laughed, feeling considerably happy.

"I'm going to miss seeing you in this dress" He mumbled against my ear, pressing a kiss to my cheek.

"Why would I need to get out of the dress?" I asked defensively. As much as I hated being royal, I loved the dresses. It was like constantly being a child playing dress-up. For my whole life, my image was the only thing that really mattered. Putting me in a cheap dress would completely kill that image.

"Oh, I could think of a number of reasons" He joked, his arm tightening around my shoulders.

"Mr Belikov, I hope you're not suggesting what I think you are" I said sternly, attempting to keep the grin from my face as I turned to face him. "It's nice to know how attracted you are to me."

His face pressed against my hair, he mumbled, "Hmm, very attracted, my dear."

This was nice. It was something that I never thought I would have the chance to experience in my life. For once, I was getting the chance to just fool around with a man. There was no commitment which was new for me. There was no one around telling me that I should marry the man. For once, I was in charge of a possible relationship. That fact felt so liberating.

"Seriously, why do I need to get out of this dress?" I asked once more, letting my eyes close as tiredness began to take over. This day had been too long. It was worth it, but long all the same.

"Well, you can't go to Russia looking like you're royal. You're going to have to blend in with the rest of us." Blending in did not sound like anything that I was capable of doing. Blending in. How exactly did one blend in? It sounded like an awful lot of work.

I keep saying that I don't want to be royal anymore, but becoming a servant was a little too much for me. Oh god, I was being selfish again. I could live with just the perks of being royal. That was just being ridiculous. I would have to make some sacrifices to make this work.

"So, do I have to be a servant?" I asked, aware of how scared my voice sounded. I had servants for all my life and now there was the possibility that I was going to be one. I think I was entitled to feel rather scared at the moment.

"Of course not" Dimitri waved off. "We're not getting jobs. We're going to keep a low profile. When I say that you need to blend in, I just mean by getting a new dress that isn't quite as flamboyant as the one you're wearing."

"Oh, well that can be arranged" I grinned. "If you're luck, maybe you can help me put it on."

"Rosemarie Hathaway, you're changing" Dimitri laughed, feigning shock. "I quite like the change."

Thank Goodness for that! I didn't think I could ever cope with being a servant. Let's face it, I'd probably get fired within the first week. There was no way I would ever be able to live a life where I was running around for other people. At least, I would only have to change my dress. Perhaps the new dress would be better than this one. Okay, that was a very long shot, but it made me feel better about the situation.

So, with Dimitri's arm around me and relaxing thoughts in my head, I slipped off into a dreamless slumber.

God, I'm making Rose sound dirty in this chapter. Sorry about that ;) anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I'm hoping to get the next chapter up soon, so look forward to that! Again, thanks for reading and please keep the feedback coming! It means a lot to me!