Chapter 17. Nothing But Hot Air
Mandritti. Step back. Parry. Riposte. Corinne breathed hard. She'd been at this for hours. Affondo. Reprise. Sweat dripped from her brow, her muscles ached. Louis however, showed no signs of tiring. Bastard, she thought. He could fight for hours without stopping. Not that she was complaining too much. She loved it when he channeled his stamina into other pursuits. Volte'. Thrust. Every move he made was done with such grace. It reminded her of Aramina. Sometimes she wondered if he was a dancer too. Stocatta. Pass. Was that really an opening? She lunged forward. Louis' blade clattered to the ground. He stared at it, mouth agape.
"I did it!" Corinne cheered. "I really did it!"
"Indeed," Louis chuckled. "Congratulations, ma chère."
"We should celebrate," her arms wrapped around his neck.
He kissed her quickly. "We should." He pulled away from her. "Come with me." He dashed down the corridor. Corinne smiled and took off after him. Funny, she never remembered going this way. And this corridor was much longer than the others.
"Up here." Louis' hand hung down from an opening in the ceiling. She took it and he pulled through to the top, setting her on her feet just in front of him.
Corinne gasped. Paris gleamed at them from in the distance. They were in the forest outside the city!
"How did we-"
"Not yet." Louis said, taking her hand. "Come on!" He pulled her through the trees. Corinne wondered what could possibly have him this excited. Whatever it was she was excited too. He covered her eyes for the last few steps.
"All right. Here we are." He uncovered her eyes. Corinne looked at the object before her in both wonder and confusion.
"What is it?" She asked.
"My life's dream." He said smiling. "With this, man will be able to fly." Corinne stared at it. He laughed. "Here, let me explain. The hot air from the fire inflates the balloon. The more hot air, the higher the balloon goes. We climb into the basket," he ascended partially up the rope ladder, "and up we go."
"Amazing," Corinne breathed. "Wait. We?"
He extended a hand to her. "Fly with me, Corinne."
She took his hand and let him guide her into the balloon's basket. He cut the ropes that held them to the earth. Soon they were soaring high above the treetops, gliding just outside Paris.
"It's beautiful up here." Corinne sighed. The stars shone proudly. Maybe, if she stood on her toes, she could just barely touch one…
"Beautiful." Louis agreed looking straight at her. Corinne felt her cheeks grow hot. He took her hand in his. "Corinne, I- Before you, my life meant nothing. I mean, I had my work, my designs, but something was missing. I didn't know what it was until tonight. Love."
"Louis, I-"
"Please. Let me finish. All my life people said I'd been cursed. A face not even a mother could love. But you- you see past this," he removed the mask, letting it fall to the bottom of the basket. She stroked his scarred cheek. "I love you, Corinne. I love you so much."
"I love you too, Louis."
He smiled and kissed her hand then dropped to his knees, probably to find the mask. He didn't look for very long before staring up at her. His eyes shone like the stars.
"Corinne," he said her name slowly. "Would you-" He stopped abruptly.
"Yes?"
He rose to his feet. "No, no, no, no. This shouldn't be happening. Why is this happening?"
"Louis, what's going on?" Corinne asked.
"There's a hole in the balloon," he replied. "But that's impossible! I've tested this fabric! It wouldn't just rip like that without cause!"
"W-What does that mean?"
"It means that we're coming down," he said matter-of-factly. "And fast."
The basket hit the ground with a hard bump. The wind dragged the fabric balloon forward several feet, tossing both Corinne and Louis from the basket, before tangling in the lower branches of a tree.
"Are you all right?" Louis called out.
"I think so," she answered. "I just need to get out from under all this fabric."
"All right. I'm right behind you."
She started to crawl out from under the balloon, Louis following at her heels. She hoped he wasn't too devastated with what happened to his flying machine. It really had been a wonderful night. The cool air hit her face and she looked back at Louis as he too emerged from the wreckage. She opened her mouth to say something, but quickly shut it. A very familiar sound reached her ears. The sound of a sword being pulled from its sheath.
"Well hello, cousin."
...
This is one of my favorite chapters ever. I will not apologize for art. I have prepared myself for the screaming. You may review accordingly. See you all next week.